Mr. White casually mentions that Sergeant-Major Morris told him something about a monkey's paw the other day. He asks him to elaborate on what he told him, but Morris immediately tries to close down the conversation. Clearly, he's not in the mood to talk about the monkey's paw. But mention of the paw piques the curiosity of Mrs. White, who wants to know what the two men are talking about. But once again, Morris doesn't want to say too much about the monkey's paw. He simply makes an offhand comment about its being some kind of magic.

It's clear, from Morris's reluctance to talk about the monkey's paw, that he knows how dangerous it is. He hopes that by minimizing its significance he will somehow discourage the Whites from wanting to know more about it. Unfortunately, the genie's out of the bottle, so to speak, and Morris's talk of magic, however offhand and casual it may have been, has kindled the Whites' curiosity. The Sergeant-Major therefore has no choice but to tell them about its dark, mysterious powers in the hopes that they will be scared off by this.