Chapter 5 A Sudden Catastrophe

Ivan arrives pale and detached, answering curtly and asking to leave. Abruptly, he produces a roll of notes, claiming it is the money from the envelope and stating he received it from Smerdyakov, the true murderer, whom he had incited. He rails at the audience, speaks of the devil as his only “witness,” and descends into incoherence. The usher restrains him; Alyosha cries he is ill.

Order slowly returns. A renowned doctor later confirms Ivan is suffering from brain fever, reporting Ivan’s visions and disturbed state. Meanwhile, before full composure is restored, Katerina Ivanovna, in hysterics but insistent, submits Dmitri’s tavern letter written two days before the crime. Read aloud, it details his intent to kill his father “as soon as Ivan has gone,” and knowledge of the money’s whereabouts.

Questioned, Katerina recounts giving Dmitri three thousand roubles to test his honor, which he squandered with Grushenka. She confesses she previously lied to save him but now asserts the letter proves premeditation and that Dmitri despised her. Dmitri admits the letter is his, blaming drunkenness, and cries that he loved her despite hatred.

Katerina further describes Ivan’s torment over the past two months: visits to Smerdyakov, self-reproach for hating his father, and mental collapse culminating after Smerdyakov’s death. Overcome again, she is carried out. Grushenka rushes to Dmitri, denouncing Katerina as his “serpent”; both are restrained amid uproar.

The court adds Ivan’s statement and Katerina’s letter to the record and proceeds. With the defense shaken and the public electrified, the prosecutor readies his triumphant address as the session resumes.