Chapter 7 Mitya’s Great Secret Received with Hisses

Dmitri declares that the seized money was his—specifically, 1,500 roubles he had stolen from Katerina Ivanovna out of the 3,000 she entrusted to him. He explains he sewed that half into a rag and wore it around his neck for a month, using the other half earlier at Mokroe.

Pressed on why he hid the sum, Dmitri says he kept it to elope with Grushenka if she chose him over his father, condemning himself as a thief by calculation. He contrasts returning half (a scoundrel but not a thief) with spending it all, and confesses he finally tore off the amulet and spent it yesterday, which he counts as his moral fall.

The prosecutor and Nikolay Parfenovitch challenge his story: why no one knew of the hidden half, why he boasted of spending 3,000, and where the rag is. Dmitri gives uncertain details about tearing it off in the market and sewing it from his landlady’s cap, which deepens their skepticism.

Despairing at their disbelief, Dmitri begs to know Grushenka’s fate. The prosecutor assures him they have no grounds to act against her. They prepare to examine witnesses in Dmitri’s presence.

As rain pours outside, tea is brought. Dmitri, physically and emotionally spent, drinks greedily and braces himself for the next phase of interrogation.