The Boscombe Valley Mystery
Teacher’s Book
The BV Mystery
Teacher’s Book
 Part I 
Teacher’s Guide and Teaching Plan
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Description
Teacher’s Book
This story is one of the adventures of the famous fictitious
detective – Sherlock Holmes. The teacher can begin by briefly
introducing the writer and background of the story and taking
students through the first two sections. After that students either
read the story on their own or work under the teacher’s guidance
through the sections of the story. The story comes with some
prompts and questions along the margin to guide students in
responding to the story development and characters. They are given
practice in reading sensitively and analytically through activities
such as looking for clues of the murderer.
Students are encouraged to finishing reading the whole story if they
are eager to get the answer to the mystery. But they must not tell the
ending of the story to their classmates who have not finished
reading the story.
James McCarthy was accused of having murdered his own father,
Charles McCharthy. On the afternoon of the tragedy, he was seen
having a violent quarrel with the latter near Boscombe Pool, and
shortly after that he rushed to a house nearby for help, with blood on
his hand, saying he found his father dead by the Pool. James refused
to say anything about the object of his quarrel with his father, but
told the coroner that before his father died, the latter uttered
something about “a rat”.
The Story
Miss Turner, daughter of the neighbouring land-owner of the
McCarthys, wanted to prove his innocence. She appointed detective
Lestrade of Scotland Yard to help, but he was convinced James was
guilty, so she turned to Sherlock Holmes for help.
After meeting James and visiting the scene of the crime, Holmes
concluded that the murderer was a tall, lame and left-handed man…
He also speculated about the weapon and deduced the murderer’s
background…
Was Holmes right? Who was the murderer? How did Holmes solve
the mystery?
Sherlock Holmes is one of the most famous detectives in the world of
fiction. In the story The Boscombe Valley Mystery, as usual he is
accompanied by his good friend, Dr Watson, who is also the narrator
of the story.
Learning Targets
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to participate with others in planning, organizing and carrying
out events (IDd)
to provide or find out, select, organize and present information
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Generic Skills and
Attitudes
on familiar and less familiar topics (KDa)
to interpret and use more extensive information through
processes or activities such as sequencing, describing,
explaining, predicting, inferring, summarizing, drawing
conclusions (KDc)
to identify and discuss ideas in spoken and written texts, form
opinions and express them (KDd)
to identify and define problems from given information,
consider related factors, solve the problems and explain the
solutions (KDe)
to respond to characters, events and issues in imaginative and
other narrative texts (EDb)
Collaboration skills
Communication skills
Creativity
Critical thinking skills
Information technology skills
Problem-solving skills
Study skills
Cultural interest and appreciation of a famous foreign fictitious
figure
Objectives
Students are able:
1. to follow the plot of a detective story
2. to recognize the clues to the mystery in the story and suggest
solutions to the mystery with justification
3. to appreciate the portrayal of characters and description of
actions and events in a story
4. to investigate the fictitious world of Sherlock Holmes and/or
other detective and mystery stories and to organize and present
the findings
5. to understand the genre of detective stories and to develop an
interest in detective fiction
Language Focus
Language Function & Structure:
 Use of conditional tenses, esp. types 2 & 3
 Use of present perfect tense to describe the completion of some
actions (e.g. the picture has been replaced; the vase has been
broken)
 Use of “so” etc. to avoid repetition.
 Use of “both” for emphasis.
Activities and
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Listening: listening to group members’ view and classmates and
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Skills Focused
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Materials
Catering for
Learner Diversity
teachers’ reading aloud, to comprehend and to interpret the reading
Speaking: expressing personal views and speculations, discussion,
reasoning and justifying own points of view, reading aloud the
story.
Reading: anticipation, reading for underlying meaning, reading to
extract clues for the mystery of the story
Reading & writing: reading to follow sequence of events and to
summarize part of the story, writing a statement of confession for a
character in the story.
Word attack skills.
