Handout - WHO DUNNIT - Clue Reveal Day 2
Handout - WHO DUNNIT - Clue Reveal Day 2
Handout - WHO DUNNIT - Clue Reveal Day 2
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Murder Mystery Activity Pack
This pack contains everything you should need in order to be able to run a special ‘end-of-term’ event at your language school:
a series of 5-10 themed lessons, each building different language skills, that culminate in a chance for the students to play
‘detective’ and solve a crime. It has been designed to work with online classes (using the Zoom platform in this case) but could
easily be adapted to suit other platforms; or indeed, to run in a physical space (if the school in question has a minimum of 9
separate rooms and a corridor). The thought behind it has been to give the students a fun end-of-term activity to look forward to;
and the teaching staff a chance to wind down too, with a set of pre-packaged lesson ideas and less time spent planning!
The level of language skills required in order to be able to take part in, enjoy, and benefit from the game should be available to
all students from Intermediate and up, with appropriate levels of ‘scaffolding’ by the teacher. In addition to consolidating and
practicing those skills in a practical setting, the idiomatic and specific lexis used will also provide an opportunity for new
learning; while the need for deductive reasoning should allow students of all levels to feel challenged and engaged. The pack
contains suggested material to teach 5-10 x 1-1½ hour sessions from a standard 5 session week - allowing sufficient time for
such housekeeping, student questions, reiteration and recap, etc. as the teacher feels they need for their particular class,
working at their pace. Teachers of lower level classes could begin the pre-teach earlier, with a two-week lead up to the event;
using each unit section to fill an entire lesson, so as to allow their students more time to absorb the new learning at a suitable
pace. Teachers of more advanced students will find links to supplementary reading material and further lesson ideas.
The pack is essentially broken down into units (1-5). Units 1-3 have two main activities spread over consecutive pages, one
per page (1A, 1B, etc.). Each unit, or half unit, can be the core element of a lesson – depending on class level and chosen
pace. Part 4 contains daily homework activities, to be checked and drilled in class; while part 5 includes the reference material
and resources the teacher will need to run the game itself; either as a single-class activity, or as part of a school-wide event:-
4. AUTONOMOUS STUDY/HOMEWORK
PRE-TEACH AND PREP. [FAMILIARISATION, NEW LEXIS (INC. IDIOMS), AUTONOMOUS STUDY] Pages 7-11
🍏 In plenary session, start an open conversation about crime fiction (in various media).
Elicit what the students already know about it, their tastes, recommendations, etc.
©Have
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them look at the text below on their-own
TIME4LONDON
handouts, read it out- to
SEPTEMBER 2020
them, and discuss the
“Whodunnit?” Activity
Burgundy = Teaching Guide Green = Student Activity Black = Both Blue = Internet Link
1. What does “whodunnit” actually mean? How would it be said in proper English?
Answer: “Who has done it?” / “Who did it?”
2. What type of writing is a “whodunnit”?
Answer: A “whodunnit” is a detective story / a type of crime fiction.
3. What is the main focus of the story?
Answer: The main focus is the investigation into who committed the crime.
4. What is the reader or viewer provided with to help them deduce the identity of the criminal?
Answer: The reader or viewer is provided with all of the suspects and clues.
5. What sort of person usually conducts the investigation?
Answer: The investigation is usually conducted by an eccentric, amateur, or semi-
professional detective – such as Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot, or Sam Spade.
6. When did this kind of story flourish? When was it the predominant style of crime fiction?
Answer: The “whodunnit” flourished during the ‘Golden Age’ of detective stories - during the
first-half of the 20th century, but especially between the First and Second World Wars.
7. Name two noted British writers of “whodunnits”.
Answer: Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie.
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“Whodunnit?” Activity
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🍏 Later, the students will be given an Autonomous Learning Activity as filler and/or nightly homework; from
which they will then be asked to revise when they are sent to their respective Zoom Breakout Rooms
during the game itself (to keep them occupied while the Activity Leader pops into each room to give the
student in there the relevant information). The following activity will help warm up those autonomous
research skills, while students are still in the presence of their teacher and supported. At the same time,
it will help to consolidate the learning of any vocabulary first encountered on the previous page.
