How to use "would" in a sentence

From here, it would be difficult to climb back up

I said I would meet Kristi and Megan after the hike

It would be like killing myself

It would have to wait until the morning.

It wouldn't be long before I would be able to go climbing again

I would still say goodbye to Megan and Kristi and continue alone

We couldn't escape because they would kill us.

I told Captain Nemo that he would not live

He would feel the same way if he were in Ned Land's position.

I thought Captain Nemo would save his man

Maybe Captain Nemo thought that soon all his men would die, and the Nautilus and his secret would be lost.

Then it asked, 'What size would you like to be?'

I would like to speak to somebody about it.'

'I knew this would happen, Forrest,' he said

Bubba and I decided that we would get a shrimp boat when we got home again, and catch shrimps, and make a lot of money

The others were talking about something that would happen the next day

'Perhaps he would be an idiot,' I finished for her.

This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "Unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment

Now, if they would make the effort in good temper, could they not with nearly equal unanimity frame and pass a law by means of which to keep good that unanimous oath?

While the strict legal right may exist in the government to enforce the exercise of these offices, the attempt to do so would be so irritating, and so nearly impracticable withal, that I deem it better to forego for the time the uses of such offices.

Before entering upon so grave a matter as the destruction of our national fabric, with all its benefits, its memories, and its hopes, would it not be wise to ascertain precisely why we do it? Will you hazard so desperate a step while there is any possibility that any portion of the ills you fly from have no real existence? Will you, while the certain ills you fly to are greater than all the real ones you fly from - will you risk the commission of so fearful a mistake?

If by the mere force of numbers a majority should deprive a minority of any clearly written Constitutional right, it might, in a moral point of view, justify revolution - certainly would if such a right were a vital one

This, I think, cannot be perfectly cured; and it would be worse in both cases AFTER the separation of the sections than BEFORE.

The foreign slave trade, now imperfectly suppressed, would be ultimately revived, without restriction, in one section, while fugitive slaves, now only partially surrendered, would not be surrendered at all by the other.

I will venture to add that to me the convention mode seems preferable, in that it allows amendments to originate with the people themselves, instead of only permitting them to take or reject propositions originated by others not especially chosen for the purpose, and which might not be precisely such as they would wish to either accept or refuse

If there be an object to HURRY any of you in hot haste to a step which you would never take DELIBERATELY, that object will be frustrated by taking time; but no good object can be frustrated by it.

Such of you as are now dissatisfied, still have the old Constitution unimpaired, and, on the sensitive point, the laws of your own framing under it; while the new administration will have no immediate power, if it would, to change either

Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish

To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union, even by war; while the government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it

It can be accomplished in part by direct recruiting by the Government itself, treating the task as we would treat the emergency of a war, but at the same time, through this employment, accomplishing great - greatly needed projects to stimulate and reorganize the use of our great natural resources.

In the field of world policy, I would dedicate this Nation to the policy of the good neighbor: the neighbor who resolutely respects himself and, because he does so, respects the rights of others; the neighbor who respects his obligations and respects the sanctity of his agreements in and with a world of neighbors.

I shall ask the Congress for the one remaining instrument to meet the crisis - broad Executive power to wage a war against the emergency, as great as the power that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe.

Finally, to those nations who would make them-selves our adversary, we offer not a pledge but a request: that both sides begin anew the quest for peace, before the dark powers of destruction unleashed by science engulf all humanity in planned or accidental self-destruction.

I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation

She was worried about what would happen to her uncle when she died

He knocked on the doors of people's houses, but news of his arrival had quickly spread and nobody would offer him shelter from the cold

'The police say that he looks dangerous, and it would be better for everyone to lock their windows and doors.'

After studying the garden, he decided that escape would be easy

The next morning, Fantine kissed her daughter goodbye and left for Montreuil, crying as if her heart would break.

She tried to find work as a servant, but no one would employ her

Fantine, who did not have ten francs, but who was afraid that her daughter would freeze to death, went to the barber's shop

'My hair will grow again,' she thought, 'but teeth would be gone forever.' But then she thought about her daughter, and her own appearance suddenly seemed unimportant

What could she do? She had sold her hair and her teeth; what else could she sell? And then she decided that she had no other choice: she would have to sell herself.

At last she would be cared for, and she could look forward to a life of happiness with Cosette

'Very soon,' he would reply, and her pale face would light up with joy.

He knew - although he was not happy to admit this - that he would have to go to Arras and tell the truth

He would lose everything that he had worked so hard to achieve

He would also have to break his promise to Fantine about bringing Cosette from Montfermeil

Fantine smiled, and began to talk dreamily about her future life with her daughter, and how happy they would be together

Mme Thenardier rushed across the room towards Cosette who, afraid that she would be punished, put the doll gently on the floor and began to cry.

I don't know how we would manage without the occasional rich and generous traveller like yourself

'What would you say,' the old man said after a moment's thought, 'if I offered to take the child from you?'

'That would be wonderful.'

Although he was rich, he had chosen a room in a poor part of Paris, where nobody would find him

He would be able to climb the wall on his own, but how could he carry Cosette? Suddenly, he had an idea

Life was hard for him, but he never forgot the promise he had made his father: that he would find Thenardier, the man who had saved his father's life, and help him in any way he could.

Whatever it was, Marius sensed that, after that moment, his life would never be the same.

What would he be thinking when he saw a strange young man walking backwards and forwards in front of his bench? Without another thought, Marius left the Gardens and went home.

Leblanc took his daughter to a different bench, to see if Marius would follow them

Enjolras and his other friends tried to cheer him up by taking him to exciting places, but these expeditions always ended in the same way: Marius would leave the group and walk around the streets of Paris unhappily on his own.

He said he would follow me here

He went into his room, pushing the door behind him, but the door would not shut

Finally, he asked Marius for his door key and told him to go home and hide quietly in his room so that his neighbours would think he was out.

Leblanc would be saved and Thenardier would be destroyed

But he would also have broken his promise to his father

They would sit and hold hands and talk, or just gaze into each other's eyes and smile.

'How lovely you are,' Marius would sigh

To which Cosette would reply, 'I love you more with every minute that passes.'

Gillenormand hoped that Marius, whom he still loved, would return one day.

He was feeling depressed, because he realized that he would probably never see his grandson again

This would be his last brief happiness; after that, there would be only darkness.

Although this made him very unpopular, he thought that his opponents would be too weak to prevent him from doing what he wanted

One of these children was Eponine, who had dressed like a boy so that no one would tell her to go home

New people arrived all the time, bringing with them gunpowder and weapons to fight the soldiers who would be arriving very soon.

As long as he had Cosette, he would be happy, and it did not matter where they lived

He began to feel happier as he thought about the journey they would soon be making

He was still certain to die, and Valjean's happiness would be safe

If he kept the letter in his pocket, Cosette would never know what had happened to the other man, and life with her would continue the same as before

For the sake of Cosette's happiness, he would have to try and save the life of the man she loved - the man he hated more than any other in the world.

They were filled with hope that help would come soon, but the hope did not last long

I gave you my address this morning, if you remember, so you would know where to find me anyway.'

I knew you were angry with me, and I thought, "What can I do to make him love me?" Then I thought, "I can give him Cosette." I wanted to invite her to see you, but the doctor warned me that you would probably get too excited

It was arranged that the couple, who could not believe their sudden, new-found happiness, would live with M

'I would give it all,' said Marius,'to find that man!'

She had Marius, and she would be happy with him for the rest of her life!

