the absence he won't reflect on
The alley was devroid of cats and rodents both; he did not stop to reflect why.
Context
A one-line study of the not-looking that denial runs on: the alley is empty of animals because Lenz's own compulsion has already worked this district, and the narrator lets the cause sit exactly where Lenz leaves it — unreflected. The refusal to ask why is the same faculty that reads a wide berth as invisibility and an eviction as promotion.