The Roman Hat Mystery by Ellery Queen — Read

"The perfect criminal is a superman. He must be meticulous in his technique: unseen, unseeable, a Lone Wolf. He must have neither friends nor dependents. He must be careful to a fault, quick of brain, hand and foot. But these are nothing. There have been such men. On the other hand, he must be a favored child of Fate -- for circumstances over which he cannot have the remotest control must never contrive his downfall. This, I think, is more difficult to achieve. But the last is most difficult of all. He must never repeat his crime, his weapon or his motive! . In all my twoscore years as an official of the American police I have not once encountered the perfect criminal nor investigated the perfect crime. " / From American Crime and Methods of Detection, / by Richard Queen

It was notable, particularly to District Attorney Sampson, that on Saturday evening Inspector Richard Queen was far from being himself. The old man was irritable, snappish and utterly uncongenial. He paced fretfully across the carpet of Manager Louis Panzer's office, biting his lips and muttering beneath his breath. He seemed oblivious to the presence of Sampson, Panzer and a third person who had never been in that theatrical sanctum before and was seated, mouse-like, in one of Panzer's big chairs, his eyes like saucers. This was bright-eyed Djuna, granted the unprecedented privilege of accompanying his grey patron on this latest incursion into the Roman Theatre.