He knew that if he told Cosette and Marius the truth, he would spoil everybody's happiness and he would lose their love and respect

On the other hand, if he continued to lie about his past, he would lose his own soul

'If I had continued to keep my secret to myself, I would have destroyed my own heart,' Valjean replied

I tried to persuade myself that it would be better not to admit the truth about my past, but it was no use

But I think it would be better if you stopped seeing her.'

But at the door he half-turned and said, 'Monsieur, if you will permit me, I would like to come and see her

Besides, if I suddenly stopped visiting, people would become suspicious and begin to talk

Valjean would sit looking at Cosette in silence, or would talk about incidents from their past

She did not realize that, every evening, Valjean would walk slowly from his house until he reached the corner of the street where she lived

He would then stare at the house for several minutes, tears rolling down his cheeks, before turning round and slowly returning home.

'Because I thought it would be better to break away

If you had known the truth, you would have felt obliged to be good to me, a worthless criminal

That would have upset everything.'

'What or whom would it have upset?' Marius said

Jean Valjean listened as she described the view from the room that would be his, the beauty of the garden, the singing of the birds, but he was listening more to the music of her voice than to the meaning of her words

Finally, he said, 'Yes, it would be delightful, but

"Oh yes, that would be very nice!" She smiles, but in the half-light Oliver thinks he sees something strange in her expression.

He thinks that maybe Nick would know, that Nick would have some advice.

And for a while he thought that he would die in the deep dark corner behind the wall

Government agents had just arrived, so the crowd would soon be forced to leave

There was a screen on the wall with a list of places to choose from: places they would never see for real.

Sala would never forget, either

She didn't know how Cham could afford it, but he was always so kind and generous - it would be rude to ask

"But who would want to do that?"

I would love to believe it's front him

"Why would I mind you getting a special offer? It's cool."

The mystery woman: Who was she? How did she know about Gran? She wondered when she would see her again...

"But who would have sent it without a note? Gran thinks..

I can see that all those units and the extra money would be useful

She would never want to prevent that - there were so few opportunities to succeed

would you think about doing it with me?"

how would it work?" she asked

"If we were both in a pod, how would we be together?"

So at least if we were both doing the same thing, it would almost feel like we were together."

Gran was so excited; it would be awful if this was all a cruel joke

"You would?"

I would do it - but only if you want to do it, too

"You would love it, Apat

what would you say if Cham and I wanted to do it?"

I'm just saying - maybe the world out there is not as terrible as the government would like us to believe."

If this was happening at the meat laboratory, it would soon be happening everywhere, and he wouldn't get any work at all.

But I'd really miss you - and so would your family..." She bit her lip.

This was how it would be, for two whole years..

"The woman said she would find me again soon," said Sala

What more could she say? Cham's number one consideration right now was his family, and she couldn't stand in the way of that; but she wished that he would at least think about other possibilities.

Then Cham would be torn away from her for two long years.

She decided to go for a run at the energy center; maybe it would cheer her up

Or she would suddenly tell them all one of her memories: of growing up with Eston or their suffering during the Oil Wars.

Maybe this would be the only opportunity to investigate.

Love you." He would forgive her..

and anyway, maybe she would come back with exciting news for everyone.

We needed to be sure that you would be on our side

See if she would be prepared to take the risk

"But why? Why would they do that? And how could they know that wild roses mean so much to Gran?"

And if, like Eston says, they really live freely in the outside world, you wouldn't want to stay here, would you?" Mom nodded

I would love to leave if I really believed we could

Cham went on and on, and Sala began to wonder when he would stop talking

Maybe he was just being protective - worried that the rebels would put her in danger

Sala would do it

She would find Wena, no matter what Cham had said

She knew it would be best to go straight to the earth apartment, but she felt a little afraid to do that

It would make everything much, much easier, wouldn't it?"

Of course, they would have seen that Cham had changed! And they'd permit him to leave the pod at once if they thought it was damaging him.

"I think your mom and dad would miss you," Sala said to his sister

She would have to persuade Cham to leave by herself

Maybe his parents would be disappointed, but it was the only responsible thing to do; they'd thank her, in the end.

She wasn't even sure if his family would give them time alone together - but she'd have to make sure it happened

If the government came asking them questions, it would be better, for now, that he knew nothing at all.

"Do you think the rebels would hide us?" asked Mom

Then maybe they would help us escape across the boundary."

that would mean leaving Cham behind forever." Sala's eyes filled with tears

Young people who did it would stop thinking independently

When they came out, they would be obedient servants of the government.

If he hadn't been so generous, buying her that pod experience, none of this would have happened.

She would not be their tool, used like Cham to pull other people in

And somehow, she hoped, she would reach Cham, through his avatar, and find the real person inside once more

What would I be today if I had not gone to Monte Carlo with Mrs Van Hopper? I would have lived another life

I would have become a different person.

I hoped that de Winter would get away before I returned.

But if he had a home like Manderley, he would never leave it

She would enjoy staying in bed

She would enjoy giving orders to the nurse as well as to me.

When he saw me, he would smile and say, 'Well, how is the companion this morning? Where would you like to go?'

If we had driven round-in circles, I would not have cared

'And what moment would you like to keep?' de Winter said with a smile.

'You would not be in this car now if you were like that,' he said.

He would never forgive me

If you had not been here, I would have left long ago

Rebecca was all the things that I would never be

How would you like to see New York?'

The train would carry me away from Maxim, mile by mile

He would be sitting in the restaurant, reading perhaps and not thinking of me

Where would I say goodbye to him? In the lounge, with Mrs Van Hopper standing near? I was going and everything was over

We would say goodbye like two strangers.

Tomorrow would be too late

I would not see Maxim

I thought I would not see you again.'

I thought I would never see you again.'

I would be Maxim's wife

We would walk in the gardens of Manderley together

We would walk through that hidden valley to the sea

Mrs de Winter - I would be Mrs de Winter.

'I don't like young men.' I was still afraid that Maxim would change his mind.

He had said we would get married

How could he love me, after her? I would be a companion for him

'Mrs Danvers asked if you would like to see your room.'

You would never know the sea was so near.'

I wished Mrs Danvers would go away.

'I would rather leave it to you, Mrs Danvers,' I said

'Mr de Winter said you would rather be on this side of the house

Would it be eaten or thrown away? I would never know of course

I would certainly be too afraid to ask.

I had thought we would spend our first morning at Manderley together.

I had thought that perhaps we would walk down to the sea, or sit under the great tree on the lawn.

I thought I would light the fire in the library

I felt that Rebecca would come back into the room at any moment

The mistress of the house would come in and find me, a stranger, sitting at her desk.

Rebecca would not have answered like that

I hoped everyone would go soon

This is how I thought life at Manderley would be.

The Happy Valley was the heart of Manderley, the Manderley I would soon know and love.

'If you had listened to me, we would be home by now

'I thought you would come with me,' I answered.

If you had my memories, you would not go there either

I decided that I would find out more about the Fancy Dress Ball

'Maxim would tell me if he wanted anything done,' Frank replied.

'Maxim would be very unhappy to hear you talking like this, Mrs de Winter

'Anyone would think you were afraid of Mrs Danvers.'

'I'm so sorry,' I said, 'I never thought Robert would get into trouble.'

No one would ever gossip about me.'

I was sure that Maxim would have a terrible accident or even be killed

And that boat would never come back now.

Rebecca would never come back to this room again

I hoped that Maxim would ask for me but he did not.

Maxim would be so happy to have a son

I hoped that she would tell me more about Favell, but she did not

Maxim would not be back for another hour

'There would be a great deal to do

He would do most of the work.'

