Упражнение 6

Can you put the verbs in the correct form and solve this detective puzzle?

MURDER MYSTERY

Вариант 1

TREVOR STERN was not a popular man, in spite of his wealth. He ... (live) in a large house about a mile outside the village of Prenton. When he ... (be) found dead in his study, no one ... (cry), not even his only daughter. It ... (be) soon clear that he ... (be murdered).

Detective Inspector Blackledge ... (take) statements from his widow, Dorothy, his seventeen-year-old daughter, Lucy, his business partner, Gerald Brook, and his doctor.

I ... (not/love) my husband, he ... (be) a cold and selfish man. But I ... (not/murder) him, either. After dinner last night he ... (say) he ... (want) to check some business papers in his study. He ... (have) a meeting with Gerald, his business partner, the next morning. He ... (ask) for some tea. That ... (be) about 9 o'clock. I ... (watch) a rather exciting film on television, so I ... (tell) Lucy to take it to him. At quarter past nine Doctor Emerson ... (call). I ... (notice) the time because we ... (expect) him to come earlier. I ... (answer) the front door bell. Trevor ... (still/shout) in his study. He and Lucy ... (obviously/have) a serious row. So I ... (take) the doctor into the sitting-room for a moment. Then Trevor stopped shouting. I ... (guess) Lucy ... (go) out by the back door. Doctor Emerson ... (go) to the study. I ... (think) he ... (want) to persuade Trevor to go to the hospital for some tests, but Trevor ... (not/want) to go. I ... (hear) him shouting again several times over the next twenty minutes. He ... (call) him an ignorant country doctor, and later he ... (say) something like 'There's nothing you can do!' I ... (think) Lucy ... (come) into the house while the doctor ... (still/talk) to Trevor. I ... (hear) the front door bang during a quiet few seconds when Trevor ... (not/shout). I was tired and fed up and ... (go) to my bedroom soon after that. My sister ... (phone) and we ... (talk) for ages. I ... (tell) her I ... (decide) to leave Trevor.

Вариант 2

Mum ... (watch) some stupid film after dinner, so she ... (make) me take Dad's tea into his study. It ... (be) about nine o'clock. He ... (be) in a really mean mood. He ... (shout) at me because I ... (spill) a few drops of tea on his desk while I ... (pour) it. I ... (not/want) to watch him so I ... (creep) out by the back door. I ... (decide) to go down to the village and use the public phone to call Alan. He ... (be) my boyfriend. I ... (never/like) Mum or Dad to be around when I ... (talk) to him. Especially yesterday, because Dad and I ... (have) a stupid argument about Alan the day before. It ... (normally/take) quarter of an hour to walk to the village. Perhaps it ... (take) less time last night. I can't prove I ... (go) to the village. No one ... (see) me when I ... (walk) into the village. I ... (see) Gerald, that's Dad's business partner. He ... (stand) near the window in his sitting-room. He ... (not/see) me, though, because it ... (be) dark outside. He ... (talk) on the phone, I think. Alan ... (not/answer) the phone. Then I ... (remember) he ... (tell) me he ... (play) in a concert that evening. So I ... (walk) home again, I ... (meet) Gerald just before I ... (reach) our house. He ... (look) for his dog. That ... (be) about twenty to ten. I ... (come) in by the back door as quietly as possible and ... (go) to bed. I ... (not want) to see my parents again that evening.

Вариант 3

I ... (call) at the Sterns' house at nine-fifteen, I ... (be) rather later than I ... (plan) to be because I ... (visit) another patient. When Mrs Stern ... (let) me into the house she ... (seem) rather embarrassed and ... (show) me into the sitting-room, I could hear Trevor Stern shouting at someone in his study. Mrs Stern ... (say) something about teenage girls and that they ... (have) problems with Lucy. Well, the shouting ... (stop) almost immediately, so I ... (go) to his study. Lucy ... (already/leave) the room before I ... (get) there. I ... (try) to explain to Trevor why he ... (need) to have these hospital tests, but he ... (not/let) me. He ... (say) I ... (be) an ignorant country doctor who ... (not/know) what he ... (talk) about. I ... (realize) it ... (be) no use arguing with him so I ... (leave) after only a few minutes. I ... (be) quite angry actually. I ... (let) myself out of the house without seeing Lucy or Mrs. Stem.

Yes, Trevor ... (be) my business partner. We ... (not/be) really friends. Yes, my house ... (be) just round the corner from the Sterns. I ... (live) here for two years now. I ... (have) a little cottage in the village. But I ... (buy) this house when I ... (start) earning a lot of money. I can't really tell you very much about the night Trevor ... (die). I ... (take) my dog for a long walk that evening, I ... (go) up on the hills, away from the village. Then the stupid dog ... (go) after a rabbit or something and I ... (lose) him in the dark. I ... (look) for him when I ... (meet) Lucy, as a matter of fact. She ... (walk) up the road towards their house. She ... (seem) rather upset. I ... (ask) her if she ... (see) the dog, but she ... (say) she ... (not). She ... (go) into her house and I ... (find) him a few minutes afterwards, I ... (be) back home by just after quarter to ten.

Вариант 4

Detective Inspector Blackledge ... (show) the statements to her colleague, Sergeant Ross.

BLACKLEDGE: Well, Ross. What you ... (think)? Who ... (kill) Stern?

ROSS: I ... (not know). It ... (not/be) his wife. She ... (not/even/go) into the study.

BLACKLEDGE: But she ... (admit) she ... (not love) him. You ... (think) she ... (be) in love with the doctor?

ROSS: It ... (be) possible. And perhaps Trevor Stern ... (find out). But we ... (know) the doctor ... (be) at the hospital by ten o'clock that night. And that ... (be) at least half an hour from the Sterns' house.

BLACKLEDGE: But that ... (mean) he ... (leave) the Stems' house before half past nine.

ROSS: Exactly.

BLACKLEDGE: Anyway, Dorothy Stern ... (tell) her sister she would leave her husband. She ... (not need) murder him.

ROSS: But what about Lucy?

BLACKLEDGE: Yes, there ... (be) something about Lucy's story which doesn't quite fit. Let's see, what did Gerald Brook say?

ROSS: That's it! Lucy ... (not/walk) to the village and back, if he ... (meet) her at twenty to ten. She ... (still/shout at) by her father at nine-fifteen.

BLACKLEDGE: But look at all the statements. The times don't fit.

ROSS: Neither do the facts. Someone ... (tell) lies.

BLACKLEDGE: I think it's time we ... (make) an arrest.

Who did they arrest?

From English Grammar in Use

Supplementary Exercises by L. Hashemi

and R. Murphy, CUP