Summary

The narrator continued sitting at the café, nursing his brandy, and considering Scranton’s character and motives. The narrator realized that he “had maintained a charade” with his former colleagues, too, and wondered if that was what Scranton was doing (1108). The difference between him and Scranton, however, was that Scranton got to be by himself, whereas the narrator was always contending with others. Then he wondered if he could write a human-interest story about Scranton that might “remake [his] career” (1108).

Over the course of the following days, the narrator began to visit the café regularly. He brought his notebook and waited for Scranton to appear so he could observe or interview him for his new project. Every day, Scranton arrived at the café by himself sometime after noon. The narrator noticed that the waiter always greeted him skeptically. Scranton was usually dressed in...