I hoped she would go, but she stood at the door.

'Many of them would make beautiful costumes

There is a shop in Bond Street that would do it really well

It would be easy to copy.'

I would have to wear a wig over my own straight hair

She had known what would happen.

My body was tired, but my mind would not rest

I wondered how long Maxim would be

If I ever heard her voice, I would know it

I would never escape from Rebecca

Soon there would be nothing to remind us of the Fancy Dress Ball.

'I was afraid something like that would happen,' Frank said at last.

Perhaps I would never see Maxim again

Perhaps Maxim had left me and would never come back

'If you loved him, you would never have married him,' Mrs Danvers said.

If I jumped now, I would not see the stones

The fall would kill me

I would not have to think about Rebecca any more...

'I always knew this would happen,' Maxim said

She knew this would happen

She knew she would win in the end.'

She knew that I would take her to Manderley

She knew I would never divorce her

I would never tell people all the terrible things she had told me.'

I told Rebecca that I would shoot Favell if he came to Manderley again.

"If I had a child, Max," she said, "Everyone would think it was yours

You would like a son, wouldn't you? A boy to grow up at Manderley

And you would never know who his father was."

'I knew the boat would be found one day,' he said

'Rebecca knew she would win in the end

But if she learnt the truth about Rebecca's death, she would become Maxim's enemy too

I wondered what the papers would say if they knew the truth

That terrible word - murder - would be on every front page.

'I would like to say something else.'

I wished someone would open a window

'With those holes, sir, and the sea-cocks open, a small boat like Mrs de Winter's would soon sink

What were they all saying now? What was happening? What would I do if Frank came back to Manderley without Maxim? I thought again of that dreadful word - murder

'Bring him in here, please, Frith.' I hoped that Favell would go before Maxim came back

'I would like to ask you a question

If it was something important, she would have told me.'

'If Baker was important Danny would know about him.' Mrs Danvers was turning the pages of the diary.

'I don't think he would tell you anything,' Colonel Julyan answered

Soon the servants would be starting work

Whatever happened to us, life at Manderley would go on

The flowers would come every year, the birds would sing

Manderley would always be here, safe and secure, within sound of the sea.

The day ahead would be long and tiring

'An operation would have been useless

In six months, she would have been dead.'

But the pain would have come

We would have people to stay

And soon, very soon Maxim and I would have children.

She whispered her son's name, as if she would frighten off this beloved apparition if she spoke any louder.

She half convinced herself that the dream was a premonition of Danny's eventual return to her, that somehow he had survived and would be coming back into her arms one day soon.

Nevertheless, she knew that when she had the dream again, she would find new hope in it as she had so many times before.

She would be sufficiently tough on herself to stay in touch with reality - as unpleasant as reality might be

Peanut-butter toast had been one of Danny's favorite foods, even when he was a toddler and was especially picky about what he would eat

Danny's cries and her response became increasingly shrill and desperate, for they knew that they must reach each other before nightfall or be lost forever; in the oncoming night, something waited for Danny, something fearsome that would seize him if he was alone after dark

He would comfort and reassure her, and in time, she would sleep again.

They would argue

He would begin the battle over a triviality and goad her until the bickering escalated into marital warfare

She would need to be fresh and alert in the morning.

But for better or worse, this December 30 was the hinge, upon which her entire future would swing.

She would never forget him, that sweet child who had been such a large part of her, but she would no longer have to live her life around the gaping hole that he had left in it

In less than seventeen hours - at 8:00 P.M., December 30 - the Golden Pyramid Hotel would present a special, invitational, VIP premiere of Magyck! , and the following night, New Year's Eve, the show would open to the general public

Her obsessive fear of intruders in the house, her disquieting dreams about Danny, her renewed grief - all of those things might grow from her concern about Magyck! If that were the case, then those symptoms would disappear as soon as the fate of the show was evident

She needed only to ride out the next few days, and in the relative calm that would follow, she might be able to get on with healing herself.

Then at one o'clock, the entire cast and the crew would assemble for the final dress rehearsal.

What if they came, lights flashing and sirens screaming - and found no one? If she had summoned the police every time that she imagined hearing a prowler in the house during the past two weeks, they would have decided long ago that she was scramble-brained

She was proud, unable to bear the thought of appearing to be hysterical to a couple of macho cops who would grin at her and, later over doughnuts and coffee, make jokes about her

She would search the house herself, alone.

She almost would have preferred to discover someone lurking in the kitchen or crouching in a closet rather than be forced to look, at last, in that final space where sadness seemed to dwell like a tenant

She loved her husband, and she was sure that the sheer power of her love would restore the luster to their marriage

Somehow, the act of giving away his clothes would be even sadder and more final than watching his casket being lowered into the ground.

As long as she left his things undisturbed, she could continue to entertain the hope that Danny was not dead, that he was just away somewhere for a while, and that he would shortly pick up his life where he had left off

She would start by spending Thursday afternoon here, boxing the clothes and toys and posters.

Joel Bandiri, Tina's co-producer, had watched the show from a booth in the first tier, the VIP row, where high rollers and other friends of the hotel would be seated every night of the run

You earned every penny you're gonna make out of this baby, just like I knew you would

But Joel would never stop willingly

He would most likely die on the stage, in the middle of puzzling out a tricky production problem.

Directly overhead, the ceiling of the immense porte cochere was lined with hundreds of lights; none of the bulbs were burning now, but after nightfall, they would rain dazzling, golden luminosity upon the glossy cobblestones below

Tina supposed that some people would say this hotel was gross, crass, tasteless, ugly - but she loved the place because it was here that she had been given her big chance.

She was in such an excellent mood that she didn't think even the sight of his room would be able to bring her down, as it usually did

She wasn't the sort of person who would snap over a thing like this

But even if Vivienne had kept her scheduled appointment, she never would have written those words on the chalkboard

She'd had no way of knowing that Jaborski's seventeenth trip would end in disaster, yet Michael blamed her

This evening she would call Michael, when she got home from the premiere and the party afterward

Now that she had spent more than a year grieving for her broken marriage and for her lost son, now that Magyck! was almost behind her, she would have time to be a woman again

She would make time.

Besides, living in Sacramento, she wouldn't be a nickel duchess any longer; she wouldn't be anyone special; she would be just another elderly lady, living with her daughter's family, playing grandma, marking time, waiting to die.

A life like that would be intolerable.

She prayed that she would remain healthy enough to continue working and living on her own until, at last, her time came and all the little windows on the machine of life produced lemons.

As she was mopping the last corner of the kitchen floor, as she was thinking about how dreary life would be without her friends and her slot machines, she heard a sound in another part of the house

They would think she was just a foolish old woman

Any tremor too mild to be felt would also be too mild to tear the photographs from the wall.

The wisest thing she could do would be to turn back, walk away from the door and out of the house

She would have been lovely enough if her eyes had been dark, in harmony with the shade of her hair and skin, but they were crystalline blue

Perhaps some would say that her brow was too wide

If the gigantic sets and lavish costumes and intricate choreography were overdone, or if any element was improperly executed, the production would quickly stumble across the thin line between captivating show-biz flash and sheer vulgarity

Regardless of how convincingly and earnestly she described these bizarre events, no one would believe her

They would nod and smile woodenly and agree that it was a strange and frightening experience, but all the while, they would be thinking that poor old Vivienne was finally getting senile

Sooner or later word of her ranting's about poltergeists might get back to her daughter in Sacramento, and then the pressure to move to California would become unbearable

Maybe some churching would be good for her

Although no second show was scheduled this evening, as would be the case every night henceforth, busboys and waitresses were busily clearing tables, resetting them with fresh linen and silverware for the following night's eight o'clock performance.