The Boscombe Valley Mystery by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (adapted)
Teachers may adapt the materials and the teaching procedure
judiciously for the needs of the students
Suggest Number of
4-8
Lessons
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Background Information
The author of the book is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930). He is best remembered as
the creator of the fictional detective "Sherlock Holmes", which has become one of the most
famous fictional characters of all time. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, he began practicing
medicine in 1882, but was not a great success. While waiting for patients, he started writing
short stories as a hobby, but his early writings earned him only pocket money. His first great
success came with his first Sherlock Holmes novel, "A Study in Scarlet" (1887). In Holmes,
Doyle created a detective who used observation and logic to solve crimes, which Doyle had
patterned after a real-life Scotland Yard detective. For this, Doyle is credited with creating
the investigative detective. Sherlock Holmes would also appear in 56 short stories and three
other novels, "The Sign of Four" (1890), "The Hound of the Baskervilles" (1902), and "The
Valley of Fear" (1915). So popular did the Sherlock Holmes character become, that Doyle
became one of the most highly paid short-story writers in his time. When he killed off the
Sherlock Holmes character in one of his stories in 1893, public demand and pressure from
his publisher, the Strand magazine, forced him to bring the character back to life three years
later to continue the Sherlock Holmes adventures. Doyle has also written numerous
historical novels, other adventure tales, romances, and plays, including a series of short
stories and novels featuring a fictional 'Professor Challenger', which have been turned into
movies and television series. During the later decade of his life, he abandoned writing
fiction to study and lecture on spiritualism, the communication with the souls of the dead, a
topic that interested the general public in the 1920s. (Biographical account by Kit and
Morgan Benson at http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=1542.
Retrieved on 17 Dec 2005.)
Other interesting sites about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes:
Sherlock Holmes stories: http://www.citsoft.com/holmes3.html
Sherlockian.Net: Arthur Conan Doyle: http://www.sherlockian.net/acd/index.html;
http://www.citsoft.com/holmes3.html
Sherlock Holmes International: http://www.sherlock-holmes.org/english.htm;
http://www.sherlock-holmes.org/english_multi.htm#photos
Gary Nabors "Sherlockian" Photos: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Studios/2351/
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Notes on characters and places in the story:
Characters in the story
Alice Turner
Daughter of John Turner
Charles McCharthy
He had rented his farm at Hatherley from John Turner
James McCarthy
Son of Charles McCarthy
John Turner
The largest land owner in Herefordshire. Owner of Boscombe Valley
Estate and Hatherley Farm.
Lestrade
A detective of Scotland Yard
Patience Moran
Daughter of the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley Estate
Sherlock Holmes
A detective
Watson
Friend and assistant of Sherlock Holmes
William Crowder
Game-keeper at Boscombe Valley
Places in the story
Boscombe Pool
A small pool in Boscombe Valley
Boscombe Valley
A country district in Herefordshire
Bristol
A big city about three hours’ train journey from London
Hatherley Farm
A farm owned by John Turner and rented out to the McCarthys
Herefordshire
A county in England. Information on the place in the past and now is
available at http://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/homepage.asp .
Hereford Arms
A small hotel in the country-town of Ross, where Holmes and Watson
stayed when they investigated the case.
Ross
A country town near Boscombe Valley in Herefordshire
River Severn
Landscape near Ross in Herefordshire
Stroud Valley
Landscape near Ross in Herefordshire
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Lesson Procedure & General Approach
This story can be tackled in different ways according to the learning style and level of the
students. With students who need more support, teacher can take them through the story.
More able students can be allowed to work more independently after T has introduced the
background of the story and the setting (Chapter 1 sections 1.1 & 1.2).
Some questions (with answers) and points that are worth noting have been put in boxes on the
margin in the Teacher’s version of the story. T can decide if she wants to use them when she
takes students through the story. During class, the teacher could highlight or read aloud
interesting or important sections and ask students to attempt the questions.
It teacher wants to take students through the story, she can decide if she wants to give out the
whole story to students in one go or to do so chapter by chapter or section by section, so that
she can time the students’ reading in steps.
To arouse students’ interest teacher can ask students to discuss and predict who the murderer
is as they read on, particularly at the following places. Students can be asked to justify their
guesses:
 After the report on the examination of James McCarthy (end of Chapter 1)
 After Holmes met Miss Turner (end of Section 2.1)
 After Holmes met James (end of Section 2.3)
 After Holmes’ visit to the crime scene (end of Chapter 2)
If students are reading on their own, they can still make the guesses and note them down
before reading on.
