There is tension in the Verloc household. Stevie gets upset by reading stories in Ossipon's newspapers of atrocities committed by police and soldiers. Ossipon himself has taken to visiting the shop more frequently, making sly advances towards Winnie. Then Stevie goes on an errand for Winnie and doesn't return: she is distraught and sends Verloc to look for the boy. Verloc finds Stevie and brings him home. Winnie decides that she can't rely on Stevie being found, so she decides to put his address on a label and sew it into his overcoat collar. And, since Stevie sometimes takes Verloc's coat in mistake for his own, Winnie sews an address in that coat too.

The Assistant Commissioner visits the Duchess, and receives a delicate hint: she wants Michaelis left alone. In her view he is a peaceful philosopher and she does not want the police interfering with him as he writes his great work. Verloc is also thinking about Michaelis. He and Winnie discuss Stevie and Verloc suggests that Stevie spends a few days in the country in Michaelis' cottage: Michaelis will enjoy the company and it will be a change for Stevie. Winnie agrees to this plan. But it is clear that Verloc also has other plans for Stevie. Verloc walks in the park with Stevie: would Stevie, he asks, do anything to fight injustice? The impressionable young man agrees. Verloc takes Stevie to Michaelis' cottage in Sittingbourne, and leaves him there.

The train from Sittingbourne passes through Greenwich, stopping at Maze Hill station. Verloc checks his watch and his timetable. The Assistant Commissioner reports to the Home Secretary that everything is quiet: nothing is stirring among the so-called revolutionaries. In bed, asleep, Verloc has a nightmare. Winnie watches him, worried. Next day Verloc goes to the Professor's lodgings, where he takes charge of the explosives in a tin of varnish. The Professor warns him that the explosive can be set off by tightening the lid of the tin. Verloc travels to Sittingbourne, where he collects Stevie. They return to Greenwich, getting off the train at Maze Hill. The fog is thickening all the time. Verloc and Stevie set off towards the Observatory. The fog conceals them. There is a huge explosion. A park keeper reacts, bewildered. What on earth has happened?

The Assistant Commissioner is playing bridge when he is given an urgent message. He has an angry meeting with Heat. Why had Heat told him that all was quiet? He looks a fool now, in front of the Home Secretary. Heat says he's sure this will turn out to be the work of Michaelis. The AC doesn't want to believe this. Heat goes to the mortuary and examines the remains of the body - the one body - found in Greenwich Park. It is apparent that the man must have stumbled while carrying the bomb. The Observatory is undamaged, but the man is unrecognisable. Heat does however notice something odd - a scrap of collar, with an address sewn into it. Heat shows the collar to the AC and explains that the address is that of his informer, Verloc.

Heat also admits that Verloc has been in the pay of the Tsarist Embassy: nevertheless he remains convinced that the connection to Verloc's shop will prove to be Michaelis, a known frequent visitor to the address. The AC can't accept this: he tells Heat that he's taking over the investigation. Ossipon, meanwhile, is hanging around the shop in Soho, prompted by his interest in Winnie. He decides to visit the Silenus Club, where he overhears two workmen discussing the latest news - the explosion in Greenwich. The AC goes to the Home Secretary and tells him his theory: nothing to do with Michaelis. The AC has noted the connection between Verloc and the Embassy and has drawn the right conclusion - that this could well be the act of an agent provocateur. Winnie, oblivious to everything, continues with her housework. The shop doorbell rings as someone enters. Winnie looks up to see who it is. It is Verloc. Verloc is in a terrible state, but can't bring himself to tell Winnie why. Instead, he recalls in a flashback what happened - how he handed Stevie the bomb and told him what to do, how Stevie walked towards the Observatory, stumbled over a tree root, fell and was blown to bits. Verloc tells Winnie that he thinks they should emigrate: he's been to the bank and drawn out all their savings. Winnie realises that her husband is in a terrible state, but - as always - refrains from asking the difficult questions. The shop bell rings. The Assistant Commissioner asks where Mr Verloc is. Verloc comes forward. He doesn't want to talk in front of Winnie to a man he realises is a policeman, so they go to a small hotel nearby.

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