She wasn't sure she would be able to get any more sleep, but she had to try

In the morning, she would clean out Danny's room

Then the dreams would stop

He would be sleeping, but she wouldn't feel guilty if she woke him, not after all the sleepless nights that he had given her

If he became verbally violent and abusive, if he were irrational, she would need to have a clear head to deal with him

She would call him in the morning when she had regained some of her strength.

Vivienne Neddler had been in to clean last evening, but this wasn't the kind of thing that Vivienne would be capable of doing

If the mess had been here when Vivienne arrived, the old woman would have cleaned it up and would have left a note about what she'd found

She doubted that he would be able to answer that question even if he were present to hear it

She'd thought the sight of her would wipe the smile off his face

To reach the escalators that would carry them down to the shopping arcade on the lower level, they had to cross the entire casino

But now, if she started making nasty accusations after he'd been so pleasant to her, she would seem to be a hysterical harpy, and if she still had any advantage left, she would quickly lose it.

"Why would someone break in and leave without taking anything?" Michael asked.

"Who would want to scare you?" He seemed genuinely concerned.

The insufferable bastard! She was furious, but she said nothing; she didn't trust herself to speak, afraid that she would start screaming at him the instant she opened her mouth.

She had been determined that neither of them would have reason to feel that his importance in her life had diminished

The only way she could have held on to her husband would have been to abandon her new career, and she had refused to do that.

Why on earth would I? What do you have to give me that I can't get elsewhere? You've never been much of a giver anyway, Michael

And why would a first-rate burglar leave without taking anything? Why break in merely to write on Danny's chalkboard and to wreck the dead boy's things?

Why would a stranger harbor such passionate feelings about Danny's death?

Although the hotel collected this data with, for the most part, the customers' happiness in mind, Tina wondered how pleased these people would be to learn that the Golden Pyramid maintained fat dossiers on them.

Because so much material in the hotel's files was extremely confidential information about high rollers, and because the Pyramid's list of favored customers would be of enormous value to competitors, only approved people could obtain this data, and a record was kept of everyone who accessed it

Reaching toward her with a hand that would be cold and damp

He would turn toward her, surprised, and she would finally know who he was.

She probably wouldn't get the answers she needed, and she would only be acknowledging her presence to whomever might be out there at another workstation

And if he were lying, he wouldn't have told her the story about Charlie and coffee, for that could be substantiated or disproved with only a minimum of effort; he would have come up with a better alibi if he really needed one

No one in his right mind would take boys as young as twelve into the deepest parts of the Sierras, no matter how well prepared, supplied, and trained they were, no matter how strong, no matter how many big brothers were there to look out for them."

They drove up a steep, abandoned logging trail, a deteriorated dirt road so treacherous, so choked with snow, so icy that only a fool would have attempted to negotiate it any way but on foot."

Why would he do something so dumb, so reckless, as to drive that far along that road in those conditions?"

"I don't think the police would be much help

Neither of us would have been anxious to view the body even if it had been in perfect shape, so we accepted the mortician's recommendations

"And where would he have been all this time if not..

"If he were alive," Elliot said patiently, "someone would simply come and tell you

They wouldn't be this mysterious about it, would they?"

"And what would I eat?"

We represented some people no one else would touch, entrepreneurs who had a lot of good ideas but not much money for start-up legal fees

"If I did cook crow," he said, "it would be delicious

You would eat every scrap of it, lick your fingers, and beg for more."

By the time they finished eating dinner, she knew they would

They both realized that they were in need of each other, physically and mentally and emotionally, and that whatever happened between them would be good.

She wondered if she would know what to do

She was afraid that she would be inept, clumsy, ridiculous, foolish in bed

Good, healthy lovemaking with a man who cared for her would have helped her recover much faster than she had done, for sex was the antithesis of death, a joyous celebration of life, a denial of the tomb's existence.

For a long, long time, they forgot that death existed, and they explored the delicious, silken surfaces of love, and it seemed to them, in those shining hours, that they would both live forever.

The exhumation of Danny's body would be good for her, regardless of the horror that she might have to confront when the coffin lid was raised

If seeing the remains would put an end to these bloodcurdling nightmares, she would gain an advantage from the grim experience.

He'd been trying to postpone her departure because he was afraid that he would never see her again after she drove off.

The malicious tormentor wanted her to suffer mental anguish and spiritual pain; but he didn't want her to die, because that would spoil his fun.

He was afraid Tina Evans would be taken away from him just as Nancy had been.

He spent an hour and a half in his library, paging through legal casebooks, boning up on precedents for the exhumation of a body that, as the court had put it, "was to be disinterred in the absence of a pressing legal need, solely for humane reasons, in consideration of certain survivors of the deceased." Elliot didn't think Harold Kennebeck would give him any trouble, and he didn't expect the judge to request a list of precedents for something as relatively simple and harmless as reopening Danny's grave, but he intended to be well prepared

This was perfect weather for flying, one of those crystalline days when being above the earth would make him feel clean and free.

On Sunday, when the exhumation was out of the way, maybe he would fly Tina to Arizona or to Los Angeles for the day.

On hot summer days, these barren, sandy slopes seemed godforsaken, and they would not be made lush and green for another ten years at least

"And when the dust finally settled," Elliot said, "my client would win the right to exhume the body anyway."

"Her husband would be engaged in nothing more than spiteful obstructionism

In the process of trying to hurt his ex-wife, he'd waste several days of the court's time, and the end result would be exactly the same as if he'd never been given a chance to protest."

The Mad Hatter would be along any minute now.

"You've got something else in mind, and shooting me would ruin it."

Determined not to let them see that he was frightened, aware that any sign of fear would be taken as proof of weakness, Elliot said, "Well, you've got one hell of a weird approach for someone who's just taking a public opinion survey."

When they got their answers, they would kill him

And they wouldn't have wasted so much time coaxing him to cooperate; they would have used force without hesitation

Then they would carry him out to the garage, prop him up in his little Mercedes, put the seat belt snugly around him, and start the engine without opening the garage door

He would be too drugged to move, and the carbon monoxide would do the rest

In a day or two, someone would find him out there, his face blue-green-gray, his tongue dark and lolling, his eyes bulging in their sockets as he stared through the windshield as if on a drive to Hell

If there were no unusual marks on his body, no injuries incompatible with the coroner's determination of suicide, the police would be quickly satisfied.

If I really believed there was even the tiniest chance of anything like that, would I be standing here so cheerful?"

She was curious about the story out of which that creature had stepped, for she had the peculiar feeling that, in some way, it would be similar to the story of Danny's death

Elliot had a pretty good idea of what it would feel like, and he was sweating under his arms and in the small of his back, but he didn't move, and he didn't respond to the stranger's taunting.

They were going to great lengths to avoid using violence, which confirmed Elliot's suspicion that they wanted to leave him unmarked, so that later his body would bear no cuts or bruises incompatible with suicide.

The bear-who-would-be-a-man shambled toward him

The man in the kitchen was still unconscious and would probably remain that way for another ten or fifteen minutes

Vince would survive, although he might need hospitalization, and he wouldn't be able to swallow without pain for days to come.

As far as Elliot was concerned, the absence of ID was more sinister than a collection of patently false papers would have been, because this absolute anonymity smacked of a secret police organization.

