“I’m interested in history,” I said. “Why don’t you tell me what happened.” “Why would a young man like you… — Ben Aaronovitch

He didn’t have “instincts”, he had thirty years of experience—which was much more reliable.

“Unless you believe it was a coincidence that Melvin the Rat turned up at a party we were hosting.”

Actually I thought it probably was, but I found that when people are nursing a grievance it’s a waste of time trying to explain the ubiquitous nature of coincidence in the universe. People always want things to happen for a reason.

“He was a Parisian,” he said. “You can never be sure what Parisians believe in—beyond Paris of course.”