The Brothers Karamazovtorn open and was empty: the money had been removed.
They found also on the floor a piece of narrow pink ribbon,
with which the envelope had been tied up.
One piece of Pyotr Ilyitch’s evidence made a great im-
pression on the prosecutor and the investigating magistrate,
namely, his idea that Dmitri Fyodorovitch would shoot
himself before daybreak, that he had resolved to do so, had
spoken of it to Ilyitch, had taken the pistols, loaded them
before him, written a letter, put it in his pocket, etc. When
Pyotr Ilyitch, though still unwilling to believe in it, threat-
ened to tell someone so as to prevent the suicide, Mitya had
answered grinning: ‘You’ll be too late.’ So they must make
haste to Mokroe to find the criminal, before he really did
shoot himself.
‘That’s clear, that’s clear!’ repeated the prosecutor in great
excitement. ‘That’s just the way with mad fellows like that: ‘I
shall kill myself to-morrow, so I’ll make merry till I die!’’
The story of how he had bought the wine and provisions
excited the prosecutor more than ever.
‘Do you remember the fellow that murdered a merchant
called Olsufyev, gentlemen? He stole fifteen hundred, went
at once to have his hair curled, and then, without even hid-
ing the money, carrying it almost in his hand in the same
way, he went off to the girls.’
All were delayed, however, by the inquiry, the search,
and the formalities, etc., in the house of Fyodor Pavlov-
itch. It all took time and so, two hours before starting, they
sent on ahead to Mokroe the officer of the rural police, Ma-
vriky Mavrikyevitch Schmertsov, who had arrived in the