Part 5 · Chapter 3

"Pyotr Petrovitch," she wailed, "protect me... please! Make this crazy woman understand she can’t treat a lady in bad luck like this... that there are rules! I’ll go to the governor-general myself... she’s going to pay for this... Remembering my dad’s kindness, protect these orphans."

"Let me handle this, madam," Pyotr Petrovitch said, waving her off. "Your dad, as you know, I never met" (someone burst out laughing), "and I’m not getting involved in your endless fights with Amalia Ivanovna."

"I’m here to talk about my own business... and I need a word with your stepdaughter, Sofya... Ivanovna, right? Let me through."

Pyotr Petrovitch, squeezing past her, went to the opposite corner where Sonia was.

Katerina Ivanovna stood frozen, like she’d been struck. She couldn't believe Pyotr Petrovitch would deny knowing her dad. Even though she’d made it up, she really believed it now. She was also taken aback by Pyotr Petrovitch’s cold, businesslike, and even dismissive tone.

The noise gradually died down as he entered. This "serious guy" didn’t fit in with the party at all, and it was clear he had something important to discuss, that something serious must have brought him, and that something was about to happen.

Raskolnikov, standing next to Sonia, moved aside to let him pass; Pyotr Petrovitch didn't even notice him. A minute later, Lebeziatnikov appeared in the doorway; he didn't come in, but stood still, listening with obvious interest, almost amazement, and seemed for a while confused.

Sorry to interrupt, Pyotr Petrovitch said, addressing everyone. I’m glad to see other people here. Amalia Ivanovna, I ask you, as the host, to pay close attention to what I have to say to Sofya Ivanovna.

Sofya Ivanovna," he went on, addressing Sonia, who was very surprised and already scared, "right after your visit, I noticed a hundred-rouble note was missing from my table, in my friend Mr. Lebeziatnikov’s room.

"If you know anything about it, and will tell us where it is now, I promise you, on my honor, and I call everyone here to witness, that the matter will end there. Otherwise, I’m going to have to take serious action, and then... you’ll have only yourself to blame."

The room was silent. Even the crying kids stopped. Sonia stood pale as a ghost, staring at Luzhin and unable to say a word. She seemed lost. A few seconds passed.

"So, what do you have to say?" Luzhin asked, staring intently at her.

"I... I don’t know," Sonia mumbled finally.

"I know nothing about it."

"Seriously, you donn't know anything?" Luzhin repeated, pausing again for a few beats.

"Think about it, okay?" he started, sounding stern but still trying to be reasonable.

"Take your time to consider this. Look, I wouldn’t be saying this, especially not in front of people, if I wasn’t totally sure. I know that if I’m wrong, I’m kind of on the hook for accusing you like this. This morning, I swapped out a few investments for around three thousand rubles."

It’s all written down in my little notebook. When I got home, I started counting the money - Lebeziatnikov will vouch for me - and after I counted two thousand three hundred rubles, I stuffed the rest in my coat pocket in my notebook.

About five hundred rubles were still on the table, including three hundred-ruble bills. That's when you walked in - I invited you, by the way - and you seemed really nervous the whole time. You jumped up three times, trying to leave the conversation. Lebeziatnikov saw that, too.

You probably won’t deny that I invited you through him, just to talk about your relative, Katerina Ivanovna - I couldn't make it to her dinner, by the way - and to see if we could get something going, like a fundraiser or a lottery, to help her out. You thanked me, and even cried a little.

I’m telling you all this to remind you and to show you that I remember every single detail. Then, I grabbed a ten-ruble bill from the table and handed it to you as a first donation for your relative. Lebeziatnikov saw that, too.

I walked you to the door - you were still super awkward - and then I talked to Lebeziatnikov for a few minutes before he left. I went back to the table, where the money was still sitting, intending to count it and put it away, like I’d said I would. But guess what?

One of the hundred-ruble bills was gone. Think about what that means. I can't even suspect Lebeziatnikov; it’s embarrassing to even think that. I didn’t mess up the math, either, because I finished my accounts before you even showed up, and everything was correct.

You have to admit that you were acting weird, you were trying to leave, and your hands were on the table for a while. Considering your background and the way you grew up, I was, like, totally horrified and didn’t want to, but I couldn’t help but suspect you - a harsh but fair suspicion!

