One evening after dinner, Utterson is sitting peacefully beside his fireplace when he receives a visit by a very agitated and upset Mr. Poole. He offers Poole a glass of wine to calm him, and although Poole accepts it, he neglects to drink it as he hesitatingly tells Utterson about his fears concerning Dr. Jekyll. Poole is terribly afraid. He fears that there has been "foul play," the nature of which he "daren't say." At this, Utterson grabs up his hat and his greatcoat, and the two men set forth in the wild, cold March night for Jekyll's house. When they arrive at Jekyll's quarters, a servant opens the door very guardedly, asking, "Is that you, Poole?" Once inside, Utterson finds all of Jekyll's servants "huddled together like a flock of sheep," and when they see Utterson, one maid breaks into "hysterical whimpering." This matter is far more serious than Utterson ever imagined. Several of the servants try to speak up, but Poole silences them and leads Utterson through the back garden, warning the lawyer that if "by any chance" Jekyll asks him into his private room, don't go." This advice, along with Poole's barely controlled terror, unnerves Utterson.
The two men go to Dr. Jekyll's cabinet door in the laboratory. Poole calls out that Utterson is here, asking to see the doctor. A strange voice within states that Jekyll will see no one. Politely, Poole says, "Thank you." Then, back in the kitchen, he asks Utterson, "Was that my master's voice?" Utterson grows pale. "It seems much changed," he says, trying to conceal his own fears. Poole is blunt. "Changed," he says, is hardly the word for "Jekyll's" voice. Poole says that he has worked for Jekyll for twenty years. The voice which they heard was not Dr. Jekyll's voice. Eight days ago, Poole says, he heard Jekyll cry out the name of God.
