The Red-Headed League — Detective Jeopardy

🔍 Detective Jeopardy

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Quiz Title

Questions (pre-loaded — edit if needed)

CATEGORY: THE STORY SO FAR
Q: What unusual physical feature did Jabez Wilson need to get his strange job?
A: Flaming red hair — only genuine red-headed men could join the League
Q: What was Wilson paid £4 a week to do for four hours every day?
A: Copy out the Encyclopaedia Britannica by hand
Q: What suspicious detail did Holmes notice about Spaulding's trousers?
A: Dirty, worn knees — from kneeling down and digging
Q: Why did Holmes thump his stick on the pavement outside Wilson's shop?
A: To listen for a hollow sound — to discover where the cellar (and tunnel) ran
Q: Who is Vincent Spaulding really, and what is his plan?
A: John Clay, a famous criminal — digging a tunnel from Wilson's cellar into the bank vault to steal the French gold

CATEGORY: BE THE DETECTIVE
Q: Spaulding happily worked for HALF wages. What should a good detective ask?
A: What is he really being paid with? (Answer: access to the cellar — the job itself was the prize)
Q: Why does Holmes NOT look at Spaulding's face when he knocks on the door?
A: He already knows who he is — he wants to see the knees of his trousers without raising suspicion
Q: The League dissolved suddenly, with no warning. What did that tell Holmes?
A: The tunnel was finished — Wilson was no longer needed out of the shop, so the robbery was about to happen
Q: Why do Holmes, Watson and the police wait in the bank vault at NIGHT?
A: The criminals will strike when they believe the bank is empty — Holmes is setting a trap
Q: Holmes solved the case by WATCHING, not asking. Why can watching be more reliable than interrogating?
A: A suspect can lie with words, but evidence (dirty knees, a hollow pavement) cannot lie

CATEGORY: FAMOUS DETECTIVES
Q: Who wrote the Sherlock Holmes stories?
A: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Q: Who is Holmes's loyal friend, flatmate and narrator of the stories?
A: Dr John Watson
Q: At what famous London address does Sherlock Holmes live?
A: 221B Baker Street
Q: Which Agatha Christie detective is a fussy Belgian with a magnificent moustache?
A: Hercule Poirot
Q: Which professor is Holmes's arch-enemy, known as 'the Napoleon of crime'?
A: Professor Moriarty

CATEGORY: MYSTERY VOCABULARY
Q: What do we call the highest point of tension — the turning point of a story?
A: The climax
Q: What do we call the moment after the climax when the tension finally subsides?
A: The release
Q: What is a 'cliffhanger'?
A: An ending that stops at a moment of high tension, leaving the reader desperate to know what happens next
Q: Imagery can appeal to SOUND and to TOUCH. Name the correct term for each.
A: Aural imagery (sound) and tactile imagery (touch)
Q: What is the 'denouement' of a mystery story?
A: The final part where all the mysteries are explained and loose ends are tied up

CATEGORY: CRACK THE CASE
Q: What word means a suspect's proof that they were somewhere else when the crime happened?
A: An alibi
Q: What is a 'red herring' in a mystery story?
A: A false clue deliberately planted to mislead the detective (and the reader)
Q: What is the difference between a MOTIVE and an OPPORTUNITY?
A: Motive = the reason to commit the crime; opportunity = the chance to actually do it
Q: What is 'deduction' — the skill Holmes is famous for?
A: Reasoning from small pieces of evidence to reach a logical conclusion
Q: The pavement was hollow, the knees were dirty, the bank was behind the shop. Putting separate clues together to see the whole picture is called what?
A: Making inferences / connecting evidence — seeing what the clues mean together, not separately

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