Exercise 1
A. Listen to Jenny talking to Rob on the phone. In the end, what does Rob say she should do?
B. Listen again. Answer the questions.
1 Is Jenny sure the man in the news is the man she met on the plane? Why (not)?
2 What time were Jenny and Henry planning to have dinner?
3 What time is it now? Why is Rob worried about this?
4 How does Jenny describe the house?
5 What doesn’t she think she’ll be able to do?
Answers
A
Rob tells Jenny she should go to the police. He also tells her to go and stay at Luke’s flat and to go to the police with him.
B
1 Yes, she is because she saw his picture on the news and he told her his name.
2 At seven
3 It’s a little after nine. Rob is worried because Henry is usually really punctual.
4 She says it feels strange.
5 She doesn’t think she’ll be able to sleep in Henry’s house.
Audioscripts
N = narrator, R = Rob, J = Jenny
N Day two. Five past nine in the evening. Jenny’s at Henry’s house. She has just heard on the news that Andrew Page – the man she met at the airport – was attacked soon after she left him. She immediately phones Rob, who is still in Alaska, to tell him about it, and also to tell him that Henry still hasn’t come home.
R He was attacked?
J That’s right. The police found him at the airport.
R You’re sure it’s the same person?
J Definitely. I saw his picture. His name’s Andrew Page and he’s a scientist.
R And you spoke to him?
J He helped carry my bags! I mean, I could have been the last person to see him before it happened.
R I think you should go to the police.
J I know. And Rob, there’s something else.
R What is it?
J Well, I don’t want to worry you, but your dad hasn’t come home. We were supposed to have dinner at seven.
R What time is it now?
J It’s a little after nine.
R What? That is worrying. Dad’s usually really punctual.
J Should I call the police?
R I think you should. It’s really not like him.
J OK, and Rob?
R Yeah?
J Oh, it’s nothing.
R What is it?
J I know this seems odd, but the house feels strange.
R What do you mean?
J I don’t know, but I don’t like being alone here.
R Well, it’s late and you’re tired.
J That’s true. But I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep here.
R Why don’t you ring Luke? You could stay with him, and you could go to the police together and tell them about Dad.
J OK, I think I’ll do that.
R I’ll ring you later.
J OK. Rob, I’ll be fine. Don’t worry. Bye.
Exercise 2
A. Listen to Jenny and Luke at the police station. What information does the police officer ask for about Henry? How do Jenny and Luke describe him?
Answers
The police officer asks how long Henry’s been missing; for his description; the time when Jenny last saw him; what he was wearing; what his plans were for the day; about his normal routine.
They describe Henry as 62, average height and build, grey hair, glasses, brown eyes; last seen wearing a brown jacket, dark green shirt, and jeans.
Audioscripts
N = narrator, La = Laing, J = Jenny, L = Luke
N Day two. Ten p.m. Jenny and Luke are at Oxford Police Station, in the police interview room. Jenny has told the inspector, DCI Laing, about her meeting with Andrew Page. Now she is going to tell her about Henry.
La And that was the last time you saw Mr Page?
J Yes. Is he going to be OK?
La We don’t know yet, I’m afraid. You also said that your father-in law – Henry Walker – hasn’t returned home yet. How long has he been missing?
J He was supposed to be home three hours ago.
La OK. It’s a bit early to report him missing, but I’ll take a statement. So, your name’s Jenny Zielinski.
J That’s right.
La And you’re staying at The Grange, Marsh Lane, Long Crendon.
J Yes.
La OK. Can you describe Mr Walker?
J He’s sixty-two, I think.
L Yeah.
J He’s average height and build. He has grey hair and glasses. I don’t know what colour his eyes are.
L They’re brown. Here is a photo of him.
La When did you last see him?
J This morning. Around ten.
La Where were you?
J At his house in Long Crendon.
La And do you remember what he was wearing?
J Oh, just a brown jacket, a dark green shirt, and jeans.
La Do you remember anything unusual about the last time you saw him?
J Yes, actually. We were going to go to Oxford, but Henry’s two front tyres had been punctured.
La Really? So you left for Oxford and he stayed to fix the car?
J Yes.
La Do you know what his plans were for the rest of the day?
J No.
La Can you give me some idea of his normal routine?
J Not really…
L Well, he’s an academic. He teaches at the university a few days a week, but he often works from home. He goes on a lot of long walks, but never this late.
La And Jenny, do you remember seeing anything unusual when you got back to the house this afternoon?
J Well, there was my suitcase. The airport had returned my lost luggage and the lock was broken.
La Is there anything else?
J There were some books on the floor.
L Really? That’s weird. Henry’s normally really tidy.
La OK. Try not to worry – we’ll look into this. In the meantime, perhaps you should stay with Luke, and if you think of anything else, or he turns up, give me a call.
Exercise 3
A. Listen to Jenny and Luke talking the next morning. What’s the good news? What’s the bad news?
B. Listen again. Circle the correct answer.
1 Jenny feels safer / less safe in Luke’s house.
2 The username on the laptop is / isn’t Jenny’s.
3 When Luke opens a file, he finds a photo / a formula.
4 Jenny receives a text message / a video message from Henry.
5 Henry says the people who are holding him want her laptop / suitcase.
6 Henry shows them today’s / yesterday’s newspaper.
7 He asks Jenny and Luke to go / not to go to the police again.
8 He asks them to give Rob a message / not to say anything to Rob.
What do you think has happened to Henry? Why?
What do you think Jenny and Luke should do?
Answers
A
The good news is that Luke has managed to get into the laptop.
The bad news is that Henry has been kidnapped by people who want the laptop.
B
1 safer 2 isn’t 3 a formula 4 a video message 5 laptop
6 today’s 7 not to go 8 to give Rob a message
Audioscripts
N = narrator, J = Jenny, L = Luke, H = Henry
N Day three. Eight a.m. They are at Luke’s house. Luke is awake and working on Jenny’s laptop. He’s still trying to get into it. Jenny, who was sleeping in the spare room, has just got up.
J Good morning.
L Hi.
J Thanks for letting me stay. I feel a lot safer here.
L What? Oh, no problem.
J I tried Henry again. Still no answer. I wonder if…
L Yes! I’ve done it! I’m in.
J What?
L I’ve cracked the security code on your computer.
J That’s great, Luke, but Henry…
L Wait a minute, that’s not right. The username says A Page…and all the files are encrypted.
J A Page? Are you sure?
L Let me just see if I can open the files. What the…? Jenny, take a look at this. It’s a formula or something.
J What does it mean?
L I have no idea.
J It’s a message from Henry!
L What?! What does it say?
J It’s a video. Hang on.
H Hello, Jenny. As you can see, I’m all right. I can’t tell you where I am. But listen carefully. These people want some documents on your computer. They want you to leave it at the house. To prove that I’m OK, here’s a copy of this morning’s paper.
N On the video screen Henry looks very tense and worried. He seems to be in a darkish room. He holds up a newspaper. On the front, there’s a large picture of Andrew Page and the headline reads: Oxford scientist attacked at airport.
H There’s one last thing that they want me to tell you. Don’t go to the police again. If you go to the police, you know what’ll happen. Now Jenny, please don’t worry. Tell Rob his old man will be in his study again soon.
N Jenny and Luke look at each other in shock.
J We need to call Rob.
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