There are 9 post-reading activities on this story. Teacher can decide their focus and select
from the activities for their class. Some activities can be done in groups. Some of the
activities require creative or critical thinking. Interaction among students would make the
activities more interesting than individual work.
PART 1: PRE-READING – GETTING TO KNOW THE BACKGROUND
Teacher asks students questions and provides some background information, particularly
about the following to arouse students’ interest and to provide background to the story:
 detective stories (What detective stories have they read? Why are they interested in
detective stories? What are some typical features of these stories?)
 the author (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
 Sherlock Holmes and the setting of his adventures (possibly showing some photos of
England in the 19th Century and of the Sherlock Holmes Museum on the Internet)
 the narrator in the story, Sherlock Holmes’ friend, Dr Watson
 Scotland Yard
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PART 2: ANTICIPATION – Chapters One – Sections 1.1 & 1.2 (4 periods)
Teacher takes students through Sections 1.1 and 1.2 of the story and encourage them to read
on. More able students can read the rest of the story on their own. Other students can go
through the story in several sessions.
PART 3: INTERACTIVE READING
T can ask students to make up a list of characters and places as they go through the story,
and speculate who the murderer was. (Refer to the list of characters and places in the notes.)
PART 4: POST-READING ACTIVITIES
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 Part II 
Student’s Book with Answer Key
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Activity 1
Sequence the following events which summarize the relationship between John Turner and
Charles McCarthy. (Depending on the ability of the students, Teacher may ask them to write
the summary by themselves.)
Sequence
A
Turner and his gang got the gold and became wealthy. Turner went to
England and decided to turn over a new leaf. He did his best to make up
for the past. He got married but his wife died soon. He had a daughter
called Alice.
3
B
Turner challenged McCarthy to do his worst, and they were to meet at
the pool midway between their houses to talk it over.
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C
After James left, Turner attacked McCarthy with a big stone and killed
him.
10
D
Twenty years ago he met James McCarthy and the latter threatened to
tell his secret to the police.
4
E
Turner and his gang robbed the gold convoy which McCarthy worked in.
They killed some of the guards, but Turner set McCarthy free.
2
F
Thirty years ago John Turner and James McCarthy were both in
Australia. Turner was a miner, but later became a highway robber, and
was known as Black Jack of Ballarat. McCarthy was a wagon driver.
1
G
When Turner arrived, he heard McCarthy talking to his son James,
forcing him to marry Alice as if she was a dirty woman off the street.
This made Turner very angry.
9
H
But now McCarthy asked Turner to let his son marry Alice. Turner was
strongly against this because he did not want Alice to fall into the grip of
McCarthy and mix with his family.
6
I
Turner stood firm, so McCarthy threatened him.
7
J
In order to pacify McCarthy, Turner let him live in Hatherly Farm free,
and gave him whatever he wanted.
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Activity 2
Sequence the following events about what happened on the afternoon of the tragedy.
(Depending on the ability of the students, Teacher may ask them to write the narration by
themselves.)
Sequence
A
When the inspector told James that he was a prisoner, he remarked
that he was not surprised to hear it, and it was no more than what he
deserved. But he denied he had killed his father.
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B
Patience Moran, a girl of fourteen, daughter of the lodge-keeper of the
Boscombe Valley Estate, stated that she saw Mr. McCarthy and his son
at the edge of the wood close by the lake.
3
C
On following him they found the dead body stretched out upon the
grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated blows
of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries seemed to have been made
by the butt-end of his son's shotgun, which was found lying on the grass
within a few feet from the body.
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D
He said he had a quarrel with his father, but refused to say what the
quarrel was about.
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E
James was instantly arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' has been
returned at the inquest on Tuesday. On the next day he was brought
before the magistrates.
8
F
On June 3rd, McCarthy left his home about three in the afternoon and
walked down to the Boscombe Pool near his farmhouse. He had told his
servant that he was in a hurry, as he had an important appointment to
keep at three.
1
G
Mr. McCarthy came running up to the lodge to say that he had found his
father dead in the wood, and to ask the lodge-keeper for help.
5
H
A few minutes after he passed Boscombe Pool, his son, James
McCarthy, was seen going the same way with a shotgun under his arm.
2
I
James said he had gone to Boscombe Pool with his shot-gun with the
intention of visiting the rabbit-holes there.
