The Room Read Free

men.
    I see you got my letter. Yes. It was delivered by your friend last night and my editor called me immediately. I immediately called Stacey – Mr Lowry – and made an appointment to get here the first thing this morning.
    Well, I am certainly glad you got here as fast as you did. I was not sure if he had been able to smuggle the letter out or not. I was afraid he might have had to destroy it. Or even been caught with it. It is a relief to know he made it all right, smiling briefly before resuming his look of serious intent.
    Has anyone indicated, in any way, that they are aware of, or suspect, the fact that you smuggled a letter from here.
    He looked at Stacey Lowry, wanting to convey, in some way, the fact that he was aware of his reputation as one of the finest criminal lawyers in the country, if not the finest. No sir. I am certain no one even suspected. We were extremely careful. And too, I do not think the captain would have been so unconcerned.
    Probably not, but you cannot be too certain about that.
    I hope you did not have too much trouble reading my letter. Well, my editor did have a little trouble with a few words, where the paper had been folded, but nothing really serious. By the way, whose idea was it to use toilet tissue.
    That was my idea. I did not have any paper, or money to buy any – they took all my money – and I knew they would be suspicious if I asked for paper so I used the toilet paper. They do not check on that. And my friend was able to sneak a pencil to me and I wrote it at night. The only problem was sharpening it. I had to use my teeth. I imagine you could see, by the writing, that the pencil was not too sharp, smiling.
    Well, that certainly was clever of you. It is obvious that you are one of those rare individuals who can persevere under adversity with ease.
    He looked at Donald Preston and started to smile, but only allowed his face to relax slightly, not wanting to have them think he was conceited. Throughout their conversation he wanted to convey the impression of quiet courage.
    You say they took all your money and refused to return any of it. Yes sir. Thats right. They wouldnot even allow you enough for cigarettes. Not only that, I could not even get a toothbrush.
    A warm glow flowed through him as Stacey Lowry looked at Preston, an indignant expression on his face. Why that is utterly ridiculous.
    As you can see, I was not exaggerating when I said they were harassing me. Well, we will put an end to that immediately. We have already contacted the bail bondsman and you should be out in an hour.
    I certainly am glad to hear that. Being locked up alone without even a book to read or cigarettes can get to you after a while. Well, we are going to sit right here with you until they finish the paper work and release you. We are not going to take any chances.
    Chances? looking quizzically at them. Yes. The captain was very curious as to why Mr Lowry and myself wanted to see you.
    O, I see.
    He adjusted his chair so the tape recorder was out of his sight. Donald Preston sat behind his large walnut desk, Stacey Lowry on the side facing him. He adjusted his chair again so he was facing the area between the two men in such a way that they were always in his area of vision. He enjoyed the size and richness of the room. He stretched his legs and sipped his drink.
    He spoke deliberately and distinctly, concentrating on being coherent and knowledgeable. He related his story, going into detail necessarily omitted from his letter. When he had finished they took a brief break before starting the question-and-answer session.
    It was obvious that the immediate rapport they enjoyed was due not only to their singleness of purpose, but also because they accepted him as a man. They were complete equals. He realized that they understood immediately that he was not just another crank, or simply paranoid, but a man wronged by the authorities. It was also evidentthat they understood that he was not only