Private Investigator Quotes

“She must feel like Lucifer’s frigid breath is running down the back of her delicate neck.”
― Gabriel F.W. Koch, Death Leaves a Shadow

“You sound like you’re enjoying my suffering.”
― Gabriel F.W. Koch, Death Leaves a Shadow

“Her growing possessiveness felt both good and bad.”
― Gabriel F.W. Koch, Death Leaves a Shadow

“The verdict got both the fish and me off the hook.”
― Gabriel F.W. Koch, Death Leaves a Shadow

“I watched her undress with moonlight shivering across the room from behind sheer curtains that moved with the currents from the hearth fire.”
― Gabriel F.W. Koch, Death Leaves a Shadow

“I knew I rode a rugged crest of turmoil that might crash on the rocky shore of irrational behavior.”
― Gabriel F.W. Koch, Death Leaves a Shadow

“What the hell, if you are going to roll the dice with Lucifer, I say go the distance.”
― Gabriel F.W. Koch, Death Leaves a Shadow

“Death rides on all of our shoulders from the day we are born.”
― Gabriel F.W. Koch, Death Leaves a Shadow

“I swallowed a sigh since, truthfully, I was glad she found the cabin.”
― Gabriel F.W. Koch, Death Leaves a Shadow

“The final sound of the rifle shot bounced around the lake.”
― Gabriel F.W. Koch, Death Leaves a Shadow

“It was as if we played chess after denying me both bishops and knights.”
― Gabriel F.W. Koch, Death Leaves a Shadow

“The steps leading to the porch looked worn, cracked, and unpainted, ready for a nice hot fire.”
― Gabriel F.W. Koch, Death Leaves a Shadow

“Death is the ultimate test of faith.”
― Gabriel F.W. Koch, Death Leaves a Shadow

“A look of absolute terror locked onto her features.”
― Gabriel F.W. Koch, Death Leaves a Shadow

“That was a hell of a shot!”
― Kyle Keyes, Under the Bus

“Donde, he offered a piece of candy to a little
   boy.”
― Kyle Keyes, Under the Bus

“My initial impression of her had been totally wrong. The impression that she was this sweet and stunningly beautiful Vietnamese girl who had survived a difficult time in her life, and was, perhaps, still vulnerable. But, now it was different. She was nothing but a paid whore. It took me a moment to analyze it. Totally against my character, but I realized, if only for a fleeting instant, I wanted to take this whore to bed, even though there would be no spice of pursuit, and it would generate no particular tension between us.”
― Behcet Kaya, Treacherous Estate

“Not to change the subject, but…you do realize you’ve been going over the speed limit for quite a few miles? Never mind. And thank you Professor Ludefance. Somehow, I think this lecture is meant for me, but I have a lot more interchange of material and energy with my environment than most.”
“In a physical sense, you’re not decaying at all, you’re a very vibrant young woman. The decay I’m speaking about for you is emotional. As for the professorship, that very lecture was given to me from a Turkish friend who had inherited a great deal of wealth and didn’t know what to do with himself. I learned this from him. As for you, you interact with your environment, but you are predatory, fearless, irritable, and listless. You’re getting no emotional feedback.”
“And just where do you suggest I go to look for ‘emotional feedback,’ Mr. Professor?”
“Aha. That’s the catch. You can’t. It’s not that mechanical. You merely have to be receptive and hope it comes along.”
“Meanwhile, I’m being ground down by the second law of thermodynamics.”
“In a sense, yes.”
“Thank you so much, Professor. I never would have known.”
― Behcet Kaya, Appellate Judge

“It was a Sunday morning, a perfect day for fishing. I had asked several other guys, but knew they all had their own plans. To everyone else, it was just another day of fishing.”
― Behcet Kaya, Murder on the Naval Base

“Before I could answer, there was a soft knock on the door. I turned to see an auburn-haired, green-eyed, freckle-faced young woman walk in. Her hair was a mass of soft curls and she wore no makeup. My first impression was to describe her as a plain-Jane. On closer inspection, hers was a strong and unique face. She dressed in slacks, silk blouse, and no visible jewelry. All of which, to me, indicated serene confidence. Her green eyes were piercing with almost a wild look to them. She handed the contract copies to the lawyer.”
― Behcet Kaya, Appellate Judge

“Mr. Hooks?”
“Mr. Ludefance? Pleasure to meet you and thank you for coming in.”
As he extended his hand to me, I noticed the girl at the desk staring at my face. Hooks looked back at her staring and must have given her a look of some kind.
“Mr. Ludefance, this is my secretary, Cholia.”
She stood up and continued to stare at my scar. Black hair, cute face, maybe five-foot-four at the most, and a little on the plump side with rosy cheeks. Young. Very young. Looked like a teenager to me. Or was I just getting ‘older?”
― Behcet Kaya, Appellate Judge

“Natalie decided she’d be a brunette today. Part of the fun of being a private eye? Dress up. She kept wigs in her bedroom: short brown hair, long red hair, black curls. There were times an investigator depended on a quick disguise, necessary to dig up details, save her life.”
― Nancy Mangano, Deadly Decisions

“Treating Abuse Today 3(4) pp. 26-33
TAT: No. I don't know anymore than you know they're not. But, I'm talking about boundaries and privacy here. As a therapist working with survivors, I have been harassed by people who claim to be affiliated with the false memory movement. Parents and other family members have called or written me insisting on talking with me about my patients' cases, despite my clearly indicating I can't because of professional confidentiality. I have had other parents and family members investigate me -- look into my professional background -- hoping to find something to discredit me to the patients I was seeing at the time because they disputed their memories. This isn't the kind of sober, scientific discourse you all claim you want.”
― David L. Calof

“Why are people so evil to each other? We need to spread good in the
world, not evil.”
― Kwei Quartey, Last Seen in Lapaz

“Maybe a stranger who listens is the best audience. People close to you are judgmental.”
― Kwei Quartey, Last Seen in Lapaz

“Up there, in Daniel’s office, I felt a disconnect, as if someone was performing surgery on my soul—trying to extract any remaining traces of my humanity.”
― Oliver Dean Spencer, The Crossing

“Through his opened bedroom window, he noticed that the night sky had turned a crimson red. The moon, punctured by hues of cerulean blue, hung precariously over the withering willow trees that lined the riverbank, located several hundred yards away. The storm predicted by the forecasters was heading his way.”
― Oliver Dean Spencer, Call of the Nightingale

“The stench of death and blood hit me hard. In the room's corner, blood had pooled and hardened over parts of the slated wood floor near the bedroom window. There was also blood spattered against the corner walls. The room was sparse, filled with the essentials of an old man. The bed looked slept in. A small painting in an ornate frame hung on the wall above it. It was a print from one of William Turner’s works, an English painter from the early 1980s. It depicted a ship, capsized with its crew in lifeboats struggling against a powerful storm.”
― Oliver Dean Spencer, Call of the Nightingale: A James Cartwright PI Mystery

“CHAPTER 1:

My old car battery, dead as a turd, rode in the trunk of Dreema’s sedan. She’d told me to take it. I felt embarrassed to drive it, but I had no other way to pick up a new car battery.”
― Ed Lynskey, Traffic

“Acting awards may come and go, but the impact of my investigative work on the lives of others is everlasting.”
― Yvonne Padmos