I’ll add that even though I’m pretty sure, I know I’m taking a risk by accusing you, but I couldn't just let it go. I had to do something, and I’m doing it because of your seriously messed-up lack of gratitude! I invite you to help your relative, I give you ten rubles, and you repay me with this?

"That’s just wrong! You need a lesson. Think about it! Plus, like a real friend - and you couldn’t ask for a better one right now - please, think about what you’re doing, or I’m not changing my mind! So, what do you say?"

"I didn’t take anything," Sonia whispered, terrified, "you gave me ten rubles, here it is, take it."

Sonia pulled her handkerchief out of her pocket, untied a corner of it, took out the ten-ruble note and gave it to Luzhin.

"And the hundred roubles you didn’t admit to taking?" he pressed, looking at her with disappointment, but not taking the note.

Sonia looked around. Everyone was staring at her with such awful, serious, sarcastic, hostile eyes. She looked at Raskolnikov... he was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, staring at her with intense eyes.

"Oh my God!" burst out Sonia.

"Amalia Ivanovna, we’ll have to call the police, so I’d like to ask you to get the building manager," Luzhin said softly and kindly.

"Mercy me! I knew she was the thief!" cried Amalia Ivanovna, throwing up her hands.

"You knew?" Luzhin caught her up, "So you had a reason to think that before now? Please, dear Amalia Ivanovna, remember what you said in front of everyone."

There was a buzz of loud conversation all around. Everyone was moving around.

"What?!" cried Katerina Ivanovna, suddenly realizing the situation, and she rushed at Luzhin. "What?! You’re accusing her of stealing? Sonia? Oh, you’re awful, you’re just terrible!"

And running to Sonia, she threw her arms around her and held her tight.

"Sonia! How could you take ten roubles from him? You silly girl! Give it to me! Give me the ten roubles right now - here!"

And snatching the note from Sonia, Katerina Ivanovna crumpled it up and threw it straight into Luzhin’s face. It hit him in the eye and fell to the ground. Amalia Ivanovna hurried to pick it up. Pyotr Petrovitch lost it.

"Hold that crazy woman!" he shouted.

Just then, several other people appeared in the doorway, including Lebeziatnikov and the two ladies.

"Crazy? Me? I’m not crazy! You’re the idiot!" shrieked Katerina Ivanovna.

"You’re an idiot yourself, cheap lawyer, you’s a low-down guy! Sonia, Sonia, take his money! Sonia, a thief! Why, she’d give away her last penny!"

and Katerina Ivanovna burst into hysterical laughter.

"Have you ever seen such an idiot?"

she looked from side to side.

"And you too?" she suddenly spotted the landlady, "and you too, you glutton, you trashy Prussian broad in a crinoline! She hasnn't left this room: she came straight from you, you creep, and sat down beside me, everyone saw her. She sat here, next to Rodion Romanovitch. Search her!"

Since she hasn’t left the room, the money would have to be on her! Search her, search her! But if you don’t find it, then excuse me, buddy, you’ll be in trouble! I’ll go to our Tsar, our gracious Tsar himself, and throw myself at his feet, today, this minute! I’m all alone in the world!

"They’ll let me in! Do you think they wouldn’t? You’re wrong, I will get in! I will get in! You were counting on her being meek! You were relying on that! But I’m not so easy to push around, let me tell you! You’ve gone too far yourself. Search her, search her!"

And Katerina Ivanovna, in a frenzy, shook Luzhin and dragged him towards Sonia.

"I’m ready, I’ll take responsibility... but calm down, madam, calm down. I see you’re not so easy to push around!... Well, well, but as to that... Luzhin muttered, "that should go before the police... though there are enough witnesses as it is... I’m ready..."

"But in any case it’s difficult for a man... because of her being a woman... But with the help of Amalia Ivanovna... though, of course, it’s not the way to do things... How is it to be done?"

"Do whatever you want! Let anyone who wants to search her!" cried Katerina Ivanovna. "Sonia, empty your pockets! See! Look, monster, the pocket is empty, here’s her handkerchief! Here’s the other pocket, look! Do you see, do you see?"

