Officially Dead 1

Officially Dead
By Richard Prescott

Chapter 1
The Meeting
(9 minutes)

1. Where was Colin’s hotel situated? What did he do there?

2. What kind of work can be called “tedious”?
3. Where is Colin’s house? What was his wife?
4. What are Colin’s and Julie’s functions in C.J.F. Software Solutions?
5. Where did Colin meet his double?
6. Describe Linda Bentley.
7. What did Colin and the Bentleys talk about all the evening? Why was Colin extremely
talkative?
8. Why did Linda say that Colin could be very useful fore them?
9. What did you learn about John’s past?
10. What was the only good thing about coming back to Sutton Chemicals?

Fill in the gaps:

a. This kind of teaching was always ______________ and today – the first day of course –
it had been particularly _____________.
b. Her skirt, Colin noticed, was very short indeed. She ___________ like his own wife, but
he liked the way she looked.
c. But now, some people _______________ behind them, talking _________ and laughing.
d. They were driving along _________ . It had started to rain and the _______ were
reflected on the ___________.

Chapter 2
The Business
(8 minutes)

1. What was unusual about that day?

2. What kind of car did Colin have?
3. Why did Colin come to Mr Booker? What problem did he have? Why are these figures
mentioned: 40,000 and 150,000 ?
4. How much money should Colin earn if he wanted his company to survive?
5. Who else worked in Colin’s office?
6. Whose letter did Colin see at the bottom of pile? What was written in it? How did Linda
find Colin’s address?
7. What do you think will happen next?

Fill in the gaps:

a. Both of them _______ traveled together to see the clients – Julie _______________,
Colin to sell _________________.
b. A girl was working with six _________, a computer and _____________.
c. He stood up slowly. The accountant’s body was ______________.
d. Colin opened the envelope. The paper he pulled out _________.
e. He _______ the part of the paper with the ____________ and put the piece of paper
____________.

Chapter 3
Officially Dead 2

The Plan
(16 minutes)

1. Complete the table with information about Linda Bentley. Include as many details as
possible.

Age

Place of birth

Appearance

Job

Family details

Life before marriage

Life after marriage

Character

2. Who did Linda live with?

3. What happened to her mother? What was the daughter’s reaction?
4. What did she do at the age of 18? Where did she meet John?
5. When did John and Linda get married? What do you think was the source of John’s
income?
6. What is Sandwell’s?
7. Who phoned Linda early one evening?
8. Where did Colin meet Linda? What did she say about her husband?
9. What team did John support?
10. Whose photos did Colin see in the living-room?
11. How did Linda and John spend the evening? What did they do?
12. What was Linda’s proposal?
13. Did Colin commit adultery?
14. What did Colin have to do in order to get ₤10,000?
15. What was Linda’s plan?

Chapter 4
The Journey
(11 minutes)

1. When was Colin going to be in Manchester?

2. Did John know anything about Linda’s plans? Why did he get so furious?
3. Linda pushed her husband, trying to kill him, didn’t she?
4. What was the supposed date of the robbery?
5. Where did Colin and Julie spend Christmas holidays? Was there anything unusual in
Colin’s behavior?
6. Why did Julie want to go to Manchester with Colin?
7. What pretext did Colin use to prevent his wife from going with him?
8. What did he do on Tuesday? Where did he meet Linda? What did they speak about?
Officially Dead 3

9. What do M4 and M25 stand for?

Fill in the gaps:

a. …John crashed into the kitchen table and then fell_____________, hitting his head
__________. Linda turned, breathing fast. She stared at the _____________.
b. …As he stepped out of the house and walked towards his car, he felt an _________ on his
face. ____________ blew across __________. Colin put his ___________, got into the car and
_________.
c. … It was nearly 8 o’clock when Colin reached ___________ before the M4 crosses the M25,
___________. He left the M4, and a few minutes later, he _______________.

Who said that?

1. “We can’t take any risks”
2. “When I show the people at Jackman’s these charts, I’m sure they’ll be very impressed”
3. “Yes, fine”
4. “He was teaching a course at that chemical company”
5. “We’ll fix the dates and times”
6. “There’ll be technical details to discuss”

Chapter 5
The Accident
(10 minutes)

1. Why was the traffic on the M40 worse than on the M25?
2. How did the accident happen? Who witnessed it? What caused the accident?
3. Why wasn’t Mark able to free Colin?
4. What did Colin try to tell Mark about?
5. Why didn’t the police officer provide Mark with Colin’s address?
6. Why did Mark have to go to Thame soon?
7. Explain the meanings of the following words and phrases in English: a paramedic, a
breakdown truck, to attend an inquest, to sign the statement, to identify the body,
emergency services. What are the three main emergency services?

Fill in the gaps:

a. Mark pulled at the ________ that had been the driver’s door, but it wouldn’t move.
___________ would be needed to free the injured man.
b. The fire crew began __________ and pulling away ___________ and twisted metal.
c. Mark looked at the dead body _____________. He felt he was trembling.
d. You can __________ at this number on Monday morning. I should be able to tell you the
man’s name address then”. Mark __________ the piece of paper and _____________.

