He looked at his watch. “All right. I’ll play valet.”

I combed my hair and brushed my teeth, washed up, and reached for my shirt. Kleinsmidt handed it to me. He’d been holding it — looking at it.

I put my hairbrush, toothbrush, and tooth paste back in the bag. Kleinsmidt snapped the bag shut and wrapped his big hand around the handle.

“I can take it,” I said.

“It’s all right. I have it.”

The porter came in. “Jus’ a few minutes we’ll be in Barstow, suh. We only stop there jus’ a second. If you ge’mmen will be all ready to hop off.”

Kleinsmidt nodded.

“Ah’s openin’ up at the rear,” the porter said.

I lit a cigarette. “What’s it all about?” I asked Kleinsmidt.

“Sorry, Lam, I’m not doing any talking right now.”