10
J
He was much excited, without either his shotgun or his hat, and his
right hand and sleeve were stained with fresh blood.
6
K
She said that they appeared to be having a violent quarrel. She heard
Mr. McCarthy the elder using very strong language to his son, and she
saw the latter raise his hand as if to strike his father.
4
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Activity 3
Mr Turner’s Statement
Sherlock Holmes has asked Mr Turner to write a statement admitting the crime. Imagine you
are Turner and write the statement. A convenient way to do so is by telling the story (from
Turner’s point of view) in a chronological way. You may begin like this: (Note for the teacher:
This activity is similar to Activities 1 and 2 in that students retell the story chronologically.
This Activity may therefore allow students to work on their own using the last two activities
as the framework. With higher ability students, it may be rather boring to do all the three
activities. So teacher can decide which one(s) to use.)
Statement by John Turner
I, John Turner, confess I have killed Charles McCarthy of Hatherly Farm in
Herefordshire.
It all happened about thirty years ago. I was in Australia working at the mines. I was
young and reckless. I got among bad company and became a highway robber. We robbed many
mining stations and wagons. I was known as Black Jack of Ballarat, and our party was called the
Ballarat Gang. One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and we lay in wait for
it and attacked it. We killed four of their men, but I set free the wagon driver, who was Charles
McCarthy.
We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made our way over to England. I was
determined to settle down to a quiet and respectable life, and to do a little good with my money, to
make up for my crimes. I married, too, and though my wife died young she left a lovely daughter,
Alice.
About twenty years ago I met Charles McCarthy again in the street. He was very poor and threatened
me to tell my secret to the police. I had to give him everything he wanted, including the farm and the
house.
But his greed had no end. Knowing that Alice is my only child and is going to inherit my property, he
wanted me to let her marry his son James. But there I stood firm. I would not have his evil family
mixed with mine. McCarthy threatened but I challenged him to do his worst. We were to meet at the
pool midway between our houses to talk it over.
When I went down there I found him talking with his son. So I smoked a cigar and waited behind a
tree until he should be alone. But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in me seemed to
come up. He was urging his son to marry my daughter with as little regard for what she might think as
if she were a dirty woman off the streets. It drove me mad to think that I and what was dearest to me
should be in the power of such a man as this. I was already a dying and a desperate man, but I must
save my daughter. I decided I must make him keep silent forever.
I struck him down with no more reluctance than if he had been some fierce and fearful animal. His cry
brought back his son; I quickly hid in the wood. However, I was forced to go back to fetch the cloak
which I had dropped.
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I know I have committed a serious crime and deserve to be punished by the law. But I must say I do
not regret having done what I did because Charles McCarthy was a devilish man and I had been under
his power these twenty years, and he has ruined my life. Now my mind is free at last, and most
important of all, Alice will be free from his clutches.
That was all that happened.
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Activity 4
Decoding the Clues
Holmes solved the mystery with the help the clues he picked up in the investigation. What are
these clues? Make up a list of them.
Circumstantial
clues at the
crime scene
Clues
Holmes’
Deductions
1. The footprints at the scene showed
James had been there twice, and
once he ran swiftly, so that the
soles are deeply marked and the
heels hardly visible.
2. Holmes found footprints of a pair
of square boots walking on tiptoes.
The owner of the boots had been
there twice.
3. Holmes judged from the footprints
at the scene of the murder.
That shows James’ story was
4. Holmes has probably judged from
the length of the strides shown by
the foot-prints about the
murderer’s height.
5. The impression of his right foot
was always less distinct than his
left. He put less weight upon it.
6. The nature of the injury as
recorded by the surgeon at-the
inquest showed the blow on the
head of the dead man was struck
from immediately behind upon the
left side.
7. Holmes found a stone on the moss.
It had apparently been left there a
few days because there was grass
growing under it. There was no
sign of a place where it had been
taken. There is no sign of any
other weapon. It corresponds with
the injuries on the head of the dead
man.
8. Holmes found the ash and stump
of an Indian cigar.
9. Holmes could see that the end of
the cigar had not been in his
He is a tall man.
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true.
The murder killed McCarthy,
and then returned to get the grey
cloak.
He wears thick-soled
shooting-boots.
The murderer may be lame.
