She said, “You’ve created him. He is entirely your idea. If you don’t like Charlie, why don’t you think up another name?”
“Charlie suits me all right.”
“Then go on calling him Charlie.”
I said, “I’ve got some work to do. I’ve got to be shoving on.”
“Donald, I wish I could get that out of my mind. She had such a beautiful figure, and that cord around her neck — her face was all swollen and black and—”
“Shut up,” I said. “Quit thinking about it. Go to bed and get some sleep. The bathroom is at the end of the corridor.”
“When will you be in, Donald?”
“I don’t know. Pretty late.”
“If I’d sit up, would you look in on me before you went to bed?”
“No.”