The MouseTrap

Materie:	Appunti
Categoria:	Lingue
Voto:	1.5 (2)
Download:	93
Data:	10.05.2001
Numero di pagine:	7
Formato di file:	.doc (Microsoft Word)

Giles Ralston
Name: Giles Ralston
Age: in his twenties
Occupation: he runs the hotel
Physical description: attractive in his twenties (see p.7)
Personality: arrogant, instinctive, suspicious (he charges the costumers, especially Christopher, by having no particular reasons, only by listening his own instinct), protective and jealous (he doesn’t want someone near his wife, he’s afraid that she could became the next victim), determined (when he wants to do something he’s determined in carrying it on, he doesn’t change his mind), furious, impulsive (he always shouts).
Other details: he’s worried about money, costumers, and his wife, he doesn’t like Christopher (he thinks he could fit the bill), he doesn’t want him near Mollie.
Why he could be the murderer:
1: Mrs Maureen Lyon’s murder: he was in London on the day of the murder and he didn’t tell of this to his wife, moreover he has a scarf and a coat similar to murderer’s ones.
2: Mrs Boyle’s murderer: everyone is under suspicion, because everyone was alone at the time the murderer was committed. Giles, as everyone, could be the murderer.
Alibi:
1° murder: he doesn’t explain why he went to London that day, but he asserts that he didn’t go there with the purpose of killing Mrs Lyon, moreover Mollie confirms the he couldn’t do something like that.
2° murder: he was in the bedroom while he was trying to see any sign of the wires being cut there. When he heard Mollie screaming he rushed down.
Mollie Ralston
Name: Mollie Ralston
Age: near twenties
Occupation: She runs and owns Monkswell Manor, a guesthouse
Physical description: tall, pretty (pg. 7); delightful (pg. 10)
Personality: neurotic, impressionable, excitable, easily frightened, usually with her guests she's polite, but with Christopher Wren, she establishes a friendly relation. She's tolerant with Christopher Wren.
She's also nervous, anxiously, sympathetic and sometimes cold. Mollie is also upset (pg. 57)
Other details: her husband calls her sweetheart. She has been married just a year and she met him at a party in London. She married Giles after three weeks (pg. 54-55). Mollie doubts of Giles because he hadn't told her that, the day before, he went to London. (Pg. 59)
She's also liar because she hadn't told her husband that the day before, she went to London (pg. 62).
She quarrels with Giles and Giles tells her she's crazy (pg. 63). She doesn't have experience in the job that develops.
Why she could be the murderer: Because in her gloves has been found a bus ticket for London of the day of the murder or Culver Street, and because she's very excited.
Alibi: She was in the kitchen to cook.
Christopher Wren
Name Christopher Wren (p. 10)
Age: he's young
Occupation: he's an architect (p. 12)
Physical description: wild looking
Personality: he shows helpful: "Do let me help..." (p. 19). In Molly's opinion he's helpless and unhappy (p. 53). In Giles' opinion he's the murder and a wretched boy (p. 61).
Other details: his parents baptised him Christopher, in the hope that he would be an architect, like the architect who built St. Paul cathedral (p. 12) He thinks that European woman take compliments as a matter; but English woman have all the feminine spirit crushed out of them by their husband who are very boorish (p. 12-13) He looks like very young and he has the same age as Giles (p. 54). He likes murders (p. 17). He thinks that people are so madly interesting (p. 12). He run away whilst he was doing his Army training: he hated it (p. 57) He smokes cigarette (p. 23).
Why she could be the murderer: the murder, about Trotter and Giles, was a mentality abnormal young man who is now twenty-three years of age (like Christopher); the eldest of the three children at the farm. So Christopher is the only one who fits the bill (p. 50-52)
Alibi: He was in the Kitchen, seeing if there was anything he could do to help Molly. After that he went upstairs to his bedroom (p. 47).
Mr. Paravicini
Name: Mr Paravicini
Age: unknown
Occupation: he plays the markets (p. 70)
Physical Description: dark, elderly, with a flamboyant moustache (p. 20), he looks older than he is.
Personality: he has got sadistic tendencies (p. 64), he likes to frighten people (p. 21,39,68), he's fond of little jokes (p. 69), he's mysterious (p. 21) and he likes to be enigmatic: "what do you know of me? Nothing at all! I may be a thief, a robber, a fugitive from justice, madman - even- a murderer!" (p. 29)
Other details: he's foreign (p. 20) probably Italian, he's got a Rolls-Royce (p. 20), he's interested in cooking (p. 65), he's probably disguised moves like a younger man and he's definitely got make up on his face (p. 53). He came from London and he was going to visit a friend not far from the guesthouse but he doesn't say the name. (p. 69-70). He can play the piano; he seems to know something about Mollie that the others don't know (p. 68)
Why she can be the murderer: His arrival is very suspicious (p. 20), he might be disguised (p. 53). He seems to enjoy himself in this situation (p. 39) and sergeant Trotter says that the killer is enjoying himself a good deal (p. 68). He seems to be worried of the police call: "(rushing out) why did you send for the police?" (p. 30)
Alibi: he was playing "three blind mice" with the piano in the drawing room (p. 48). About Mrs Boyle's murder, he hasn't got any alibi: nobody knows where he was while the murder has been committed.
Mrs. Casewell
Name: Leslie Margaret Katherine Casewell is her real name now. When she was in England (during her childhood) she probably had another name.
Age: 24 years old
Occupation: she was a writer but since she has been in England, where she has got some business to see to, she stopped to write.
Physical description: she looks older than she is and she's a woman of manly type. When she arrived, she was wearing a long dark coat, light scarf and a hat.
Personality: She looks sad, depressed, and thoughtful. Many time she remember her past (in particular her unhappy childhood) that she's trying to forgot.
Other details: She's a bit dreamer and maybe sometimes she's too reflexive.
Why she can be the murderer:
1. When she arrived she was wearing the same clothes of the murderer (p. 16).
2. She thought that Mrs. Boyle was an old hag, so she didn't like her (p. 24).
3. She had an unhappy childhood, so she could be one of the three children and maybe she wants revenge for her unhappiness.
4. When Mrs. Boyle was killed, Miss Casewell took the letters that she was writing with her: for Trotter she hadn't had the time and the foresight to take away this letters.
5. She has a little manly voice.
6. She said something that could be suspect: "Oh, when the snow melts lots of things may have happened", and "I've no use for psychologist and psychiatrists".
Alibi:
1. She never heard about Longridge Farm and she doesn't know anything about it.
2. She said many times with conviction that the murderer was a sex maniac.
3. When Mrs. Boyle was murdered she was writing letter in the library.
She could hear only Mrs Boyle's scream but nothing before it (p. 49).

