Aquila Children's Magazine AQUILA Magazine Best Bits | Page 44

THE SCENARIO
You are spending the weekend
with Uncle Macleod at a remote
castle on the shores of Loch Ness.
It’s raining, so you and the five
other guests have been indoors
eating ginger biscuits and playing
board games (lush, ed) . As well as
being an upmarket hotel, the castle
also happens to be home to a
famous emerald called The
Shedevil.
GETTING STARTED
1 Begin by creating a timeline of events
based on
happened when?
the statements below. What
?
Does any thing seem strange
d and which cannot?
ifie
ver
be
can
ms
2 Which clai
others?
3 Do any of the statements contradict
g? How?
4 Could you prove that anyone is lyin
ask?
5 What follow-up questions would you ly?
ous
pici
sus
ed
act
6 Have any of the guests
Just before teatime on Saturday, at
5.10 pm, you and Uncle Macleod are
setting the dining table when a
power cut plunges the whole house
into darkness. When power is
resumed at 5.25 pm, Macleod goes
into the library to find that the glass
case has been smashed and The
Shedevil STOLEN! DUH, DUH,
DUHHHH!
You know you didn’t do it… and
you know Macleod didn’t. SO,
WHO DUH DUH DUNNIT?
FACTS OF
THE CASE
– No one has arrived at or
left the castle since Friday
afternoon.
– All doors in and out of
the property were locked
from the inside.
– There are no signs of
forced entr y anywhere on
the property.
– It was windy and rainy
outside and the ground
underfoot was muddy.
– It was dark outside.
Can you find the clues
on these pages and
examine the
following statements
to work out which
guest/s stole the
emerald?
UnclE maCleoD
I checked the location of the
emerald at 4.45 pm when I closed
the curtains in the library. On my
way out of the room I passed
Nigella Trout and Letitia Tibbins in
the reception hall as they headed
into the conference room. They
seemed to be arguing about
something. Letitia was giving
orders and I got the impression
Nigella was unhappy. When the
power went out my companion
and I were in the dining room,
laying the table. We went to the
kitchen to get some candles. It took
a long time to find a candle, light
one, then go round to the fuse box,
fix that and return to the front hall.
I remember being quite annoyed
with myself but I have been so very
distracted with all the plumbing
problems we’ve had recently.
There has been no hot water. It’s all
very troubling. I met no one on my
way to or from the kitchen,
although it was pitch black. By the
time I arrived in the front hall
Nigella and Letitia were already
there. Nigella looked a little strange.
She was trembling, but I imagine
she was scared by the power cut. I
suppose everyone else remained in
their locations for the duration of
the outage. Mr Tibbins, Lady
Buckles and Lord Buckles arrived no
more than three minutes after I did.
Lord and Lady Buckles looked
happy and relaxed. CT was wearing
a bathrobe. I thought this was a bit
strange, and when he reached out
to take a candle his skin felt cold
and looked pale. I didn’t notice that
the emerald was missing until 5.40
pm, when I did a quick check to see
that none of the bulbs had blown.