Past Simple and Past Continuous
Vocabulary: CRIME
Guided oral work for a group of 6 or more.
Cut the papers so each student plays a different role. Some students will be DETECTIVES and some will be SUSPECTS. Or they could
all be detectives and suspects at the same time. That is for the teacher to decide.
The suspects are Anne, Jeremy, Michael, Mrs Granger, Michael and Mr Thomas.
The clues are not consistent with only one suspect. Students have to come up with their own conclusions.
Last night Mrs Thomas was murdered at Mr
Thomas house. Look for information by asking
questions to the different suspects. What we know
is that the murderer was wearing something red,
the victim was poisoned, and that it happened in the living
room at about 11 pm.
Anne: Lawyer.
Take care of the victim’s will.
Dinner at the dining room with Mrs Granger.
Black dress, with a red coat.
Last night Mrs Thomas was murdered at Mr
Thomas house. Look for information by asking
questions to the different suspects. What we
know is that the murderer was wearing
something red, the victim was poisoned, and
that it happened in the living room at about 11 pm.
Jeremy: Cook
Worked for the victim for 20 years.
Cooking dinner in the kitchen.
White shirt and trousers, a red scarf.
Last night Mrs Thomas was murdered at Mr
Thomas house. Look for information by asking
questions to the different suspects. What we
know is that the murderer was wearing
something red, the victim was poisoned, and
that it happened in the living room at about 11 pm.
Michael: Unemployed at the moment.
A friend.
Drinking in the living room.
Black suit, red scarf.
Last night Mrs Thomas was murdered at Mr
Thomas house. Look for information by asking
questions to the different suspects. What we
know is that the murderer was wearing
something red, the victim was poisoned, and
that it happened in the living room at about 11 pm.
Mrs Granger: Old widow.
A neighbor.
Dinner at the dining room with Miss Anne.
Green dress.
Last night Mrs Thomas was murdered at Mr
Thomas house. Look for information by asking
questions to the different suspects. What we
know is that the murderer was wearing
something red, the victim was poisoned, and
that it happened in the living room at about 11 pm.
Mr Thomas: President of the International Bank.
The victim’s husband.
Helping Jeremy in the study room.
Black dress, red scarf.
Last night Mrs Thomas was murdered at Mr
Thomas house. Look for information by
asking questions to the different suspects.
What we know is that the murderer was
wearing something red, the victim was poisoned, and that it
happened in the living room at about 11 pm.
Detectives: What’s your name?
What is your profession?
What is your relationship with the victim?
What were you doing when the incident
happened?
What were you wearing last night?
Last night Mrs Thomas was murdered at Mr
Thomas house. Look for information by asking
questions to the different suspects. What we
know is that the murderer was wearing
something red, the victim was poisoned, and
that it happened in the living room at about 11 pm.
Detectives: What’s your name?
What is your profession?
What is your relationship with the victim?
What were you doing when the incident
happened?
What were you wearing last night?
Last night Mrs Thomas was murdered at Mr Thomas
house. Look for information by asking questions to
the different suspects. What we know is that the
murderer was wearing something red, the victim
was poisoned, and that it happened in the living
room at about 11 pm.
Detectives: What’s your name?
What is your profession?
What is your relationship with the victim?
What were you doing when the incident
happened?
What were you wearing last night?
Last night Mrs Thomas was murdered at Mr
Thomas house. Look for information by asking
questions to the different suspects. What we know
is that the murderer was wearing something red,
the victim was poisoned, and that it happened in the living
room at about 11 pm.
Detectives: What’s your name?
What is your profession?
What is your relationship with the victim?
What were you doing when the incident
happened?
What were you wearing last night?
Last night Mrs Thomas was murdered at Mr Thomas
house. Look for information by asking questions to
the different suspects. What we know is that the
murderer was wearing something red, the victim
was poisoned, and that it happened in the living room at
about 11 pm.
Detectives: What’s your name?
What is your profession?
What is your relationship with the victim?
What were you doing when the incident
happened?
What were you wearing last night?
Follow up activity: After the interrogation, have a debate with the whole group. Elicit different conclusions and
possible answers.
Who was the murderer?
Why did he/she do it?
What was the motive for the crime?
Was there a conspiracy against the “found guilty suspect”? Why?

Complete the murderer’s confession with the past simple of the following verbs:
BUY – TAKE – DECIDE – GO – WANT – KNOW - NOT HAVE – LOVE
I murderer Mrs Thomas, I killed Margaret. I didn’t mean to kill her. It was an accident. I wanted to murder Michael, that looser, good
for nothing. Him, I ………………………………………… to kill him. I decided a long time ago that he was not good for Margaret, I mean Mrs
Thomas. Oh Maggie… I’m so sorry. You see… I ……………………………………. Mrs Thomas. I loved her with all my heart. But then that
bastard, Michael, appeared in our lives. He was Maggie’s favourite. You see, he …………………………………………….a job, he was a good
for nothing looser, and he ……………………………………….advantage of Mrs Thomas pity and lived the good life from her. And I couldn’t
stand it anymore.
I ………………………………………. that Michael liked to drink in the living room, so I ………………………………………….. to poison him. I did my
research on the internet and a week ago I ….…………………………………all the necessary ingredients to make homemade poison.
The night of the dinner party I had the poison ready. So I ………………………………………………into the living room and I poured it in the
glass. I saw Michael coming in…. and I thought that HE was going to drink it. But NO… MY MISTRESS IS DEAD NOW. I DID IT.
Buaaaahhh!!!

Detectives discovered that you murdered the school teacher. Write a confession for your crime. Include the following
information:
 Why did you do it?
 How did you plan it?
 When and where did you do it?
 Did anybody else help you? Who is it?
 How did the police discover your identity?
 What is the sentence going to be like?

Working with the dictionary: Look for the definitions of the words and match with the pictures.

1. Vandalism:
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
2. Pickpocketing:
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
3. Speeding:
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
4. Smuggling:
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
5. Drug dealing:
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
6. Kidnapping:
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
KEY
I murderer Mrs Thomas, I killed Margaret. I didn’t mean to kill her. It was an accident. I wanted to murder Michael, that looser, good
for nothing. Him, I wanted to kill him. I decided a long time ago that he was not good for Margaret, I mean Mrs Thomas. Oh
Maggie… I’m so sorry. You see I loved Mrs Thomas. I loved her with all my heart. But then that bastard, Michael, appeared in our
lives. He was Maggie’s favourite. You see, he didn’t have a job, he was a good for nothing looser, and he took advantage of Mrs
Thomas pity and lived the good life from her. And I couldn’t stand it anymore.
I knew that Michael liked to drink in the living room, so I decided to poison him. I did my research on the internet and a week ago I
bought all the necessary ingredients to make homemade poison.
The night of the dinner party I had the poison ready. So I went into the living room and I poured it in the glass. I saw Michael coming
in…. and I thought that HE was going to drink it. But NO… MY MISTRESS IS DEAD NOW. I DID IT. Buaaaahhh!!!