And Katerina Ivanovna turned - or rather snatched - both pockets inside out. But from the right pocket a piece of paper flew out and describing a parabola in the air fell at Luzhin’s feet. Everyone saw it, several yelled out.

Pyotr Petrovitch bent down, picked up the paper with two fingers, held it up for everyone to see, and opened it. It was a hundred-rouble note folded in eight. Pyotr Petrovitch held up the note showing it to everyone.

"Thief! Get out of my place. Police, police!" yelled Amalia Ivanovna. "They gotta go to Siberia! Get out!"

Exclamations went up all around. Raskolnikov was quiet, staring at Sonia, except for a quick glance at Luzhin now and then. Sonia stood still, like she didn’t even notice what was happening. She could barely feel surprised.

Suddenly, her cheeks flushed red; she let out a cry and hid her face in her hands.

"No, it wasn’t me! I didn’t take it! I don’t know anything about it," she cried, her voice breaking, and she ran to Katerina Ivanovna, who pulled her tight in her arms, like she was trying to protect her from the whole world.

"Sonia! Sonia! I don’t believe it! See, I don’t believe it!"

"she cried, ignoring what was obvious, rocking her back and forth in her arms like a baby, kissing her face over and over, then grabbing her hands and kissing them, too, "you took it! How clueless are these people! Oh my gosh! You guys are so dumb!

You don’t know, you don’t know what a good heart she has, what a girl she is! She took it? She’d sell her last thing, she’d go barefoot to help you if you needed it, that’s who she is! She has the yellow passport because my kids were starving, she sold herself for us! Ah, husband, husband!

"Do you see? Do you see? What a memorial dinner for you! Mercy! Defend her, why is everyone just standing there? Rodion Romanovitch, why aren’t you standing up for her? Do you believe it too? You’re not even worth her little finger, all of you together! Good Lord! Defend her now, at least!"

The cries of the poor, sick, helpless woman seemed to really get to everyone. The agonized, wasted, sick face, the dry, cracked lips, the hoarse voice, the tears like a kid’s, the trusting, childish, but still desperate plea for help - it was all so heartbreaking that everyone felt for her.

Pyotr Petrovitch at least was immediately moved with compassion.

"Madam, madam, this doesn’t reflect on you at all!" he said impressively. "No one would accuse you of being behind it or even helping it, especially since you proved her guilty by turning out her pockets, showing you had no idea it was happening."

I’m totally ready, totally ready to show compassion if poverty, so to speak, drove Sofya Semyonovna to it, but why didn’t you confess, mademoiselle? Were you afraid of the shame? The first step? You panicked, maybe? I can totally understand it... But how could you have stooped so low?

Gentlemen, he addressed the whole room, gentlemen! Feeling sorry for these people, I’m ready to overlook it even now, despite the disrespect shown to me! And may this be a lesson to you for the future, he said, addressing Sonia, and I won’t take this any further. That’s enough!

Pyotr Petrovitch glanced at Raskolnikov. Their eyes met, and the fire in Raskolnikov’s seemed like it could burn him to ashes. Meanwhile, Katerina Ivanovna didn’t seem to hear anything. She was kissing and hugging Sonia like she was crazy.

The kids were embracing Sonia on all sides, and Polenka - though she didn’t fully understand what was wrong - was drowning in tears and shaking with sobs, as she hid her pretty little face, puffy from crying, on Sonia’s shoulder.

"How gross!" a loud voice shouted suddenly in the doorway.

Pyotr Petrovitch looked around quickly.

"Seriously?" Lebeziatnikov repeated, staring him down.

Pyotr Petrovitch jumped - everyone noticed and remembered it later. Lebeziatnikov stormed into the room.

"And you had the nerve to call me as a witness?" he said, moving up to Pyotr Petrovitch.

"What are you even talking about?" muttered Luzhin.

"I mean that you... are spreading lies, that’s what I’m saying!" Lebeziatnikov said heatedly, looking sternly at him through his blurry vision.

He was super angry. Raskolnikov watched him closely, trying to catch every word. Silence fell again. Pyotr Petrovitch seemed almost speechless for a moment.

"If you’re saying that about me...," he started, stumbling over his words. "But what’s wrong with you? Are you out of your mind?"