He may be left-handed.
The weapon was the jagged
stone.
The murderer smokes a cigar.
He uses a cigar-holder and pen
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mouth.
Other clues
knife.
10. The tip had been cut off, not bitten
off, but the cut was not a clean one
11. James caught sight of a grey
garment near the dead body which
later disappeared.
He uses a blunt pen-knife.
12. McCarthy cried “Cooee” before
seeing his son.
“Cooee” is a Australian cry used
between Australians. There is a
strong possibility that the person
whom McCarthy expected to
If James statement is true, the
murderer is a man with a grey
garment.
meet at Boscombe Pool was
someone who had been in
Australia.
13. McCarthy mentioned “a rat”
before he died.
James probably only caught the
14. The pool can only be approached
by the farm or by the estate, where
strangers could hardly wander.
The murderer probably lives in
the neighbourhood.
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last two syllables of McCarthy’s
words. He was trying to utter the
name of his murderer. So and so,
of Ballarat. Ballarat is a place in
Australia, where McCarthy had
lived.
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Activity 5
Read the part where Watson described Holmes investigating at the crime scene. Why do you
think the writer gives such details about Holmes in action? (p.13)
To Holmes, as I could see by his eager face and peering eyes, very many other
things were to be read upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog that is
picking up a scent, and then turned upon Lestrade.
“What did you go into the pool for?” he asked.
“How on earth…”
“Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its inward twist is all
over the place, and there it disappears among the bushes. Oh, how simple it would
all have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo and
trotted all over it. Here is where the party with the lodge-keeper came, and they
have covered all tracks for six or eight feet round the body. But here are three
separate tracks of the same feet.”
He drew out a lens and lay down upon his raincoat to have a better view, talking all
the time rather to himself than to us. “These are young McCarthy's feet. Twice
he was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are deeply marked and
the heels hardly visible. That bears out his story. He ran when he saw his father
on the ground. Then here are the father's feet as he paced up and down. What is
this, then? It is the butt-end of the shotgun as the son stood listening. And this?
Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite unusual boots!
They come, they go, they come again… of course that was for the cloak. Now
where did they come from?”
He ran up and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track until we were
well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a great beech, the
largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced his way to the farther side of
this and lay down once more upon his face with a little cry of satisfaction. For a
long time he remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, gathering
up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and examining with his lens not
only the ground but even the bark of the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged
stone was lying among the moss, and this also he carefully examined and kept.
Then he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the highroad,
where all traces were lost.
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Suggested answer:
This description helps the reader visualize Holmes performing his investigation, so the story
would appear more true to life. By doing so the writer also succeeds in portraying Holmes as
an expert detective. His comparison of Holmes to a hunting dog picking up a scent also
vividly describes the scene.
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Activity 6
Genre of Detective Stories
This story is a typical detective story. From your knowledge of detective stories, can you
suggest the common elements of detective stories? Look up on the Internet about the genre of
detective stories.
Answer:
Teacher can elicit relevant points from students, encouraging them to give examples to
support their points. The following notes from a website on detective stories would be useful
as reference.
Genre of Detective Stories
Abstracted from Genre of Detective Fiction from
http://www.ibl.uni-bremen.de/lehre/lui/user/ag12/detective.html
The attraction of detective stories lies in the invitation to the readers to join the detective in
the task of solving the mystery. This is often done by pure analytic deduction. The more
challenging the task is, the more fascinating the story is. The readers would enjoy the story if
the solution to the problems is intriguing, but logical and convincing.
The typical detective of the investigation is an emotionless reasoning machine, apparently
omniscient and often arrogant (because of his superb ability as a detective).
Quite often, the brilliant intelligence of the detective is made to shine even more brightly
through the comparative down to earth nature of his companion who tells the story.
The structure of a typical detective story is like a cross-word puzzle. There is a problem to be
solved and the solution depends wholly on mental processes — on analysis, on the fitting
together of apparently unrelated parts, on a knowledge of the ingredients, and, in some
measure, on guessing. Each is supplied with a series of overlapping clues to guide the solver.
When the final solution is achieved, all the details are found to be woven into a complete,
interrelated, and closely knitted fabric.
