Agatha Christie

“ There appeared to be no such place as Kilmorden Castle. Here was an unexpected check. There must be such a place. Why should any one invent a name like that and write it down on a piece of paper? Absurd!
Another idea occurred to me. Possibly it was a castellated abomination in the suburbs with a high-sounding name invented by its owner. But if so, it was going to be extraordinarily hard to find. I sat back gloomily on my heels (I always sit on the floor to do anything really important) and wondered how on earth I was to set about it. ”

“ A quarter of an hour later I was at the lodge of the Mill House. In answer to my knock, the door flew open and a tall middle-aged woman literally bounced out.
"Nobody can go into the house, do you hear that? Fairly sick of you reporters, I am. Sir Eustace's orders are——"
"I understood the house was to let," I said freezingly, holding out my order. "Of course, if it's already taken——"
"Oh, I'm sure I beg your pardon, miss. I've been fairly pestered with these newspaper people. Not a minute's peace. No, the house isn't let—nor likely to be now." ”

“ The Daily Budget's out still to catch the man who did it. It seems, according to them, as our police are no good at all. Well, I hope they'll get him—although a nice-looking young fellow he was and no mistake. A kind of soldierly look about him—ah, well, I dare say he'd been wounded in the war, and sometimes they go a bit queer afterwards, my sister's boy did. Perhaps she'd used him bad—they're a bad lot, those foreigners. Though she was a fine-looking woman. Stood there where you're standing now."
"Was she dark or fair?" I ventured. "You can't tell from these newspaper portraits." ”