Downstairs, Jane made Polly stay with her in the kitchen and Papa took the police into the front room. They heard him say that he’d gone with Mr. Dewitt to the beach to talk, after breaking up the argument with his son-in-law. Merle Schuster was a possessive man with a beautiful wife. Papa managed to cool the situation when Mr. Dewitt, seeing the boat, mentioned he’d been a rower in college, and Papa unwisely allowed him to take it, if only to keep the peace. He went out with Mr. Dewitt just long enough to show him a trick or two about how the boat handled, and warn about tides, and to show him where he kept it anchored.

Maude brought in coffee, and when the police asked if she’d dealt with Mr. Dewitt, she said he’d been a complete boor. But he was an important gallery owner, and helpful for Mrs. Ward’s career. An uninvited, drunken, difficult guest, but nevertheless a guest.

It was odd, said the police, and Papa agreed. But when a drunk wants your boat, and says he rowed for Brown, and you’d rather not continue talking to him, you let him go. Mr. Dewitt was in a bad mood, and he was putting Papa in one, making him miss his own party. Understandably, he wanted to head back in, and when Mr. Dewitt wanted to continue his boat ride, Papa asked to be brought near shore. There was still some light, and if someone saw him wet, it’s because he became wet in the course of getting out of his boat. He drove the children home and changed before he returned, and if he had not mentioned this at the outset, it’s fair to say that he was not proud of having driven children after so many cocktails, wet, and that he was annoyed by the whole irksome episode. They could check with Mr. Galante, the poet, or Mr. Schuster—he’d seen them on his return. And of course all the people who were still awake at the house when he brought the children home. He hadn’t seen Mr. Dewitt again until the children found his body. An awful thing for them to see. He didn’t know how Mr. Dewitt managed to drown, but the man was a drunk, out of shape, used to calm rivers, not blustery waves.

As Papa showed them out, he said, I’m ninety, sirs. I’m flattered that you think me capable of murder. He moved like a very old man when he opened the door and shook their hands.