Real Murder Riddle – Halloween Riddles

Real Murder Riddle – Halloween Riddles – Solving the Real Murder Mystery: A Riddle-Based English Lesson. Free printable PDF and free Video

Real Murder Riddle – Halloween Riddles

Engaging students with mysteries and detective stories can turn an ordinary English lesson into an exciting experience. Using a riddle based on a murder investigation introduces vocabulary, grammar practice, and critical thinking in a way that keeps students intrigued. This blog post will guide you through using the Real Murder Riddle in your classroom to enhance your students’ language skills while solving a crime.

Why Murder Riddles Work in Language Learning

Murder mysteries are effective for language learning because they:

• Enhance comprehension and vocabulary: New words are learned in a memorable and engaging context.
• Promote critical thinking: Students must analyze details, draw conclusions, and evaluate evidence.
• Encourage communication: Group discussions foster teamwork, speaking, and listening skills.
• Make grammar practice fun: Analyzing direct and reported speech in the story is more interesting than drilling sentences.

Let’s break down how to teach this Real Murder Riddle effectively.

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1. Setting the Scene: Joe Good and John Bad Investigate

Introduce the narrative to the class to set the tone:

Story Setup:
Joe Good and John Bad are detectives on a murder case. Thirty-year-old Julie has been missing for several days, and her mother, who lives abroad, has reported her missing. Julie’s husband, Rick, is the prime suspect. The detectives head to Rick’s house to question him. They notice the garage door is slightly ajar. What’s inside?

Students will now start solving the riddle, gathering clues as they go. Begin by asking them to make guesses about what might be inside the garage.

Vocabulary in Context:

• Head to: Joe and John head to Newton to investigate.
• Ajar: The detectives notice that the garage door is ajar (slightly open).
• Signal: Julie’s mom signaled her daughter was missing.

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2. Interrogating the Suspect: Rick’s Strange Behavior

After entering the house, Joe and John question Rick. He claims he doesn’t know where Julie is and suggests she might be at her mother’s house in Denmark. However, the detectives already know that Julie’s mom reported her missing, so they suspect Rick is lying.

Grammar Practice:
Students can identify examples of direct and reported speech in this dialogue:

• Direct Speech: “My wife? Just between us, things are a bit strained at the moment,” Rick said.
• Reported Speech: Julie’s mother had said, “Mom, if anything happens to me, don’t think it was an accident.”

Ask students to convert direct speech into reported speech and vice versa. For example:

• Direct: “Things are a bit strained at the moment,” Rick said.
• Reported: Rick said that things were strained at the moment.

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3. The Clue: Suspicious Purchases

Later, John Bad discovers that Rick made some bizarre purchases before Julie went missing. What do the students think Rick bought? Encourage them to brainstorm possible items related to the crime (e.g., a freezer, wood chipper, tarp).

Vocabulary in Context:

• Bizarre: Rick’s purchases were bizarre and raised suspicion.
• Surveillance: A team was set to put Rick under surveillance to follow his movements.
• Cheated on: Julie’s mother revealed that Rick had cheated on her daughter several times.

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4. Grammar Focus: Direct Speech and Reported Speech

Review examples of direct and reported speech from the story:

• Who said, “Things are a bit strained at the moment”?
  Answer: C) Rick
• Is this an example of direct or reported speech?
  Answer: Direct speech

For more challenge, ask students to identify direct speech within reported speech:

• “Mom, if anything happens to me, don’t think it was an accident,” Julie once told her mother.
  Answer: Direct speech within reported speech.

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5. The Freezer and the Lake: Solving the Case

Rick’s alibi continues to unravel when Joe and John notice that the freezer is missing from his garage. Rick claims he threw it away because it wasn’t working, but the detectives aren’t convinced. A snowplow driver later reports seeing a truck matching Rick’s driving along the riverbank. The detectives rush to the lake to find proof.

Critical Thinking:
Ask students to describe what they notice at the lake. This scene could involve analyzing tracks in the snow, disturbed ground, or something unusual about the lake surface.

