He finished a large salad, an eighteen-ounce sirloin steak, a baked potato with sour cream, and three draft beers before 6:15. His check came to $9.40. He put a ten-dollar bill on the table while his waitress was picking up an order in the kitchen, and left the restaurant before she returned. The hostess, a middle-aged woman in a black beaded dress, stood aside as he reached her station, but did not wish him a good night. He parked right in front of the walk leading to Penny’s apartment in Somerville. He shut off the ignition, got out, opened the trunk, and pulled Penny’s train case toward him. He dug out the camera and rewound the film inside it. He opened the back and took out the cartridge, closing the camera and replacing it in the train case. He shut the trunk and dropped the exposed film in his pocket. The couple on the first floor were in the preliminary stage of their weekend argument when he climbed the stairs to Penny’s place. He let himself into the dark apartment, noting as he switched on the kitchen light that the turkey had begun to stink.
