ALIBI

A Role Play

KEY WORDSto stealit was stolen / it was takenguiltyquestioning – to questioninterrogation – to interrogatea prime suspectpriceless

ALIBILast night between 6pm and 9pm a

diamond was stolen from a store on the main street of our town. The diamond was priceless. Nobody knows exactly when the diamond was stolen but it was certainly taken between 6pm and 9pm. Three people were seen outside the shop last night and have been taken in for questioning by the police. At present, they are the prime suspects and unfortunately they are in this very room!

TASK 1/aThe three suspects:

Your task is to think of an alibi i.e. that you were together. You need to think in detail about what you did and were doing between 6pm and 9pm. You need to have a strong, watertight alibi. You might say, for example, that you went to a restaurant, you ate fish, you shared the bill and that you went home on the bus. Your stories MUST be identical. If the stories are not the same, you are ‘GUILTY’.

THE INTERROGATION ROOM

TASK1/b

You are police at a police station and you are going to interrogate the suspects one at a time.

First discuss what it is that you need to find out, decide what questions to ask, and then write your questions on a sheet of paper.

Your main aim is to find differences between the stories of the three suspects. If the three stories are not identical, it means that the suspects are lying and guilty.

Helpful words/phrasesto do something togetherat the same timehave dinnergo shoppingbeforeafterwardslaterthe three of us

QUESTIONING When did you … Why did you … Who were you with when … Who did you go there with? What time did you … Were you there when … What happened then? Are you sure? Because the other person said… But we have been told the contrary. How can you explain that … How can you explain these discrepancies? investigation – to investigate a discrepancy, discrepancies contradictory information

You should also demand explanations and ask the suspect to be very precise and accurate.

If the suspect gives you very short answers, you can improvise additional questions to get more details.

The more detailed information you get from the suspects, the more likely you will spot a difference between their stories.

TASK 2Each police station interrogates the suspects

one at a time. You need to make notes while interrogating.

You will have five minutes with each suspect.After the interrogations you compare your notes

to see if the stories match. Meanwhile, the suspects compare their

interrogation experiences and try to recall if they made any mistakes. If they did, they need to think about ways of explaining them.

Each police station gives its verdict: guilty or not guilty. The ones that are ’guilty’ can offer further explanations.

Task 3If you have found the suspects

guilty, the police groups can discuss what would be a suitable punishment.

Let the convicted hear their punishment.

Here is the resource for this activity

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