I reckon, he said, directing his remarks toward no one in particular, "that we've all been rather hasty in this matter, being het up as we were with the strain of what we been through an' so it seems to me, […]

He wasn't just getting wise, he was getting wise to my mother.

It is unlikely he will be convicted; the evidence against him is circumstantial at best.

AWARD is better than either WARED or WADER. However, there's an even better play! If you have looked at the two-to-make-three letter list, you may have noticed the word AWA.