- Hercule Poirot: You say they lived near to Eastbourne? You have acquaintance there? Well, then go. Allez-y, allez-y. Drive about, ask the questions, be the puzzler with the nose.
- Ariadne Oliver: Oh, I see, and someone will remember something.
- Hercule Poirot: Always someone remembers something.
- Ariadne Oliver: You mean elephants. Sorry, I was thinking of elephants at that dinner last night.
- Hercule Poirot: With hesitation, I ask why.
- Ariadne Oliver: Because the meringue got stuck in my teeth.
- Hercule Poirot: I see. Well, the pathway of logic, it is there somewhere, but...
- Ariadne Oliver: Meringue, dentures, ivory, elephants. I must find the elephants. Elephants can remember.
- [last lines]
- Ariadne Oliver: You and I are elephants, you know? We're good at remembering.
- Hercule Poirot: No, no, Madame. We are human beings. And human beings, mercifully, they can forget.
- Ariadne Oliver: But you haven't answered my question. What shall I do with that dreadful Burton-Cox?
- Hercule Poirot: Hm. The thing you should do, madam, and this I advice you to do most strenuously, is nothing, rien.
- Ariadne Oliver: Hm.
- Hercule Poirot: It is a variation of what the French call le bain de surprise.
- Detective Inspector Beale: I should say it is a surprise. Hot water followed by cold water, is that right?
- Hercule Poirot: Oui, the scorching hot and the freezing cold. The principle of it is one severe shock to the system, and it is often used in conjunction with the electroshock therapy.
- Detective Inspector Beale: Bloody hell. I'm quite glad I'm normal.
- Hercule Poirot: Oui, we may all be thankful, mon ami, that we are in possession of our minds, and some of us more so than others.
- Julia Carstairs: [to Ariadne Oliver] You are so modern. No one else in my circle has speaking engagements.