The judge, the lawyers, the clerk of the court, and Simon and Dan are all in their places. There are two policemen beside Simon and Dan. The jury come back into the room and sit down. The foreman of the jury stands up. The clerk stands up.
CLERK: Members of the jury, do you have a verdict?
FOREMAN: Yes, we have.
CLERK: And what is your verdict? Guilty, or not guilty?
FOREMAN: Guilty.
DAN: No! No, that's not true. We didn't do it!
CLERK: Be quiet! Simon Clark and Dan Smith, stand up, please!
They stand. Dan looks at Simon.
DAN: What did I tell you, Simon? Why did we go to that disco? Why did you want to follow that girl? SIMON: I didn't! Be quiet!
JUDGE: Simon Clark and Dan Smith, you murdered Mary Jones - a young, beautiful girl. For this murder, there is only one punishment. You must go to prison for life.
DAN: But we didn't do it! Jim killed her, we didn't! JIM: No, I didn't! I loved her! You murdered her!
SIMON: That's not true! You murdered her, we didn't!
JUDGE: Be quiet. Take them away, please.
The police take Simon and Dan out. Mrs Jones stands up.
Mrs JONES: Members of the jury, my lord judge, Ms Wills, thank you. Thank you very much.
JUDGE: That's all right, Mrs Jones. I'm very sorry about Mary, but those boys are going to prison now.
JIM: (Takes Mrs Jones's arm.) Yes. Come on, Mrs Jones. It's all right now. (They go out of the court.)
Scene 4
The Verdict (Alternative 2)
The judge, the lawyers, the clerk of the court, and Simon and Dan are all in their places. There are two policemen beside Simon and Dan. The jury come back into the room and sit down. The foreman of the jury stands up.
The clerk stands up.
CLERK: Members of the jury, do you have a verdict?
FOREMAN: Yes, we have.
CLERK: And what is your verdict? Guilty, or not guilty?
FOREMAN: Not guilty.
DAN: Yes!
SIMON: That's right! That's right! We didn't do it!
CLERK: Simon Clark and Dan Smith, stand up, please.
Simon and Dan stand up. Dan looks at the jury.
DAN: (Happily) Thank you, jury! Thank you very much!
JUDGE: Simon Clark and Dan Smith, you are not guilty of the murder of
Mary Jones. You are free to go.
Mrs JONES: But they killed my daughter! They can't be free! JUDGE: I'm sorry, Mrs Jones, but they are not guilty.
SIMON: What about Jim? What are you going to do about Jim? He killed her!
JIM: I'm going home now.
He walks to the door. PC Norton walks in front of him. He puts his hand on Jim's arm.
NORTON: Jim Wilson, come with me. I want to talk to you about your girlfriend, Mary Jones.
JIM: But she's dead. Those two boys killed her!
NORTON: No they didn't. They're not guilty. Come with me, please. (Jim and the policeman go out.)
DAN: Come on, Simon. We're free! We're going home.
They go out. Mrs Jones looks at the judge.
Mrs JONES: My lord, my daughter is dead. Who killed her?
JUDGE: I'm sorry, Mrs Jones. I don't know.
The judge looks at Ms Wills and Mr Carter.
They say nothing. Slowly, Mrs Jones goes out.
'Jim Wilson, come with me.'
EXERCISES
A Checking your understanding
Scene 1
Write answers to these questions.
1
Who is the lawyer for the police?
2
How did Simon Clark and Dan Smith get the Ford Fiesta?
3
What did the police find on the beach near Mary's body?
4
What did the police find on the spanner?
5
Did Dr Seldon look carefully at the blood under Mary's fingernails?
6
What did the police find in the Ford Fiesta?
Scene 2
Are these sentences true (T) or false (F)?
1
Jim phoned the police about Mary's body.
2
Jim has an old Ford Fiesta.
3
Jim hit Simon and Dan.
4
There was a lot of blood on Dan and Simon.
5
Jim hasn't got Pirelli tyres on his Volkswagen Polo.
6
Mrs Symes has a new spanner.
Scene 3
Who said these words in this scene, to whom, and about what?
1
'Do you do this often?'
2
'Did you hit him first?'
3
'She was OK.'
4
'Did he tell the truth?'
5
'I didn't put it there.'
6
'Think about them.'
7
'There was blood on you.'
B
Working with language
1
Use these words to join the sentences together. Sometimes you must use a pronoun (he, she, her) instead of a name.
so; and; because; when; but;
1
Mary left the disco at midnight. Mary walked along the dark road by the sea.
2
Jim came back into the disco. Jim saw Mary with Simon.
3
Jim was angry with Simon. Simon was with Jim's girlfriend.
4
Jim wanted to talk to Mary. Mary was dead.
5
Mary laughed at Jim. Jim was very angry.
2
Complete these sentences with information from the play.
1
Helen Wills is the lawyer for . . . , and David Carter is the lawyer for . . .
2
All the witnesses must say, 'I promise to . . .
3
Jim Wilson tried to help Mary, but . . .
4
There was blood on Simon Clark's face, because . . .
5
Janet Nolan didn't dance . . . 3
Here are some beginnings and endings of sentences from Scene 1. Can you put them together?
1
then I took the paper to the beach,
2
Simon Clark, you are here
3
it wasn't their car —
4
he tried to help her,
5 they stole it.
6 because of the murder of Mary Jones.