If these people were determined to kill him just to stop the exhumation, they would have to kill Tina

He would never be able to con an unlisted number out of the directory-assistance operator

Death was determined that the parents would not reach the cemetery in time to save their son

And if, by some million-to-one chance, the boy had been alive when he'd been buried, why would it take an entire year for her to receive a vision from the spirit world?

Her sudden gullibility dismayed and alarmed her, because it indicated that the decision to have Danny's body exhumed was not having the stabilizing effect on her emotions that she had hoped it would.

He wheeled around another corner, and then another, trying to disappear from the men in the van long enough to leave them with so many choices of streets to follow that they would have to give up the chase in confusion

Elliot had the awful feeling that this guy would reach for the button Tina had pushed less than a minute ago, and that the garage door would lift just as the black van was rolling slowly by in the street.

Elliot wondered how Tom would have reacted if they had shrieked into his garage in an old battered Chevy.

"I figure you've got the wrong place," Tom said, stepping out of the doorway, into the garage, reaching for the button that would raise the big door.

He said the garage door would be open and that we were to pull right inside."

"Well, why would he tell us this was his address?" Tina asked, scowling.

Fitzpatrick would cheat us?"

He sat stiffly behind the wheel, clenching his teeth, wondering if a bullet would crack through the windshield and shatter his face.

"Why would he cooperate with these killers? Why would he violate his oath of office?"

Maybe he's still on the payroll of some spook shop, and maybe the whole plan was for him to pretend to retire and then get elected as a judge here in Vegas, so his bosses would have a friendly courtroom in town."

And in a small local election like the one Kennebeck won, stacking the deck would be easy if you had enough money and government muscle behind you."

"But why would they want Kennebeck on a Vegas court instead of in Washington or New York or someplace more important?"

"But even if Kennebeck's bosses have a lot of influence with the Vegas police, would the cops let us be killed? Would they really let it go that far?"

"What kind of government agency would have the authority to circumvent the law like this? What kind of agency would be empowered to kill innocent civilians who got in its way?"

I can't see what else would have brought an organization like Vince's so deeply into this

"I just can't believe the government would murder a group of little children just because they accidentally got a glimpse of a new weapon or something."

Approaching him would be dangerous

"If we can use the Cessna, how soon would we get to Reno?"

I think it would be wise for us to stay up there for a couple of days, even after we've talked to Bellicosti, until we can figure a way out of this mess

She felt as if a vast unbridgeable gap separated her from people like these, and she wondered if she ever again would be as relaxed and free from care as these diners were at this moment.

If she tried to scream now, she would be able to do so, but she no longer wanted to scream.

She wanted to see what would happen next if no one interfered with the presence that had taken control of the jukebox

Danny survived the accident, but they couldn't let him come home because he'd tell everyone the government was responsible for the deaths of the others, and that would blow their secret military installation wide open."

"And it would be proof enough for you, if you'd had the same experience back there in the diner, if you'd felt what I felt

That would be even more unlikely than the possibility that Danny did it."

"But if he can send dreams to you," Elliot said, "why wouldn't he simply transmit a neat, clear message telling you what's happened to him and where he is? Wouldn't that get him the help he wants a lot faster? Why would he be so unclear and indirect? He should send a concise mental message, psychic E-mail from the Twilight Zone, make it a lot easier for you to understand."

She would not be deterred

What had happened to Danny might still prove to be terrible, shattering, but she didn't think it would be as hard to accept as his "death" had been

If they found Danny and then perished trying to save him, that would be a nasty trick of fate, for sure

If he made a clean hit here, in the crowded casino, he would be assured of a promotion.

A group had gone down a while ago and would be returning for their last stand at the tables before a whole new staff came on duty with the shift change

He was confident that he would nail Evans when the man returned from the dealer's lounge in the next few minutes.

Evans reacted as anyone would

Even if someone had been monitoring that area from an overhead camera, there would not have been much for him to see.

The active poison itself had already penetrated the victim's body, done its work, and begun to break down into a series of naturally occurring chemicals that would raise no alarms when the coroner later studied the results of the usual battery of forensic tests

In a few seconds, the medium would evaporate too, leaving nothing unusual to arouse the initial attending physician's suspicion.

The hotel doctor would call it a heart attack after he had examined the body

So would the coroner

So would the death certificate.

She would have been frightened, terrified..

She would have gone straight to the police, the newspapers - or both.

In the meantime, Network agents could have located a boy's body in the same state of decay, as Danny's corpse would have been if it had been locked in that coffin for the past year

They would have opened the grave secretly, at night, when the cemetery was closed, switching the remains of the fake Danny for the rocks that were currently in the casket

That would have been a complex operation, fraught with the peril of discovery

The risks would have been acceptable, however, and there wouldn't have been any need to kill anyone.

Left-wingers and right-wingers differed about certain details, of course, but their only major point of contention centered on the identity of those who would be permitted to be a part of the privileged ruling class, once the power had been sufficiently centralized.

Although two of the hits he had ordered had gone totally awry, Alexander remained self-assured; he was convinced that he would eventually triumph.

If he was aware of his own shortcomings, the son of a bitch would be crushed to death under his collapsing ego.

You couldn't have known what would happen after I talked to Kennebeck."

"If it wasn't me, it would have been some other attorney

But why would they go to Arizona, of all places?"

He's more important because he's a human being, not because he's a source of data, Dombey thought angrily, but he didn't voice the thought because it would have identified him as a dissident and as a potential security risk.

Zachariah would report their conversation in detail, and Dombey needed to assume a more balanced position for the record

"Storming right up to the front door, demanding answers from Bellicosti - that would be emotionally satisfying, brave, bold - and stupid."

He didn't lock the doors, because it was possible that he and Tina would need to get into the car in a hurry when they returned.

And if assassins were waiting here, they would expect their prey to approach the funeral home boldly, confidently

Consequently, their attention would be focused largely on the front of the house.

If anyone did glance out a back window, he would spot the two of them instantly.

At least one killer would be in the house with Bellicosti's corpse

"If you hadn't, he would have killed us."

"I would have thought..

They embraced, and then she said, "If they knew we were flying to Reno, why didn't they follow us from the airport? Then they would have known we weren't going to walk in the front door of Bellicosti's place."

As Elliot was opening the driver's door, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye, and he looked up, already sure of what he would see

These diplomatic and intelligence-gathering assignments were never an insult to his family name, but they were always minor postings to embassies in smaller countries like Iceland and Ecuador and Tonga, nothing for which The New York Times would deign to acknowledge his existence.

George was encouraged by the President to believe that eventually he would be promoted to the bureau chief of the entire western half of the country - and then all the way to the top, if only he could get the floundering western division functioning as smoothly as the South American and Nevada offices

In time, he would take the director's chair in Washington and would bear full responsibility for all domestic and foreign intelligence operations

With that title, he would be one of the most powerful men in the United States, more of a force to be reckoned with than any mere Secretary of State or Secretary of Defense could hope to be.

As he sat in the dimly lighted cabin of the fan-jet and watched the clouds racing below, Alexander wondered what his father and his uncles would say if they knew that his service to his country had often required him to issue kill orders

What would the elder Alexander's, the famous statesmen, think if they knew he'd soiled his hands with blood? As for the fact that it was sometimes his job to order other men to kill, he supposed his family would understand

Yes, he was sure that his father and uncles would give him their blessings - if only he were permitted to tell them.

He decided he would kill her himself when the time came, and that thought gave him an instant erection.

