ith Mr. Bell, the kind man who enjoyed picking up hitchhikers. Mr. Bell tells Perry and Dick about his family and his five children, but Perry's only response is "too bad." The three men carry on a gentlemanly conversation, but all the while, Perry is preparing to kill Mr. Bell. Perry refers to the kill as "the party," and he is most disappointed when another hitchhiker appears in the distance, spoiling the fun. In one instant, Perry goes from attempted murder, to laughing at a lame joke. The polarities of his troubled personality are shown in this quick transition. The greatest display of the two sides of Perry Smith is, of course, his behavior the night of the murders. He made all the members of the Clutter family comfortable before he killed each one of them. Up until the murders themselves, Perry acted like a nice guy, often irritated by Dick's crudeness. He rebuked Dick for punching Kenyon for his slowness of movement, and Perry instructed the young boy to put his clothes on before coming out. Perry escorted Mr. Clutter to the basement and provided a comfortable mattress box for him to lie on so he wouldn't have to lie on the cold floor. Kenyon got tied up next, and Perry took him down to the basement where he eventually tied Kenyon to the couch, propping his head on some pillows for comfort. He tied Mrs. Clutter to her bed, and she told him how she doesn't trust Dick but feels Perry is "a descent young man." This proves that those who don't know Perry Smith deeply can't see his two sides. Nancy Clutter was the next to be tied up. While he was binding her, Perry carried on a civilized conversation about Nancy and Bobby and her plans for the future. Perry played humanitarian by keeping Dick from taking advantage of Nancy, but his next actions appear as a huge double standard, as he proceeded to kill the entire family. In his last dialogue with Mr. Clutter, Perry told him that the events of that night would all be forgotten in the mo...