(Faster or more advanced students could also use this opportunity to examine examples of the genre:
Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie, Strand Magazine 'whodunnit' short-stories)
🖳 Click on the links to find out more about the words elision, detective, and detective story. Then use
your own favourite dictionary or translator to look up the other words in bold, that are all to do with
“whodunnits”, from the text on the pervious page. If there are any other words which are new to you,
look them up too, and add them to your own vocabulary bank.
WORD/PHRASE TRANSLATION (L1) DEFINITION
Amateur Adj. - a non-professional, working for ‘love’ (Latin amare) rather than money.
Best-known Adj. - Most famous.
Clue Noun - something found or heard that helps solve a mystery.
Colloquial As spoken by the native population; vulgar.
Conduct Verb – to lead; noun – behaviour. (Discuss pronunciation differences)
Climax The penultimate part of a story where the action reaches its peak.
Commit a crime Verb – to do something illegal / against criminal law.
Crime Noun - something illegal / against criminal law.
Crime fiction Noun – genre of writing focusing on crime, but created rather than real.
Crime scene Noun – the location of a crime.
Criminal Noun - the person who commits a crime; the perpetrator.
Deduce Verb – to use your brain’s deductive powers and solve a mystery.
Denouement Noun (French) – the part of a “whodunnit” where the detective explains the mystery.
Detective (Story) Noun – sub-genre of crime fiction, focusing on the actions of a detective.
Eccentric Adj. – someone ‘outside of the centre’ of normal behaviour; an outsider; an oddity.
Evidence Noun – physical proof to support a theory (e.g. fingerprints)
Elision Grammar - the omission of a sound or syllable and the joining together of
words when speaking (E.g. I'm, let's, gotta, kinda, sorta, wanna, whodunnit ).
Flourish Verb – to bloom like a flower; to be at its best.
Focus Noun – the main concern; verb – to concentrate attention upon.
‘Golden Age’ Noun – best time; pinnacle of its history..
Identity Noun – the name of a person, provable using ID.
Investigation Noun – the job of investigating, of looking for clues and deducing the truth.
Murder Noun – the criminal act of killing another person, if premeditated.
Murderer Noun – a person who commits the crime of murder.
Murder mystery Noun – sub-genre of crime fiction, focusing on murder as the crime.
Plot-driven Adj. – describing a piece of writing where the story is the main driving force.
Predominant Adj. – the most important.
Semi-professional Adj. – a non-professional that is nevertheless paid (Holmes, Poirot, Spade)
So-called Adj. - used to express that the commonly used name is perhaps inappropriate.
Solution Noun – the truth of the mystery; the completion of the puzzle.
Suspect (noun/verb) Noun – a person who may have committed the crime; verb – to have doubts or
suspicions about someone or something. (Discuss pronunciation differences)
“Whodunnit” Noun - colloquial elision of "Who [has] done it?"; synonym for detective fiction.
🕮 Now that you know what these words mean, take another look at the text on page 1.
Is it easier to understand now? Are the comprehension questions easier to answer now?
Why do you think it’s easier? How will you apply what you’ve just learned to your future studies?
You and your classmates are going to be the detectives. You are going to search rooms to find
clues, question suspects, share your findings and theories, and work together to deduce the
identity of the criminal! Your job, as detectives, is to find out “whodunnit” and bring them to justice!
You’ll need to deduce the identity of the murderer (who?), the scene of the crime (where?),
the time of the crime (when?), the M.O. or modus operandi (how?) and the motive (why?)
- and find evidence to support your theories.
The Rooms
Including the stairwell and corridors, there are 10 rooms on the ground floor of the house:-
1. The Conservatory 🖳🖎
2. The Ballroom 🖳🖎
3. The Billiard Room 🖳🖎
4. The Library 🖳🖎
5. The Study 🖳🖎
6. The Kitchen 🖳🖎
7. The Entrance Hall 🖳🖎
8. The Lounge 🖳🖎
9. The Dining Room 🖳🖎
10. The Stairwell 🖳🖎
🖳 Click on the links above and look at the pictures of these rooms. What are the names for the
furnishings and decorations you see in each room? You can use the internet to look up any of
these names if they are unfamiliar to you, and add them to your vocabulary bank. There is also
room next to each room for you to write notes that will help you to remember what they are like.
🗪 Talk with your classmates about what you can see in each picture.
