How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"Until your heartstrings tug you back. Come now, Pellinore, do you honestly believe in this claptrap theory of yours? They wander ashore, undetected, and for the next twenty-four years manage to feed off the local populace and make little Anthro-poppies, leaving behind no direct evidence, no survivors, no eyewitnesses, until they miraculously arrive at the doorstep of the very person who requested the pleasure of their company? You're like the priests in the temple: You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!"
"It's possible; the facts do fit," insisted the doctor.
"How?"
"Adaptation, natural selection, and some luck, I'll admit that. It's conceivable—"
"Oh, Pellinore," said Kearns. "Really. It's conceivable the moon is made of blue cheese."
"I can't conceive of that," Morgan argued.
"You can't prove it isn't," retorted Kearns. (10.89-95)
Kearns isn't necessarily the first person we'd turn to for ethical advice, but he raises an interesting perspective. Is something true if you can't prove that it isn't? Is that how we establish truth if there's no other method?
Quote #8
"You're going to arrest him? For what?" I was appalled.
"And that abhorrent Cory or Kearns or whatever his name is. I don't think I've ever encountered a more loathsome human being. He better pray that poor woman survives the unthinkable ordeal he put her through. Why, I believe he actually enjoyed doing it. I think seeing her suffer gave him pleasure. Well, it shall give me the utmost pleasure to see him standing upon the gallows! Let him crack his profane jokes and smirk his damnable blasphemies with the noose around his neck! If it costs my entire allotment of moments, I will gladly spend them to witness the morality of that one." (12.124-125)
Tsk, tsk Constable Morgan. You gave your word to Dr. Kearns that you would, under no circumstances, hold anyone accountable to the law during the fight against the Anthropophagus. The reason Kearns is so adamant about that is because he's very aware that his methods are unconventional (to say the least), but still—what is Constable Morgan's word worth if the minute he gets a chance he's going to relish going back on it?
Quote #9
I cannot say I grasped the full meaning of that moment then, the import of the disparate elements, which seems so obvious now: the two pathways marked, one straight and wide, the other crooked and narrow; the tunnel leading downward, ever downward; the sound of something following me; the baring of my wounds to let them 'breathe a bit.' Such profound perfidy is beyond the comprehension of most men, let alone the trusting naïveté of a child! No, I was merely confused and frightened, not suspicious, as I kneeled, lamp thrust before me in one hand while I clutched the gun in the quivering other. (12.235)
"Perfidy" is the perfect word to describe what Kearns has done to Will Henry. He has orchestrated a terrible scenario that puts Will Henry into an unthinkable situation, all while under the guise of being under his protection. He really is a dastardly character, especially because when he's caught he shows exactly zero remorse.