- Chief Inspector Japp: [Hanging up the telephone] They've arrested a vagrant in some un-pronounceable village.
- Hercule Poirot: A vagrant? Suspected of attacking the prime minister?
- Chief Inspector Japp: When in doubt, arrest a vagrant. They'll let him go again.
- [last lines]
- Hercule Poirot: You know, Hastings, the worst kind of fanatic is the quiet, unobtrusive fanatic.
- Fingler: And the worst kind of customer is the customer who can't keep still.
- Hercule Poirot: Monsieur Fingler, this jacket, it is too tight.
- Fingler: Oh, it is too tight, is it?
- Hercule Poirot: Yes, I shall scarcely be able to button it up.
- Fingler: Do you know why it is too tight?
- Hercule Poirot: Because you made it too small.
- Fingler: No, no, no, no. Because you have grown too big. This jacket has been made by last year's measurements. Now are we having a fitting or what?
- Hercule Poirot: A fitting by all means, Monsieur Fingler.
- Hercule Poirot: Mr. Fingler is an artist, Hastings. And like all artists, he must be treated with a firm hand.
- Hercule Poirot: Good night, Sir Bernard.
- Sir Bernard Dodge: Where are you going?
- Hercule Poirot: To bed.
- Sir Bernard Dodge: You don't seem to realize, Poirot, this is a national emergency. I do not intend to sleep until the Prime Minister is found!
- Hercule Poirot: I am sure it will make you feel very virtuous, Sir Bernard, but it will not help the Prime Minister! For myself, I need to restore the little grey cells.
- Hercule Poirot: Madam, how would you describe the politics of your ex-husband?
- Mrs Daniels: Torpid. He never had a political thought in his life.
- Chief Inspector Japp: But, what if Mrs. Daniels doesn't leave?
- Hercule Poirot: Oh, she will have left already, chief inspector, or I am the Dutchman.
- Hercule Poirot: But you see, the kidnappers, they always had one flaw to their plan. They knew it and they did their best to conceal it. But their best is not good enough for Hercule Poirot, perhaps.