There are some jobs I do, and some jobs I don’t do, like kill people

There are some jobs I do, and some jobs I don’t do, like kill people is Bogdan’s plainspoken boundary between paid practical work and murder. In a hypothetical exchange about whether Ian Ventham might ask him to kill Tony Curran, Bogdan makes clear that trust would not make him an accomplice: he would tell Ian to do it himself.

The Hypothetical Request

Elizabeth asks what Bogdan would have said if Ian had asked him to kill Tony. Bogdan imagines acknowledging that Ian might have a good reason, but rejects the job all the same. The distinction is not between justified and unjustified killing; in his answer, the possibility of a good reason does not turn murder into work he will do.

Work and Moral Boundary

Bogdan’s examples are fixing alarms and tiling swimming pools: specific, practical services set against killing people. The list gives the refusal its force. He does not present himself as unwilling to work, but as someone who draws a categorical line around murder and would leave responsibility for it with the person making the request.

The Line in Context

After Elizabeth agrees with him, she asks whether he is absolutely sure he did not kill Tony Curran. Bogdan laughs and answers that he is certain, adding that he would remember. The exchange keeps the expression’s dry directness while placing it beside the murder under investigation: Bogdan’s refusal is presented as a personal boundary, while his assurance answers Elizabeth’s separate question about what he did.