McKinsey’s friend, Damian, has been found dead at his friend’s apartment.

The
Homicide and Serious Crime Command (SCD) are working hard to interview all the
murder suspects.
Paddy, a detective working side by side with the police is the one conducting
those interviews. He has four suspects:
Alice, McKinsey’s daughter
Erin, Alice’s friend and Damian’s now ex- fiancée
María, McKinsey’s maid for over twenty years.
McKinsey himself.
» THE CLUES:
 It’s winter time and outside It’s 3 degrees Celsius.
 The house is warm, the heater was on when the police arrived.
 Two of them lie as they are scared but only one of them is the
murderer.
 María went to town to buy vegetables.
 The detective knows the roads were cut from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.

 To start solving the mystery that happened in McKinsey’s house, you have to fill the gaps with the most
suitable word from the box to fulfil the confessions from suspects:

anywhere calmed everyday police best front since around whole

issue obviously puddle grocery home daughter through imagine minds

What Alice says:

“ I was the ____________ morning at University, and I arrived home at around 3 p.m. but realized I had left my keys
in the car, so I never opened the front door and I retraced my steps to pick up the keys instead… When I opened the
___________ door I remember the clock upon the wall struck 3:30 p.m. then. Mr. Detective, you said Damian died
at around 3 p.m. so ___________I am not the murderer… My father and María were in the livingroom closed to the
body crying when I arrived, but I don’t believe María!”

What Erin says:

“I went to McKinsey apartment at 3 p.m. as I knew Alice arrives more or less
at that time ____________. I found McKinsey broken down closed to the
dead body. When I saw the body was my betrothed I couldn’t
believe it!. I’ve known ___________ long time ago Damian was
cheating on me with my __________friend Alice, so I came here
to sort out this __________ face to face. I didn’t know Damian
was here, I swear I am not the murderer!”
What McKinsey says:
“Damian came to my _________ after I called María. He was really scared saying Erin knew about his affair with my
little girl Alice. I didn’t know it at the time, but pretended I knew it, and __________ him down telling him Erin and
Alice were ok, that there was nothing to worry about. Of course I don’t like my daughter having any kind of affair!
Can you __________ what people arround the village would say? But I wanted Damian to relax until my
___________ had talked to him. I went outside a while to smoke a cigarette and after I smoked it all I looked
___________ the window. I had to wipe the condensation off the window to see inside and saw him dead laying
down on a __________ of blood. He had committed suicide”

What María says:

“I went to the ___________ late in the morning to have something to cook for McKinsey. He was still at home went
I left and he rang me at _________ 2 p.m. asking me to wait until the road comunications would be reopened. I
don’t drive so I depend on cabs to move __________. I arrived home really late, it was already quarter past three
and I saw McKinsey and Erin there, completely out of their __________ ,closed to the dead body and begging me to
call the _________”

 Now write into reported speech one of their confessions, the one you like the most.
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

 Once you have completed the other exercises and understood well the text, match the sentences halves
without looking above:

Alice was having an affair with Erin had arrived already

María didn’t arrive at McKinsey’s apartment until wait until she could take a cab
McKinsey says he wiped off the windows and then she does not have driving license
Erin knew Alice and Damian were together and committed suicide
Mr. McKinsey called María asking her to Erin’s fiancée
Mr. McKinsey believes Damian she decided to address the situation
María needs to take taxis to travel as saying Erin knew about his love slip
Damian went to McKinsey’s home Damian was declared dead
Alice arrived home at the same hour he saw Damian’s terrible fate

 Take as many looks as you need to understand the circumstances surrounding the characters.
Work in pairs or groups if necessary to determine who is liable for the murder. Remember there is only
ONE murderer in this puzzle.
The murderer is: ________________________________
What Alice says:
“ I was the whole morning at University, and I arrived home at around 3 p.m. but realized I had left my keys in the car,
so I never opened the front door and I retraced my steps to pick up the keys instead… When I opened the front door
I remember the clock upon the wall struck 3:30 p.m. then. Mr. Detective, you said Damian died at around 3 p.m. so
obviously I am not the murderer… My father and María were in the livingroom closed to the body crying when I
arrived, but I don’t believe María!”
What Erin says:
“I went to McKinsey apartment at 3 p.m. as I knew Alice arrives more or less at that time everyday. I found McKinsey
broken down closed to the dead body. When I saw the body was my betrothed I couldn’t believe it!. I’ve known since
long time ago Damian was cheating on me with my best friend Alice, so I came here to sort out this issue face to face.
I didn’t know Damian was here, I swear I am not the murderer!”
What McKinsey says:
“Damian came to my home after I called María. He was really scared saying Erin knew about his affair with my little
girl, Alice. I didn’t know it at the time, but pretended I knew it, and calmed him down telling him Erin and Alice were
ok, that there was nothing to worry about. Of course I don’t like my daughter having any kind of affair! Can you imagine
what people arround the village would say? But I wanted Damian to relax until my daugter had talked to him. I went
outside a while to smoke a cigarette and after I smoked it all I looked through the window. I had to wipe the
condensation off the window to see inside and saw him dead laying down on a puddle of blood. He had committed
suicide”
What María says:
“I went to the grocery late in the morning to have something to cook for McKinsey. He was still at home went I left
and he rang me at around 2 p.m. asking me to wait until the road comunications would be reopened. I don’t drive so
I depend on cabs to move anywhere. I arrived home really late, it was already quarter past three and I saw McKinsey
and Erin there, completely out of their minds, closed to the dead body and begging me to call the police”

 Once you have completed the other exercises and understood well the text, match the sentences halves
without looking above:
Alice was having an affair with Erin had arrived already
María didn’t arrive at McKinsey’s apartment until wait until she could take a cab
McKinsey says he wiped off the windows and then she does not have driving license
Erin knew Alice and Damian were together and committed suicide
Mr. McKinsey called María asking her to Erin’s fiancée
Mr. McKinsey believes Damian she decided to address the situation
María needs to take taxis to travel as saying Erin knew about his love slip
Damian went to McKinsey’s home Damian was declared dead
Alice arrived home at the same hour he saw Damian’s terrible fate

We know only two of the suspects lie: If we read the clues we can see María says the truth, so we have three left. The
clues say that it was winter and cold but warm inside the house. Mr. McKinsey says that he had to wipe the condesation
off the window, but condesation forms on the inside not on the outside, even more when the heater was on and the
house warm. McKinsey lies… But we need another lier. Alice, on the other hand claims she went to pick up the keys
that she left in the car, but the comunication roads were certainly cut due to the weather, so she could not have arrived
home by car, as she claims. She lies. Everything is between McKinsey and Alice. Now that we know the rest of the
suspects are telling the truth we know thanks to Erin’s confession that Alice wasn’t there when Erin arrived at the
apartment, she was still on her way home, but McKinsey was closed to the dead body as Erin says. And she says as
well “I am not the murderer!” and we know she is telling the truth, so McKinsey is the murderer!