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     The cops were reluctant to leave without getting their hand on somebody besides grandfather; the night had been distinctly a defeat for them. Furthermore, they obviously didn’t like the ‘layout’; something looked – and I can see their viewpoint – phony. They began to poke into things again. A reporter, a thin-faced, wispy man, came up to me. I had put on one of mother’s dress, not being able to find anything else. The reporter looked at me with mingled suspicion and interest. ‘Just what the hell is the real lowdown here, Bud?’ he asked. I decided to be frank with him. ‘We had ghosts,’ I said. He gazed at me a long time as if I were a slot machine into which he had, without results, dropped a coin. Then he walked away. The cops followed him, the one grandfather shot holding his now bandaged arm, cursing and blaspheming. ‘I’m gonna get my gun back from that old bird,’ said the zither-cop. ‘Yeh,’ said Joe, ‘You – and who else?’ I told them I would bring it to the station house the next day.

Explanation:

 
The cops didn't want to leave without catching someone; the night had been a complete failure for them. Furthermore, they clearly disliked the 'layout;' something appeared false, in their opinion, which the narrator can understand. They started poking about in the same places they had been before.
 
A thin-faced, wispy man approached the narrator and introduced himself as a reporter.
The narrator was wearing one of his mother's dresses as he was unable to find his clothes. With a mixture of mistrust and intrigue, the reporter glanced at the narrator and wanted to know the real reason behind all those chaos. The narrator told him the truth, that they had ghosts in the house. He stared at the narrator for a long time, as if he were a slot machine that he had inserted money into with no luck. Then the reporter turned and went away.
 
casino-161438_1280.png
Slot machine
 
The officers also began to retreat, and the one that the grandfather had shot was shouting and blaspheming while grasping his now bandaged arm. The zither-cop, on the other hand, can be heard saying that he was going to get his pistol back from that grandfather, to which Joe sarcastically remarks, "Yeah, you – and who else?' They were evidently afraid after their stint with the grandfather.
 
The narrator promised them he would deliver it the next day to the station house.
  
Meanings of difficult words:
 
Sl. No
Words
Meanings
1
ReluctantUnwilling and hesitant
2
DistinctlyIn a way that is readily distinguishable by the senses
3
PhonyA thing that is not genuine
4
WispySomething frail and weak
5
MingleA combination of two or more different things
6
SuspicionCautious distrust
7
LowdownThe true facts or relevant information about something
8
GazeTo look steadily and intently
9
Slot machineA machine that you try to win money from by putting coins into it and operating it, often by pressing a button or pulling a handle
10
BlasphemingTo use offensive language, especially as an expression of anger
11
Yeh(Variant spelling of) Yeah
Reference:
State Council of Educational Research and Training (2019). English Standard-10. The Night the Ghost Got In - James Grover Thurber (pg. 30 - 33). Published by the Tamil Nadu Textbook and Educational Services Corporation.