It begins to thunder now, and Monks is strangely disordered by the sound. He leads the way to an upper floor and then turns to Bumble with the words, "The woman knows what it is, does she?" But the dauntless matron earlier cautioned her husband to say as little as possible, and she assumes the role of spokesman. She has never confided in her husband about the business in hand.
It is obvious that Monks is willing to pay well for information pertaining to Sally's death. Mrs. Bumble negotiates astutely until Monks meets her price of twenty-five pounds. Speaking in a whisper, the woman relates her story. She assures Monks that she was entirely alone with Sally when she died. Mrs. Bumble removed from the corpse's hand a scrap of paper that turned out to be a pawnbroker's ticket. Sally had evidently pawned the object that she got from Oliver's mother, managing to keep up the interest payments. There was time enough for the matron to redeem the pledge, and she did so.
Mrs. Bumble now produces a small bag, which Monks eagerly opens. It contains a little locket holding "two locks of hair, and a plain gold wedding-ring." The ring has the inscription "Agnes," with a blank for the last name, also a date within the year before Oliver's birth.
Monks allows Mrs. Bumble to ask two questions, without committing himself to answer. She first asks, "Is that what you expected to get from me?" and then, "Can it be used against me?" Monks replies affirmatively to the first question and answers "Never" to the second. He then pulls open a trap door at Bumble's feet, exposing the turbulent river below. He ties a weight to his purchase and drops it into the surging waters.
Monks warns the married pair to secrecy, to which Bumble agrees. The couple then gladly obey Monks's command to leave speedily.
