"The unswept bar was lined with unclean sawdust in which reposed rat droppings, drunken sailors, and human debris too revolting to contemplate.
‘Charming,’ said Phryne. She found squalor interesting, once in a while.... [This bar] seemed astounded almost to the point of silence by the entry of a real, live lady, dressed in red satin and loaded with jewellery. Several voices called out suggestions. Phryne replied so indelicately that there was another silence. Not even the dock women swore like that. Wisely, the pub decided that she was none of their business and the proprietors turned back to their own concerns: robbing sailors, watering beer, and calculating exactly how much turpentine could be added to the Montpellier gin without the customers actually expiring on the premises."
- from The Miracle of St Mungo by Kerry Greenwood, collected in The Lady with the Gun Asks the Questions
