IVIV (1) "She came along the alley and up the back steps ..."

[John Carvill]

> > Also of note, I think, is the alley/back steps connotations

Yes. I remember way back in my early twenties some time, reading about
how significant stairs were in Dostoevsky, how many key scenes take
place or feature stairs, usually 'dark' scenes (though what otehr kind
are there in his books eh?) with a prime example being the stairs
Raskolnikov takes with his axe to kill the old woman at the start,
then the house painters seeing him on the stairs etc.