"I’m totally with it, but you’re a jerk! Ugh, how awful! I heard everything. I was waiting on purpose to figure it out, because even now, it doesn’t quite make sense to me... I can’t believe you did it all for this."

"Why, what did I even do? Stop talking in crazy riddles! Or are you drunk?"

"You might be a drunk, you awful person, but I’m not! I never touch vodka, it’s against my beliefs. Can you believe it? He, he himself, gave Sofya Semyonovna that hundred-rouble note - I saw it, I was a witness, I’ll swear to it in court! He did it, he!" repeated Lebeziatnikov, addressing everyone.

"Are you kidding me, milksop?" squealed Luzhin.

"She’s standing right here - she just declared in front of everyone that I only gave her ten roubles. How could I have given her a hundred?"

"I saw it, I saw it," Lebeziatnikov repeated, "and even though it’s against my principles, I’m ready to swear an oath in court right now, because I saw how you slipped it into her pocket. I thought you were just being nice, you know?"

"When you were saying goodbye to her at the door, holding her hand in one hand, you slipped the note into her pocket with the other, the left. I saw it, I saw it!"

Luzhin went pale.

"What lies!" he cried rudely. "How could you even see the note, standing by the window? You imagined it with your blurry eyes. You’re delusional!"

"No, I didn’t imagine it. And even though I was standing a bit away, I saw everything."

And it’s true, it would be hard to tell a note from the window - but I knew for sure it was a hundred-rouble note, because when you were going to give Sofya Semyonovna ten roubles, you picked up a hundred-rouble note from the table (I saw it because I was standing close and it just clicked for me, so I didn’t forget you had it in your hand).

You folded it and kept it in your hand the whole time. I didn’t think about it again until, when you were getting up, you switched it from your right hand to your left and almost dropped it!

"I noticed because the same thought popped into my head again, that you were trying to do her a favor without me seeing. You can imagine how I watched you and I saw how you managed to slip it into her pocket. I saw it, I saw it, I’ll swear to it!"

Lebeziatnikov was practically gasping for air. People started talking over each other, mostly sounding shocked, but some were threatening. Everyone crowded around Pyotr Petrovitch. Katerina Ivanovna rushed to Lebeziatnikov.

"I totally misjudged you! Protect her! You’re the only one who’s got her back! She’s an orphan. God sent you!"

Katerina Ivanovna, hardly knowing what she was doing, dropped to her knees before him.

"A bunch of nonsense!" yelled Luzhin, furious, "it’s all a load of rubbish you’ve been talking! ‘An idea struck me, I didn’t think, I noticed’ - so I gave it to her secretly on purpose? Why? What’s the point? What do I even have to do with this...?"

"What’s the point? Seriously, I don’t get it, but I’m telling you, it's the truth, and I’m sure of it! It’s not that I’m wrong, you awful criminal! I remember thinking something right when I was thanking you and shaking your hand. Why did you sneak it into her pocket? Why secretly, you know?"

Was it just to hide it from me, knowing I’m against giving money like that, and it doesn’t really fix anything? I figured you were probably embarrassed to give her so much money in front of me. Or maybe, I thought, you wanted to surprise her when she found a hundred-rouble note in her pocket.

(Because some people who do good stuff like to make a big show of it, you know? Then I thought, maybe you wanted to test her, to see if she’d thank you when she found it. Or maybe you just didn’t want thanks, like the saying goes, your right hand shouldn’t know... something like that, basically.

I had so many possibilities going through my head that I put it off, but I still thought it was rude to act like I didn’t know your secret.

But then I had another thought - Sofya Semyonovna could easily lose the money before she even noticed it, so I decided to come in here and call her out of the room and tell her you put a hundred roubles in her pocket.

But first, I stopped by Madame Kobilatnikov’s to drop off the ‘General Treatise on the Positive Method’ and especially to recommend Piderit’s article (and also Wagner’s); then I came here and what a mess I found!

How could I have all these thoughts and ideas if I hadn’t actually seen you slip the hundred-rouble note into her pocket?

" When Lebeziatnikov finished his super-long explanation with the final deduction, he was totally wiped out, and sweat was pouring down his face."

He couldn't even express himself correctly in Russian, even though it was the only language he knew, so he was pretty exhausted, almost drained after that heroic effort. But his speech had a big impact. He’s spoken with so much passion and conviction that everyone clearly believed him.

