How did Booth arrange to cross the Navy Yard Bridge when it closed at 9:00pm?

• A. He waited for a guard to open the gate.
• B. He claimed he had no clue the bridge closed and tried to talk them through it.
• C. He crossed secretly before it closed.
• D. He swam around the barrier.

Answer: (B)

Booth’s escape plan relied on a quick, plausible deception to get past the gatekeeper. He claimed he didn’t know the bridge was closed and attempted to talk his way through, banking on the guard’s reluctance to block someone who seemed unaware of the rule. This fits his tactic of using a social pretext rather than forcing a crossing or timing his escape around the gate’s schedule. The other ideas don’t align with how the scene is described: waiting for an opening would depend on the guard’s action, crossing before the closure would require foreknowledge Booth didn’t have, and swimming around the barrier isn’t supported by the account and would have been impractical.