Discussions, Role-play and Writing

29 Review the vocabulary of the after-listening exercise again and label the adjectives that apply to the story characters. Explain your decision.

e. g. Gerard was self-assertive. / It was Gerard who was self-assertive./Being self-assertive is best applicable to Gerard./Self-assertiveness must be primarily attributed to Gerard. Although his plans of taking the publishing house out of debts were extremely unpopular, he was convinced that those measures were necessary and was resolute to pursue them. He was also … etc.

arrogant	rigid and cold	intuitive	moody
conceited	self-controlled	over-adaptable	irritable
boastful	withdrawn	self-reliant	capricious
agreeable	vivacious	inconsistent	frivolous
extravagant	forceful	moderate	imaginative
self-assertive	inhibited	self-sufficient	materialistic
faint-hearted	co-operative	impulsive	money-obsessive

30 The episode has the crisis at its climax. Things couldn't remain stagnant at such times and the reader would expect some rapid plot development. What do you think will happen to each of the figures from the story in the nearest two months? Reason out your predictions based on character clues and circumstances.

Gerard Etienne, Claudia Etienne, Frances Peverell, James de Witt, Gabriel Dauntsey, Miss FitzGerald and Miss Blackett, Esmé Carling, George Copeland, Mrs Demery, Mandy

31 Here come two descriptions of people. Read them and guess who these two portrayals belong to. Explain your choice.

… was casually dressed in dark blue jeans and a loose-fitting ribbed sweater with leather patches on the elbows and shoulders, which looked like army surplus. On him it looked almost elegant. He was very tall, certainly over six feet, and loose-limbed with a suggestion of gawkiness in the long bony wrists. His face, with something of the melancholy humour of a clown, was lean and intelligent, his cheeks flat under the jutting bones. A heavy strand of light brown hair fell across the high forehead. His eyes were narrow, sleepy under heavy lids, but they were eyes that missed little and gave nothing away. When he spoke the soft agreeable drawl was oddly inappropriate to his words.

… came into the room with something of the docility of a well-trained schoolchild but her composure broke when she saw Etienne's jacket still hanging across the back of his chair. She sat down and looked at Dalgliesh like a patient, waiting for a consultant's opinion. Her face was gentle, the light brown hair with strands of gold was cut in a fringe above straight eyebrows and blue-green eyes. The look of strained anxiety in them was more long-standing than a response to the present trauma. The woman before him had none of the petulant self-absorption of a spoilt only daughter. She looked like a woman who all her life had responded to the needs of others, more used to receiving implied criticism than praise. She had none of …'s self-possession or …'s elegance. The clothes on her could well have been worn in the 1930s or 1950s, the unexceptional day clothes of the English gentlewoman; unexciting, conventional, expensive good taste, giving offence to no one.

32 As a matter of fact Gerard Etienne was murdered and found dead the next morning. The police were called and the senior officers were there to meet the detective and his assistant. The passage below describes the scene when Detective Dalgliesh and his assistant Kate got off the police launch and were approaching Innocent House, the publishing house's headquarters. Dalgliesh briefed Kate on the case and the key figures. Pair off and act out the dialogue between the commander and Kate, which has been removed from the clipping below.

There were two men and two women. The women stood a little to the front with a man on each side. They were grouped on the wide marble forecourt as motionless as statures, watching the tying-up of the launch with serious and, it seemed, critical faces. There had been time on the short journey for Dalgliesh to give Kate some briefing on the main figures in the Peverell Press. … … … As Dalgliesh advanced the little group broke up and Claudia Etienne, hand outstretched, came forward to make the introductions. She turned and they followed her down a short lane and into the side door of the house.

33 The investigators then held individual interviews with the staff members. Commander Dalgliesh and Kate asked questions about other employees to find out more about their personalities. Now let's split your student group into pairs and act out some mock interviews with one interlocutor being Dalgliesh or Kate and the other one of the staff. The questions below may complement those you want to ask.

e. g. … Now, Sir/Miss/Mrs Demery, can I ask you a few questions about Frances Peverell/James de Witt/Gabriel Dauntsey/Miss Blackett/ Esmé Carling/George Copeland etc.

1) What first impression does he/she give?

2) What do you think is his/her role in the publishing house?

3) What is his/her attitude to work like?

4) What is the atmosphere he/she creates on the team?

5) What sort of a boss would he/she make?

6) How does he/she treat their superiors?

7) How does he/she handle their inferiors?

8) How does work affect his/her personal life?

9) How does he/she use opportunities?

10) How does he/she act in confrontations?

34 As it turns out from the information above, Gerard Etienne was capable of making a lot of enemies. Even his closest associates were given motives to have him out of the scene. Brainstorm to work out as many possible theories of his murder and explain your reasoning.

The deceased was found in the archives room poisoned by carbon monoxide on the top floor the next morning after the Board meeting. His jacket and bunch of keys remained in his office on the ground floor. The Jaguar was parked on the usual spot.

35 Work collectively to sift the theories and discard the least likely ones. Write a factual report on the publisher's murder for the police press release.

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