Question

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.
1. The old lady was glad to be back to the block of flats where she lived. Her shopping had
tired her and her basket had grown heavier with every step on the way home. In the lift,
her thoughts were on lunch and a good rest; but when she got out at her own floor, both
were forgotten in her sudden discovery that her front door was open. She was thinking
that she must reprimand her daily maid the next morning for such a monstrous piece of
negligence, when she remembered that she had gone shopping after her maid had left and
she had turned both the keys in their locks. She walked slowly into the hall and at once
noticed that all the doors of the rooms were open. Following her regular practice, she had
shut them before going out. Looking into the drawing room, she saw a scene of confusion
near her writing desk.
2. It was as clear as daylight then that burglars had forced an entry in her absence. Her first
impulse was to go round all the rooms looking for the thieves, but then she decided that at
her age it might be more prudent to have someone with her, so she went to fetch the
porter from the basement. By this time, her legs were beginning to tremble, so she sat
down and accepted a cup of very strong tea, while she telephoned to the police. Then
with her composure regained, she was ready to set off with the porter’s assistance to
search for any intruders who might be still lurking in her flat.
3. They went through the rooms, being careful to touch nothing, as they did not want to
hinder the police in their search for fingerprints. The chaos was inconceivable. She had
lived in the flat for thirty years and was a veritable magpie at hoarding, and it seemed as
though everything she possessed had been tossed out and turned over and over. At last,
sorting out the things she should have discarded years ago was now being made easier for
her. Then a police inspector arrived with a constable and she told them of her discovery of
the ransacked flat. The Inspector began to look for fingerprints, while the constable
checked that the front locks had not been forced, thereby proving that the burglars had
either used skeleton keys or entered through the balcony.
4. There was no trace of fingerprints, but the inspector found a dirty red bundle that
contained jewellery which the old lady said was not hers. So their entry into this flat was
apparently not the burglars’ first job that day and they must have been disturbed. The
inspector then asked the lady to try to check what was missing by the next day and advised
her not to stay alone in the flat for a few nights. The old lady thought that he was a fussy
creature, but since the porter agreed with him, she rang up her daughter and asked for her
help in what she described as a little spot of bother.
(i) What did the inspector find during the investigation and what was evident
because of that?
(ii) Whom did the old lady finally call and ask for help? Why?

Answer 1

Answer:

There was no trace of fingerprints, but the inspector found a dirty red bundle that

contained jewellery which the old lady said was not hers. So it was evident their entry into this flat was

apparently not burglars.