Ellery Queen (TV Series)

Too Many Suspects (1975)

Jim Hutton: Ellery Queen

Quotes 

• Penny : [grabbing the book Ellery is reading]  I read this one. This is the one where the doctor's the murderer.

  Ellery Queen : Penny, I promised your parents I'd take care of you today. You're my cousin, and I love you. But if you ever do anything like that again, I'll break your neck.

• Inspector Richard Queen : [referring to the television set that Ellery is examining]  You ever seen one of those things before?

  Ellery Queen : Huh? Yeah, a few.

  Inspector Richard Queen : Damn nuisance. A friend of mine has one. People keep dropping in.

  Ellery Queen : Oh, I wouldn't worry about it. It's just a passing fad.

• Ellery Queen : That's it, I'm going home. You're not gonna suck me in this time.

  Inspector Richard Queen : Son, you're doing me an injustice. Besides, I know you. Let's face it, you're hooked! You can't walk out of here!

  Ellery Queen : Can't I? Night, Dad.

  [Ellery walks out of the apartment, closing the door behind him] 

  Sgt. Velie : Aw, gee, that's too bad, Inspector, I thought you had him out of the water and into the boat!

  [Inspector Queen gestures for Velie to wait, and points his thumb at the door, through which Ellery re-enters] 

  Ellery Queen : I was just thinking...

  Inspector Richard Queen : [smiles, winking at Velie]  Yes?

• Ellery Queen : Come on, Dad, I'll drive you home.

  Inspector Richard Queen : Son, you are my only child, and a comfort in my old age, but you are the worst driver in the world. If anybody gets behind that wheel, it'll be me!

• Ellery Queen : Do you know who killed Monica Gray? Now, if you've been watching closely, you have all the information you need. You know, for example, that it's not the father, because I proved him innocent - or did I? Maybe it's the mother, or the son, or the faithful secretary, or maybe somebody on the sidelines. But don't go too far afield. It's not my father. At least, I don't think it is. Well, good luck - you're probably way ahead of me, anyhow.

• [Simon Brimmer finds Ellery Queen asleep in the control booth after his radio show finishes its broadcast] 

  Simon Brimmer : Sorry that we bored you.

  Ellery Queen : Oh, no, not really. It was a excellent show.

  Simon Brimmer : Oh, come now. You dozed off on the first commercial.

  Ellery Queen : Oh, really, I'm sorry. I - I usually have a better attention span, but I've been up for 48 hours trying to finish my new book.

  Simon Brimmer : Ah, deadlines. We have those here, too, which is why I need your help.

• Ellery Queen : Unfortunately, Mr. Brimmer, you're asking me to be a ghostwriter...

  Simon Brimmer : [scoffs]  A technicality.

  Ellery Queen : Uh, not to me.

  Simon Brimmer : All right, then. Let's say a very rich ghost with silk sheets.

  Ellery Queen : It's tempting, but I'm afraid I'll have to pass.

• [Ellery and his father, Inspector Queen, examine the television at the crime scene where murder victim Monica Gray was found] 

  Ellery Queen : Channel 4. What was on when she pulled out the plug?

  Inspector Richard Queen : Yeah, we called the station. An experimental program, news and weather. We're getting a script.

  Ellery Queen : News at that hour?

  Inspector Richard Queen : Yeah, big mistake. Who wants to watch the problems of the world before he goes to bed?

• [Ellery tries to decipher the dying clue left by Monica Gray when she pulled out the plugs of the clock and the television set] 

  Ellery Queen : Well, what was she trying to say, and why both plugs? Was she reaching for the clock cord and did she accidentally pull out the television cord, or was it the other way around? Is she saying something about electricity, about the failure of power? No. Or is she relating to the television set as a piece of furniture, a box, a console, screen? And what about that clock?

  Ellery Queen : [snapping his fingers]  Wait a minute!

  Inspector Richard Queen : You got something?

  Ellery Queen : Very clever, Dad, very shrewd.

  Inspector Richard Queen : Who? Who?

  Ellery Queen : [pointing to his father]  You. You know I'm supposed to be home finishing a book. You know I got a deadline to meet, but you drag me up here and you dangle all this catnip in front of me.

• Ellery Queen : It's really very simple. I - I make it a point to be observant and to pay attention to details. Good night, Dad.

  [Ellery turns to leave] 

  Inspector Richard Queen : Son?

  Ellery Queen : [turns back]  Hmm?

  Inspector Richard Queen : You forgot your glasses.

• Ellery Queen : I've been thinking about your offer...

  Simon Brimmer : I'm a student of the human voice, Mr. Queen, and I sense a certain reluctance in yours. Is it the money?

  Ellery Queen : No, the fee is very generous.

  Simon Brimmer : Then what's the problem? You're one of the best mystery writers in the business, and that's exactly what I need. "The Casebook of Simon Brimmer" is just about empty, and that microphone is insatiable. All I'm asking for is the right to buy your private files, and have them adapted into radio scripts.

  Ellery Queen : Then my cases would become *your* cases, solved by you.

  Simon Brimmer : Well, of course, I couldn't use your name. After all, my audience tunes in to hear *me*.

• [Inspector Queen tells his son Ellery about the dying clue left by fashion designer Monica Gray who was found shot to death in her apartment] 

  Inspector Richard Queen : Well, anyway, she crawled past the coffee table, over to the wall, where she pulled out that plug of the clock and that, uh, television gizmo. And then she died. Now that's my reconstruction.

  Ellery Queen : And very good too, Dad. I agree with it.

  Inspector Richard Queen : That's as far as I go, because I haven't the slightest idea of what the lady was trying to tell us!