His taste for violence would not have been tolerated for long in the old FBI - perhaps not even in the new, thoroughly politicized FBI - or in many other congressionally monitored police agencies

Her expression would have been appropriate to the face of a gypsy fortune-teller peering with a clairvoyant frown at tealeaves.

"Don't they publish terrain maps of the wilderness areas? Backpackers and other nature lovers would need them

I saw them at the parent-son scout meeting when he explained why the trip would be perfectly safe."

If he failed to stop Stryker and the Evans woman, his dream of assuming the director's chair in a few years would never become a reality.

An entire battalion of nitpickers and fussbudgets would be hard-pressed to find a speck of dust in this room.

"Billy," she said, "if I tried to explain, we would be here all afternoon."

The joke seemed to relax Sandstone, as Elliot had hoped it would

Elliot had suggested a change in the color of ink, so they would be able to tell the difference between the meaningless scribbles that were already on the map and any new marks that might be made.

Apparently, Billy liked his view of the world to be as neat and uncluttered as everything else about him; if he started believing in ghosts, he'd have to reconsider his opinions about a lot of other things too, and then life would become intolerably messy.

Tina said, "Elliot, listen, I told you he would show us where he's being kept, and he drew that route for us

"But what if they're watching my accounts down there? That would lead them to us fast

If they were killed, the truth would die with them, and the cover-up would continue

Even if she had not known that these deep woodlands harbored secrets about Danny and the deaths of the other scouts, she would have found them mysterious and unnervingly primeval.

Shortly they would turn off the two-lane blacktop onto another road, which the map specified as "unpaved, nondirt," whatever that was.

Entering the formidable mountains, they had become aware of how soon darkness would settle over the sheltered valleys and ravines, and they had discussed the wisdom of proceeding

Perhaps they would have been smarter to turn around, go back to Reno, find another hotel room, and get a fresh start in the morning

Perhaps the lateness of the hour and the fading light would work against them, but approaching in the night might actually be to their advantage

When he discovered the nature of the maps, when he realized that one of them was missing, and when he discovered that the missing map was the one Stryker would need in order to find the Project Pandora labs, Alexander felt his face flush with anger and chagrin

That would draw too much attention

And they would be dead.

He was trying hard not to think about the chopper, the bad weather, and the likelihood that they would take a long, swift, hard fall into a remote mountain ravine.

"How the hell would you know?" the wounded man asked, straining his words through clenched teeth.

The cab controls would not operate unless one first inserted an acceptable ID card into a slot above them

Then, even with Danny jamming the enemy's weapons, she and Elliot would be able to escape only if they slaughtered their way out, and she knew that neither of them had the stomach for that much murder, perhaps not even in self-defense.

She could not have said anything else that would have had a fraction as much impact on them as the words she'd spoken

My country's far from perfect, but what's been done to Danny Evans isn't something that my country would approve of

She had the irrational fear that, if she said his name loudly, the spell would be broken and he would vanish forever.

Minutes ago, when Tina had first peered through the observation window, when she had seen the frighteningly thin child, she had told herself that she would not cry

And judging from his appearance, she was concerned that any serious emotional disturbance would literally destroy him.

At first, she was afraid to hug him, for fear he would shatter in her embrace

Alexander was increasingly confident that they would reach the installation unscathed, and he was aware that even Kurt Hensen, who hated flying with Morgan, was calmer now than he had been ten minutes ago.

He just went right off the rails," Dombey said, obviously embarrassed that one of his colleagues would lose control of himself under those circumstances

They were just about to move off the road, into the trees, so they would be away from any sign of civilization when they set up camp for their first night in the wilderness

Each time that he personally killed someone, he felt as if he were establishing another link to the world beyond this one; and he hoped, once he had made enough of those linkages, that he would be rewarded with a vision from the other side

One day maybe he would be standing in a graveyard, before the tombstone of one of his victims, and the person he had killed would reach out to him from beyond and let him see, in some vivid clairvoyant fashion, exactly what death was like

And then he would know.

Apparently afraid that she would voice her thoughts and alert Dombey to the incredible truth of the situation, Elliot consulted his wristwatch and said, "We ought to get out of here."

The world would regard him as a freak, and everyone would want to gawk at him, put him on display

And for sure, if the people in this installation got the idea that Danny's newfound psychic abilities were a result of the parietal spot caused by his repeated exposure to Wuhan-400, they would want to test him, poke and probe at him

Not until she and Elliot figured out what effect that revelation would have on the boy's life.

What madman would take a helicopter out in this weather?

Alexander watched death rushing up at him and knew his curiosity about the other side would shortly be satisfied.

Therefore, I will devote what space I am given here to this novel itself and to the savage, brutal, cruel, maddening, insane, inane, nonsensical, stupid, bewildering, toxic, bloodcurdling, lip-chafing, toenail-curling experience of working with a major television network to adapt this novel, and three others, as part of a program that would have been called The Dean Koontz Theater or Dean Koontz Presents or possibly Here's Dean! or even Koontzapalooza

They chose it as one of four of my novels to be developed as two-hour TV movies that would launch Popcorn, Sugar Babies, Dum Dums, and Dean or whatever the series would have been titled

I was to be an executive producer of the show and the writer of one of the first four teleplays, which would be based on my novel Darkfall

The other three scripts would be assigned to "network-approved writers."

I was so young and naive, I assumed "network-approved writers" meant that each of these writers would be among the finest in the TV business, on the planet, in the universe, the elite of the elite, the crS232; me de la crS232; me, superexcellent wordsmiths incapable of spinning any story that wasn't the top, the ower of Pisa, the Mona Lisa, the Louvre Museum, the Colosseum! Network-approved writers! I was in the lap of God, in the hands of ministering angels, and there could be no doubt whatsoever that we would have a hit with Help, My Feet Are Stuck to the Floor in Dean Koontz's Theater or whatever it would be called.

A second writer, a surly fellow, believed that he would soon be a famous director and informed us of this at every opportunity

He was contemptuous of the book he was paid to adapt, of me, and of the entire TV industry, to which he would never return (he assured me with a glower) after his first smash-hit film

In each subsequent meeting, one or the other would show up to take story notes on their latest draft, while the missing partner would always have been waylaid by an emergency of one kind or another: a broken washing machine and a flooded laundry room, the sudden-onset illness of a cat with symptoms suggesting (to me) demonic possession, the death of a beloved aunt, the death of a beloved uncle, the death of a beloved neighbor (I began to worry that merely by associating with these women, decades would be shorn from my life span), migraine headaches, and an unfortunate encounter with an angry Big Foot in a long line at the DMV

The heating coils would probably have to maintain the road at about 38 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit to be sure that it remained free of snow and ice

At first, I thought the writers had put lampposts on this road, which would make no sense, as it is a secret route through restricted government property

By this time, we had passed the one-year mark in the development process, and I knew we were not going to wind up with a usable script, so I didn't insist on discussing whether the rubber tires would melt off the vehicle within two hundred yards or three, or ponder at what point the gasoline tank might explode

I simply said, "Well, a red-hot glowing road is a great visual." In fact, it would be such a fantastic visual that it would be visible at night from orbiting satellites, like a neon arrow pointing toward the secret installation that it served.

After reviewing the chaos that he had inherited, the new head of network decided that even though Darkfall was an exciting script, he didn't want to make a movie "about little creatures living in the walls." He decided that we would film the other script I had done; for which I received primary credit but not sole credit because of Writers Guild rules virtually guaranteeing the first writer some kind of credit as long as that writer's drafts had been composed in one of the languages spoken on Earth.

