Prompt:​ In the short story “Lamb to the Slaughter,” Roald Dahl creates a vivid setting and a

complex character, Mary Maloney.

Think​ about the ​details the author uses to establish the setting and the characters ​to​ finish Dahl’s

story.​ Be sure to​ pick up exactly where Dahl left off​ and ​provide​ a ​clear resolution.​ Your response

should be between​ 600 and 850 words.

Mini Gurel

4-6-18

Humanities 8B

Lamb To Slaughter Continued…

The Detectives had been searching for three hours franticly and they were becoming very

agitated. Two detectives walked into the kitchen.

“This house seems to be untouched Mrs. Maloney” Noonan sighed.

Noonan conversed with the other policemen for a while. After a long dreaded minute Noonan walked

up to Mrs. Maloney.

“I’m afraid we can’t find anything ma’am” said one police officer

The policemen left swiftly leaving Mrs. Maloney alone in her house. Mrs. Maloney started to drift off.

She got up and went up stairs. Hissssss. She suddenly stopped on the stairs. Hissssss. She peered
down stairs. The hissing stopped. Mrs. Maloney got into bed. She smelt a sour gas-like smell. She

didn’t think anything of it.

“I left the oven going!” Mrs. Maloney woke up with a start.

Crack….Hissssssssssss…...CRASH. She coughed and coughed and coughed. Smoke was everywhere,

fire blazing throughout the house.

​“Help!” “Help!” called Mrs. Maloney.

She rolled under her bed assuming that would help her stay clear from any fire. How was she to

contact the fire department? She got out from under her bed and ran down stairs. The kitchen was

completely engulfed in flames. The exits where are blocked by rubble. Mrs. Maloney stood still for a

couple seconds and took a deep breath. Cough...Cough...cough. She inhaled a huge amount of smoke.

Mrs. Maloney fainted.

DING…..DING the sound of a fire truck racing down a street rung in Mrs. Maloney’s ears. It

screeched and squealed down the street. Mrs. Maloney woke to the sounds of a firetruck and wild

flames. Hisss hisss. The couch suddenly went up in flames burning Mrs. Maloney’s face.

“Ouch!” Mrs. Maloney could barely breathe or even see.

She tried to sit up but her body wasn’t strong enough. She closed her eyes and saw her husband Mr.

Maloney.

“This is what you get” he hissed.​ A tear dribbed down Mrs. Maloney’s face.

​“I don’t regret anything”​ she took one last deep breath.

There laid Mrs. Maloney, almost lifeless and completely soulless. Soulless because she had just

hit her husband upside his head with a lamb leg. Suddenly the front door was toppled down by a

firefighter.
 One firefighter yelled “There is a lady over here someone help me pick her up!” “Come’on, I

don’t have all day!”.

A doctor looking quite worrisome was staring at papers. “I really don’t know if she’ll make

it…she inhaled a lot of smoke and her body temperature was very high”.

Another doctor came over to check on Mrs. Maloney. Mrs. Maloney was very pale but her face

was very red due to burns and scratches. The doctor checked her pulse and wrote some things down.

A small breath.

“I did it..” wheezed Mrs. Maloney. “She’s awake!” yelled the doctor. “I Did it!” Mrs. Maloney

coughed. “Did what?” asked another doctor. “I-I killed him-m.” Mrs. Maloney wheezed. “Killed

who!?!” said the doctor still looking quite worried. “Mr. Maloney……”

Mrs. Maloney's​ eyes rolled back inside her head and she let out one last final cough and then

her heart beat went flat.

The next morning the news got to Noonan. Noonan looking quite shocked went and asked a

former detective how he could have missed all the signs. He wondered how he could have looked

everywhere but didn’t find anything. The next day Noonan showed up to the now burnt up house of

Mrs. Maloney to search for that missing link. Although it was the first thing to be burnt Noonan

noticed a bone leg of some animal in the burnt oven. He took it in for evidence and found nothing on

it. Since it was the only large object that could have been used to kill someone Noonan claimed that to

be the murder weapon. It seems that they had no actual evidence to back up Mrs. Maloney final

remarks. The only proof they really had was Mrs. Maloney’s own words.