question:  Why does Howell not want Linton to approach Snead in the restaurant?
context: FEBRUARY STRAWBERRIES By JIM HARMON How much is the impossible worth? [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Worlds of If Science Fiction, March 1961. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] Linton lay down his steel fork beside the massively solid transparency of the restaurant water glass. Howell, the man across the table from him, looked embarrassed without looking. Howell had to know that he would remember. "The man who isn't Snead is leaving," Linton said, describing the scene over Howell's shoulder. "Snead came to Greta's funeral. A thick-bodied man at the next table leaned his groaning chair back intimately against Linton's own chair. Howell breathed in deeply and sucked back Linton's attention. "Oh, well, 'dead,'" Howell replied. Even after they had let him out of the asylum as cured, he still secretly believed he had known a genuine affection for her. Linton felt that his silence was asking Howell by this time. "I don't know, mind you," Howell said, puffing out tobacco smoke, "but I suppose he might have been resurrected." Linton asked, thinking: God? Howell meant that some people had a system of making it appear that a person had died in order to gain some illegal advantage. But by saying something so patently ridiculous, Linton hoped to bring the contradicting truth to the surface immediately. I guess that's how it is," Howell agreed. "But it's wonderful," Linton said, thinking his immediate thoughts. "Look, Frank, you can't legalize a thing like resurrection," Howell said with feigned patience. "There are a lot of fakes and quacks in the resurrection business. When the cops find out about a place, they break in, smash all the equipment and arrest everybody in sight. The charges, if any, come under general vice classification."
output:  Howell does not want Linton to learn about resurrection after what he did to become institutionalized
options:  Howell imagines that Snead has likely been resurrected and will try to go after Linton  Howell knows that Linton has been resurrected and does not want him to be embarrassed if Linton commits a social faux pas  Howell does not want Linton to learn about resurrection after what he did to become institutionalized  Howell knows that Linton attempted to murder Snead before he suffered from a nervous breakdown