Vocabulary in Context:

• Interrogate: The detectives interrogated Rick about his missing freezer.
• Flee: Rick fled in his truck, but was later arrested.

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6. The Final Clue: Solving the Murder

After collecting evidence, forensic analysis confirms that the remains belong to Julie. The detectives conclude that Rick murdered his wife, stored her body in the freezer, and disposed of it by using a wood chipper and dumping her remains at the lake.

Vocabulary in Context:

• Conclude: The detectives concluded that Rick had killed Julie.
• Proof: Forensic evidence served as proof of Julie’s murder, even though her body was never fully recovered.

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7. Class Discussion and Wrap-Up

Now that the case has been solved, lead a class discussion:

• What clues led to Rick’s arrest?
• How did the detectives know Rick was lying?
• What other details in the story suggested Rick’s guilt?

This encourages students to articulate their thoughts and practice speaking in full sentences, reinforcing their language skills.

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Conclusion

The Real Murder Riddle is an engaging way to teach English, combining vocabulary, grammar, and critical thinking with a captivating narrative. By solving this riddle, students practice important language skills in an interactive and memorable way. Consider incorporating similar mystery-based lessons into your curriculum for a fresh and exciting approach to language learning!

Happy investigating! 🔍

Real Murder Riddle

Real Murder Riddle

Joe Good and John Bad head to Newton.

Thirty-year-old Julie has been missing for several days. Her mom -who lives abroad– signaled her daughter missing.

Julie is married to Rick, whom no one has heard from.

The two police officers head to Rick’s house to ask him some questions.

There’s no one in front of the house, but officers can see that the garage door is slightly ajar.

What do you notice inside?

Vocabulary:

head to – expression. To begin to go somewhere

abroad – adj. in a foreign country; adv. to or in a foreign country; in a place across an ocean; far away from home or one’s usual surroundings signal – adj. notably out of the ordinary; noun any communication that encodes a message; any incitement to action; an electric quantity (voltage or current or field strength) whose modulation represents coded information about the source from which it comes; verb be a signal for or a symptom of; communicate silently and non-verbally by signals or signs garage – noun an outbuilding (or part of a building) for housing automobiles; a repair shop where cars and trucks are serviced and repaired; verb keep or store in a garage ajar – adj. slightly open

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“Hello gentlemen, I didn’t expect to find the police in my house!” Rick said. “Hello, we’re looking for your wife. Her friends haven’t heard from her in a while, and they’re getting pretty worried.” The officers replied.

“My wife? Just between us, things are a bit strained at the moment, so I’m not sure where she might be. She might be at her Mom’s in Denmark.”

What Rick didn’t know is that Joe and John had come here specifically at Julie’s Mom’s request. This man is probably lying.

What do you do?

Grammar questions:

• • Who said “things are a bit strained at the moment.” : A) John

B) Joe C) Rick

• • This is an example of direct speech / reported speech.

Vocabulary:

strained – adj. under great stress; struggling for effect; lacking spontaneity; not natural; lacking natural ease specifically – adv. in distinction from others

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“Good enough for us,” Joe Good said, he thanked him, and told him to have a good day. Later, in the car, John Bad said “Joe, you know what you’re doing I hope.” Yep!” replied Joe Good, “we’re going to look into him and send a surveillance team to follow him discreetly and report back on his every move.” At the station later, they spoke to Julie’s mom on the phone. “Rick is not a good husband” she insisted, “he cheated on Julie several times. You should know this! She once told me ‘Mom, if anything happens to me, don’t think it was an accident.’ Please sir find my daughter!” “Thank you for your statement ma’am we’ll do everything we can.” Said Joe Good. At that very moment, Joe Good was contacted by the officers charged with following Rick. “There’s a massive snowstorm out here. Our man left in his truck but we lost him because of the lack of visibility. We’ve gone back to his place to wait.” They said. “Copy that, over.” Replied Joe Good.

“Joe, I looked into Rick’s recent activity just before his wife disappeared.” Said John Bad, “The man made several pretty bizarre purchases.”