1
More advanced students can be tasked with researching the recent history of the 1920s, to better understand the setting.
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“Whodunnit?” Activity
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“If I turn left coming out of the Hall and walk forward for 3 meters, then turn right and walk forward
for 9 meters, where will I be? Which room would be in front of me?”, “Where is the toilet?” etc.
Here’s a map of the ground floor rooms, which should help you:-
During the investigation, each of you will be sent to a different room to look for clues. When you
have finished examining that room, you will be able to leave it and return to the Stairwell to share
your findings with each other. You will then get a chance to visit another room, where you might
find something that your classmate missed, returning again to the Stairwell to share your findings.
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“Whodunnit?” Activity
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🍏 In plenary, direct the students to look at the character portraits below. As well as familiarising
themselves with the suspects, this could be used for any number of physical appearance and
descriptive adjectives exercises (for example, the teacher could elicit answers to questions like
“Who has a moustache/glasses?”, “How old do you think X is?”, “How many suspects are
men/women?”, “How many suspects have black/white hair?” “How would you describe Y?”, etc.);
followed by a game of ‘Guess Who?’, with students in pairs.
(In the Whodunnit event itself, suspects encountered will be described rather than openly named, so our
student detectives will get the chance to use these skills and work out who they are for themselves.)
You will find out more about each suspect, if you ask them the right questions. They will be found
in six of the nine rooms, but which ones? You might get to meet one of them in your room if
you’re lucky. You might also find other clues, including things which may have been used as the
murder weapon, so look out for those too. You’ll find out about other rooms, suspects, and clues
when you return to the stairwell and hear what your classmates have discovered.
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“Whodunnit?” Activity
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🍏 In plenary, ask the students to think about the sorts of questions they might ask the suspects. Remind them
that they will need to deduce the identity of the murderer (who?), the scene of the crime (where?), the time
of the crime (when?), the modus operandi (how?) and the motive (why?).
(For faster or more advanced students, this could also be used to prompt a discussion on the merits of open
versus closed questions, and a recap on WH Question Words and Question Forms2.)
Then direct the students to look at the Questioning section below. Read it with them; modelling and drilling
the example questions with them. Get them to amend their own questions in light of these examples. With
lower levels, you could even roleplay as one or two of the suspects, using the answer guides included on
pages 18-23. (If the Murder Mystery Event is run for a single class, the teacher will play all of the suspects;
while as a cross-class event, a different teacher will be playing each suspect. It therefore wouldn’t hurt for you
to pick your favourite character and rehearse a little! Advanced students could be given roles, too.)
If you do roleplay, be prepared to have to explain some idiomatic or technical lexis at this pre-teaching stage.
The character dialogue isn’t overly complicated, but neither is it written in ‘dumbed-down English’; it is written
to provide opportunities to introduce colloquial idioms and detective terminology. Completion of the
Autonomous Learning homework assignments should help familiarise students with the lexis used.
Questioning
The suspects won’t want to get themselves into trouble, and are therefore unlikely to give you
information freely. You will have to ask the right questions if you want the right answers.
Think back to what you’ve learned about questions. What questions could you ask each suspect to
find out all you need to know? Here are some suggestions, but you might be able to think of some
good questions for yourself, too.
WHAT “What were you doing at the time of the murder – between 7.30 and 8.30 pm?”
“What did you see? What did you hear?”
WHERE “Where were you at the time of the murder – between 7.30 and 8.30 pm?”
“Where did you last see Dr Black? Where was he coming from? Where was he going to?”
WHY “Why do you think Dr Black was murdered? Why would anyone want to kill him?”
“Why didn’t he dress for dinner when everyone else did?”
“Why was he carrying a syringe in his pocket?”
“Why do you suspect [ ]?”
“Why are you wearing gloves? / Why is there blood on your hand?”
HOW “How long have you known Dr Black? How did you meet him?”
“How did you know Dr Black was dead?”
“How would you kill someone, if you were going to?”
2
NB. If a recap on Questions and Question Forms is required, teachers can of course use their own preferred materials, but may be pleased to
know that the author has prepared a set of handouts on this topic as well, with both student and teacher versions, which are similarly available on
the shared drive.
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“Whodunnit?” Activity
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🖳 Monday Homework: Research the meanings of these words and phrases, and add them to your vocabulary bank.
