“ How many thefts have there been?’ I asked.‘That depends on how you define it,’ said Adrian.Because material went missing off sites all the time, which is why important finds were collated and secured… Ben Aaronovitch
“ The general public have a warped view of the speed at which an investigation proceeds. They like to imagine tense conversations going on behind the venetian blinds and unshaven, but ruggedly handsome,… Ben Aaronovitch
“ From then on, it was even twistier B-roads through a country so photgenically rural that I half expected to meet Bilbo Baggins around the next corner - providing he'd taken to driving a Nissan Micra. Ben Aaronovitch
“ The problem with the so-called bloody surveillance state is that it’s hard work trying to track someone’s movements using CCTV – especially if they’re on foot. Part of the problem is that the cameras… Ben Aaronovitch
“ She was spontaneously created by the midichlorians,' I said. Both women gave me blank looks. 'Never mind. Ben Aaronovitch
“ Or as my dad always says: it only becomes a social problem when the working man joins in. Ben Aaronovitch
“ I think it's designed to flower open like a Chocolate Orange.Me and Lesley then had to explain Terry's Chocolate Orange to Nightingale.Not unlike a practitioner's hand opening to reveal a werelight, s… Ben Aaronovitch
“ It's a sad fact of modern life that sooner or later you will end up on YouTube doing something stupid. The trick, according to my dad, is to make a fool of yourself to the best of your ability. Ben Aaronovitch
“ I was pleased to see that even back in the glory days of the Folly people left their mugs of tea on their magical textbooks. Ben Aaronovitch
“ Bollocks, I thought, or testiculi or possibly testiculos if we were using the accusative. Ben Aaronovitch
“ Abigail stared suspiciously at Lesley. Why are you wearing a mask? she asked.Because my face fell off, said Lesley.Abigail considered this for a moment and then nodded. Okay, she said. Ben Aaronovitch
“ The police never saw a noun they didn't want to turn into a verb, so it quickly became to action, as in you action me to undertake a Falcon assessment, I action a Falcon assessment, a Falcon assessmen… Ben Aaronovitch
“ So that's when I came up with the most ridiculous plan since I'd decided to take a witness statement from a ghost. It was a plan so stupid that even Baldrick would have rejected it out of hand. Ben Aaronovitch
“ We decided to go back to basics and put the frighteners on some snouts.Really?We adopted a proactive intelligence-gathering policy utilising appropriate stakeholders in the community and pre-establish… Ben Aaronovitch
“ Despite what you think you know, most people don't want to fight, especially when evenly matched. … That's why you see those young men doing the dance of don't hold me back while desperately hoping s… Ben Aaronovitch
“ Sinister is Latin for 'left', making it the sort of enjoyable schoolboy pun that is such an advert for mixed-gender education. Ben Aaronovitch
“ Now, personally, I'd have been happier driving an armored personnel carrier in through the front door. But since we're the Met, and not the police department of a small town in Missouri, we didn't hav… Ben Aaronovitch
“ This is where the whole ape-descended thing reveals its worth, I thought madly. Sucks to be you, quadruped. Opposable thumbs - don't leave home without them. Ben Aaronovitch
