Worksheet
Answer Key
Level 5
East 43rd Street Alan Battersby
Summary
In a New York bar, private investigator Nat Marley
watches a beautiful woman who seems to be drawing
attention to herself. Out of curiosity, he follows her
to Grand Central Station but loses her. The next day,
she is waiting in Marley’s office. Marley says nothing
about the previous night. She introduces herself as
Angela Lake, the estranged wife of Robert Lake,
president of Lake Software, and pays Marley $2,000 to
reclaim a briefcase of jewelry from the Grand Central
Parcel Room and return it to her husband.
Marley is suspicious and tells PA Stella Delgado
to mail Lake’s claim ticket and briefcase key to the
General Post Office. He then asks colleague Joe
Blaney to check in a similar briefcase at the Parcel
Room and bring him the claim ticket. Marley discovers
that the Lake Corporation is losing money. Marley
reclaims his own case, but is arrested by Captain
Oldenberg, who is disappointed that the case is empty.
Angela Lake has reported a mugging and Marley
matches the description she gave of her attacker. A
claim ticket and jewelry were among items stolen.
After questioning, Marley is taken to his office, which
is being searched by the police. No evidence is found.
There is no sign of Angela Lake on the lobby security
video and Oldenberg doesn’t believe that she was ever
in Marley’s office. Later, Stella produces a diamond
necklace she has been hiding which Angela Lake must
have planted. The incriminating item, worth $500,000,
is mailed to the Post Office.
Meanwhile Robert Lake denies rumors of dirty
business tricks against a rival, Osaka Net. Marley
orders Joe to watch the Lakes’ apartment. Joe returns
with photos of Robert Lake with three Chinese guys,
one of whom is Tommy Lam, a suspected criminal.
Then Marley is called to the Lakes’ apartment. Robert
Lake admits they had chosen to implicate Marley and
goads Marley into hitting him – everything is filmed as
evidence. On leaving, Lam meets Marley and explains
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that the Lakes owe him money for the hacking
operation he carried out. Marley has to reveal the
whereabouts of Angela Lake’s key and claim ticket,
but luckily they have not yet arrived at the Post Office.
Later, at Police Headquarters, Angela Lake identifies
Marley as her assailant and Marley is charged. The
next day, Marley is questioned, but the interview
is halted. The Lakes have changed their story. The
NYPD drop the charges.
Lam is waiting outside headquarters. Marley leaves his
wallet with his lawyer and joins Lam, who explains
how he made the Lakes change their story. Marley is
taken to the Post Office, but without ID, he cannot
take the packages. A fight breaks out, and Lam and
company are arrested. Marley asks to see Captain
Oldenberg. The packages are opened. Oldenberg
and Marley go back to the Parcel Room and open
the Lakes’ case only to find a pair of earrings in it.
Oldenberg leaves the case in the Parcel Room, returns
the claim ticket and key to Angela Lake and releases
Lam. His plan is to wait and see what Lam’s next
move will be.
The next day, after visiting the Parcel Room, Lam
kidnaps Angela Lake and demands a ransom of
$5,000,000 in money or jewelry. Marley has to act as
go-between and is told to go alone to the exchange
point with Lake and the ransom, but backup is
arranged: Joe Blaney in one car and Oldenberg in an
unmarked police car. On a foggy morning, Marley is
ordered to JFK airport. Phone contact with Oldenberg
is lost. In an empty parking lot, the jewelry is handed
over and examined by a jeweler who confirms the
necklace is genuine. Meanwhile Joe, pretending to
be a drunken down-and-out, has been making his
way closer. Lam orders a bodyguard to get rid of
him. Under cover of fog, Joe clubs him with his
gun. Suddenly the jeweler pronounces the rest of the
jewelry to be fake. Lam orders Marley and the Lakes
to be shot. Lam and bodyguard are killed, and Robert
Lake is wounded. Oldenberg arrives on the scene.
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Worksheet
Answer Key
Level 5
East 43rd Street Alan Battersby
Angela Lake confesses that the Corporation was
nearly bankrupt and that most of the jewelry has been
sold. She and Robert were planning to disappear with
the insurance money. It had all been a final desperate
ruse to escape bankruptcy, which had utterly failed.
Before reading
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1. Student’s own answer.
2. Student’s own answer.
3. a Chapter 4
b Chapter 5
c Chapter 1
d Chapter 3
e Chapter 2
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Worksheet
Answer Key
Level 5
East 43rd Street Alan Battersby
Check your reading
Chapter 1
1. b, d, e, a, c
2. Student’s own answer.
Chapter 2
Chapter 7
1. 1 d, 2 a, 3 e, 4 c, 5 b
Chapter 3
1. Gloria told Marley that she hadn’t seen a tall
blonde woman leaving the building. Marley
phoned Joe Blaney and asked him to buy a
briefcase and leave it at the Parcel Room at
Grand Central with the receipt inside. Then,
Marley asked Stella to send Angela Lake’s key
and claim ticket to the General Post Office.
Ed Winchester phoned to say that the Lake
Corporation was losing millions of dollars.
Stella examined the security film and found a tall
woman with black hair who looked like Angela
Lake.
Chapter 4
1. a T, b T, c F, d F, e T, f F
2. Student’s own answer.
Chapter 5
1. a
b
c
d
e
f
Marley
Oldenberg
the police
Marley and Stella
Angela Lake
the necklace
1. a
b
c
d
e
f
Ed Winchester
Oldenberg
Stella
Robert Lake
Marley
Robert Lake
Chapter 8
1. b, d, f a, c, e
Chapter 9
1. 1 f, 2 c, 3 a, 4 e, 5 d, 6 b
Chapter 10
1. Lam knew Angela had left the necklace in
Marley’s office. At the Post Office, the clerk
refused to give Marley the packages because he
had no ID/identification. Lam was arrested,
then Oldenberg took Marley to the Parcel
Room at Grand Central, where they opened the
briefcase. Inside was a pair of earrings. Lena
suggested the Lakes had planned to make an
insurance claim on the jewelry. Oldenberg left
the briefcase in the Parcel Room and returned
the key and claim ticket to Angela Lake. He
wanted to see what Lam would do next.
Chapter 11
Chapter 6
1. Robert Lake denied responsibility for the dirty
tricks against Osaka Net. There were pictures of
the Lakes in Hello! magazine; Robert Lake was
small and thin, with diamond-shaped glasses,
and there were no bruises on Angela Lake’s
arm. The cleaner found a make-up bag with
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an expensive lipstick in it and Stella realized it
might belong to Angela Lake. A jeweler at Sak’s
told Stella that the necklace was worth half a
million dollars. Meanwhile, outside the Lakes’
apartment on 86th and Fifth, Joe saw Robert
Lake with three Chinese guys.
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1. a
b
c
d
e
f
Oldenberg
Robert Lake
Angela Lake
Marley
the police
Tommy Lam
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PHOTOCOPIABLE
Worksheet
Answer Key
Level 5
East 43rd Street Alan Battersby
Chapter 12
1. a T, b T, c F, d T, e F, f F
Chapter 13
1. 1 b, 2 d, 3 a, 4 e, 5 c
Marley
Tommy Lam
Angela Lake
Robert Lake
Joe Blaney
Chapter 15
Chapter 14
1. a
b
c
d
e
f
g
1. 1 b, 2 d, 3 e, 4 a, 5 c
the jeweler
Tommy Lam
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