question, 'When you were working with Dmitri, didn't you see any one

on the staircase at such-and-such a time?'- answer: 'To be sure

folks may have gone up and down, but I did not notice them.' 'And

didn't you hear anything, any noise, and so on?' 'We heard nothing

special.' 'And did you hear, Nikolay, that on the same day Widow

So-and-so and her sister were murdered and robbed?' 'I never knew a

thing about it. The first I heard of it was from Afanasy Pavlovitch

the day before yesterday.' 'And where did you find the ear-rings?'