Re: be in somebody's pocket
Pretty good, Vil. This means that "he has control over Mr. Quinsey", not always dependent but it may sometimes. In France we have got the same idiom: "J'ai Alice dans ma poche" = "Alice is in my pocket"
Re: be in somebody's pocket
As far as I know the sentence in question is from Galsworthy’s “The Silver Spoon”. In my humble opinion it is a gross provocation to bring written from him in question.
Here is another example of usage of the key phrase:
Edwards, the last man called, was absent a long, a very long time. He came out smiling broadly, his look plainly saying: ”Sorry for you, fellows. This is in my pocket.” (A.J.Cronin “The Citadel”)
be in somebody’s pocket = in the hands of, at the mercy of, rests with….
V.