🖳 Tuesday Homework: Research the meanings of these words and phrases, and add them to your vocabulary bank.
🖳 Wednesday Homework: Research the meanings of these words and phrases, and add them to your vocabulary bank.
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“Whodunnit?” Activity
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🖳 Thursday Homework: Research the meanings of these words and phrases, and add them to your vocabulary bank.
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“Whodunnit?” Activity
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“Whodunnit?” Activity
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“Whodunnit?”
Murder Mystery Activity Pack
CONSOLIDATION - THE MURDER MYSTERY GAME ITSELF
[AUTONOMOUS LANGUAGE USE, SPEAKING AND LISTENING, ASKING QUESTIONS,
NOTE WRITING, SHARING INFORMATION, DISCUSSING OPINIONS, DEDUCTIVE REASONING]
With at least four sessions of pre-teach and familiarisation now under their belts, the students should be thoroughly prepared for the
game itself, and thoroughly invested in solving their own whodunnit. Before you begin, you might want to draw their attention to the
page on their handouts for their Notes (page 14). There is no wasted space, so students should be encouraged to be concise with
their notetaking. (This is, however, a learned skill, often neglected, and perhaps a little reminder to stick to the key facts wouldn’t go
amiss; indeed, it could form the basis of an additional lesson, if it is deemed necessary).
In plenary, start by setting the scene and having them re-read the Introduction and Backstory, while you read it aloud to them (page 13).
The investigation itself will also begin in plenary, with the entire class examining the area of the Stairwell. Using Zoom Chat, the pre-
written Stairwell Clues (page 15) will be copied and pasted as private messages to individual students. If necessary, prompt each of
them to read their clue out for their classmates. Remind them all to speak clearly, and take notes about what they learn from each other.
The students will then be sent to individual Zoom Breakout Rooms corresponding with rooms 1-9 of the ground floor of the manor
house, where they will be given the Autonomous Learning Activity to complete/revise (pages 7-11). This will keep them occupied
while the Activity Leader feeds the student in each room with the relevant information (see below), while also (re-)familiarising
them with the lexis they will encounter during the activity.
Room-by-room, the Activity Leader sends the students a private message describing what they can see in their room (pages 16-17);
including any suspects present (in 6 of the 9 rooms) and any apparent clues. The student can then either take a few minutes to
prepare the questions they’d like to ask their suspect, or, if the room is unoccupied, return to the Autonomous Learning Activity.
In the case of a single-class event, the Activity Leader, having sent those messages, visits 6 of the 9 rooms in the character of
that room’s occupant, and answers the student’s questions; in the (perhaps better) option of a school-wide cross-class event, one
of six individual teachers will be pre-installed in the room in question, and will take on that role. The answering questions as
-pages (18-23) contain scripted answers that will aid you in this.
Once a room has been examined, and any occupant therein questioned, the students can return to the Stairwell (the Zoom main
meeting) to share their findings with their classmates, and discuss their theories.
The individual students will then be sent to a different room, where they can gather their thoughts or continue with the Autonomous
Learning Activity until the Activity Leader feeds them further information about that room – a Hidden Clue revealed upon closer
examination, overlooked by their classmate detective on the first visit (page 24). The student can then exit the room, share their fresh
findings with their classmates, and discuss their theories. The teacher can prompt and nudge the students in the right direction if they
struggle or go off on a widely wrong tangent, but free thought is encouraged.
Once the rooms have been examined twice, and any occupant therein questioned, the students should have returned to the Stairwell
to share their findings and theories with their classmates. The Activity Leader can now start drip-feeding all students additional
information, in the form of telegrams about Forensic Reports (page 25) sent to all via Zoom Chat, to prompt further discussion.
Finally, they are given the opportunity to summon the suspects to join them for the denouement (page 26), where they can ask any
final questions (possibly limited to one each) to confirm their theories, and make their final accusations.
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“Whodunnit?” Activity
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INTRODUCTION AND
BACKSTORY
We’re going to investigate our own “whodunnit”. You and your classmates are going to be
the detectives, find clues, question suspects, share your findings and theories, and work
together to deduce the identity of the criminal!
