sible account of all she had
herself heard and seen at Shatov's, but as to what had happened she
declared that she knew nothing, and could not understand it.

It may well be imagined what an uproar there was in the town. A new
"sensation," another murder! But there was another element in this
case: it was clear that a secret society of murderers, incendiaries, and
revolutionists did exist, did actually exist. Liza's terrible death, the
murder of Stavrogin's wife, Stavrogin himself, the fire, the ball for
the benefit of the governesses, the laxity of manners and morals in
Yulia Mihailovna's circle.... Even in the disappearance of Stepan
Trofimovitch people insisted on scenting a mystery. All sorts of things
were whispered about Nikolay Vsyevolodovitch. By the end of the day
people knew of Pyotr Stepanovitch's absence too, and, strange to say,
less was said of him than of anyone. What was talked of most all that
day was "the senator." There was a crowd almost all day at Filipov's
house. The police certainly were led astray by Kirillov's letter. They
believed that Kirillov had murdered Shatov and had himself committed
suicide. Yet, though the authorities were thrown into perplexity,
they were not altogether hoodwinked. The word "park," for instance, so
vaguely inserted in Kirillov's letter, did not puzzle anyone as Pyotr
Stepanovitch had expected it would. The police at once made a rush
for Skvoreshniki, not simply because it was the only park in the
neighbourhood but also led thither by a sort of instinct because all the
horrors of the last few days were connected directly or indirectly with
Skvoreshniki. That at least is my theory. (I may remark that
Varvara Petrovna had driven off early that morning in chase of Stepan
Trofimovitch, and knew nothing of what had happened in the town.)

The body was found in the pond that evening. What led to the discovery
of it was the finding of Shatov's cap at the scene of the murder, where
it had been with extraordinary carelessness overlooked by the murderers.
The appearance of the body, the medical examination and certain
deductions from it roused immediate suspicions that Kirillov must have
had accomplices. It became evident that a secret society really did
exist of which Shatov and Kirillov were members and which was connected
with the manifestoes. Who were these accomplices? No one even thought of
any member of the quintet that day. It was ascertained that Kirillov
had lived like