The Secret Agent

After the departure of Chief Inspector Heat, Verloc paces back and forth in his house. He feels sorry for Winnie, who will be hurt by Stevie’s death. Since Heat has already told her the news, he is relieved that he does not need to do so. Verloc did not mean for Stevie to die. Instead, he had expected Stevie to be arrested. During their regular walks, he believes that he had taught Stevie the importance of saying nothing to the police. He was not concerned about Stevie incriminating him, especially as Verloc had “carefully indoctrinated” Stevie to mistrust the police (169). He laments that his wife sewed their address into Stevie’s coat, but he will not criticize her for doing so. When he goes to Winnie, he tells her that he did not intend for Stevie to be hurt. Winnie shudders in silence. Verloc blames “that damn Heat” for his manner of speaking (172), though he has not thought up a gentler way to break the news. He decides to leave his wife alone for the time being, going to the parlor to eat the dinner that Winnie prepared earlier. He has been so nervous all day that he has eaten nothing; he is struck by the sudden return of his appetite.

After eating, Verloc approaches the motionless Winnie. He urges her to “be reasonable” (172), as he will likely soon be sent to prison. Verloc is not an emotional man. When he tells Winnie to look him in the face, she cannot do so. Annoyed, Verloc tries to force her. Winnie flees from him. Verloc slumps in her now-empty chair and thinks about his future in prison. Ironically, he notes, he succeeded in producing a moral outrage, just not the one that he intended to produce. He worries about his shop, as Winnie cannot care for it in her state. Winnie sits in Stevie’s favorite seat. With his emotions and frustrations bottled up, Verloc accuses Winnie of not knowing the forces that have pushed him to the edge. He rants, bemoaning Vladimir for treating him like a disposable toy. Many wealthy people should thank Verloc, he claims, for the years he has spent foiling anarchist plots. The Baron, Vladimir’s predecessor, did appreciate Verloc, unlike Vladimir, the “ignorant, overbearing swine” (175). Winnie sits up as Verloc rants. He claims that his loyalty to Winnie is the only thing holding him back from attacking Vladimir.

Winnie sits mutely, her mind filled with images of her past in the boarding house run by her mother. She remembers how she has spent her whole life taking care of her brother, marrying Verloc to help support Stevie after the death of their abusive father. Then, she remembers Verloc and Stevie’s walks, which jolts her back to her immediate situation. With Stevie gone, she realizes, she is no longer dependent on her husband to support her and her family. She goes to her bedroom, dressing herself to go out. Verloc does not grasp the seriousness of Winnie’s behavior. He tries to calm her, not noticing the extent to which she is ignoring him. She thinks to herself that she is now a “free woman” (185). As she refuses to speak to him, he becomes annoyed. Feeling exhausted, he collapses as Winnie moves around him. He suggests that she is partially to blame for Stevie’s death, as she encouraged Verloc to spend time with Stevie. Winnie picks up a knife and, before Verloc realizes what has happened, Winnie “leisurely” stabs him (192). As Verloc bleeds to death, Winnie realizes what she has done and runs from the house.

Fleeing from the house, Winnie pauses to think. She is suddenly filled with terror, remembering news stories about women who have been executed for murder. She decides that she should “throw herself into the river off one of the bridges” (196). As she heads to a bridge, however, she begins to think about leaving the country. Since she has no connections in Europe, however, she does not believe that she will be able to support herself.

Feeling suddenly very lonely, Winnie happens to meet Ossipon. She begs for help. Ossipon, still sure that Verloc died in the bombing and believing that Winnie is grieving, is surprised with the speed with which he is able to win the affection of an attractive woman like Winnie, whom he has always loved from afar. She speaks about her desire to be free, hinting at her husband’s death without saying anything explicit. She speaks about her anger toward the “devil” (202), Verloc. Ossipon suspects nothing, still believing that Verloc died in Greenwich. Winnie affectionately calls him as Tom, which pleases him further. Ossipon promises to help Winnie escape to Europe. She can take a train and then a ship, he says, using the money Verloc withdrew from his bank account.

Winnie first wants to return to her house to turn the lights off and close the door to the shop. Once inside, however, Ossipon is shocked to see Verloc’s dead body. Nevertheless, he continues to help Winnie escape. A police constable passes by the house, but having checked the door, he moves on without going inside. Winnie and Ossipon leave the house, and Ossipon becomes increasingly fearful of Winnie’s intentions. With great secrecy, he tells her how they should buy tickets. They board the train and, as it pulls out of the station, he leaps onto the platform, leaving her to travel alone. He takes Verloc’s money with him. Newly rich, he returns to his apartment and falls asleep as dawn breaks.

Ossipon sits in the Professor’s “large, clean, respectable, and poor” apartment (221), talking about this situation. Michaelis is not aware that Verloc is dead, Ossipon says, as he is too afraid of the sensationalist nature of the media to read newspapers. The Professor explains why he feels “amicable contempt” for an ineffective man like Ossipon (223). He begins to rant about the world being filled with weak people, claiming that they should be exterminated to make way for strong people to rebuild everything.

Ossipon and the Professor board a bus. Ossipon thinks about a newspaper article that described Winnie Verloc’s possible suicide. An unnamed woman died by suicide onboard a ship sailing to Europe, whom Ossipon imagines to be Winnie. The article ends with a note about the “impenetrable mystery” surrounding her death (224). Ossipon repeats the sentence back to himself, to the point that he fears that he is having a mental health crisis. The Professor criticizes Verloc for being as “mediocre” as the rest of the world. Ossipon offers Verloc’s money to the Professor, who declines it. They parts ways. Each man disappears into the crowded streets of London, “like a pest in the street full of men” (227).