Pyotr Petrovitch felt like things were really bad for him.

"What does it have to do with me if you had random ideas pop into your head?" he shouted. "That’s not proof! You probably just dreamt it! And I’m telling you, you’re lying, sir."

"You’re lying and spreading rumors out of spite against me, just because I didn’t agree with your weird, non-religious, social ideas!" But that comeback didn’t help Pyotr Petrovitch. People were murmuring their disapproval all around.

"Oh, so that’s your excuse now, huh?" cried Lebeziatnikov. "That’s ridiculous! Call the police, and I’ll swear to it! There’s only one thing I can’t figure out: why would he risk doing something so nasty. Oh, pitiful, pathetic man!"

"I can explain why he risked doing that, and if I have to, I’ll swear to it too," Raskolnikov said finally, in a steady voice, and he stepped forward.

He looked confident and collected. Everyone could tell just by looking at him that he knew something and that the mystery would be solved.

"Now it all clicks," Raskolnikov said, looking at Lebeziatnikov. "From the very beginning, I suspected there was some seriously shady stuff going on. I got a feeling right away, based on a few things only I knew, and I’m gonna explain them - they explain everything."

Your evidence finally made it crystal clear. Please, everyone, listen up. This guy - he pointed to Luzhin - was recently engaged to my sister, Avdotya Romanovna Raskolnikov.

But when he came to Petersburg, we had a huge blow-up, the day before yesterday, at our first meeting, and I kicked him out - I have two witnesses to prove it. He’s a real jerk...

I didn't even know he was staying here, in your place, the day before yesterday, and that meant on the very day we argued - the day before yesterday - he saw me give Katerina Ivanovna some money for Mr. Marmeladov’s funeral, as a friend of his.

He immediately wrote a note to my mom and told her I’d given away all my money, not to Katerina Ivanovna but to Sofya Semyonovna, and basically trashed... Sofya Semyonovna’s character - hinting at my feelings for her. You get it, right?

He was trying to drive a wedge between me and my mom and sister, making it look like I was blowing all the money they sent me on the wrong people.

Yesterday evening, in front of my mom and sister and with him there, I said I gave the money to Katerina Ivanovna for the funeral, not to Sofya Semyonovna, and that I didn’t know Sofya Semyonovna, had never even seen her before.

I also added that Luzhin, with all his supposed good qualities, wasn’t worth Sofya Semyonovna’s little finger, even though he was talking smack about her. When he asked if I’d let Sofya Semyonovna sit next to my sister, I told him I already had that day.

He got super irritated that my mom and sister weren’t willing to fight with him over his accusations, and he started being totally disrespectful to them. Things escalated, and he got kicked out. All of that happened yesterday evening.

Now, listen carefully: think about this - if he’d managed to prove Sofya Semyonovna was a thief, he would’ve made it look like he was almost right, that he had a reason to be mad at me for treating my sister like Sofya Semyonovna, and that he was protecting my sister’s honor by attacking me.

He could’ve even managed to turn my family against me, and he definitely hoped to get back in their good graces, not to mention getting revenge on me personally, because he knows Sofya Semyonovna means a lot to me. That’s what he was working towards! That’s how I see it.

"That’s the whole story, and there’s no other explanation!"

"Yeah, yeah, that’s it," Lebeziatnikov said, grinning. "He asked me, as soon as Sofya Semyonovna came into our room, if I’d seen you, if you were here, if I’d seen you among Katerina Ivanovna’s guests. He pulled me aside to the window and asked me in secret."

"It was super important that you were here! That’s it, that’s it!"

Luzhin smirked, but didn't say anything. He looked super pale. He was clearly trying to figure out how to bail. Maybe he'd have been down to ditch everything and peace out, but right now, that wasn't happening. It would basically mean admitting he was guilty of everything they were accusing him of.

Plus, the whole room was already buzzing from the booze, and now it was totally chaotic. The commissariat clerk, who honestly didn't quite get what was going on, was yelling the loudest and throwing out some seriously shady suggestions toward Luzhin.

But not everyone was wasted; people were popping in from all the rooms. The three Poles were losing it, constantly yelling at him: "The guy’s a lajdak!" and muttering threats in Polish. Sonia had been listening closely, but she also seemed confused; she looked like she’d just woken up.

