What the Diamonds Were Worth explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Crime and Justice

  The chapter focuses on the inquest, police investigation, and public outcry over the murder, highlighting the tension between evidence and presumption.

• Secrets and Deception

  The mysterious sale of unset diamonds and the hidden dagger suggest concealed truths and deceptive appearances.

• Social Class and Wealth

  The contrast between the impoverished Chicots and the diamond merchant's world underscores class divisions and the value of material wealth.

Characters to notice

• George Gerard

  Examines La Chicot's wound and discovers the dagger in Jack Chicot's paint box; writes to The Times about his findings.

• La Chicot

  The murder victim; her wound is examined by Gerard and later by the surgeon who set her broken leg.

• Chicot

  The missing husband, presumed murderer; his paint box contains the suspected murder weapon.

• Mr. Desrolles

  A fellow lodger who talks freely to reporters and gives a graphic description of Chicot to the police.

• Mrs. Evitt

  The landlady, aggravated by the crowd and reporters outside her house.

• Mr. Mosheh

  A diamond merchant visited by an elderly man attempting to sell unset diamonds.

Key passages

• “The inquest was held at noon next day. The news of the murder had spread far and wide already, and there was a crowd gathered round the house in Cibber Street all the morning, much to Mrs. Evitt’s aggravation.”

  The inquest took place the following noon, and the murder had already become widely known, drawing a crowd to Cibber Street that annoyed Mrs. Evitt.

  Establishes the public and media frenzy surrounding the case.

• “It was curious wound. La Chicot’s throat had not been cut, in the common acceptation of the phrase. The blow that had slain her was a deep stab; a violent thrust with some sharp, thin, and narrow instrument, which had pierced the hollow of her neck, and penetrated in a slanting direction to the lungs.”

  The wound was unusual: not a cut throat but a deep stab from a thin, narrow instrument that entered the neck and reached the lungs.

  Highlights the distinctive nature of the murder weapon.

• “At the bottom of the box, hidden under rags and rubbish, there lay a long thin dagger, of Italian workmanship, the handle of finely wrought silver, oxidised with age, just such a dagger as an artist would fancy for his armoury.”

  Beneath rags and debris at the bottom of the paint box was a long, thin Italian dagger with silver handle, the kind an artist might collect.

  Reveals the discovery of the likely murder weapon.

• “The press was very vehement upon the case of La Chicot. The more popular of the penny dailies went into convulsions of indignation against everybody concerned.”

  The newspapers were furious about the case, with the penny dailies expressing outrage at everyone involved.

  Illustrates the sensationalist media response.

• “Between eight and nine o’clock on the night after La Chicot’s funeral an elderly man called upon Mr. Mosheh, a diamond merchant in a small way, who lived in one of the streets near Brunswick Square.”

  The evening after La Chicot's funeral, an elderly man visited Mr. Mosheh, a modest diamond merchant near Brunswick Square.

  Introduces a new subplot involving the sale of diamonds.