"The story begins with my father, actually, and the fact that I'm the one who caused his death."
Olivia, p. 3

"Less than a quarter of an hour before Martin Snell discovered the crime scene, he was delivering milk."
Chap. 1, p. 7

"Ask them questions, she told herself. Ask them the questions anyone would ask. You got to. You must."
Chap. 2, p. 31

"'Some things one knows through osmosis, Sergeant, through exposure to a common cultural experience that slyly becomes part of one's stockpile of knowledge. I call it subliminal assimilation."
Chap. 4, p. 59

"You see, I was something of a disappointment in my parents' lives although who I was and what I did affected my mother far more than Dad."
Olivia, p. 75

"It's odd to think how things work out."
Olivia, p. 95

"Mrs. Whitelaw attempted to help them in their search, but it was clear that her thought processes were muzzy...