BrokenTune

This is my 3rd (or 4th?) re-read of this novel and I'm still delighted by the same scenes over and over again. 

None more so than this one where the young hapless man is getting into trouble with the police, and suddenly the cavalry arrives:

‘Is—is that all?’

 

‘I think it possible, Mr Pearson, that it may be necessary to detain you until after the inquest.’

 

‘Oh! my God,’ said Jim Pearson. ‘Can nobody help me?’

 

At that moment the door opened and a young woman walked into the room. She was, as the observant Inspector Narracott noted at once, a very exceptional kind of young woman. She was not strikingly beautiful, but she had a face which was arresting and unusual, a face that having once seen you could not forget. There was about her an atmosphere of common sense, savoir faire, invincible determination and a most tantalizing fascination.

This is still one of my favourite scenes.