She kept her eyes glued to Raskolnikov, feeling like her safety depended on him. Katerina Ivanovna was breathing hard and looked completely drained. Amalia Ivanovna just looked clueless, her mouth hanging open, trying to figure out what had happened.

All she knew was that Pyotr Petrovitch was in deep trouble.

Raskolnikov was trying to say something, but no one would let him. Everyone was crowding around Luzhin, throwing threats and insults. But Pyotr Petrovitch didn't back down. Seeing that his accusation against Sonia had totally flopped, he went for being rude:

"Hey, guys, give me some space! Don’t push! No threats, okay? Seriously, it won’t work. You’ll actually get yourselves in trouble, believe me. You’ll have to answer for physically blocking justice. The thief is exposed, and I’m pressing charges."

"Our judges aren’t completely blind - or drunk - and won’t believe the word of two notorious troublemakers, rabble-rousers, and atheists who are just out for revenge... They’re dumb enough to admit it! ... Yeah, let me through!"

"Don’t let me find a single thing of mine left in my room! Just get out of here, and that’s the end of it between us! Think about all the effort I've put in, all the explaining I've done... for two whole weeks!"

"I told you myself today that I was leaving, when you tried to stop me. Now, I’m just adding that you’re being ridiculous. You should see a doctor for your brain and your vision. Let me pass, guys!"

He shoved his way through. But the commissariat clerk wasn’t letting him off that easily: he grabbed a glass from the table, waved it around, and tossed it at Pyotr Petrovitch. But the glass sailed straight at Amalia Ivanovna.

She screamed, and the clerk, losing his balance, crashed hard under the table. Pyotr Petrovitch headed to his room, and half an hour later, he’s out of the house. Sonia, always shy, had always felt like she was an easy target, like people could get away with anything.

But until that moment, she’s thought she could avoid trouble by being careful, polite, and agreeable. Her disappointment was crushing. Sure, she could put up with almost anything, even this. But those first few minutes were brutal.

Even after the initial shock wore off and she could see things clearly - her victory, her justification - the feeling of helplessness and the injustice of it all made her heart ache, and she burst into tears.

Finally, unable to handle it anymore, she bolted out of the room and ran home, not long after Luzhin left. When the glass flew at Amalia Ivanovna, it was too much for the landlady to take. She shrieked and charged at Katerina Ivanovna like a whirlwind, blaming her for everything.

"Get out of my place! Now! Move it!"

And with that, she started grabbing anything she could get her hands on that belonged to Katerina Ivanovna, throwing it on the floor. Katerina Ivanovna, pale, almost passing out, and struggling to breathe, jumped up from the bed where she’s collapsed from exhaustion and lunged at Amalia Ivanovna.

But it was a totally uneven fight: the landlady brushed her off like a fly.

"What! As if that lie wasn’t enough - this girl’s attacking me! What! On my husband’s funeral day I’m getting kicked out of my place! After I fed and sheltered her, she’s throwing me out with my kids! Where am I supposed to go?" the poor woman wailed, sobbing and gasping.

"Good God!" she cried, her eyes flashing, "is there no justice in the world? Who are you protecting if not us orphans? You’re gonna see! There’s law and justice in the world, and I’m gonna find it! Wait a bit, you heartless creature! Polenka, stay with the kids, I’ll be back."

"Wait for me, even if you have to wait on the street. You’re gonna see if there’s justice in the world!"

And throwing over her head that green shawl Marmeladov had mentioned to Raskolnikov, Katerina Ivanovna pushed her way through the chaotic and drunk crowd of lodgers still filling the room, and, wailing and tearful, she ran into the street - with a vague idea of going somewhere to find justice right away.

Polenka with the two little ones in her arms huddled, terrified, on the trunk in the corner of the room, where she waited trembling for her mom to come back. Amalia Ivanovna raged around the room, shrieking, lamenting, and throwing everything she could find on the floor.

The lodgers talked nonsense, some tried to make sense of what happened, others argued and cursed at each other, while others started singing...

"Time for me to go," thought Raskolnikov.

"Well, Sofya Semyonovna, let’s see what you’ll say now!"

And he headed in the direction of Sonia’s place.