“Only just before doing that, he wants to take one or two more pictures of her there in the boat, just off shore.”
“Yes.”
“And then he’ll tell her, see?”
“Yes.”
“And so they go out in the boat again for a little row, just as he did, see?”
“Yes.”
“But because they intend to go ashore again for some flowers, he’s left the bag there, see?
That explains the bag.”
“Yes.”
“But before taking any more pictures there, in the boat on the water, he begins to tell her about his love for this other girl — that if she wants him to, now he’ll marry her and then write this Sondra a letter.
Or, if she feels she doesn’t want to marry him with him loving this other girl . . .”
“Yes, go on!” interrupted Belknap, eagerly.
“Well,” continued Jephson, “he’ll do his best to take care of her and support her out of the money he’ll have after he marries the rich girl.”
“Yes.”
“Well, she wants him to marry her and drop this Miss Finchley!”
“I see.”
“And he agrees?”
“Sure.”
“Also she’s so grateful that in her excitement, or gratitude, she jumps up to come toward him, you see?”
“Yes.”
“And the boat rocks a little, and he jumps up to help her because he’s afraid she’s going to fall, see?”
“Yes, I see.”
“Well, now if we wanted to we could have him have that camera of his in his hand or not, just as you think fit.”
“Yes, I see what you’re driving at.”
“Well, whether he keeps it in his hand or doesn’t, there’s some misstep on his part or hers, just as he says, or just the motion of the two bodies, causes the boat to go over, and he strikes her, or not, just as you think fit, but accidentally, of course.”
“Yes, I see, and I’ll be damned!” exclaimed Belknap.
“Fine, Reuben!
Excellent!
Wonderful, really!”
“And the boat strikes her too, as well as him, a little, see?” went on Jephson, paying no attention to this outburst, so interested was he in his own plot, “and makes him a little dizzy, too.”
“I see.”
“And he hears her cries and sees her, but he’s a little stunned himself, see?
And by the time he’s ready to do something —”
“She’s gone,” concluded Belknap, quietly.
“Drowned.
I get you.”
“And then, because of all those other suspicious circumstances and false registrations — and because now she’s gone and he can’t do anything more for her, anyhow — her relatives might not want to know her condition, you know —”
“I see.”
“He slips away, frightened, a moral coward, just as we’ll have to contend from the first, anxious to stand well with his uncle and not lose his place in this world.
Doesn’t that explain it?”
“About as well as anything could explain it, Reuben, I think.
In fact, I think it’s a plausible explanation and I congratulate you.
I don’t see how any one could hope to find a better.
If that doesn’t get him off, or bring about a disagreement, at least we might get him off with, well, say, twenty years, don’t you think?”
And very much cheered, he got up, and after eyeing his long, thin associate admiringly, added: “Fine!” while Jephson, his blue eyes for all the world like windless, still pools, looked steadily back.
“But of course you know what that means?” Jephson now added, calmly and softly.
“That we have to put him on the witness stand?
Surely, surely.
I see that well enough.
But it’s his only chance.”