Mrs. Boyle
Name: Boyle
Age: Old lady (p. 14)
Occupation: She was the magistrate who placed three children in a bad family. Now she is probably retired. (p. 52)
Physical description: She is a large person (p. 13 -stage direction-)
Personality: She is imposing and always in a bad temper (p. 13) she always discuss with other people and she surveys the other characters with displeasure, Mollie in particular (p. 14). She is also very polemic, a 1mb bit rude and imperious with other people and also suspicious (p. 28 "All I have to say it is that this Paravicini seems to me to be very suspicious"). It is also very difficult to satisfy her (p 28) and she criticises all the people and everything they do. She is very exigent.
Other details: She doesn't rely on Mollie. She thinks that Mollie is too young to be running the Great Hall at Monkswell Manor (p. 14). She thinks that a proper staff of servants is essential before opening this kind of establishment. She considers Mollie and Giles amateurs (p.22). She thinks that Mollie doesn't know anything about housework (p. 23). Also about Trotter she says that is too young to be a sergeant (p. 32-"You're too young, you can't be a sergeant"-).
She hides that she is the magistrate that placed the 3 children in that bad family (p. 36)
Why she can be the murderer: Because she's strange and could hides something, for example the fact that she's a magistrate.
Alibi: for the first murder she refuses to say where she was, in fact she "considers it an impertinence"(p. 36). Then she says that she has anything to do with a distressing business even if everybody knows that she is the magistrate that sent those three children to Longridge Farm. About the second murder, she can't have an alibi because she is the victim.
Trotter
Name: Trotter
Age: young man (p. 31-32)
Occupation: Detective sergeant. He works for the Bedfordshire Police (p.3 1)
Physical description: --
Personality: He is cheerful (p.31), worried and serious (p.45). He tries to understand who is the murderer. He seems very competent and good at his work, especially when he relates to the death of Mrs Maureen Lyon (p.33). At the beginning he's reassuring (p.34-"I don't want to frighten any of you"-), but then he's very professional and wants everybody considers seriously this fact (p.45-"Nobody has taken this thing seriously…there may be another death"). Sometimes he's curious and he often asks information about events that doesn't matter (p.5O-dialogue with Ms Casewell-). Sometimes he's also authoritative (p.50). Sometimes he brings people on red herrings (p.55-56).
Other details: He can hide a secret very well because he's the murderer but nobody suspects it. He can ski very well (p.31). He knows the nursery rhyme "Three blind mice"(p.35). He knows a lot of things about the guests.
Why he can be the murderer: Seemingly he couldn't be the murderer because he is the detective who carries out the investigations, but we know that he's just the murderer because he is one of the three children send to Longridge Farm.
Alibi: About the first murder he doesn't say his alibi because he is the sergeant and nobody could think that he's the murderer. Instead, about the second murderer he was checking that the wires of the extension were cut off.
Major Metcalf
Name: Major Metcalf
Age: middle age
Occupation: soldier
Personality instinctively soldier, very military in manner and bearing (pg. 14),
He seems quite nice and perfectly normal (pg. 53).
Other details when he hears that the police are on their way, he asks why, and when Sergeant Trotter arrived, he tries to call someone but he discovered that the telephone is dead. (Pg31) he knows all.
Alibi: when Mrs Boyle was killed he'd gone down to the cellar (pg. 66).