Considering the fearsome number of meetings I had to sit through, my per-hour wage penciled out at less than I would have made if I had taken a part-time job at McDonald's.

I would not be surprised to learn that one of the network-approved writers is in prison for crimes of a particularly perverse nature committed against small woodland animals - and I know that at least a couple of them are no longer in the business

If anyone could see me turn on the light to answer it, I suppose I would look like any other sleepy man annoyed at being disturbed

He at least seemed to understand what I said, and told me he would pick me up and take me to my brother's house.

But she would never say why or under what circumstances she had killed Andre

I could imagine how eagerly he would question the boy.

About his death, however, she would say nothing more than that she had killed him with the steam hammer

'I cannot answer that question,' was all she would reply.

But she would not explain why it had been used twice

I had thought about going to see the commissaire, but knowing that he would then start questioning Henri made me hesitate

I was also afraid that he would look for and find the fly Henri had talked of

I decided I would try to question Helene myself.

but to what? The commissaire would have known what to do with such an advantage; I did not

All I could do was hope that those defences would continue to break down.

I promised Andre that fly would be destroyed, and I can say nothing until it is.'

I was hoping it would find me, but it couldn't know that I was here

'Protect my boy from what? Don't you understand? I'm here so that Henri won't be the son of a woman who went to the guillotine for having murdered his father! Don't you understand that I would much prefer the guillotine to the living death of this asylum?'

'I'll give you what your commissaire would call my "confession".'

I told the servants that I would have only a light supper and that I was not to be disturbed afterwards

He knew that the Air Ministry would have forbidden some of them as too dangerous, but he wanted to be certain about the results before reporting his discovery.

He believed it would change life as we know it

It would mean the end of all ways of moving things from one place to another - not only things but also people

He could see a time when there would be no aeroplanes, ships, trains or cars and, therefore, no roads or railway lines, ports, airports or stations

They would be replaced all over the world by stations for transmitting and receiving objects

A traveller would be placed in a cabin at the station, the machine would be turned on, and the traveller would disappear and reappear almost immediately at the chosen receiving station.

He did not tell me first, knowing very well that I would never have agreed to such an experiment with our dog

I now expected that my husband would invite the Air Ministry people to come down, but he went on working.

Of course I never thought that he would try an experiment with a human being, not then anyway

I knew that Henri had caught the fly because it looked different from other flies, but I also knew that his father hated cruelty to animals and that there would be a fuss if he discovered our son had put a fly in a box or bottle.

I knew I would not find the fly Andre wanted me to look for

I had no doubt that Andre would kill himself unless I could make him change his mind

He would never forgive me for breaking a promise, but I phoned Professor Augier.

So I would have to fight alone

But I would save Andre.

Since I must leave you, I would rather you remembered me as I was before

Several furious knocks shook the door, and I knew then that he would never accept this solution

And yet I knew that if I looked at the horror for much longer, I would go on screaming for the rest of my life.

The police would never understand but the professors would, and they must not! That had been Andre's last wish.

The night watchman must have heard the hammer and would be round at any moment

'I would like to show you a very strange document after dinner, Charas,' I said.

'I would like you to read this, Charas,' I said

I would like to burn it afterwards.'

I had just finished cutting some meat, which was very tough, and said, waving the knife in a way that was not at all appropriate for a vicar, that anyone who murdered Colonel Protheroe would be doing the world a favour.

'My dear,' I said, 'if you would only try...'

If I had some money, I would go away

If father died, then I would be all right.'

I said I would look at Dr Stone's barrow.' And she wandered out again, and across the garden.

I wondered how Lettice would get on with Dr Stone's secretary

'No nice girl would do it,' Miss Wetherby said.

But I do wish you would be more careful in what you say.'

I said the things to her that it was my duty to say, remembering all the time how that morning I had said that a world without Colonel Protheroe would be a better place.

But I felt worried because I now knew that Anne Protheroe was the kind of woman who would stop at nothing when her emotions took control

'Of course, if this were a book, the old man would die - and no one would be sorry.'

If he stayed, people would start to talk about his relationship with Anne

Colonel Protheroe would hear about it - and things would be made much worse for her.

'Oh, how I would like some excitement,' Griselda said

'The old man would probably shoot you,' said Dennis.

So I told Mary that I would try to be back by six-thirty, and left.

I told him you would be back soon and that Colonel Protheroe was waiting in the study

We thought that Inspector Slack would come and ask me what it was I had wanted to tell him, so we were surprised when Mary told us that he had gone

Then Griselda said she would go to Old Hall

It seems to me that if a young man had decided to take another man's life, he would not appear upset about it afterwards

It is difficult to imagine being in such a position, but I cannot believe I would be upset myself.'

'She didn't say anything about it, and she would have done if she had heard it.'

'What about a silencer? Nobody would hear anything then.'

Then we would like to ask you a few questions.'

The servant hurried away and returned to say that she would see us soon.

But at that moment a message came that Mrs Protheroe would see us.

I knew he would be there...'

I would have seen it if he had.'

Your house is next door to the vicarage so perhaps you saw something that would help us.'

Well, who would be happy with a stepmother? I wouldn't put up with it.'

'But why would he say he had done it if he hadn't?'

If I had, I would have gone in to see what had happened.'

'Don't you think it would be a good idea if Mary was taught how to cook?'

If she learned to cook, she would leave to get more money

So while Mary can't cook we're safe, because nobody else would want her

'I wish you would tell me,' I said, 'who your seven suspects are.'

'There must be some clue that would help us.'

'And yet, is that possible? Mrs Protheroe would only have just left the study

She would not have had time to reach the studio.'

Well, after the vicar saw us there, I promised him that I would leave the village

I hoped no one would see me, but of course, Miss Marple was in her garden! She stopped me and I explained I was going to meet my husband

'Because only the day before the crime he said that anyone who murdered Colonel Protheroe would be doing the world a favour.'

'Haydock,' I said, 'if you knew that someone was a murderer, would you tell the police, or would you stay silent?'

'Well, as a doctor, if you somehow discovered the truth - I wondered what you would do, that's all.'

'I hope I would do my duty, Clement.'

'But which of those choices do you think would be your duty?'

I would be very grateful if you could come and see me this afternoon

I am in great trouble and would like your advice.

But murder! For murder - one would need a very strong reason.'

He was probably very angry about being sent to prison but would feel differently when he came out.

'Then if a lady - Miss Hartnell perhaps - said that she came here about six o'clock, rang the bell, but got no answer - you would say she was mistaken?'

But a nice-looking young man, I'm sure they would tell him at once.'

If the call had just been a joke, the fingerprints would not have been wiped off so carefully.'

And from his cottage he would go through the North Gate

Why would she take a suitcase into the woods at twelve o'clock at night? I don't expect it has anything to do with the murder

But later she had realized that if her husband had been sitting at the desk, she would not have seen him.

"Well," I said, "There was no hat here when I cleaned the room on Thursday morning." And she said, "But I don't expect you would have seen it

'We would be very sorry to lose you.'

And a search for it would begin immediately.

I wanted to leave, too, but she said, no, because it would upset the Napiers

I would do anything for Lettice.'

Could you and the vicar come for lunch today? Something strange has happened, and I would like Mr Clement's advice.

'I thought', I said, 'that you would.'

If we'd been planning to go away together, and then Lucius had died - it would be so awful now

But you made us both see how wrong it would be.'

I hoped it would get her into trouble.' I told her that I would return the earring to Anne and say nothing about how I had found it.

'You don't think it would be better to telephone?'

