I novellen identifierar Tom sig själv som "queer" vid minst ett tillfälle. Implikationen tycks vara att hans metoder har identifierat honom som sådan för Clay.
Clay smiled patiently. “I’m straight, Tom. Straight guys know how to drive standards without instruction. It’s instinct with us.”
“Very funny.” Tom wasn’t really listening. He was looking after the departed odd couple, and that pulse in the side of his throat was going faster than ever. “End of the world, open season on the queers, why not, right?”
Han tar också extrema brott mot en kvinna som anklagar sodomiter som ansvarig för världens sjukdomar
The plump woman laughed softly, but tears were in her eyes. “Ward! I’ve heard a lot of words for it, but never that one. As if I don’t know what men like you want with a tender girl like this, especially in times like these. ‘They repented not their fornications, nor their sodomies, nor their’ “
“Shut up,” Tom said, “or I’ll hit you myself. And unlike my friend, who was I think lucky enough not to grow up among the holy Hannahs and thus does not recognize you for what you are, I won’t pull my punch. Fair warning. One more word.”
Ler gör säkert många antaganden om Toms livsstil efter att ha sett sin lägenhet
“Follow along down to the kitchen,” Tom said when they were in the house proper. There was a pleasant smell of furniture polish and, Clay thought, leather, a smell he associated with men living calm lives that did not necessarily include women. “Second door on the right. Stay close. The hallway’s wide, and there’s nothing on the floor, but there are tables on both sides and it’s as black as your hat. As I think you can see.”