against him?”
“I was led to do so by my brother Dmitri’s words. I was told what took place at his arrest and how he had pointed to Smerdyakov before I was examined. I believe absolutely that my brother is innocent, and if he didn’t commit the murder, then—”
“Then Smerdyakov? Why Smerdyakov? And why are you so completely persuaded of your brother’s innocence?”
“I cannot help believing my brother. I know he wouldn’t lie to me. I saw from his face he wasn’t lying.”
“Only from his face? Is that all the proof you have?”
“I have no other proof.”
“And of Smerdyakov’s guilt you have no proof whatever but your brother’s word and the expression of his face?”
“No, I have no other proof.”
The prosecutor dropped the examination at this point. The impression left by Alyosha’s evidence on the public was most disappointing. There had been talk about Smerdyakov before the trial; someone had heard something, someone