- William 'The Duke' Wellington: So you wish me to be chivalrous when it suits but treat you as an equal when it does not? Are you a woman or a detective?
- Eliza Scarlet: Why should there be a distinction? I would not ask you if you were a man or an inspector.
- William 'The Duke' Wellington: That is completely different.
- Eliza Scarlet: Enlighten me as to why?
- William 'The Duke' Wellington: Well, there is a level of self-control that is vital when doing this job.
- Eliza Scarlet: Self-control? You have rouge on your collar and you reek of whiskey.
- Henry Scarlet: Oh, why must you, a female detective, have to prove yourself? That is your question?
- Eliza Scarlet: Uh, it's not fair!
- Henry Scarlet: Spoken like a woman. Do not be cross! It is you putting these words in my mouth. When a man loses his temper, he is seen as strong and forthright. But a woman, no, she is seen as emotional, hysterical, incapable of rational thought. Now give men reason, give them logic. Give them cold, hard facts. That will truly confuse them.
- William 'The Duke' Wellington: You cannot make people agree with you by killing them. I mean, we're not the French.
- Superintendent Stirling: It's bad enough with the Irish and the socialists. The last thing we need is women getting ideas in their heads.
- Eliza Scarlet: I'm a private detective working for Inspector Wellington.
- PC Clarence Honeychurch: You're a private detective?
- Eliza Scarlet: Yes.
- PC Clarence Honeychurch: You?
- Eliza Scarlet: Yes.
- PC Clarence Honeychurch: You're a private detective?
- Eliza Scarlet: Is this going to take much longer? Because I have work to do.
- William 'The Duke' Wellington: Because I've seen spoilt wealthy women a great deal in my job. All of whom would have benefitted from a firmer hand from their father.
- Eliza Scarlet: My father never raised his hand to me.
- William 'The Duke' Wellington: Point proved, I think.
- William 'The Duke' Wellington: I have been working a most complex investigation.
- Eliza Scarlet: Investigating how much whiskey you can drink in one night?
- William 'The Duke' Wellington: Do you speak like this to all your clients?
- Eliza Scarlet: Only the ones who are two hours late.
- William 'The Duke' Wellington: I believe you are the best man for the job. I imagine that you have heard that joke before.
- William 'The Duke' Wellington: No, no. Not at all.
- Margaret Fairfax: I've seen that look many times before. As the look of having battled with a man or a spoilt child.
- Eliza Scarlet: Are they not one and the same?
- Margaret Fairfax: A few years ago I wanted to go to university, but my father forbade it. So I begged, borrowed, stole the fees and went anyway. I achieved a first class degree in chemistry. Though of course with no official qualifications, since women are not allowed to graduate. Things can change, Alice. But only if we make them.
- Eliza Scarlet: I'm not who you think I am.
- Margaret Fairfax: No one is. All that matters is that we are on the same side.
- Mr. Potts: Inspector, I thought I made it clear that it was inappropriate for ladies, even those who purport to be private detectives, to be on these premises.
- Eliza Scarlet: Oh for goodness sake! I have been here before and lived to tell the tale.
- William 'The Duke' Wellington: It was a crime of passion.
- Eliza Scarlet: Of course you would think that. That's the easiest option.
- William 'The Duke' Wellington: Meaning what exactly?
- Eliza Scarlet: Well, that you were happy to take the path of least resistance, that you increasingly rest on your laurels. That is why you resent my opinions because they stir you from a self-imposed slumber.