What do you think Rick bought?

Vocabulary:

surveillance – noun close observation of a person or group (usually by the police) discreetly – adv. with discretion; prudently and with wise self-restraint report the act of telling somebody some information cheated on – expression Not being faithful to their wife/husband statement – a message that is stated or declared; snowstorm – noun a storm with widespread snowfall accompanied by strong winds bizarre – adj. conspicuously or grossly unconventional or unusual; strange; weird.

• • Who ‘thanked him, and told him to have a good day…’ – A) John

B) Joe C) Rick

• • This is an example of direct speech / reported speech.
• • ‘Mom, if anything happens to me, don’t think it was an accident.’
• • This is an example of direct speech within reported speech / direct speech within direct speech

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“I think it’s time we went back for a bit more information.” John Bad said.

“I just heard from our colleagues that Rick’s back at home.”

Joe and John headed back to question Rick in his garage.

The first thing they notice is that the freezer is missing. “It wasn’t working,” Rick said “So, I ended up just throwing it out.” While they’re interrogating Rick, Joe and John received an important call from their colleague. “I just got testimony from a snowplow driver, he says he saw a truck driving strangely just now along the banks of the river outside the city. He described the truck and it matches that of our suspect. I think somebody should go have a look out there.” He said.

“Shoot our man is fleeing in his truck!” Said John Bad, “Move!”

The two detectives arrested Rick and sent him to police headquarters “Alright, let’s head to that Lake, John.” Joe Good said, At the lake John Bad said, “This is where our witness says he saw the suspect. We’re going to need to look for proof.”

What do you notice about this scene?

Vocabulary:

colleague – noun a person who is member of your class or profession; an associate you work with. headed back – expression. Going back to where you came from. Interrogate – Verb. Ask questions to someone suspected of committing a crime. suspect noun someone who is under suspicion; flee – verb run away quickly headquarters – noun the military installation from which a commander performs the functions of command; (usually plural) the office that serves as the administrative center of an enterprise; (plural) a military unit consisting of a commander and the headquarters staff witness – noun testimony by word or deed to your religious faith; someone who sees an event and reports what happened; (law) a person who attests to the genuineness of a document or signature by adding their own signature; (law) a person who testifies under oath in a court of law; a close observer; someone who looks at something (such as an exhibition of some kind); verb be a witness to; perceive or be contemporaneous with proof – any factual evidence that helps to establish the truth of something;

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They decided to bring everything back to run through the lab.

After several hours of waiting, Joe and John finally got their results. Forensics proved that everything at the scene belonged to Julie. The officers concluded that Julie was killed by her husband Rick. Rick then put her body into the freezer before putting it through the wood chipper. He then dumped the remains into the truck, and brought them to the lake to attempt to bury them. The freezer has yet to be found.

“This is definitely the first time I’ve had a case in which a man is found guilty of murder without a body ever being recovered.” Said John Bad.

“He thought he could get away with it by going through all of that. He’s continuing to claim his own innocence. He’s given no explanation, nothing!” replied Joe Good.

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Vocabulary:

run through – expression. To closely examine something.

conclude – verb bring to a close; reach a conclusion after a discussion or deliberation; reach agreement on; come to a close; decide by reasoning; draw or come to a conclusion guilty – adj. showing a sense of guilt; responsible for or chargeable with a reprehensible act; or marked by guilt claim – noun demand for something as rightful or due; an informal right to something; an assertion of a right (as to money or property); an assertion that something is true or factual; an established or recognized right; a demand especially in the phrase “the call of duty”; verb take as an undesirable consequence of some event or state of affairs; assert or affirm strongly; state to be true or existing; lay claim to; as of an idea; ask for legally or make a legal claim to, as of debts, for example; demand as being one’s due or property; assert one’s right or title to innocence – noun a state or condition of being innocent of a specific crime or offense; the quality of innocent naivete; the state of being unsullied by sin or moral wrong; lacking a knowledge of evil .

Real Murder Riddle

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