A sense of reality is essential to the detective novel. The plot must appear to be an actual
record of events springing from the field of its operations; and the plans and diagrams so
often encountered in detective stories aid considerably in the achievement of this effect. A
familiarity with the field and a belief in its existence are what give the reader his feeling of
ease and freedom in manipulating the factors of the plot to his own (which are also the
author's) ends.
Characters in detective stories may not be too neutral and colorless, nor yet too fully and
intimately delineated. They should merely fulfil the requirements of plausibility and to enlist
your emotions at the time, and to drive you on to a solution of their problems.
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The style of a detective story must be direct, simple, smooth, and unencumbered. A "literary"
style replete with descriptive passages would produce sluggishness in the actional current of a
detective story by diverting the reader's mind from the mere record of facts (which is what he
is concerned with), and focusing it on irrelevant aesthetic appeals.
The material for the plot of a detective novel must be commonplace. The skill of a detective
story's craftsmanship is revealed in the way these materials are fitted together, the subtlety
with which the clues are presented, and the legitimate manner in which the final solution is
withheld.
Furthermore, there is a strict ethical course of conduct imposed upon the author. He must
never once deliberately fool the reader: he must succeed by ingenuity alone. The truth must at
all times be in the printed word, so that if the reader should go back over the book he would
find that the solution had been there all the time if he had had sufficient shrewdness to grasp
it.
In the central character of the detective novel — the detective himself — we have, perhaps,
the most important and original element of the criminal-problem story. He is, at one and the
same time, the outstanding personality of the story (though he is concerned in it only in an
ex-parte capacity), the projection of the author, the embodiment of the reader, the machine
that advances the plot, the propounder ot the problem, the supplier of the clues, and the
eventual solver of the mystery. The life of the book takes place in him, yet the life of the
narrative lives outside of him.
The outstanding characteristic of the detective novel is its unity of mood. In the detective
novel, the chief interest being that of mental analysis and the overcoming of difficulties, any
interpolation of purely emotional moods produces the effect of irrelevancy.
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Activity 7a Grammar
Conditional Tense
Conditional tense has been use several times in the story. Identify the type of conditional
tense in each case and analyse the nature of the condition.
Line from the story
Page
Type of
conditional
tense
What does it mean?
1. Had he appeared surprised at his
own arrest, or pretended to be very
angry about it, I should have looked
upon it as highly suspicious, because
such surprise or anger would not be
natural under the circumstances.
4
3 – impossible
James did not appear
condition.
surprised…, and
therefore I did not
look upon it as highly
2. But if he is innocent, who has done
it?
10
1 – open
condition
It is possible that he is
innocent…
3. “I thought people would talk if I
went to your house.”
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1 – open
condition –
past tense
This is what I thought
when I sent you the
note.
4. I give you my word that I would
speak out if it went against him at
the district court.
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2 – unlikely
condition
This may not happen.
5. I would have spoken now had it not
been for my dear girl…
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3 – impossible
condition.
I had not spoken
because I did not want
my dear girl to know.
6. It would break her heart…
18
2 – unlikely
condition
This may not happen.
7. … it will break her heart when she
hears that I am arrested.
18
1 – open
It is possible that this
condition
will happen.
suspicious.
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Activity 7b Grammar
Use of ‘so’ & other means to avoid repetition
In the story, the writer has used “so” and some other means in several instances to avoid
repeating part of the sentence. Explain the part of the sentence that has been replaced.
Lines from the story
Page
What does it
mean?
1. McCarthy was also an ex-Australian, and the two men
had known each other when they were in Australia, so
apparently when they came to settle down they did so
as near each other as possible.
1
They settled down
as near each other as
possible.
2. McCarthy had one son, a lad of eighteen, and Turner
had an only daughter of the same age, but neither of
them had wives living.
1
3. “If ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal
it does so here.”
3
Turner’s daughter is
also eighteen.
Neither McCarthy
nor Turner had
wives living.
It does point to a
criminal here.
4. “Many men have been hanged on far less evidence,” I
remarked.
4
They have been
hanged on far less
evidence.
6. I have driven here to tell you so. I know that James
didn't do it.
8
… to tell you that
James didn’t do it.
7. … I know his faults as no one else does.
8
8. No doubt you will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if
you do, Mr. Holmes, do tell him that I know he is
innocent.”
