Nation: THE KENNEDYS: INQUEST OF SUSPICIONS

THE authorities investigating the death of Mary Jo Kopechne have caused nearly as much uncertainty as Edward Kennedy's own partial explanations of the accident that killed her. At first, there was almost total reluctance in Martha's Vineyard, Mass., to press the inquiry. Kennedy's plea of guilty to a charge of leaving the scene of an accident seemed to end the legalities. Now, at least one more chapter in the tortured proceeding is assured.

Exactly 21 days after Kennedy's Car plunged off the narrow Dike Bridge on Chappaquiddick Island, District Attorney Edmund Dinis and District Court Judge James Boyle met last week to resolve procedural confusion over whether or not to hold a belated inquest. The conference ended with Boyle's announcement that an inquest would be convened in Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard, on Sept. 3. At the same time, Dinis continued his efforts to have Mary Jo's body exhumed so that an autopsy could be conducted.

Official Curiosity. Dinis' role in the investigation has been at best inconsistent. A flamboyantly aggressive lawyer and ambitious Democratic politician, Dinis has had cool relations with the Kennedys. They have declined to help him in his campaigns for higher office. Yet initially he remained aloof from the case, even declining to order an autopsy when the body was still in his legal jurisdiction. He made no move for an inquest or thorough investigation while witnesses were still in easy reach. Official curiosity overcame Dinis only after the press demanded more information and a national mood of skepticism about the whole affair put both Kennedy and the authorities on the defensive. Even now,, it is questionable how thorough the inquest will be. At week's end, Dinis said he had "no intention at this time" of calling Kennedy to testify—although Kennedy obviously knows more about what happened than anyone else. Edgartown Police Chief Dominick Arena was making arrangements anyhow to provide police protection in case Kennedy is called. When reminded of Dinis' statement that Kennedy would not be summoned, Arena remarked: "That's what he said today. But if you know that guy [Dinis], you know why we have to arrange for every possibility."

Even with Kennedy's testimony, it is doubtful how much clarity an inquest could now bring to the case. The ten other surviving members of the Chappaquiddick party could be subpoenaed. It would be extremely difficult, however, for the court to compel those out of state to appear. Kennedy's friends Paul Markham and Joseph Gargan, both lawyers, might attempt to avoid the witness chair on the ground that they had acted as Kennedy's counsel.

An inquest might determine at what time Kennedy and Mary Jo left the Chappaquiddick party and how much they had had to drink. But it is problematic whether such a hearing could legally consider some of the larger lacunae in Kennedy's account. Why did Gargan and Markham not report the accident and why did they permit Kennedy, clothed and presumably dazed, to plunge into the channel to swim from Chappaquiddick to Martha's Vineyard? Was Kennedy trying to establish an alibi when he appeared fully and dryly clothed before a hotelman in Edgartown and pointedly asked the time? (It was 2:25 a.m.)