Swing, Brother, Swing Trivia Quiz

Answer: So Carlisle can come between Felicite and Carlos

World War II separated Carlisle from the rest of her family as she was in France and they were in England. Now that the war is over, Carlisle can travel to England. Her Aunt Cecile, Lady Pastern and Bagget, writes to her asking her to visit. Although Aunt Cecile complains about her husband's annoying habits and their strained marriage, the true reason she writes to Carlisle is so there can be another attractive woman in the house. Cecile's daughter Felicite is practically engaged to Carlos Rivera whom Cecile despises; she hopes that, if Carlisle is around, Carlos will leave Felicite for her.

Answer: Timpani

George, Lord Pastern and Bagget, has a number of strange and expensive hobbies. Most recently, he took up playing the timpani in a popular jazz band, much to the chagrin of his wife. He plays the timpani in a wild, erratic style that isn't very good. He also, more or less, dislodged Sydney Skelton from the band as Sydney also plays the timpani and the band does not need two.

Answer: Ned Manx

At dinner before the big jazz performance, Felicite suddenly received a letter from GPF. GPF is a mysterious columnist akin to a Dear Abby who works for the Harmony magazine. Felicite previously wrote to GPF about her fiance Carlos. This letter says GPF will be attending the performance and can be identified by the white carnation he will wear in his suit jacket. Ned Manx wears one of these to the performance, much to Felicite's delight.

Answer: Under a sombrero

As part of the piece he wrote, Lord Pastern will also perform a little theatrical act in which he pretends to shoot other members of the band. Because of the difficulty of hiding the gun on him while plays, he places the gun under a sombrero near the table where his family sits. This sombrero is easily accessible to everyone.

Answer: Dart in his chest

After the performance, it is learned that Rivera died. Initially it appeared he had been shot, as Breezy Bellairs noticed Carlos seemed odd just before he placed a wreath on him (also part of the performance). The idea Inspectors Fox and Alleyn develop is that the gun Lord Pastern used, which was supposed to contain blanks, did not contain such blanks.

However, upon closer inspection, there is a dart like object sticking out of Rivera's chest. This dart was made from part of a parasol that was used during the routine.

Although how this device got into Rivera is unknown.

Answer: "You're going to be a godfather."

Alleyn and Troy attended the performance but then Alleyn was dragged onto the murder case. The next day, he brings Fox to his home to rest where, after asking permission from his wife, Alleyn tells Fox that he is going to be a godfather since Troy is pregnant.

This friendly moment contrasts sharply with the rather unfriendly moments between Alleyn and Nigel Bathgate, Alleyn's journalist friend who makes his last appearance in this novel after Ngaio Marsh grew tired of him.

Answer: A gun

The police search Rivera's apartment and discover evidence he was both a drug dealer and a blackmailer. They find a notebook containing a list of initials. One of these is BB which might stand for Breezy Bellairs, who is a known drug addict. Amongst the other items in Rivera's safe are two letters. One of these is addressed to "Spark Plug", a mechanic, and written by GPF, while the other is written to GPF from "Spark Plug".

This is strange because Carlos could not be GPF, nor does he appear to be the "Spark Plug" in question.

Answer: Lord Pastern and Bagget

For much of the novel, most characters assumed GPF was Ned Manx. Not only did Manx wear the white carnation as stated in Felicite's letter, but he also works at the Harmony as a reporter. But GPF's true identity is Lord Pastern, who used Ned to hide this secret. Lord Pastern, angry with his portrayal in the media, purchased the Harmony and used the profits from GPF to fund his other expensive hobbies. Carlos blackmailed him into keeping his secret by pushing Felicite to marry him which is why Lord Pastern tricked her into thinking Ned Manx was GPF after he saw him wear a white carnation. Carlos had, by pure chance, come across draft letters Lord Pastern wrote and kept them in his safe as proof.

Answer: His piano accordion

It was initially believed that Carlos was shot when Lord Pastern fired his gun with the blank bullets at him as part of the performance and that someone either switched the gun or put real bullets in the gun. However, as Alleyn recognized, Carlos was playing his accordion when he was "shot" and since he was holding the accordion to his chest and the accordion was not damaged, he could not have been killed at that point.

The only time he could have been killed was after he fell to the floor.

Answer: Breezy Bellairs

Breezy killed Carlos because Carlos was supplying Breezy with drugs but then suddenly cut him off. Going through withdrawal and angry at being denied, Breezy hastily concocted his murder plot and played off of Lord Pastern's chaotic performance. While the audience was distracted, Breezy simply stabbed Carlos when he placed the wreath on him as part of the performance. Prior to this, he scraped the inside of the barrel of the gun to make it look like the dart-like object had been shot out of the gun.