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… as no one else
knows his faults.
If you do go to the
prison to see
James…
9. … “just sit down in this chair and let me talk to you for
a little. I don't know quite what to do, and I should
value your advice.” “Please do so.”
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Please talk to me.
10. “And why did you wish to see me?” He looked across at
my companion with despair in his tired eyes, as though
his question was already answered.
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You are right. I
know all about
McCarthy.
5. “So they have. And many men have been wrongfully
hanged.”
“Yes,” said Holmes, answering the look rather than the
words. “It is so. I know all about McCarthy.”
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The BV Mystery
Teacher’s Book
Activity 7c Grammar
Use of ‘both’, ‘either’ & ‘neither’
In the story, the writer has used “both”, “either” and “neither” in several instances to avoid
repeating part of the sentence and for emphasis. Explain the meaning of these sentences.
Lines from the story
Page
1. McCarthy had one son, a lad of eighteen,
What does it mean?
1
Neither McCarthy nor Turner had
wives living.
1
Both McCarthy and his son…
2
Both the old woman and the
game-keeper…
2
James did not have his shotgun or
his hat. (We cannot use “both”
because this sentence is negative.)
Both Watson and the coroner…
and Turner had an only daughter of the
same age, but neither of them had wives
living.
2. … both the McCarthys were fond of sport
and were frequently seen at the
race-meetings of the neighbourhood.
3. They were an old woman and a
game-keeper. Both these witnesses said
they saw Mr. McCarthy walking alone.
4. He was much excited, without either his
shotgun or his hat,
5. “Both you and the coroner have been at
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some pains,” said he, “to single out the very
strongest points in the young man's
favour.
6. It was damp, marshy ground, as is all that
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Upon the path and amid the short
grass around it…
15
… the two of us...
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Both my memory and my girl…
district, and there were marks of many
feet, both upon the path and amid the
short grass around it.
7. … in considering this case there are two
points about young McCarthy's narrative
which struck us both instantly.
8. But my memory and my girl! Both could be
saved if I could but silence that foul
tongue.
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Teacher’s Book
Activity 7d Grammar
Spot the Clues (present perfect tense)
Holmes found a stone near the scene of the murder and deduced it to be the weapon
used by the murderer. His argument was: "The grass was growing under it. It had only
lain there a few days. There was no sign of a place where it had been taken. It
corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other weapon." (P.14)
Now it is your turn to be the detective. A thief has broken into a rich man’s living room.
Picture A shows what the room looked like before the burglary. Picture B shows the same
room afterwards. How many clues can you spot which tell you a thief has been there?
What has he stolen? Has he replaced anything with a fake? How many things has he
disturbed? There are at least 20 clues.
Picture A
Picture B
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The BV Mystery
Teacher’s Book
Activity 8
Further Reading
Read up some other stories of Sherlock Holmes or other detective stories and share with your
classmates. Some of the most interesting Sherlock Holmes stories are:
The
Red-headed
League
The Man with
the Twisted Lip
The
Speckled
Band
The Blue
Carbuncle
Mr Wilson, who has red hair, has been given a quite well paid job
working for a “Red-Headed League”. After eight few weeks, he was
dismissed without a reason. He went to see Sherlock Holmes, who
helped him solve the mystery.
Mrs Whitney was walking down a street in London. When she looked up
an old building, she saw her husband at an open window. She was
surprised to find him there so she went up to look for him. But when
the door opened, she found instead a dirty beggar man with a twisted
lip. She called the police to help her look for her husband, but he was
nowhere to be found…
Miss Helen Stoner was getting married. But she felt her life was
threatened because several year ago just before her sister was about
to get married, she died a mysterious death. Now over the past few
nights she heard a strange whistling which she had heard before her
sister died…
About four o'clock on Christmas morning, Peterson was walking home.
He saw a man carrying a white goose over his shoulder and the man
had a row with a group of men. The man raised his stick to defend
himself and smashed the shop window behind him. As he rushed off in
a hurry he dropped his goose. Peterson took home the goose and his
wife cooked it. But they found a valuable blue diamond in the goose’s
stomach…
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The BV Mystery
Teacher’s Book
Activity 9
Do a thematic project on Sherlock Holmes by searching the Internet sites and reading up
some of the adventures of Holmes.
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