Every card in Nineteenth-century novel, Year 10: the story and how the mystery is built (The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde option)

He walked calmly over her body after a collision and left her screaming

HintThe man showed no feeling at all.

WhyEnfield and the girl's family force the man to pay. He is Mr Hyde, and the cheque he gives them carries Dr Jekyll's name, which is the first sign that the two men are linked.

Three months

HintFewer than twelve weeks of absence would not be enough.

WhyThe will is why Utterson fears that Hyde has some hold over his friend. It calls Hyde Jekyll's friend and benefactor, which makes no sense to Utterson.

Sir Danvers Carew, a respected old gentleman and member of Parliament

HintA man who has only stopped to ask the way, out walking on a moonlit night.

WhyA maid watching from an upstairs window sees Hyde club Carew with a heavy cane. The killing is sudden and has no reason behind it, which makes Hyde more frightening.

Hyde drinking a potion in front of him and turning into Jekyll

HintThe sight makes everything he believed about science look wrong.

WhyLanyon's letter is the first place where the reader learns that the two men are one person. He cannot bear what he has seen and is dead within weeks.

Poole is sure the voice inside is not his master's and fears he has been murdered

HintThe butler trusts what he has heard and seen more than any explanation.

WhyPoole says the figure he glimpsed was smaller than Jekyll and cried out like a rat. When they break in, they find Hyde lying dead on the floor.

Jekyll's: they are far too big for him

HintAnother sign that the two men are one.

WhyThe clothes hang on the small body of Hyde, who has apparently killed himself. Utterson is left wondering where Jekyll can be.

Utterson's, the lawyer: an outside observer who does not know the truth

HintHe is as puzzled as the reader, and knows less than we do.

WhyBecause we only follow Utterson, we only know what he finds out. The reader discovers the secret at the same time as he does, which keeps the mystery going until the end.

Chapter 9, in Dr Lanyon's narrative

HintIt happens in a private room at night, before a single witness.

WhyJekyll then explains how and why in his own statement in Chapter 10. The reader waits until the last two chapters for the answer to a puzzle set in Chapter 1.

10

HintIt is a short book, with fewer chapters than a year has months.

WhyThe first eight are told from outside, by Utterson or others. The last two are in the voices of Lanyon and Jekyll, which is how the secret is finally revealed.

That it must not be opened until Jekyll has died or disappeared

HintUtterson has to wait, and the reader waits with him.

WhyUtterson obeys, though he is tempted to open it. Holding the secret back for so long builds suspense, and the wording about disappearance echoes Jekyll's will.

A detective story

HintUtterson collects clues and follows a suspect.

WhyUtterson investigates, watches the door and compares handwriting. Stevenson mixes the investigation with Gothic horror, which makes the final explanation both a solution and a shock.