It is spring 1930 (almost a hundred years ago) and you have all arrived at the country manor
house of Dr. Darcy Black - a famous Historian who teaches at the nearby university. He had
just finished writing a book about ‘The Wars of The British Empire’, and was throwing a party
to celebrate. He and his guests had been playing cards and drinking cocktails in the lounge,
while they awaited a sumptuous celebratory dinner. At 7.30pm, they finished playing cards and
went upstairs to their respective bedrooms on the floor above, to freshen up and dress for
dinner.
At 8.00pm they came back down, but found that dinner wasn’t ready yet. So, each of them
went to a different room on the ground floor to occupy themselves while they waited. At
precisely 8.30pm, the Butler, Grey (your Activity Leader), went to fetch some wine from the
cellar.
He instead found the body of Dr. Black lying on the cellar stairs, DEAD! Grey immediately
telephoned the police, and – luckily enough – you were already close (studying to become
detectives at the nearby university) and came over straight away to investigate the crime.
You have arrived at 8.35pm (now); the suspected murder took place within the last hour, and
the suspects are all still in their separate rooms. The Butler lets you in and leads you to the
stairwell. There are three flights of stairs: two at the sides, richly carpeted, leading up to the
bedrooms on the next level; one in the centre, made of bare stone, leading down to the
house’s wine cellar. The still-warm body of Dr Black lies face-down on these cold, stone
stairs.
Your job, as detectives, is to find out “whodunnit” and bring them to justice. You’ll need to deduce
the identity of the murderer (who?), the scene of the crime (where?), the time of the crime
(when?), the modus operandi (how?) and the motive (why?) - and find evidence to support
your theories. Good luck!
Your first task is to examine the area where the body was discovered (the stairwell), and the body
itself. Each of you will see something different, a different clue (sent to your Zoom Chat Feed).
It is up to you to read your clue out loud to your fellow detectives, clearly and slowly, and to listen
carefully to what they have to say, their clue, so that you all gain as much information as you can.
This is also a good opportunity for you to discuss your initial thoughts as they occur to you.
After this, you will each be sent to a different room, where you can look for clues. (The Activity
Leader will tell you what you can see, but you can re-read your homework notes while you wait
for them to do so). You might even meet one of the suspects in your room, in which case you
can ask them questions. When you have finished this, you can return to this stairwell to share
your findings with your classmates.
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“Whodunnit?” Activity
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“Whodunnit?” Activity
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YOUR NOTES
You can use this page to help you keep a record of what you find in each room:-
ROOMS SUSPECT POSSIBLE OTHER CLUES
FOUND IN MURDER
THAT ROOM WEAPONS
Conservatory Green Broken water pipe, spanner. Crocuses. Wet floor. Blood on Green’s hands, water
pipe, and spanner. Green suspects Peacock.
Ball Room Peacock Candlestick. Blood on candlestick, and on Peacock’s hands and feet.
Peacock suspects Scarlett.
Billiard Room Mustard Revolver, billiard cue. Wearing gloves. Skull and crossed bones bottle
(poison?). Mustard suspects White. Red stain on cue.
Library Scarlett Bell-pull. Wearing gloves. Cut bell-pull. Scarlett suspects Green.
Study Plum Letter opener Red ink all over Plum’s hands, clothes, desktop, papers,
and the letter opener. Black’s book. Plum suspects
Mustard.
Kitchen White Rolling pin, various knives. Blood everywhere: on White’s clothes, hands, rolling pin,
knives, and kitchen table. White suspects Plum.
Entrance Hall Missing dagger, sticks. Wellingtons? Murderer? Did someone go outside?
Lounge Steak knife (found) Black jacket, case in pocket, syringe and bottle.
Dining Room Steak knife (missing) Seating arrangement? Serving trolley – skid marks?
Stairwell Victim Fall from upper floors. palm print, flower, skid marks, no blood under body
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“Whodunnit?” Activity
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There is, however, a red handprint on the top bannister, directly above the cellar steps.
It is only a partial palmprint, and there are unfortunately no fingerprints.
🗪 Whose palm print could it be? The murderer’s? The victim’s? Was he pushed?
Who literally has ‘blood on their hands’? Which suspect will be ‘caught red-handed’?
There are two parallel black streaks, about a foot apart, clearly visible on the honey-coloured tyles of
the floor; next to the stairs, heading towards (or from) the Library. They appear to have been caused by
something made of black rubber; like little tyre tracks or skid marks…
🗪 What could have made these marks? A small car? A wheelchair? A serving trolly?
