Chapter 39 Summary

Finally Quoyle's new boat is done and just before the ice is broken up enough to put her in the water. One night Quoyle and Wavey are dinner guests at Dennis and Beety's. Dennis is very agitated and frustrated because he has trouble finding work in the winter. That night Quoyle went home and took a bath, during which he discovers that he's come to a point of general well being and even experiences small bursts of joy. After falling asleep he's awakened by a ringing phone. It's Dennis, his father is missing. At midnight he calls back again to say they found Jack drowned.

Jack had been out setting lobster traps when one of the ropes got tangled around his leg and when he threw the trap overboard he was dragged with it and trapped underwater. Quoyle assured his employees that the...