eally can’t understand how this seemed to end the case for Al. I can of course guess but I never did like guessing nor was I ever very good at it. The only explanation I can think of is maybe that Al felt better knowing Nancy’s friends had moved on with their lives. I would have thought seeing Hickock and Smith receive their punishment would have made him feel the case had ended more than anything else could have. I find the relationship between Perry and Richard (Dick) to be very interesting. They were cellmates in prison for quite a while but the book never states exactly how long. During which time I’m sure they developed a very different relationship than any that I am familiar with. It seems that they both have somewhat homosexual tendencies towards each other and certain other people. I can’t remember Perry mentioning much about his sexual interests in the book except for maybe what he says about Willie-Jay. The only other thing is when Perry mentions that he is disgusted with people who cannot control their own sexual desires.In order for Dick or Perry to be willing to commit this terrible crime they undoubtedly needed to be together. Dick with his big mouth macho type attitude was needed to urge Perry into undertaking this mission. Even if Perry had somehow gotten into that situation by himself he could not have killed Mr. Clutter. If Perry hadn’t been trying to “call” Dick’s bluff he never would have slit Mr. Clutter’s throat like he did. Then if he hadn’t killed Mr. Clutter he wouldn’t have had to kill the rest of the family. On the other hand if Dick had been without Perry most likely he would have attempted it with someone else. If he hadn’t been with Perry though I am quite certain that the family would have survived. As Perry revealed Dick deep down was really a coward and would have been too afraid to kill the Clutter’s. After they had committed...