There is a small flower by the Entrance Hall door. It has purple petals and a bright orange centre.
It has been crushed, as if it has been trodden on by someone.
🗪 Who did the flower belong to? The murderer? The victim? Someone else?
The victim’s clothes are dusty and dishevelled – his well-polished shoes are scuffed, his shirt is
pulled out, and his silk necktie is pulled up tight around his collar. There doesn’t appear to be any
blood on his clothing, but his clothes are all black so it’s hard to say for certain. They will need to
be sent to the forensic laboratory for analysis to be sure.
🗪 How did his clothing get so dusty and ruffled? Was there a fight? Was the body dragged here?
There is a sort of small lift or elevator designed to carry a serving trolley or wheelchair to the upper
floors without needing to use the stairs. The lift is on the first floor level.
🗪 Could someone have used this to travel between floors? Why is it on the first floor?
Despite everyone reportedly going upstairs to their rooms to dress for dinner at 7.30pm, the victim
was still wearing his day clothes - his customary black shirt, rather than a white dress shirt; and a
long tie of black silk, rather than the bow tie usually worn for dinner. His black jacket is missing.
🗪 Why didn’t he dress for dinner? What was he doing instead? Where did he go? Where is his jacket?
There is a torn hole in the victim’s long silk tie; a small piece is missing. There is also a small white
stain on the end, which smells a little of garlic.
🗪 How did the victim’s tie get damaged? Where is the missing piece? What is the stain?
There is a single muddy footprint, or rather boot print, between the Stairwell and the Library door;
the toes are pointing southward.
🗪 Who’s footprint is this? Who is wearing boots?
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“Whodunnit?” Activity
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Study Plum Letter opener Red ink all over Plum’s hands, clothes, desktop, papers, and
the letter opener. Black’s book. Plum suspects Mustard.
Kitchen White Rolling pin, various Blood everywhere: on White’s clothes, hands, rolling pin,
knives. knives, and kitchen table. White suspects Plum.
Entrance Hall No-one Missing dagger, sticks. Wellingtons? Did someone go outside?
Lounge No-one Steak knife (found) Black jacket, case in pocket, syringe and bottle.
Dining Room No-one Steak knife (missing) Seating arrangement? Serving trolley – skid marks?
Stairwell Victim Fall from upper floors. palm print, flower, skid marks, no blood under body
1. Conservatory: 1st search, apparent clues: A well-lit room with windows on the south and west sides. Beneath the
southern window there are flowerbeds, full of saffron crocuses. The air is rich with their scent, and the smell of damp soil.
The floor is covered with water; there is a man in the room, kneeling on the floor with his back to you, trying to mop up the
water with rags. He’s wearing green wellies and a bottle-green suit. He is slightly overweight, with a bald patch on the top of
his head. He turns as you enter and you see a chubby, smiling face, framed by thinning grey hair which sticks out at the
sides of his head, bushy grey eyebrows, and the ‘dog collar’ of an Anglican priest. Despite the water, you see what looks like
fresh blood on his hands; there is also ‘blood’ on a spanner and a piece of broken pipe lying on the wet floor beside his feet.
2. Ballroom: 1st search, apparent clues: A large room, richly decorated in azure-blue and gold, in an Art Deco version of
an Egyptian tomb. The large curving bay window in the south wall, and the mirrors on each of the other walls, fill the room
with light during the day; but for the evening, as it is now, there is a grand chandelier in the ceiling, with matching
candlesticks on each of the small tables placed around the edge of the open dancing space in the room’s centre. One of the
candlesticks is lying on the floor, and has what looks like fresh blood on it. One of the tables has a gramophone on it.
A tall, thin, 50 year old women is sitting on a chair next to that table. She is wearing a blue and gold ballgown, but is barefoot
(she isn’t wearing any shoes). Both her hands and her feet are covered with what looks like fresh blood. The room has the
faint smell of blood, sweat, and tears.
3. Billiard Room: 1st search, apparent clues: A small room with windows facing west. There is a rack of billiard cues
and a drinks cabinet against two of the other walls. The drinks cabinet contains decanters of brandy, scotch, port, and one
which has a ‘skull and crossed bones’ on it. There is a billiard table in the middle of the room, with electric lamps suspended
above it. A white-haired man with a large moustache is bent over the table with a cue in his hands, playing billiards alone.
