“Are you proposing a one by one situation, or all at once?” That matters. For one, he’d better finish his Scotch now, because portioning it out between dismemberments would be inconvenient.

Here’s another inconvenient thing. Claudius loves to lie, and could lie all day. Truthfully, he says, “As it happens, I’m quite fond of Crowley. You’ll have to provide a more convincing reason for me to tell you anything about him.”