Carabinieri Bacci is on guard when he gets a phonecall which tells him an Englishman is dead in

Via Maggio. The cleaner is phoning and he wants to speak to the Marshall but the Marshall is
ill, hes got flu. Bacci goes alone but he doesnt know in which floor is the death man. He asks
the guard night to open the door. In the flat on the ground floor he finds the Englishman, A.
Langley-Smythe dead. Bacci calls the Marshall. The Marshall doesnt feel good but he goes
there and finds strange to see the cleaner without his brush in the courtyard. The Marshall
knows the cleaners wife has just died. At the police station the Marshall feels worse and goes
to bed, so the Captain and Bacci questiones the cleaner. Cipolla said he found the Englishman
dead when he went to work and he phoned the Marsahall because he knew him. Two Scotland
Yard detectives come from England to investigate the crime: Chief Inspecto Lowesoft and
Inspector Jeffreys. When the Italiand and English police check the flat of the Englishman they
find a lot of money and a lot of Antique furniture and paintings. There is also the head of an
angel which had been stolen. They questiones the neighbours in the building. Most of them
cannot say anything. But in the flat of Cipriani the little girl says she heard a Bang. They
realice the noise is made by the main door. On the top floor they find an old English woman
who has a kind of museum in her house. She thinks the police want to visit her museum and
she doesnt stop speaking but only in English. She doesnt speak Italian. The Captain is angry
with Bacci because he said he could speak English but it wasnt truth. Next day the police
discovers that the Englishman used to steal the newspaper from the library and had dinner in
the same restaurant every day. Bacci visits the English woman with Jeffreys and she tells them
she didnt like the English man. He used to change his furniture and paintings once a month,
always at night and the greengrocer used to help him. The police think Langley-Smithe had
business with stolen antiquities. In the building there is an Antique-dealer, Cesarini and they
think he is also in the business. The police stay in the flat at night and at midnight Cesarini, the
greengrocer and other man appear. The police arrest Cesarini and the greengrocer. The other
man escapes. Bacci runs after him but the man gets on a bus and threatens the bus driver.
They have an accident and the police cath the man. When Bacci arrives, there is nobody and
he feels he is a bad policeman. Cesarini tells the police he is the owner of the English flat and
he only went to check the flat. The police have no proofs against him. They didnt find the gun.

Meanwhile the Marshall is in bed. He sleeps very bad and dreams with Cipolla, the cleaner. He
cant understand how he can clean without his brush. Next day the Marshall goes to the
funeral of Cipollas wife. He sits at the back of the church with the English woman and when he
starts feeling bad, the woman takes him to a cafe. Then people begin to argue in the street
because a van had stopped to deliver some boxes in a shop and the cars cannot go on.
Suddenly there is a shot. The Marshall runs to the building and finds Bacci. He was was
guarding the door but he didnt see anything. Martha, Ciprianis maid was coming with the
shopping, she waited for the lift and when it came, a shot was heard but he couldnt see
anybody, just Martha injured.

At the police station the Marshall read Baccis report on the finding of the Englishmans body.
He asks Bacci to bring him Cipolla. Cipolla tells the Marshall he threw the gun into the
courtyard. He wanted to give it to the Marshall when he phoned him, but the Marshall didnt
appear, it was Bacci. So he tidy the courthyard. All the things he finds, he always leaves them
in a bag near the door of the lift so the neighbours can collect their things. He left the gun in
the box. Martha was feeling in the bag when she shot herself accidentally. Bacci goes to the
building to look for the gun. Then the Marshall questions Cipolla. The cleaner tells him he had
to go the country during the war. His mum thought they would be safer but there was no food
and there were a lot of bombings. After the war they worked in a farm but Cipolla didnt like
the country and went to Florence. He found cleaning work. His sister went t olive with him and
then she married. Cipolla also got married but his wife couldnt have children. She didnt work.
But one day, she was ill. They had money for the operation but she was going to die. They
wanted money for the medicine and Cipolla wanted to spend the last days with her so they
decide to work both and save money. Cesarini told Cipolla his wife could clean in the
Englishman flat. She was very happy to work but the Englishman didnt pay her and when she
asked him the money, he said he didnt employ her. Cipolla asked Cesarini and this told him
not to worry. The Englishman would pay his wife the last day of her work. But this didnt
happen. Milena asked the Englishman the money and he threatens her. Then she was very ill
and she died. That night Cipolla drinks a lot of grappa and goes for a walk. He walks to the
building and finds the Englishman in his flat. Cipolla is angry and asks him the money but the
Englishman threatens him with a gun and hits him. Cipolla holds the gund an shoots the
Englishman on the back.

The Marshall feels sad with Cipollas story. But he is happy the crime is solved and he can come
back to his house in Sicily to spend the Christmas with his family. Bacci thinks about leaving
the police but the Marshall encourages him.
1.- Why didnt Bacci tell the Marshall about the phone call?
Porque el Marshall estaba enfermo en la cama

2.- Why didnt Bacci like the Marshall?

Porque era de Sicilia y pensaba que en Sicilia todo el mundo era de la mafia

3.- Who was the dead man?

A. Langley Smythe, un hombre ingls que viva en el piso bajo

4.- Where did Cipolla throw the gun at first?

Cipolla tir la pistola al patio

5.- Who did Cipolla wait for?

Cipolla estaba esperando al Marshall porque Marshall era el vecino de su hermana

6.- What did Cipolla do with the gun at the end?

Meti la pistola en una bolsa donde l pona todas las cosas que encontraba en el patio

7.- What did the police find in the englishmans flat?

Mobiliario antiguo, cuadros y la cabeza de un ngel que haba sido robada.

8.- What did the neighbours tell the police?

Una nia les dice que oy un Bang. La mujer inglesa que vive en el ltimo piso dice que
Langley mova los muebles una vez al mes por la noche. El frutero le ayudaba

9.- Who entered in the flat at midnight when the police was waiting?
El anticuario Cesarini, el frutero y un sobrino del frutero

10.- What did Cesarini tell to the police?

l es el propietario del piso y quera comprobar si el piso estaba bien.

11.- What mistakes did Bacci make?

Dijo que hablaba ingls y no era verdad. Corri detrs del sobrino del frutero pero no pudo
arrestarlo

12.- Who was the woman who was shot?

Martha, la criada de los Cipriani

13.- Where was she shot?

En el vestbulo, esperando al ascensor.

14.- What was she doing when she was shot?

Ella estaba tocando la bolsa que Cipolla deja con las cosas del patio.

15.- Was Cipolla happy when he was a child?

Durante la guerra escap con su familia al campo. Eran muy pobres. Su madre muri y l se fue
a Florencia

16.- Was he happy in his marriage?

S, aunque su mujer no poda tener hijos. Ella quera trabajar pero Cipolla no quera.

17. Why did Cipollas wife go out to work when she was ill?
Ellos necesitaban dinero para la medicina y para que Cipolla no trabajase cuando ella estuviese
enferma.
18.- Where did Cipollas wife work?
En casa de Langley-Smythe

19.- Why were Cipolla and Milena angry with the englishman?
Porque el hombre ingls no la pag

20.- What happened when Milena died?

Cipolla bebi grappa y fue a casa del hombre ingls. l le amenaza y le pega. Cipolla le dispara

21.- Where was the gun?

En la bolsa al lado del ascensor.

22.- Will Carabiniere Bacci leave the police?

l quiere dejarlo pero el Marshall le dice que no lo haga

23.- Where did the Marshall go for Christmas?

El Marshall cogi el tren para ir a Sicilia con su familia.