THE SPAG BOL HEIST Things had been looking

THE SPAG BOL HEIST

� Things had been looking up for the Spag Bol restaurant since the murder of the health inspector three years ago. A new master chef had been employed who brought a secret recipe with him and recently the establishment had been voted the best Italian restaurant in the UK.

� However on 13 th April the safe in the basement of the Spag Bol was broken into and the secret recipe was stolen. It is thought that the thieves plan to sell this valuable recipe to a rival restaurant. Police worked out that one diner hid in the toilets until the restaurant was closed and everyone had gone home. He/she then let in the other gang members who took all night to drill through the 16 cm reinforced walls of the safe before leaving with the recipe.

� Having examined CCTV footage from nearby shops, police have given names to three suspects: Mr Robin (whose face was covered by a hood); Mr Mint (who was wearing a polo sweater); and, somewhat out of place, Miss Fit (who was wearing a tracksuit).

� Police know that 32 diners entered the restaurant but only 31 left before closing. They are trying to identify the diner who hid in the toilets until closing time. Once this insider has been identified, they hope to bring pressure (gentle of course) to find the identities of the other suspects. ?

� In the criminal world, not everyone was happy with this robbery. Lexus Lotus had hoped he would get the job of getaway driver and was upset when someone else was chosen. He quietly slipped the police 5 clues in code. Can you work out the clues and identify which diner stayed inside and thus help the police to put the whole gang inside?

CLUE 1 – NOT A SINGLE CLUE � � Change the red nouns in italics into plurals. Find the last ‘s’ and the last ‘e’ in the plural. Use the table to find the letter. Some plurals will not have ‘s’ or ‘e’. eg spider → spiders (7, 5) = ‘l’ room →rooms (5, 0) =‘u’ The nature programme featured a louse crawling up spines from a cactus which had become stuck in a donkey. Ann admired the antenna of a butterfly before switching to the quiz channel. The first question about a tooth was followed by one on the vertex of a triangle.

� Rhoda, next door in the kitchen, was answering a series of geography questions. She had just drawn an axis on the opposite page to a picture of a man connecting a battery in the presence of a child. She wrote ‘bacterium’ in her book before picking up the plastic man and placing it next to the plastic woman. As she tried to remember the formula she needed, she flicked over the page and glanced at the next photos: a sheep and an ox. � Under the roof of an outbuilding, her brothers were playing a piano and a piccolo. Beyond, paintings of a calf decorated a nearby church. She guessed the radius of the church windows which had suffered from an attack by fungus and a mouse. In the next street a person left the supermarket clutching the latest bargains: a tomato and a goose. A man called to his wife.

s e 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 l y c z r u m o b e 1 c a p d f i q z f s 2 w d b a k t g c h f 3 n s c x s j f p e l 4 a z p q o t n u y h 5 h p y d f r r l b n 6 l l l c j h g i x m 7 o n f e f p t v e c 8 d p m q e k i b y h

CLUE 2 - CONJUNCTIONS � Find conjunctions. The number in brackets tells you which letter of the conjunction to take as part of the clue, eg I will eat breakfast and get dressed. (2) The conjunction is ‘and’ and the 2 nd letter is ‘n’. Some sentences have more than one conjunction. Before the lesson, Sarah looked in her bag but her PE kit was not there. (3) When she realised this, she knew she would be in bother. (2) She stood still while she thought how she could avoid detention. (5) Both her shorts and her PE shirt were still lying on her bedroom floor. (2, 2) After her friend Mimi came in, she had an idea. (4) While waiting for Miss, she could get Mimi to forge a note. (1) Miss rarely checked notes carefully though she had recently been to Specsavers before she came to school. (2, 4) As Mimi had neat hand writing, she was a good choice. (2) She wrote: Although Sarah diligently washed her cloths, they are not dry because of the wether. Mrs Laura Gubbins. (3, 4)

� � “Sorry I’m a little late, ” apologised Miss. “I would have been here earlier only my car broke down. (4) Unless I’m mistaken, PE kit is the norm for games, ” she announced scrutinising Sarah and checking the reaction of her friends. (4, 3) “I would have it Miss but it’s still wet, ” replied Sarah. (1) “Since I’ve just paid a fortune for these new glasses, I’d better take a close look at your note to check whether it is genuine. (5, 5) If it’s a forgery, you’ll be in big trouble. (1) Once I have scrutinised it, providing you are sensible, you can watch until the lesson is over. (2, 6, 4) I must say your Mum’s writing is as neat as the wanderings of a drunken spider! (2, 1) I would not normally check notes, only you have missed the last six lessons. (3) Hmm – she can’t spell any better than you can. (3) Providing Mrs Gubbins confirms she wrote this, you are in the clear. (6) I would phone her now, only I left my phone at Specsavers. ” (4) “She shouldn’t have gone to Specsavers, ” whispered Mimi. � � � (Names have been changed. This is to protect the identity of my daughter and her friend!)

