How could I tell Clarence that finding another dead body was anything but dreadful? On the contrary: it was thrilling; it was exciting; it was exhilarating, it was invigorating; to say nothing of electrifying and above all, satisfying.How could I tell the dear man that murder made me feel so gloriously alive?

I could tell he was becoming sulky, as boys and men do when they're caught bluffing. And I ignored him, as girls and women do when they catch them out.

. . . and there was for a moment an unbreakable bond between us: the eternal bond of chemistry.I glowed with all the fire of a newborn galaxy.

Have you ever wondered, Dogger," I asked, "if wickedness is a chemical state?""Indeed I have, Miss Flavia," he said. "I have sometimes thought of little else.

Look after this girl, Mildred. She's a menace to murderers."A menace to murderers? I quite liked that. If I ever have a business card I shall have that motto printed on it with an image of a never-sleeping eye.