Bigelow. He'd emptied six of the capsules and left the empty ones in the box with the full ones. And he'd placed the box behind the window curtain, where anyone who suspected wrongdoing would have no difficulty in finding it. Well, I suspected. I saw what he must intend. I went into his room and examined his wine with a result which you are, of course, aware of. I might have simply called him to account, but it seemed best to thwart him. To make him appear so painfully ridiculous that any future similar attempt would be knocked in the head at the outset… You see that, do you not?'
I saw it. Jake wouldn't pull another stunt like that.
'I disposed of the amytal capsules in the toilet along with the wine. Then, I washed the bottle out, and refilled it to its former level from a bottle I had. I am not what is ordinarily thought of as a drinking man, but a small glass of wine, sometimes, when I am turning through a book-'
'He had to take a drink of it,' I said. 'He'd want to have at least a little of the amytal in him. It's a wonder he didn't-'
'Notice the taste?' Kendall chuckled, his eyes twinkling. 'Well, I don't imagine he's accustomed to drinking amytal and liquor, so he'd hardly know what taste to expect. And I imagine it did taste rather peculiar to him. It's much better wine than he's accustomed to drinking.'
I looked down at the table. 'Gosh,' I said. 'I hardly know what to say. Except thanks. I don't like to think what would have happened if-'
'Then don't. And I enjoyed doing it, Mr. Bigelow. I can't remember when I've had such an interesting experience.'
'What do you think?' I said. 'Do you think I should move out?'
'What do
I hesitated. Was he or wasn't he? If he was tied up with The Man, I'd better not be thinking about moving. But if he wasn't, well, moving would be the first thing I'd think of.
'I've been trying to make up my mind,' I said. 'I'd hate to. People would naturally wonder about it, and it's reasonable there-the price, I mean. And with us working together and the bakery so nearby, it's-'
'I don't believe I'd move, if I were you.'
'Well,' I said. 'I certainly wouldn't want to.'
'I hope you don't. I very much hope so. Of course, I wouldn't want you to let me influence you against your better judgement.'
'Sure. I understand.'
'I admired you a great deal at your first encounter with Winroy. Your complete self-possession. Your self-control, nerve, in the face of an alarming and awkward situation. Frankly, I was a little envious of you; you shamed me. I had just about arrived at a point where I was ready to move myself. In other words, I was going to allow this drunken lout, a convicted gangster, to dictate to me. That would have been wrong of me, Mr. Bigelow. Very wrong. But I needn't tell you that, of course. I can't tell you how disappointed I'd be, if you should-well, it sounds rather harsh but I'll say it. If you should turn tail and run.'
'I'm not going to,' I said. 'I'm going to stay, all right.'
'Good. Excellent. We shall stand shoulder to shoulder in this matter. You may depend on my fullest support, moral and otherwise. In case of difficulty, I believe you will find that my word carries far more weight in this community than Winroy's.'
'I'm sure it does,' I said.
'Well-' He raised his glass. 'By the way, am I mistaken or did Sheriff and Mrs. Summers drive you home?'
'I ran into them downtown this morning,' I said. 'I went to church with them.'
'Splendid! Those seemingly small things-they mean a great deal in a town like this… Another drink?'
I shook my head. I wanted one, but I didn't think I'd better take it.
He might get the idea that I needed the stuff to keep going.
We went back to the house, and he and I had dinner together alone. Fay was in her room, I guess, still too upset and sore to eat.
We finished eating, and he went to the bakery. And I went right along with him, We came back at seven for sandwiches and coffee and so on-what they usually feed you for Sunday night supper wherever you are. Then we returned to the bakery, and I stuck with him until he knocked off at ten o'clock.
I was afraid to be there in the house with Ruth when all the others were out of the way. I hoped she got the idea fast that I didn't know her from now on.
Sunday is a big night in a bakery, Kendall explained. On Saturday there's practically nothing to do, since most retail outlets are closed the following day. But on Sunday you're baking for Monday, and with almost everyone run out of stuff over the weekend, it's the busiest day of the week.
He had plenty to do out on the floor, and most of the time I was by myself in the stockroom. I kept busy, as busy as I could. It would have looked funny to loaf around for seven or eight hours. He gave me a set of his whites to wear-we were about the same size-and I went all through the stock, getting familiar with it and taking inventory of everything but the bulk stuff.
'You can inventory that tomorrow,' Kendall said, when he dropped in on me during a lull. 'You'll need someone to help you weigh it, and give you the tare-the weight of the various containers. That would have to be deducted from your gross weight, understand, to give you the net.'
I nodded, and he went on:
'These bulk items, they're the things that have given us trouble. Not at all surprising, either, with everyone chasing in and out of here, tossing their batches together by guess and by golly. Now here'-he tapped a heavily insulated barrel-'is a plaster-of-Paris compound-'
'Plaster of Paris,' I said. 'You put that stuff in-in-?'
'In bread. A few ounces in a large batch of bread does wonders for the texture, and of course it's completely harmless. A very little more than a few ounces, well, you'd have something resembling paving blocks.' He smiled, his eyes gleaming behind the glasses. 'Your dough would be wasted unless, say, you cared to pelt our friend Winroy in the head with it.'
'I see,' I laughed. 'Yeah.'
At ten o'clock we dressed out together. Quite a few of the other workmen were changing clothes at the same time, but he didn't introduce me, as I kind of thought he should. We started up the stairs to the street. And the locker room,had been plenty quiet a moment before, but the minute we left you could hear the talk starting up.
'By the way,' he said, as we walked home. 'I was very favorably impressed by your industry tonight, Mr. Bigelow. I felt justified in beginning your pay instead of waiting until tomorrow.'
'Well, thanks,' I said. 'Thanks very much, Mr. Kendall.'
'Not at all, Mr. Bigelow.'
'About'-I hesitated-'about my name, Mr. Kendall. It seems kind of funny for you to be mistering me. Wouldn't you rather call me Carl?'
'Would you prefer that I did?'
'Well, I-it would be all right,' I said.
'I'm sure it would. But I think we might well leave things as they are.' He paused to knock out his pipe on the gate-post; then we went on up the walk together. 'Man is forced to give up so much of his dignity by the mere exigencies of existence. It seems to me that he should cling sturdily to the few shreds that are left to him.'
'I see,' I said. 'I just didn't want you to feel-'
'Moreover, as a somewhat more than casual student of human nature, I believe you resent being called by your first name, at least on short acquaintance. I think our reactions are much the same in that respect.'
The house was quiet, dark except for the hall lights. We said good night, whispering, and he went to his room and I went to mine.
