Whodunnit
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Starting Point. Discuss the questions below.
[intense_alert color=”#DAF7A6″ border_radius=”10px”]The term whodunit (or whodunnit) comes from the question “Who [has] done it?” and is a detective or mystery story. It has a complex plot and involves a puzzle of who committed the crime. Readers or viewers get a series of clues, thanks to which the perpetrator might be identified and the crime solved. There is often a detective who conducts an investigation, poses a chain of questions and looks for evidence on what happened. There are whodunit books as well as films. One of the best-known writers of whodunits is Agatha Christie.[/intense_alert]
Can you give any examples of whodunit books, films or TV series?
Are there any famous whodunit authors in your country?
When you read a whodunit novel or watch a whodunit film, do you try to solve the puzzle along with the detectives?
What famous detectives do you remember
Why might it be difficult to investigate a crime and find out who committed it?
How do you think crime scenes are analysed? What should we pay attention to and where should we look for clues?
What kind of questions do detectives pose when they want to solve a crime?
Focus on Vocabulary. Match the words with the correct meaning.
Whodunnit. Answer the questions below about the video.
Watch the first part of a short video and answer the questions.
• What happened?
• Why do you think the detective suspects that Lady Smythe could have committed the crime?
Watch the whole video and say why Lady Smythe is the murderer and what we should focus on when analysing a crime scene.
Answers
1.Why is Lady Smythe the murderer?
Lady Smythe is the murderer because she said she had been planting petunias at the time of the murder. She couldn’t have been planting them because we don’t plant petunias until after May.
1.What should we focus on when analysing a crime scene?
When analysing a crime scene we should be very observant and focus on details.
Focus on Speaking 1.
[intense_alert color=”#FDE777″ border_radius=”10px”]Five people live together in the Woods’ house. One Friday morning, Mrs Woods is found dead. She was killed while her husband was sleeping. The husband reports the crime to the police. While being questioned, Mr Woods tells the detectives that his mother was planting flowers, the daughter was studying for her exam and his father-in-law was reading a book in his study. After this short investigation, the detectives immediately know who murdered Mrs Woods. Who is guilty and why?[/intense_alert]
Answers
Mr Woods killed Mrs Woods because he claimed that he had been sleeping at the time of the murder, so he couldn’t have known what all the people in the house had been doing at that time.
Focus on Speaking 2.
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If you are playing in teams, use the following expressions to give your team members directions:
- Could you please scroll up / down?
- Could you move X up / down?
- I think X should be before / after Y.
- Can you put X between Y and Z?
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[/intense_alert]Solution
Annie could not have killed the old lady because she was busy from 7pm until 10pm. There was a small window of opportunity between 7.30pm and 7.45pm. However, it takes 10 minutes to walk from the lady’s house to Annie’s house and she had already started cooking dinner before the friend arrived at 7.45pm.
The friend could have stolen Annie’s keys when she was in Annie’s house the first time. Then she returned to her house pretending that she left her bag there. This was really an excuse to return the keys.
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