Of course, it would be better to telephone

To walk through the village with the suitcase would only encourage gossip

'It would seem so,' said Miss Marple

The sale would take some time to arrange

And a lot of people would know about it

'Well, it seems to me that the only way this silver could be sold would be if it had been replaced by copies

And of course, as you say, then Dr Stone would have no reason to murder Colonel Protheroe.'

'Of course, when the expert saw the silver, he would know it wasn't the real thing, and then Colonel Protheroe would remember that he had shown the things to Dr Stone...'

'Well, I did come to ask you if you would take the service tonight instead of me.'

So I would like your advice about whether to go to the police or not.

'I promised that I would tell no one their name

I suppose that would be the best thing

Well, I would have mine.

I would very much like to talk to you

Perhaps dear Griselda and Dennis would be very kind and come over here and entertain my nephew

I would like to explain.' She paused, and I offered her a chair

Otherwise, she would not have gone down to the studio to meet Mr Redding

'But why would he have done that?'

'You once said that you would go mad if anyone else confessed to the crime.'

I have always liked Mrs Protheroe but I soon realized that she would do anything Lawrence Redding told her

And, of course, he is not the sort of young man who would marry a woman who has no money

And Dennis, who would do anything for Lettice.'

This was so that I would notice that she had no gun with her

So perhaps the sneeze that Mrs Price Ridley's servant heard might have been the shot? But anyway, Mrs Protheroe and Mr Redding went into the studio together - and then realized, of course, that I would not leave my garden until I saw them come out again!'

Because if they had really said goodbye to each other they would have been sad

Because someone who had just committed a murder would, of course, try to behave normally

Then he set fire to the end of the rope, knowing that it would take about twenty minutes to burn through and for the stone to fall and cause the explosion

When the poor young man was found dead and the letter was read, everyone would think that he had shot Colonel Protheroe and killed himself because he felt so guilty

And they thought that this would make her stop

'Suppose Dr Haydock mentioned that Mrs Sadler had seen him changing the pills in Mr Hawes' box - well, if Mr Redding is innocent, that would mean nothing to him

'Yes, but would Haydock be willing to do that?'

And if he hadn't, he would have been found guilty of murder

She hoped that she would find something the police had not

'I wonder,' I said, 'if you were to commit a murder whether you would ever be found out.'

I do not think I would have known anything about it myself if I had not met Ogilvy, the well-known astronomer

I remember how I sat there in the blackness, not suspecting the meaning of the tiny light I had seen and all the trouble that it would cause me

If I had looked up I would have seen the strangest thing that ever fell to Earth from space, but I did not

He met some local people who were up early, but the story he told and his appearance were so wild that they would not listen to him

As soon as Ogilvy saw me, he called me to come down, and asked me if I would mind going over to see Lord Hilton, who owned the land

The smoke (or flame, perhaps, would be a better word for it) was so bright that the deep blue sky overhead seemed to darken as these clouds rose

It that death had swung round a full circle, it would have killed me

A Martian, therefore, would weigh three times more than on Mars, although his strength would be the same

I did not know it, but that was the last proper dinner I would eat for many strange and terrible days.

If, on that Friday night, you had drawn a circle at a distance of five kilometres from Horsell Common, I doubt if there would have been one human being outside it, unless it was a relation of Stent, whose emotions or habits were affected by the new arrivals

The Martians took as much notice of him as we would of a cow.

I ran because I realized that soon everyone on this side of the hill would be moving

If I had not made a promise to the pub owner, she would, I think, have asked me to stay in Leatherhead that night

It was some time before my shock would let me struggle up into a drier position, or think of the great danger I was in.

If I had really understood the meaning of all the things I had seen, I would have gone back to join my wife in Leatherhead immediately

I had already decided that the area around London would be the scene of a great battle before the Martians could be destroyed.

If I had been alone, I think I would have taken my chance and gone straight across country

After that I would leave him and turn off to reach Leatherhead.

If my foot had slipped, it would have been the end

Soon everybody would be trying to escape to the north

After that no group of men would stand against them, because this would mean almost certain death.

He would have had very little chance if the younger lady had not very bravely stopped the cart and returned to help him

He said he would catch up with them by about half-past four in the morning, but it was now nearly nine and there was no sign of him.

It one had flown over London that morning, every road to the north or east would have seemed black with moving refugees, everyone a frightened and exhausted human being.

There was also a notice which said that within twenty-four hours bread would be given to the hungry people

She had never been out of England before; she would rather die than be friendless in a foreign country

They would find George in Stanmore.

He would probably have stayed longer it the sound or guns had not begun at about that time in the south

If the ship had fired one shell, they would have sent it straight to the bottom with the Heat-Ray.

We stood shocked by our danger, and if the Martian had been looking down we would have died immediately

But my fixed idea of reaching Leatherhead would not let me rest, and in the evening I went out again

This idea seems horrible to us, but at the same time I think we should remember how disgusting our meat-eating habits would seem to an intelligent rabbit.

I would not let him eat any more that day

I was tired but would not give up, and he cried and complained about his immediate hunger

I thought at once that it would know that I was there from the mark of the hammer.

I thought that if I could attract it in quietly, I would be able, perhaps, to kill and eat it

It would be a good idea to kill it anyway, in case its actions attracted the attention of the Martians.

If I had known, I would have left him at Walton, but I had not been able to see ahead

Certainly, unless they had been killed, she and my cousins would have run away.

'There are men who would do it cheerfully

It would be wrong of them to live and weaken the others.

I also felt that it would be easier to get into the drain and dig back towards the house

I would die and end it

And I would save myself even the trouble of killing myself

It had happened in this way, and I and many others did not see that it would happen because terror and disaster had blinded our minds

It is our home and would be ours even if the Martians were ten times as strong as they are.

At the sound of birds overhead I looked up at the enormous fighting-machine that would never fight again, at the pieces of red flesh that dropped down onto the overturned seats on the top of Primrose Hill.

That same day the healing would begin

People who were still alive would start to return, and life would come back to the empty streets

The sound of tools would soon be heard in all the burnt and broken houses

In a year, I thought, we would rebuild all that had been destroyed.

Upon my word, Watson, there is something very attractive about that yellow face at the window, and I would not miss this case for worlds.'

I took every possible precaution so that there would not be gossip about a little black girl

We agreed that we would row the boat, and not tow it

If she had one of those university boys for a boyfriend, wouldn't he come and take her home every evening? Certainly, Joe would love to do exactly that - with his taxi

Why should I be a typist?' 'What else would you be?'

And she is not the type who would borrow money just to buy a pair of shoes; she would just wear her old pairs till things got better

What use is a sister, if you can't have a talk with her? And what would their parents say if they were alive? They were good church-goers

Running around with an old and evil politician would horrify them.

and they would drive to exactly where the sea and the sand meet.

If I were Mercy, I am sure that's exactly what I would do

'And maybe he would even agree to get us a new car from abroad

I shall pay for everything, but that would be better than that old car I was thinking about

Mercy would move back to the house, perhaps find a man who was more - ordinary, let's say

Then she would get married and these terrible times would be forgotten

I had hoped she would move back here and start all over again.'

'If I were you, I would stop worrying because it seems Mercy can take care of herself quite well,' said James.

Suddenly she seemed the stronger sister: she would not change her mind

Madame Fosco would only inherit the money if Laura died before she did

My one hope now was to prove Laura's identity, but Mr Kyrle, having heard the whole story, said that it would be impossible

She did this because the government would not give women the right to vote

She would not go to the US Open in 1973 because of that, she said