From The Case of the Cautious Coquette, by ESG:

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The man had an almost dreamy air of abstraction, as though his mind, immersed in books, had somehow become imprisoned between the printed covers of some text book and had failed to emerge.

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"That stall about the stolen car is two years older than Moses. In addition to which, it stinks."

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[From The Case of the Fiery Fingers, by Erle Stanley Gardner]:

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“Wait a minute,” Mason said. “You’re getting several carts in front of one horse.”