Crime and Punishment

“What was I doing, I asked myself, boring myself to death among a lot of geriatrics and citrus fruits, when the London underground system was still capable of yielding such a fine vintage murder? After only a short while with these thoughts, I came to the clear conclusion, that there was only one way for Rumpole to go; stiiting on the beach queing up for death was out; I would meet my end in the full flood of a final speech, and with my wig on.” — “Rumpole’s Return,’ p. 439 in “The First Rumpole Omnibus,” (Penguin Books 1983).