The Unholy Four (1954)

Russell Napier: Insp. Treherne

Quotes 

• Insp. Treherne : What I may or may not know and what I can prove are two different things, Miss Merrill.

• Insp. Treherne : It isn't cold-blooded. It's hot and it's violent. And that kind of murder won't wait.

• Insp. Treherne : There were a few holes in his story, and he fell right through them.

• Bill Saul : I suppose you want to hear my story about what happened on the fatal night.

  Insp. Treherne : If you have one.

  Bill Saul : Sure, I've got two or three. Which one do you want to hear?

  Insp. Treherne : Oh, the one you think will keep me from breathing my hot little breath down your neck.

• Sgt. Johnson : [over phone]  This is Johnson, sir. We've found the murder weapon, I think.

  Insp. Treherne : You have? What is it?

  Sgt. Johnson : It's a short length of inch metal piping drilled and bolted to one end...

  Insp. Treherne : Uh-huh. Could a woman have used it?

• Joan Merrill : They're just not the kind of people who commit murders.

  Insp. Treherne : I wish I had a week's holiday with pay for every time I've heard that. I wouldn't have to work again till 1994.

• Insp. Treherne : Somebody might at least have stepped in that puddle so we'd have a nice handy bloodstain shoe print to check on. Not even a sign of a track. Oh, well, they told me detecting wasn't easy.

• Insp. Treherne : Check two things particularly. Could he have done it falling? And could a woman have done it, an active woman in good condition, the sort that sails boats and things?

  Medical Examiner : Ah, women. They're getting too capable for their own good these days.

• [last lines] 

  Philip Vickers : Well, thanks for the ride, Treherne.

  Angie : Goodbye.

  Philip Vickers : Goodbye.

  Insp. Treherne : Goodbye.

• Insp. Treherne : [leaving]  You'll be hearing from us, Mr. Vickers.

  Philip Vickers : We'd be most unhappy if we didn't, Inspector.

  [turning to the party guests] 

  Philip Vickers : And now if you don't mind, you can all leave, and while you're at it, start covering up tracks and rehearsing alibis. Somebody's gonna need a good one!

• Insp. Treherne : Revenge is a strange thing, Miss Merrill. It'll eat into a person's soul and rot away the insides until there's not one shred of decency or one speck of human feelings left.

• Insp. Treherne : We're holding you for further questioning, Miss Merrill.

  Joan Merrill : But...

  Insp. Treherne : The only way I can solve this case is by getting the truth out of all the people concerned. Which I've NOT been getting from any of them yet... but I'll get it. And now if you'll excuse me, I have things to do.

• Joan Merrill : I can't imagine any one of those three killing someone - they're just not the kind of people who commit murder.

  Insp. Treherne : I wish I had a week's holiday with pay for every time I've heard that. I wouldn't have to work until 1994.

• Insp. Treherne : I'm afraid accidents like this don't just happen!