Chapter 6
The News
(6 minutes)

1. Why couldn’t Julie relax that evening?

2. Why did police officers come to the Bentleys? What were Linda and John doing at that
moment?
3. What did Linda decide to do? How did she modify her plan? Why did Linda think
nobody would find out what had happened?
4. What do you think may happen next in the story?
Chapter 7
Officially Dead 4

The Wife
(7 minutes)

1. Where did Mark live? How did he earn his living?

2. Why couldn’t Mark concentrate on his work?
3. Who phoned Julie the following afternoon?
4. Why couldn’t Maggie phone Colin’s hotel?
5. What did Julie do next morning? What did police think about Colin’s disappearance?

Finish the following sentences:

a. He helped other businessman with…
b. Julie dialed the number of Colin’s mobile phone…
c. Normally he asks me to make his…
d. The police officers asked for Colin Fenton’s…

Chapter 8
The Funeral
(11 minutes)

1. What did Linda find in Colin’s suitcase? What did she do with his possessions?
2. What did Linda plan to do with Colin’s BMW?
3. Was Colin’s body buried?
4. Why did John worry so much?
5. When did Linda want her husband to rob the bank?
6. Where did they go late at night?

Fill in the gaps:

a. Then she opened the dead man’s briefcase. She _____________ inside it, then threw
those _________. There were several ________ inside the briefcase.
b. The __________ was a good place to leave Colin’s car, Linda thought. It would be some
time before Anybody realized that _______________________.
c. By the afternoon, all that was left of Colin Fenton ______________. Linda had asked
___________ in the garden of the ________.
d. I’ll tell him I’m going back to Scotland. I’ve already __________________ the house.

Chapter 9
The Advertisement
(7 minutes)

1. What did Julie do on the day Colin was cremated?

2. What was written in the fax from Jackman’s?
3. How did Mr Booker explain Colin’s disappearance?
4. What did Julie decide to do to find Colin?

Chapter 10
Officially Dead 5

The Search
(13 minutes)

1. What kind of sport did Mark go in for?

2. When did Mark plan to visit Mrs Bentley?
3. Why did Mark decide there was somebody inside the house?
4. What did Mark decide to do when nobody opened the door?
5. Why did Linda phone Frankie Simpson? What kind of deal were they speaking about in
the pub?
6. How much money did Linda offer Frankie? Was he satisfied?
7. What did Mark see in Linda’s house? Why was he so shocked? How did Linda try to
explain the presence of a man in her house?
8. What shocked Mark for the second time in two days?

Fill in the gaps:

a. In Mark’s opinion, ______ was the perfect way to relax. It was a sport that
______________.
b. “It isn’t easy to ________,” Frankie said. “I can’t _______ jewellery in the London area”.
c. It was nine o’clock that evening when Linda ______________ he garage. __________ of
her van lit up _______________.
d. Suddenly Mark’s body was ___________ as though he had seen a ghost!
e. The road was covered with ice. I saw his car _________ and crash into a tree.

Chapter 11
The Visit
(8 minutes)

1. Who phoned Julie just before one o’clock?

2. What did police think about Colin’s disappearance?
3. Why did Julie become suspicious when Marked phoned her?
4. Did Julie believe in Mark’s story?

Chapter 12
The Robbery
(14 minutes)

1. Why did Linda and John decide to move out of their house?
2. What kind of equipment did John have? Enumerate all the items.
3. What code did John have to key in?
4. Where was the camera installed? What did John do with it?
5. What was stored inside the steel cabinet? What did John find on the shelves?
6. What did he use the piece of plastic explosive, the detonator and the Jack for?
7. Why did John activate the alarm system? What did he do with the boxes of stolen
jewellery?
8. Who waited for Linda at the pub? When did Frankie Simpson promise to give money to
Linda?
9. What did the police think about the robbery?

Fill in the gaps:

a. Standing in the shadow of the shop’s back door, John ____________. He took the
_______ from his pocket and _____________ that protected the door.
Officially Dead 6

b. But half way along on the left, opposite Mr Rose’s office door was _______________. In
here, the shop’s main ________ was kept, as well as some _______ which would be
made into special __________________.
c. He held _________ in his mouth and opened two ______________ with his keys. The
_____ contained some good pieces of jewellery, and he threw ___________________.
d. John ran up the stairs to the workshops, holding the _________ in his hand. There was
the _______________ which was locked from inside. And below the __________ was a
____________.

Chapter 13
The Truth
(6 minutes)

1. What did Julie find in one of the drawers? What did it mean?
2. What did Mark tell Julie about?
3. Where did they decide to go?

Chapter 14
The Chase
(9 minutes)

1. What was Linda doing when Mark and Julie were driving towards London?
2. Why was it possible for John to cross the border?
3. Why did she go to the Red Lions?
4. Did Linda notice that she was being followed?
5. What happened on the narrow country lane?
6. Where did Linda and John go after the fight?
7. Who saved Mark’s life?
8. Why did the detectives believe Mark’s story?

Chapter 15
Officially Dead
(7 minutes)

1. How did Mark become closer to Julie? What was his idea about the business?
2. Why was it profitable to sell licenses instead of software products?
3. How did their relationship develop?
4. What upset Julie one day seven years later? What was the article about?