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This ungraded summary is for the teacher’s use only and should not be given to students.

© OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS PHOTOCOPIABLE

STAGE

3

The storyCarmady is a private detective in Los Angeles. A friend,

Kathy Horne, tells him that her lodger knows something

about the Leander pearls. These were stolen 19 years

ago, Kathy explains, and never recovered. The suspect,

Wally Sype, was imprisoned, and then released a few

years ago. Kathy’s lodger, Peeler Mardo, has learnt

that Sype still has the pearls and has hidden them.

Carmady visits Mardo to get more information, only

to find that he has just died, apparently while being

tortured. Carmady decides to look for the pearls and

share with Kathy the $25,000 reward money offered

by the insurance company.

Carmady isn’t the only one interested in the pearls.

Mardo, while drunk, had talked about them to Carol

Donovan. She knows that Carmady is interested and,

along with her crooked lawyer friend, Rush Madder,

manages to delay Carmady and get a head start.

Carmady knows only two things about Sype: that

he lives somewhere near Olympia, in northwestern

America, and that he keeps goldfish.

Carmady finds Sunset, a friend of Mardo’s who

knows something about the pearls. He tells Carmady

that Sype is living in the nearby town of Westport.

The two men agree to work together, and are about

to set out when Madder and Donovan find them.

During an argument, Madder collapses unconscious,

and Donovan shoots Sunset. Carmady manages to

lock her in a bathroom, and he sets off for Westport in

Sunset’s car.

Carmady tracks down Sype. He denies knowing

anything about the pearls and eventually pulls out a

gun. Just then Donovan and Madder arrive; they have

Sype’s wife at gunpoint. Sype drops his gun. In the

fighting that follows, Donovan tries to kill Carmady

but is shot by Mrs Sype; Madder shoots Sype; and

Carmady wounds Madder in the knee. Overhearing

Sype’s dying words to his wife, Carmady examines a

pair of goldfish and discovers the pearls sewn under

their skin.

While they wait for the police and doctor to arrive,

Mrs Sype explains to Carmady that the pearls were

fakes and asks him casually if she can have them back.

Carmady almost believes her, but eventually realizes

she is lying. He keeps the pearls. Half the reward

money will go to him, and half to Kathy.

Background to the storyThis is one of Raymond Chandler’s earlier short stories,

written in the 1930s, but already there is the classic

Chandler atmosphere: the sleazy, run-down side of

the city; the shifty, duplicitous characters; the endless

whiskey and cigarettes; the intangible presence of the

Great Depression.

From 1939 onwards, Chandler went on to write

full-length novels and film scripts. At the centre of all

these was the private eye Philip Marlowe, a character

very similar to Carmady. On screen, the role was

immortalized by Humphrey Bogart.

Chandler’s hard-bitten detective won him great

popularity with readers and cinema audiences.

Chandler remains an important influence on writers of

detective stories.

y wait for the police and doctor to arrive

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54

STAGE

3

PHOTOCOPIABLE © OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

To the teacher

GoldfishPre-reading activity

Match the words with the pictures

a ‘Get up,’ I said.

b ‘You’re kidding the wrong guy,’ Sunset said.

c I blew smoke at the ceiling and looked at her.

d Then Carol was on the floor at my feet, small, deadly, and dead.

e ‘May I have them, to remember him with?’ said Mrs Sype.

f ‘I’ve got pearls in this – six of them,’ said Sype.

g Madder reached over and pulled the phone back.

h There were two guns at the door, one small, one big.

1

3

5

7

2

4

6

8

Aim: To familiarize students with the setting and

introduce the main characters

Time: 10–20 minutes

Organization: Give one copy of the worksheet to

each student or each group of students. Check

through the words and explain any unknown meanings.

(Alternatively, the students could look up any difficult

words in their dictionaries.) Then ask them to match

the words with the pictures. When everyone has

finished, check the answers. Then, ask students to

identify the characters in each picture (by name where

possible), and ask for ideas about what might be

happening.

Key: 1c, 2g, 3b, 4h, 5a, 6f, 7d, 8e.

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55

STAGE

3

© OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS PHOTOCOPIABLE

GoldfishWhile reading activity

Spot the mistakes

To the teacher

These are pages from the diaries of some of the characters in the story. There are three mistakes in each one. Find them and write in the correct words. The first one has been done for you.

Where: f CAt the end of Chapter 3

Aim: To consolidate comprehension of the story

before continuing

Time: 15–20 minutes

Organization: Give each student, or each group of

students, a copy of the worksheet. There are three

factual mistakes in each character’s diary entry. Check

first that the students recognize the characters. Then

fiask them to correct the mistakes – the first one has

been done for them – and to suggest endings for the

incomplete sentences.

Key: Kathy’s diary – school: hotel; $10,000: $25,000;

hospital: prison; Madder’s diary – coffee: whiskey;

Kathy came in: Carol came in; south: north; Carmady’s

diary – floor: bed; hands: feet; hit Madder: hit me.

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56

STAGE

3

To the teacher

PHOTOCOPIABLE © OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

GoldfishAfter reading activity

Snap! or Pelmanism

To the teacher

SET ONE

Carol Donovan Two Chinese Moor

Mrs Sype Westport $200,000

Something nasty $12,500 19 years ago

A car key Wally Sype Los Angeles

A map Lutin Whiskey

Goldfish Rush Madder Peeler Mardo

The bathroom Selling cigars $25,000

A mail clerk The Smoke Shop Kathy Horne

The back of the knee Mr Wallace

SET TWO

THIS is the number The pearls were SHE shot Sunset.of pearls that were hidden in THIS kind

stolen. of goldfish.

Carmady gets THIS THIS is when the Rush Madder putat the end of the pearls were stolen. THIS in Carmandy’s

story whiskey.

Sype changed his Carmady’s office is Carmady shotname to THIS. in THIS city. Madder HERE.

HE stole the pearls. HE is a lawyer. Carmady found THIS in Sunset’s pocket.

THIS is Kathy’s job. THIS is the reward Carmady lockedmoney for the pearls. Carol in HERE.

HE is manager of the THIS is Carmady’s Sunset had THIS ininsurance company. favorite drink. his shoe.

SHE shot Carol HE rented a room in Sype had a lot ofDonovan. Kathy’s house. THESE.

Carmady met Sunset SHE used to be a Sype killed HIMHERE. policewoman. during a robbery.

Sype lived HERE. THIS is how much the Leander pearls cost.

Aim: To revise key events and facts of the story

Time: 30–40 minutes

Organization: Make a pack of 52 cards by cutting

out each of the boxed phrases and sticking them on

pieces of card. The pack consists of two sets of 26

cards. The first set has details from the story on the

cards (characters, places, numbers and so on), and

the second set has clues in the form of complete

sentences. The aim is for the students to match up

the two sets of cards. The games are best played in

groups of three or four students; each group needs a

complete pack of 52 cards.

For SNAP! give the players equal numbers of cards,

face down. Each player in turn lays one of their cards,

face up, on a pile in the centre of the table. If two

corresponding cards are put down, one after the other,

the player who realizes it first shouts ‘Snap!’ and can

pick up the whole pile of cards in the centre. Play

continues until one player holds all the cards and is

therefore the winner.

For PELMANISM put all the cards face down on the

table, either in parallel rows (this makes the game

much easier!) or at different angles to each other. Each

player turns over two cards at a time. If the cards are

a matching pair, that player keeps both cards, and has

another turn. If they do not match, they are turned face

down again, and the next person has a turn. Players

try to remember where cards are, and the winner is

the one with the most pairs of cards at the end of the

game.

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