CLUE 3 - SPELLINGS � Write in the missing words as the text is read to you. Pay close attention to your spelling. The numbers in brackets indicate which letters make up the clue, eg in 'Literacy is my favourite _____. (4)', the missing word is 'subject' and the 4 th letter is 'j'. Jeremy became ______(4, 6) of the _______(2, 5, 6) of the new _______(5, 9) store when he walked past it on the way for his ______(1) check-up. In his ______(5, 9) one of the _______ (1, 6, 7) was an annual visit to _______(4, 8) on the _______(5, 6) of September. Having _____ (3, 6) himself to the end of the _____ (3), he started reading the latest ______ (5, 8) leaflet out of ______(6, 8).

� Last Tuesday, he had started his job as treasurer of the _____ (3, 6) dramatic society. Already he had, on _____(4, 5) written his _______(4, 6) four times a day on cheques. To his ______(4), there was still plenty of money in the account. � On that same day, his ______, (5, 7) Mr Murray – whose name _____(2) with curry – had crashed his car. ____(1, 6) to Mrs Murray he was very ____(3) as his ______(6) had skidded off the road and crashed into a _____(2, 3) leaving the boat hanging over a river at an _____(3) angle. She hoped the owner would not _____(1, 2) her husband as he _______ (2, 6) wanted to make up for his error.

CLUE 4 - HYPHENATE � � Insert hyphens where needed. Sometimes you will need to split a word to insert the hyphen. Count the letters in the words before and after each hyphen and use the table at the bottom to spell out the clue, eg 'sixty six' → 'sixty-six' which has 5 letters in the first word and 3 in the second = 'p'. Treat words with two hyphens as two pairs, eg 'lah di dah' → 'lah-di-dah', giving 3 and 2 ('lah-di') = 'l', and 2 and 3 ('di-dah') = 'r'. Don’t confuse hyphens with dashes! The numbers in brackets show many hyphens there are in each sentence. Julie stared open mouthed at the advert: sugar free Fizzy at 50 p a litre. (2) She walked through the A frame and sat down on a bench. (1) She looked down at her crumpled grubby trousers – she would need to repress those tonight. (1) Flicking crumbs off them, she realised that she had eaten two thirds of the rock hard cake which she had baked two weeks ago. (2) At work they needed to reelect the union rep. (1)

� “W W Where have you been? ” stammered Mr Jenkin, her boss. (2) � “I had to deice my freezer, ” she explained. (1) “I used this new fast acting spray – it works wonders!”(1) As Mr Smithers turned his attention back to his papers, Julie winked at Eloise Ponsonby Smythe, her coworker who, along with Ben, her ex tutor, shared one office. (3) She had become increasingly anti Jenkin during the past twenty six months. (2) � Another problem was that her long lost aunt had left her a two year old car which had developed a serious fault. (3) The money back guarantee had expired and she was facing a large bill. (1) Her bank manager had refused a loan dismissing her reasons as half baked ideas with no substance. (1) � “N O means no!” he had declared even when confronted with her best puppy eyes. (1) Her car – a well known Italian model, sporting a shelllike logo, had seized up in late March. (3) She had consulted the good looking mechanic at her local garage and half wanted him to fix it but the problems she had with the garage last time had been a real eye opener. (3)

Number of letters in first word Letters in second word 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 d y u d o g a m 2 b e l e i f c n 3 h r d y p u r l 4 p l l s h w p g 5 e i o a q t h t 6 q v n o s k i b 7 c z j t u m k s 8 a x j v f z n r

CLUE 5 – IT’S IN THE SPEECH � Put in speech marks where needed. Use the first letter after the opening speech marks and the last letter before the closing ones to piece together the clue, so in "Hello Olive" the letters would be 'h' and 'e'. Mr Franklin had one seeing eye and one glass eye. He taught chemistry. Mollie said he’d lost his eye when an experiment had gone wrong. Jason said he had lost it in a car crash. Friday afternoon for 9 GW meant double chemistry. Aluminium is a light metal, Mr Franklin droned, light enough to be used in aircraft. Hello, whispered Mimi to Natalie as she could see her friend’s mind beginning to wander. Stay awake.

