"Once more, silence! I forbid you . . ."
"As you please, old chap! All that I do is meant for your edification. And it's no trouble to me! Once I start working miracles, I simply can't stop. Here's another funny little trick. You carry a locket hanging from a silver chain round your shirt, don't you?"
"Yes," said Vorski, his eyes blazing with fever.
"The locket consists of a frame, without the photograph which used to be set in it."
"Yes, yes, a portrait of . . ."
"Of your mother, I know: and you lost it."
"Yes, I lost it last year."
"You mean you think you've lost the portrait."
"Nonsense, the locket is empty."
"You think the locket's empty. It's not. Look and see."