he was in a ward of six beds , but three of his fellow confiners still had the curtains screened around their quarters and were not visible to public scrutiny , another bed was empty , the bed covers pulled back untidily , suggesting a rapid departure to a destination unspecified , and the occupant of the final bed was so deeply engrossed in a thick and well-thumbed paperback that art did not like to interrupt him to make time-killing small-talk .