Close reading: the scene of the crime
When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson and The Invisible Man by G.K.Chesterton
Step 1 - read through
Read through the text below twice – the first time to understand the content; the
second time to understand what the writer is saying.
Text 1 is taken from When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson published by
Black Swan in 2009.
Reggie is sixteen and has been acting as a nanny for the Hunters’ baby. She
has been back to the house after being told by Mr. Hunter that his wife has
gone to visit an elderly aunt. Sadie is the Hunters’ dog.
Mr. Hunter burst through the front door at his usual velocity and was brought
up short at the sight of her.
‘Still here, Reggie?’
‘Just been to the loo.’ Reggie said, feigning nonchalance. The phone
had stopped ringing a beat before Mr. Hunter entered the house.
‘Don’t you have a home to go to?’ Mr. Hunter said.
‘Yep, sure do,’ she said, marching past him and out of the front door.
Sadie raced past her, hoovering up familiar smells in the border at the side of
the drive. When Reggie reached the gate she whistled to Sadie, who came
trotting up tail whirling round, the way it did when she was excited at
retrieving treasure. She was carrying something in her mouth and when she
reached Reggie she placed her find at her feet and sat obediently, waiting to
be praised.
Reggie’s heart nearly stopped when she saw what Sadie had dropped on
the ground.
The baby’s comforter, his square of moss green blanket. It looked as if
it had been trampled in the mud and when Reggie picked it up and examined
it, she could see a stain on it, a stain that wasn’t tomato sauce or red wine, a
stain that was blood. Reggie knew blood now. She had seen more in the last
twenty four hours than she had seen in a previous lifetime.

Read the extract. Write down your first impressions of what the extract is about.

Read through the text again. Discuss what you think the writer is saying. Write
this in one sentence.
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23883
Page 1 of 4
Close reading: the scene of the crime
When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson and The Invisible Man by G.K.Chesterton
Step 2 - annotate

Highlight a phrase from this text that tells you Mr. Hunter does not expect to find
Reggie in the house.

In a different colour, highlight Reggie’s reaction to Mr. Hunter’s entrance.

Underline what Sadie finds that makes Reggie’s heart nearly stop.

In another colour, highlight the phrase that suggests Reggie has previously been
involved with some kind of accident.
Step 3 – analyse
With a partner, discuss why you think Kate Atkinson includes:
a) the ringing telephone
b) Mr. Hunter’s hostile reaction to Reggie
c) the blanket square
d) the bloodstain
Make a storyboard of six frames to show the way Kate Atkinson builds up the tension.
Step 4 – evaluate
Work with a partner and decide what kind of story you think Kate Atkinson is writing.
Give reasons for your conclusion.
What do you think the following phrases suggest about how the writer wants her readers
to feel?

… stopped ringing a beat before

… hoovering up familiar smells in the border

… was carrying something in her mouth

… heart nearly stopped

… baby’s comforter

… a stain that was blood
Write one or two paragraphs about how Kate Atkinson uses language effectively in this
text.
© www.teachit.co.uk 2015
23883
Page 2 of 4
Close reading: the scene of the crime
When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson and The Invisible Man by G.K.Chesterton
Step 1 - read through
Read through the text twice – the first time to understand the content; the second time
to understand what the writer is saying.
Text 2 is taken from The Invisible Man by G.K. Chesterton from ‘The Innocence of
Father Brown’. You can find this text at www.gutenberg.org
Father Brown and the detective are investigating threats against Isidore Smythe,
the inventor of a series of robotic ‘servants’ that have made his fortune.
The unimportant Father Brown, who stood back, looking modestly at the
pavement, here ventured to say meekly, “Has nobody been up and down stairs,
then, since the snow began to fall? It began while we were all round at
Flambeau’s.”
“Nobody’s been in here, sir, you can take it from me,” said the official, with
beaming authority.
“Then I wonder what that is?” said the priest, and stared at the ground
blankly like a fish.
The others all looked down also; and Flambeau used a fierce exclamation and a
French gesture. For it was unquestionably true that down the middle of the
entrance guarded by the man in gold lace, actually between the arrogant,
stretched legs of that colossus, ran a stringy pattern of grey footprints stamped
upon the white snow.
“God!” cried Angus involuntarily, “the Invisible Man!”
Without another word he turned and dashed up the stairs, with Flambeau
following; but Father Brown still stood looking about him in the snow-clad street as
if he had lost interest in his query.
Flambeau was plainly in a mood to break down the door with his big shoulders; but
the Scotchman, with more reason, if less intuition, fumbled about on the frame of
the door till he found the invisible button; and the door swung slowly open.
It showed substantially the same serried interior; the hall had grown darker, though
it was still struck here and there with the last crimson shafts of sunset, and one or
two of the headless machines had been moved from their places for this or that
purpose, and stood here and there about the twilit place. The green and red of
their coats were all darkened in the dusk; and their likeness to human shapes
slightly increased by their very shapelessness. But in the middle of them all,
exactly where the paper with the red ink had lain, there lay something that looked
like red ink spilt out of its bottle. But it was not red ink.
With a French combination of reason and violence Flambeau simply said “Murder!”
and, plunging into the flat, had explored, every corner and cupboard of it in five
minutes. But if he expected to find a corpse he found none. Isidore Smythe was not
in the place, either dead or alive. After the most tearing search the two men met
each other in the outer hall, with streaming faces and staring eyes. “My friend,”
said Flambeau, talking French in his excitement, “not only is your murderer
invisible, but he makes invisible also the murdered man.”
© www.teachit.co.uk 2015
23883
Page 3 of 4
Close reading: the scene of the crime
When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson and The Invisible Man by G.K.Chesterton

Read the extract. Write down your first impressions of what the extract is about.

Read through the text again. Discuss what you think the writer is saying. Write
this in one sentence.
Step 2 - annotate

Highlight four words or phrases in the first paragraph that suggest Father Brown is
not pushy.

Underline Father Brown’s question that causes consternation.

Highlight the phrases that make the Inspector exclaim ‘Murder!’

In another colour, highlight the words used to describe both the murderer and the
corpse.
Step 3 – analyse
Make a list of Detective Flambeau’s reactions to the different pieces of evidence.
With a partner, discuss how his reactions differ from those of Father Brown.
What do the following phrases suggest about how Chesterton wanted his readers to feel?

… a fierce exclamation and a French gesture

… the Invisible Man

… looking about him in the snow-clad street

… explored every corner and cupboard of it in five minutes

… the most tearing search
Step 4 - evaluate
If your exam board is OCR you will compare fiction texts. They will both be texts from
the 20th or 21st century. In both these texts people are presented with bloodstains as
evidence of a crime, but their reactions are very different.
Working with a partner discuss:

your impressions of the people themselves

their reactions to the bloodstains

the different ways the writers present their thoughts and feelings.
Find quotations from the texts to support your conclusions.
© www.teachit.co.uk 2015
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