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- CRIME AND PUNISHMENT 135
suppose, from the character of our legal system, that they will
accept, or that they are in a position to accept, this fact — rest-
ing simply on a psychological impossibility — as irrefutable and
conclusively breaking down the circumstantial evidence for the
prosecution? No, they won't accept it, they certainly won't,
because they found the jewel-case and the man tried to hang
himself, 'which he could not have done if he hadn't felt guilty.'
That's the point, that's what excites me, you must understand!"
"Oh,. I see you are excited! Wait a bit. I forgot to ask you;
what proof is there that the box came from the old woman?"
"That's been proved," said Razumihin with apparent reluc-
tance, frowning. "Koch recognised the jewel-case and gave the
name of the owner, who proved conclusively that it was his."
"That's bad. Now another point. Did any one see Nikolay at
the time that Koch and Pestryakov were going upstairs at first,
and is there no evidence about that?"
"Nobody did see him," Razumihin answered with vexation.
"That's the worst of it. Even Koch and Pestryakov did not
notice them on their way upstairs, though, indeed, their evi-
dence could not have been worth much. They said they saw the
flat was open, and that there must be work going on in it, but
they took no special notice and could not remember whether
there actually were men at work in it."
"Hm! ... So the only evidence for the defence is that they
were beating one another and laughing. That constitutes a
strong presumption, but . . . How do you explain the facts your-
self?"
"How do I explain them? What is there to explain? It's clear.
At any rate, the direction in which explanation is to be sought
is clear, and the jewel-case points to it. The real murderer
dropped those ear-rings. The murderer was upstairs, locked in,
when Koch and Pestryakov knocked at the door. Koch, like an
ass, did not stay at the door; so the murderer popped out and
ran down, too, for he had no other way of escape. He hid from
Koch, Pestryakov and the porter in the flat when Nikolay and
Dmitri had just run out of it. He stopped there while the porter
and others were going upstairs, waited till they were out of
hearing, and then went calmly downstairs at the very minute
when Dmitri and Nikolay ran out into the street and there was
no one in the entry; possibly he was seen, but not noticed. There
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