“Of course it is strange! It’s impossible, indeed, but⁠ ⁠…”

“No, brother, no buts . And if the earrings being found in Nikolay’s hands at the very day and hour of the murder constitutes an important piece of circumstantial evidence against him⁠—although the explanation given by him accounts for it, and therefore it does not tell seriously against him⁠—one must take into consideration the facts which prove him innocent, especially as they are facts that cannot be denied . And do you suppose, from the character of our legal system, that they will accept, or that they are in a position to accept, this fact⁠—resting 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!”