Cue Cards
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Teacher's Card
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To be read to the class as background facts.
At 09h00 on Wednesday 23 May, the body of Mrs Mudau was found lying in the kitchen of her home. She had been shot. When police contacted the husband, Mr Brian Mudau, he was sleeping off a hangover in the house of a friend, Mr Victor Thwala. He did not seem at all surprised that his wife had been shot, and expressed no regrets.
Forensic evidence reveals that Mrs Mudau was shot with a gun belonging to Mr Mudau and found in his possession on the morning after the murder.
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Mrs Phetoe
Neighbour
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At about 17h00 on Tuesday 22 May you were working in your garden when you heard a violent argument between Mr and Mrs Mudau, your neighbours. You then saw Mr Mudau leaving the house. You went over and spoke to Mrs Mudau, but she told you not to interfere. In the night you thought you heard a shot at about 20h00, but you were not sure. You looked out the window and saw a parked car. It was Gabbi Madonsela. She was sitting in her car crying.
The next morning you were worried about the argument and the shot in the night, so you knocked on the door of Mrs Mudau's house, but there was no answer. This made you very worried, so you called the police.
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Miss Dolly
Shebeen Queen
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You are the owner of the Paradise Nightclub. At about 17h30 Mr Mudau came into the shebeen and proceeded to flirt with all the girls and get violently drunk.
He spent some time with Miss Madonsela, they are often together, word in the township is that they are having an affair. But she left early. At about 1am he got too much and you threw him out. As far as you know he was at the shebeen all night. He is one of your regulars, but you have never seen him in the mood he was in that night.
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Miss Gabbi Madonsela
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You are the lover of Brian Mudau. You have been seeing each other for the past 3 years. On 22 May he came into the Paradise, where you often meet, and told you he was not going to leave his wife. He wanted to make another go of the marriage. He was in a funny mood, and you were afraid of what he might do. He told you his wife was seeing someone, but he didn't know who. You left at about 19h30. You drove aimlessly, very upset. You sat in your car in front of his house for about ten minutes but didn't see anything.
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Mr Brian Mudau
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When you came home from work on 22 May you smelled cigarette smoke in the house. Neither you nor your wife smoke. You suspected she was having an affair. A violent argument followed and you decided to drown your sorrows in the shebeen. You got horribly drunk and couldn't drive home, so a friend, Mr Thwala, took you home to his place to sleep off your hangover.
The next morning you were woken by the police and told your wife was dead. You are not sorry she is dead. You hate her. You have no memory of what happened after arriving at the shebeen. The police found your gun, but you don't remember having it with you. It should have been safe at home!
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Mr Victor Thwala
Mudau's friend
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You were having an affair with Mrs Mudau. On the afternoon of 22 May you were with her, but were surprised when her husband came home. You slipped out the back. You heard them fighting and saw Mr Mudau leaving.
You went back into the house and Mrs Mudau told you her husband suspected her and she wanted to end the affair. You got very angry and left. You went to the Paradise nightclub and saw Mr Mudau there. At about 20h00 you slipped out, returned to Mrs Mudau's house and demanded that she take you back. She refused, and in a fit of jealousy, you took Mudau's gun from the bedside table and chased Mrs Mudau into the kitchen where you shot her three times. You then went back to the Paradise and drank with Mudau, encouraging him to get drunk, taking him back to your place. You planted the gun in his pocket.
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Lesson Notes
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The lesson should run for about 35 minutes of interview. It is very useful for hot afternoons, or when a class needs motivating. As teacher, you can steer the class from dead-ends, or put ideas in their minds by introducing forensic evidence as red herrings. Try and plant suspicion on all the characters, nosey neighbours, vengeful shebeen queens, etc.
The adult content and murder theme enthralls classes and gets even "unenthusiastic" students involved. Students are very inventive and usually need no prompting to invent stories to explain lacunae in the cue cards.
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