Zackly. He walked past several cottages he could’ve gone to to summon help.
The apparent truth is that he had been drinking and got out of the car and told MJ to drive over the bridge because he saw a cop. He walked back to the hotel in Edgartwon and didn’t realize that she had gone off the bridge until he got up for breakfast, got a newspaper that was reporting the accident on the headline, and turned white (according to other hotel guests at breakfast). Supposedly, he immediately made a call to his lawyer in New York, then cooked up the story with aides and cousin Gargan and Markham. He wore a neckbrace one day thereafter — when he appeared at the hearing/inquest where his license was suspended. A real hero.