� When you’ve finished Mimi, Mr Franklin intoned, time to concentrate. Every lesson counts. Now watch! At this point he realised that three cups of coffee at lunch had not been a good idea and that he needed the toilet. He turned to the class. Continue copying from the board. Stop when you reach the word ‘neutrino’. Mr Franklin now removed his glass eye and with a dramatic flourish placed it on the teacher’s desk. � Attention you horrible lot! he bellowed. Something has cropped up and I’m going to have to leave you for five minutes. Although I will not be in the classroom, I will be carefully watching you all. With that he strode from the room.

� Edward. I’ve always said he’s not all there – this is the proof! joked Sam. Edward commented that he wasn’t all here either! Three minutes later Tom left his desk and marched up to the glass eye and gestured rudely at it. Unknown to him, Mr Franklin had by now emptied his bladder and was peering into the classroom through a peep hole in the door. One minute later he entered and slid his glass eye back into its socket. Swivelling round he pointed at Tom. � Tom, do you take me for some sort of idiot? he shouted. Have you no respect for my eye? � Rest assured sir – it wasn’t me, said Tom as his face began to redden � See me after the lesson and we’ll discuss your punishment, Mr Franklin said firmly. And the rest of you…. he glared with his one seeing eye as the class buried their heads silently in their work. Revise pages 22 -24 about the manufacture of ammonia. At the end of the lesson as the class was about to leave he reminded them, Next week there will be a test.

ANSWERS

CLUE 1 � The nature programme featured lice (0, 4) crawling up spines from cacti (0, 0) which had become stuck in donkeys (7, 5). Ann admired the antennae (0, 8) of a butterfly before switching to the quizzes (7, 6) channel. The first question about teeth (0, 3) was followed by one on the vertices (8, 7) of a triangle. � Rhoda, next door in the kitchen, was answering series (6, 5) of geography questions. She had just drawn axes (4, 3) on the opposite page to a picture of men (0, 2) connecting batteries (9, 8) in the presence of children (0, 7). She wrote ‘bacteria’ (0, 5) in her book before picking up the plastic man and placing it next to the plastic women (0, 4). As she tried to remember the formulae (0, 8) she needed, she flicked over the page and glanced at the next photos: sheep (0, 4) and oxen (0, 3). � Under the roofs of an outbuilding, (5, 0) her brothers were playing pianos (6, 0) and piccolos (8, 0). Beyond, paintings of calves (6, 5) decorated nearby churches (8, 7). She guessed the radii (0, 0) of the church windows which had suffered from an attack by fungi (0, 0) and mice (0, 4). In the next street people (0, 6) left the supermarket clutching the latest bargains: tomatoes (8, 7) and geese (4, 5). A man called to his wives (5, 4). � All diners who had an umbrella left.

CLUE 2 � Before the lesson, Sarah looked in her bag but her PE kit was not there. (3) When she realised this, she knew she would be in bother. (2) She stood still while she thought how she could avoid detention. (5) Both her shorts and her PE shirt were still lying on her bedroom floor. (2, 2) After her friend Mimi came in, she had an idea. (4) While waiting for Miss, she could get Mimi to forge a note. (1) Miss rarely checked notes carefully though she had recently been to Specsavers before she came to school. (2, 4) As Mimi had neat hand writing, she was a good choice. (2) She wrote: Although Sarah diligently washed her cloths, they are not dry because of the wether. Mrs Laura Gubbins. (3, 4) � “Sorry I’m a little late, ” apologised Miss. “I would have been here earlier only my car broke down. (4) Unless I’m mistaken, PE kit is the norm for games, ” she announced scrutinising Sarah and checking the reaction of her friends. (4, 3) � � “I would have it Miss but it’s still wet, ” replied Sarah. (1) “Since I’ve just paid a fortune for these new glasses, I’d better take a close look at your note to check whether it is genuine. (5, 5) If it’s a forgery, you’ll be in big trouble. (1) Once I have scrutinised it, providing you are sensible, you can watch until the lesson is over. (2, 6, 4) I must say your Mum’s writing is as neat as the wanderings of a drunken spider! (2, 1) I would not normally check notes, only you have missed the last six lessons. (3) Hmm – she can’t spell any better than you can. (3) Providing Mrs Gubbins confirms she wrote this, you are in the clear. (6) I would phone her now, only I left my phone at Specsavers. ” (4) � “She shouldn’t have gone to Specsavers, ” whispered Mimi. � The one who stayed behind is a lady

