Oh, come now. Such a statement can't be taken out of context of conversation. Looking up to the parents, it reads like this:

    "Says it all, doesn't it?"  -- implication of something fishy

    "What does it say?"   -- asking what is the implication

    "It is the appearance of impropriety,[...] it appears they offered [...]
     It appears dirty but maybe can't be proven."  

Notice I said "appears" three times. How would a common person interpret these activities? What does it look like? This is how it looks.