How we cite our quotes: (Chapter. Paragraph)
Quote #7
And he himself [the Assistant Commissioner] had become unplaced. It would have been impossible for anybody to guess his occupation. (7.98)
In a funny way, the Assistant Commissioner of Police takes it on himself to get involved with the spy games going on in this book. He plans to visit Verloc's shop without Heat, even though its pretty weird for a bureaucratic to do this. He even twists up the ends of his moustache and eats an anonymous meal at an Italian restaurant so he can enjoy what it feels like to be a spy. Just as Heat has his own (not always legal) way of doing things, the Assistant Commissioner decides that he's going to investigate a case on his own terms. This whole sequence satirically shows how very important matters of justice are often decided by the personal whims of police officials.
Quote #8
At that moment he was within a hairs breadth of making a clean breast of it to his wife. The moment seemed propitious. Looking out of the corners of his eyes, he saw her ample shoulders draped in white […] and he forbore. (8.139)
Verloc comes very, very close to telling Winnie about being a secret agent and about the insane task he's been assigned. But when he looks at her, he decides not to. At several points in the book, he's tried to talk to her about how he isn't feeling well. But she always takes this as a sign that he's getting fed up with Stevie, so she starts talking about how useful and kind her brother is. There is a total lack of communication between the Verlocs. You might almost feel bad for Verloc, considering how little his wife ever thinks about him. Both have their own reasons for not communicating, but the book strongly suggests that this lack of communication is what allows Verloc's deception to keep going.
Quote #9
He took down a small cardboard box from a shelf, peeped in to see that the contents were all right, and put it down gently on the counter. Not till that was done did he break the silence, to the effect that most likely Stevie would profit greatly by being sent out of town for a while. (9.31)
At this fateful moment, Verloc proposes the first phase of his terrible plan to Winnie, suggesting that they should send Stevie out into the country to live with Michaelis. Winnie's noticed that Stevie has been acting weird; but what she doesn't realize is that Verloc's been brainwashing him to plant a bomb. This is definitely the worst lie in the entire book, and as readers, we might already be able to tell where all of this is heading. Our ability to see the lies, combined with our inability to do anything about them, gives a sense of dramatic irony to the book, but also a sense of helplessness. Just as there's nothing Stevie can do to heal the world, there is nothing we can do to save Stevie.