He is smartly dressed in the mess dress uniform of the British Indian Army, with highly-polished leather boots, belts, buttons,
and straps. You also notice a brown leather holster on his belt, from which the handle of a service revolver is protruding. He
is wearing spotless white cotton gloves. There is a red stain on the cue. The room smells strongly of alcohol and cigars.
4. Library: 1st search, apparent clues: A medium-sized room, lined with bookshelves from floor to ceiling; with a fireplace
in the north wall, and a west-facing window with a window-seat set into it. An armchair is next to the fireplace, with a table in
front of it. On the table is a pile of newspapers and magazines, and a pair of scissors. There is a red stain on the tip of the
scissors. A young women with dark red hair, in a low-cut evening dress of red silk, is sat in the chair with her feet - in high-
heeled shoes - resting on the table. She is holding a book, bound in red leather, in her elegant elbow-length red gloves. You
smell perfume, cigarettes, old books, wood smoke, and… burnt paper. You see some partially-burnt pieces of paper in the
fireplace; photographs and articles from the magazines. On the floor near the fireplace is a 3 foot length of braded rope,
made of red silk, an inch in diameter. One end has a tassel; the other end has been cut. You see that it matches the stub of
the bell-pull still hanging on the wall.
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© CRAIG CAMERON-FISHER - TIME4LONDON - SEPTEMBER 2020
“Whodunnit?” Activity
Burgundy = Teaching Guide Green = Student Activity Black = Both Blue = Internet Link
6. Kitchen:
1st search - apparent clues: Situated at the corner of the house, the room has windows facing east and south – all of which
are open wide. The room is nevertheless as hot as hell, with a massive stove oven against the north wall filling the room with
its infernal heat. At a wide table in the centre of the room stands a stocky middle-aged woman. She has an angry expression
on her face, and is holding a big knife in her right hand, held up above her head. In her other hand is a large wooden rolling
pin. The rolling pin, knife, her hands, her face, and her once-white clothes are all splattered with blood - which you know is
blood because you can also smell in the air.
7. Entrance Hall:
1st search - apparent clues: A large, oak-panelled reception area, welcoming and tastefully-decorated with statues and
objet d’art, including a suit of armour. The suit of armour includes a sword and shield, both permanently fixed into place. You
also notice that the suit of armour is missing a dagger; there is an empty scabbard, but no blade. There are places to sit, a
table upon which is a vase of flowers, hooks on the walls for hats and coats, and a stand full of umbrellas and walking sticks.
There are seven pairs of Wellington boots (‘wellies’) neatly arranged on a thin strip of carpet against one wall. They are
different colours: black, grey, blue, yellow, red, purple, and white; with a gap between the grey and blue pairs large enough
for another pair. The room has a faint smell of damp clothes and mud, partially hidden by the scent of the flowers.
8. Lounge:
1st search - apparent clues: A large room in the northeast corner of the house, with windows facing in those directions.
There is no fireplace in this room, but it has been fitted with modern central heating radiators beneath both windows. It is
very warm, and smartly-furnished with comfortable leather Chesterfield sofas and armchairs, a cocktail cabinet, and a
square card table with four chairs. On the sofa is a man’s jacket. It is black, but there’s a bright orange stain around the
buttonhole. There is a metal case in the pocket containing a hypodermic syringe and a small bottle, which is empty. The label
on the bottle is obscured by a red thumbprint, so you can’t tell what was in it. On the card table there is a silver tray, on
which is a dirty plate and cutlery that Mrs White has yet to clear away.
9. Dining room:
1st search - apparent clues: A large room with a long dining table in its centre, and six dining chairs. There is a large
sideboard against one wall, filled with crockery and cutlery. The table has been set for six diners, with place cards at each
setting: Dr Black’s seat was at the head of the table, with the Reverend Green opposite him, Mrs Peacock and Colonel
Mustard to his right, and Miss Scarlett and Professor Plum to his left. You notice that all of the settings around the table have
steak knives, except one… a noticeable absence.
10. Stairwell:
The area where the body was found – as discussed in detail during the first part of the activity.
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© CRAIG CAMERON-FISHER - TIME4LONDON - SEPTEMBER 2020