CLUE 3 � Jeremy became conscious (4, 6) of the existence (2, 5, 6) of the new convenience(5, 9) store when he walked past it on the way for his physical(1) check-up. In his profession (5, 9) one of the privileges (1, 6, 7) was an annual visit to parliament(4, 8) on the twelfth(5, 6) of September. Having attached(3, 6) himself to the end of the queue(3), he started reading the latest government(5, 8) leaflet out of curiosity(6, 8). � Last Tuesday, he had started his job as treasurer of the amateur(3, 6) dramatic society. Already he had, on average(4, 5) written his signature(4, 6) four times a day on cheques. To his knowledge(4), there was still plenty of money in the account. � On that same day, his neighbour, (5, 7) Mr Murray – whose name rhymes(2) with curry – had crashed his car. According (1, 6) to Mrs Murray he was very embarrassed (3) as his vehicle(6) had skidded off the road and crashed into a yacht(2, 3) leaving the boat hanging over a river at an awkward(3) angle. She hoped the owner would not harass(1, 2) her husband as he sincerely(2, 6) wanted to make up for his error. � Sixteen people left the restaurant who had black hair.

CLUE 4 � Julie stared open-mouthed t at the advert: sugar-free h Fizzy at 50 p a litre. (2) She walked through the Aframe e and sat down on a bench(1). She looked down at her crumpled grubby trousers – she would need to re-press i those tonight. (1) Flicking crumbs off them, she realised that she had eaten two-thirds n of the rock-hard s cake which she had baked two weeks ago. (2) At work they needed to re-elect i the union rep. (1) � “W-W-Where de have you been? ” stammered Mr Jenkin, her boss. (2) � “I had to de-ice r my freezer, ” she explained. (1) “I used this new fast-acting o spray – it works wonders!”(1) As Mr Smithers turned his attention back to his papers, Julie winked at Eloise Ponsonby. Smythe, b her co-worker v who, along with Ben, her ex-tutor, i shared one office. (3) She had become increasingly anti- Jenkin o during the past twenty-six months. u (2) � Another problem was that her long-lost s aunt had left her a two-year-old ly car which had developed a serious fault. (3) The money-back h guarantee had expired and she was facing a large bill. (1) Her bank manager had refused a loan dismissing her reasons as half-baked a ideas with no substance. (1) � “N-O d means no!” he had declared even when confronted with her best puppy eyes. (1) Her car – a wellknown a Italian model, sporting a shell-like h logo, had seized up in late-March. a (3) She had consulted the good-looking t mechanic at her local garage and half-wanted o him to fix it but the problems she had with the garage last time had been a real eye-opener. n(3) � The insider obviously had a hat on.

CLUE 5 � Mr Franklin had one seeing eye and one glass eye. He taught chemistry. Mollie said he’d lost his eye when an experiment had gone wrong. Jason said he had lost it in a car crash. � Friday afternoon for 9 GW meant double chemistry. � “Aluminium is a light metal, ” Mr Franklin droned, “light enough to be used in aircraft. ” � “Hello, ” whispered Mimi to Natalie as she could see her friend’s mind beginning to wander. “Stay awake”. � “When you’ve finished Mimi, ” Mr Franklin intoned, “time to concentrate. Every lesson counts. Now watch!” At this point he realised that three cups of coffee at lunch had not been a good idea and that he needed the toilet. He turned to the class. “Continue copying from the board. Stop when you reach the word neutrino. ” Mr Franklin now removed his glass eye and with a dramatic flourish placed it on the teacher’s desk.

� “Attention you horrible lot!” he bellowed. “Something has cropped up and I’m going to have to leave you for five minutes. Although I will not be in the classroom, I will be carefully watching you all. ” With that he strode from the room. � “Edward. I’ve always said he’s not all there – this is the proof!” joked Sam. Edward commented that he wasn’t all here either! Three minutes later Tom left his desk and marched up to the glass eye and gestured rudely at it. Unknown to him, Mr Franklin had by now emptied his bladder and was peering into the classroom through a peep hole in the door. One minute later he entered and slid his glass eye back into its socket. Swivelling round he pointed at Tom. � “Tom, do you take me for some sort of idiot? ” he shouted. “Have you no respect for my eye? ” � “Rest assured sir – it wasn’t me, ” said Tom as his face began to redden � “See me after the lesson and we’ll discuss your punishment, ” Mr Franklin said firmly. “And the rest of you…. ” he glared with his one seeing eye as the class buried their heads silently in their work. “Revise pages 22 -24 about the manufacture of ammonia. ” At the end of the lesson as the class was about to leave he reminded them, “Next week there will be a test. ” � All those with coats left the restaurant

SOLUTION � All diners who had an umbrella left � The one who stayed behind is a lady � Sixteen people left the restaurant who had black hair. � The insider obviously had a hat on � All those with coats left the restaurant. � � This should reveal the insider to be Sally Vate

� This is the third SPa. G mystery I have written. Others in the series are: � Death � The at the Spag Bol Great British Spag Off. � � These can also be downloaded free from the TES website.