more maxims for living:

a) important witnesses who are gravely ill and lying in hospitals should be questioned at once or they will die before divulging important information.

b) women attached to scotland yard do not always wear flat shoes, wear their hair in severe buns and have 46 inch hips.

c) spill coffee on someone if you want an excuse to search the pockets of his jacket.

d) if your wife has an intuition, do not dismiss it. she will always turn out to be right, and will relish being able to say i told you so.

e) never stand near an open window because it's a set-up and you will be shot at while answering the phone.

f) catch bombs can be left in handbags, parcels, under stacks of newspapers.

g) it is harder to break the windows and escape from a hotel room than you think; coming quietly is a much better idea.

h) know how to whistle rule britannia, so that you can warn your partner-in-crime that someone is coming.