aDeadlock- Sara Paretsky

Exercises

Before Reading

1-

Deadlock means a failure in trying to solve a discussion, argument or more of the similar

Dead means not alive

A lock on a river or canal is an area in this one which is closed so that the water level can be increased or lowered to the one willed

2-

Vic Warshawsky isn't married- Y

Vic works for the police- N

Vic's cousin is dead- Y

Vic doesn't believe her cousin's death was an accident- Y

Vic knew her cousin's girlfriend well- N

3-

Vic will be murdered- N

Boom Boom's girlfriend will kill someone- Y

Vic will find out who killed her cousin- Y

The murderer will go to prison- N

While Reading

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-6

Before chapters 7-10

Clayton Phillips is vice-president of the Eudora grain

Janet was Boom Boom's secretary

Bobby Mallory is a policeman

Niels Grafalk owns the Grafalk Steamship Line

Murray Ryerson is a newspaper reporter

Paige Harrington is a ballet dancer

Martin Bledsoe owns the Pole Star Line

Pierre and Howard Mattingly are ice hockey players

Niels Grafalk and Paige Harrington were involved in Boom Boom's death

Chapters 7-10

Before Chapters 11-13

After reading these chapters, I still think of those two as the ones involved in his death

Chapters 11-13

Before Chapter 14

After Reading

1.

2.

3.

Vic decided to hide as a passenger on the Lucella because she was afraid that captain Bemis would want her on board his ship. She knew that she would be able to leave the Lucella when the ship stopped at the locks at Sault Ste Marie. After the cargo of the port had been loaded into the ship and the lucella was ready to leave, Vic climbed up the ladder to the main deck and waited until the Lucella had pulled away from the shore and was a couple of kilometers from land. Then she went up to cabin to talk to Bledsoe.

4.

• Why were you aboard the ship?

• What happened exactly before the explosion?

• Where exactly were you in the moment of the explosion?

• What did you see that made you suspect that something was going wrong aboard the ship?

• Do you remember anything suspicious in the attitude of the crew of the ship?

EXPLOSION AT POE LOCK DESTROYS SHIP

Several people were killed yesterday morning when an explosion completely destroyed the `Lucella Wieser' ship, a cargo ship which was curiously involved in the mysterious death of famous ex-hockey player Boom Boom Warshawsky. Another fact is that detective V.I. Warshawsky, close relative of the above mentioned, was aboard the ship the same moment the explosion took place. The detective pointed out she had seen one person jump out of the ship just seconds before the bomb exploded. Fortunately only a few members of the working crew of the ship died in this tragic accident. Owner of the ship and of the organization in possession of the Lucella Wieser suspects of a possible sabotage from the direct rival of the company, which for privacy reasons has decided not to reveal the name of the possible responsible for this fatal event.

5.

Ajax President- I'm afraid your husband may be responsible for several sabotages which have occurred in these last days aboard his direct rival's ships

Mrs. Grafalk-But why would he do that?

Ajax President- To stop his business from bankrupting.

Mrs. Grafalk-but why did he want to do that?

Ajax President- his shipping company was losing a great amount of money against his competitors- their bigger cargo ships are much more profitable than his smaller ships

Mrs. Grafalk-Couldn't he build bigger ships of his own?

Ajax President-No. Because he was already losing a dreadful lot of money

Mrs. Grafalk-So how did he keep Grafalk Steamship running?

Ajax President-By using money from his other businesses

Mrs. Grafalk-How did you find out about all this?

Ajax President-Ms. Warshawsky suggested me to check out your husband's business accounts and this is how I found out about all this

6.

Phillip's wife wanted to live in a wealthy part of Chicago so he started cheating his bosses at Eudora Grain by putting one price in the shipping contracts for Eudora Grain and later charging a higher price on the invoices. He then made thousands of dollars for himself, but Boom Boom discovered the truth, and Phillips panicked and Killed Boom Boom. He then went to Grafalk for help, who was later responsible for blowing up the Lucella, but when Vic also discovered what was going on, Phillips threatened to tell the police, and Grafalk ended killing Phillips.

7.

She was right because his family wasn't right to be left out without his fortune and, despite Grafalk's evil acts, his wife was a gentle soul who would have never done any wrong in anything

8.

Dead End is another word that plays with the meaning of both words meaning a path without end

9.

Mick St. John, from the series Moonlight, is a detective who, like Vic, lives alone (because he's a vampire, sorry for finding such a poor comparison but it's the only decent one I can think of), but he likes to keep control of all the situations he's in. He's also much colder than her, and thinks about all his acts very thoroughly. But they both share an attraction for messing around to find out things that they wouldn't find out normally (but this happens everywhere in fiction, it's the only way to find out the criminals)