The Bone Collector Quotes

Amelia: Excuse me, but the victim was already dead when we arrived.
Captain Howard Cheney: And you, half-assed patrolman working a crime scene... those days are over. I'll take that evidence bag now, thank you.
Amelia: You can take it with a chain of custody voucher, sir.
Captain Howard Cheney: Are you out of

your mind? Hmmm? Let's go. You're coming with us.
Amelia: What? Are you arresting me?
Captain Howard Cheney: You just get in the car, and keep your mouth shut to the press.

Lincoln Rhyme: All right, this is what I want you to do. We're gonna need those handcuffs really. It's probably our best chance for good prints.
Amelia: The M.E. can remove them when they get here.
Lincoln Rhyme: The M.E. is all thumbs really. They'll mess up the prints. Look in the suitcase. There's a small saw.

Amelia: [finds the saw] Okay.
Lincoln Rhyme: I want you to saw her hands off at the wrist line. We gotta have those cuffs for prints.
Amelia: [pause] I can't.
Lincoln Rhyme: Cut her hands off. We need the handcuffs.
Amelia: I can't. No.
Lincoln Rhyme: Saw off her

hands, take off the cuffs.
Amelia: I can't.
Lincoln Rhyme: Listen to me. Saw off her h... We need those cuffs.
Amelia: I can't!
Lincoln Rhyme: Amelia, we need...
Amelia: No, fuck you!

Lincoln Rhyme: Two things. First, you did a hell of a job locating the evidence. There's no question the perp knows forensics.
[pause]
Lincoln Rhyme: Now, as for the other thing... the... you know, the victim's hands, well, maybe, uh... maybe it was too much to handle, so we'll just forget it.
Amelia: Is that your version of

an apology?
Lincoln Rhyme: An apology? Is that why you came over here?
Amelia: You really are a piece of work.
Lincoln Rhyme: Well, aren't we a pair?... I think you're terrific.

Thelma: Just give it a few seconds to work. Come on, breathe with me. Breathe with me, Rhyme. Rhyme! Come on, now... Hang on, Rhyme. Hang on, man.
Amelia: Is he gonna make it?
Thelma: If he does, he won't be happy.
Amelia: What are you talking about?
Thelma: He's already finalized

arrangements to self-terminate... He's got some doctor friend to help with his "final transition" as he calls it.
Amelia: But suicide? I mean...
Thelma: It's the seizures. Any one of them could put him into a vegetative state. That's what he fears more than anything.

Lincoln Rhyme: Pull up a chair. I want you to tell me everything you know about the crime scene.
Amelia: Basically, you saw my report.
Lincoln Rhyme: I read your report. I wanna know what you felt. What you feel... in the deepest recesses of your senses.
Amelia: You are in love with the sound of your own

voice, aren't you?
Lincoln Rhyme: No, it's your voice I yearn to hear. Pull up a chair. I won't bite you.

Amelia: I can't do this.
Lincoln Rhyme: You can do it. Yes, you can. Yesterday you stopped a train. You can do anything you want when you put your mind to it.
Amelia: Don't work me, Rhyme... Just tell me what to do next.
Lincoln Rhyme: Very slowly... walk the grid... one foot in front of the other. I want you

to look around you now. Remember... crime scenes are three-dimensional... floors, walls and ceilings.

Lincoln Rhyme: Nitrogen rich, explosive carbons, where do you find those in New York City?
Paulie: Bomb sites, shooting ranges.
Amelia: Maybe an old fort or an armory?
Eddie Ortiz: Let's not forget the shit factor, guys.
Lincoln Rhyme: The what?
Eddie Ortiz:

Manure becomes a nitrate when it's aged.
Lincoln Rhyme: That's true. And you got cow bones, huh? Old cow bones, old manure. Turn of the century. Cows, farms... pastures, rats... dead cows. Where do you find... In stockyards... slaughterhouses, that's what we want to look for.