Chapter Eight: Water Under the Bridge. The Fascination of Gold. An Old Dog. Newspaper News. An Arrest.

Summary

• The narrator helps care for a man named Mr. Bowditch, who has had an accident and now requires assistance with bathing and mobility. The narrator remarks on Mr. Bowditch's improvement over time, eventually being able to use crutches to get around his house.
• Mr. Bowditch makes a comment about the narrator atoning for something. The narrator recalls calling in a fake bomb threat, causing widespread fear, which he regrets.
• The narrator reveals he has declined to play his senior year of high school football to take care of Mr. Bowditch and his aging dog, Radar. This decision is met with disappointment and resentment from his father and Mr. Bowditch.
• It's revealed that the narrator has been returning to an undisclosed location in Mr. Bowditch's house to examine and handle a storied collection of gold.
• The narrative turns to the deteriorating health of Radar. A veterinarian's assistant advises that an experimental drug could potentially improve Radar's life, but also likely shorten it.
• The narrator discovers news of Wilhelm Heinrich's murder, a jeweler who Mr. Bowditch used to trade gold with. The narrator is concerned that this could potentially lead to the discovery of Mr. Bowditch's hidden gold, but Mr. Bowditch dismisses his worries. Later, a suspect is arrested for Heinrich's murder.
• In the end, the chapter closes with the narrator still restless and uneasy about the events and their potential implications.

• Mr. Bowditch and Charlie discuss what to do with some excess gold they have, with Bowditch emphasizing the need for discretion.
• Charlie searches for information about Benjamin Dwyer, a murder suspect, on Twitter.
• He finds various posts, including one from the Stantonville Police Chief celebrating the arrest, and another from a user named Punkette 44, expressing a negative opinion about Stantonville and indifference toward Dwyer's possible guilt.
• A user named BullGuy19 posts that he does not believe Benjy Dwyer is capable of murder and suggests he is more of a village idiot, implying he could be an easy target for blame.
• Charlie plans to show this post to Mr. Bowditch to suggest that Dwyer might be a patsy, but, as it turns out, he never gets the chance.