Phil saw Bobby crawl out from under Jeff's car, then cut the brake lines himself and switched the key chains. Later, Phil gets drunk when he finds out his son Jeff is also sleeping with Rona and in his stupor falls in the lake. Clarence (the man who witnessed Mona's accident and seems to be the eyes and ears of the town) drowns Phil so that Bobby won't be implicated in Mona's murder. He feels that Bobby is a good kid and wants to protect him. In the end Bobby and Ellen get married, Rona and Jeff end up together, and Clarence is taken to jail...although he's allowed to attend the wedding first.
DonnieDarkoed
Answer: [Continued] Bobby may have had a better "presentation of self" than Jeph and LOOKED smarter, but he had his own deficiencies (plus mowed over Peaches, losing that contract, and intended to kill Jeph, not Mona). Would a stranger (outsider) be willing to enter a business agreement with Bobby? When choosing someone you have known for years, you have a good idea of what to expect from that person and might have fewer doubts and face fewer unknowns (such as whether the person can be trusted). Partnering with a stranger can be a very risky endeavor. When starting a business, there's no guarantee that you will be successful. Landscaping businesses/ jobs involve hard physical labor - something a lot of people are not interested in doing, so Bobby may not have had (m) any potential candidates with the exception of Jeph.
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