Isabel Dalhousie: "Charming Quirks of Others" Quiz

Answer: It was a portrait of her ancestors.

The picture was a portrait by the artist Henry Raeburn, and it featured a young woman and her granddaughter. According to Isabel, the girl was her four-times great-grandmother. She told Guy that she was willing to pay up to 38,000 pounds for it.

Answer: A scandal involving one of the candidates for the principal position

Jillian Mackinlay told Isabel that her husband Alex, who was one of the school board members, had received a letter that alluded to a scandal involving one of the candidates for the school principal position. There were three candidates, but the letter didn't specify which candidate was being accused. Jillian wanted Isabel to determine which candidate it was and what type of scandal was involved.

Answer: Told her that he would review Christopher Dove's book

Christopher Dove had written a book, and Professor Lettuce had sent a copy to Isabel along with a note telling her that he would write a review of it. This had infuriated Isabel as it was up to her to decide which books to review and to ask a peer to write a review.

She was torn on whether to accept his review as she didn't want to appear to be petty by rejecting it. Ultimately, Dove and Lettuce had a falling out, and Lettuce wrote a rather scathing review of Dove's book. This allowed Isabel to turn down the review by stating she didn't want to be a part of their bickering.

Answer: He was one of the candidates for the school principal position.

After Cat told Isabel about her new boyfriend Gordon, Isabel realized he was one of the candidates for the principal position. She disclosed this information to Alex Mackinlay when she gave him her final report, but it turned out that Gordon wasn't seriously interested in the position; he was merely using the process to try to get a promotion at his current job.

Answer: An expedition on Mount Everest

The book concerned the ethics of mountaineering and discussed an Everest expedition on which numerous people passed a dying man on the mountain without helping him (incidentally, this was sadly a true story - an English mountaineer named David Sharp died on Everest in 2006, with as many as 40 climbers walking by him as he lay dying). Isabel believed that John Fraser, who was a mountaineer and one of the candidates for the principal's job, was suffering from a guilty conscience, and after reading the book, she became convinced that he too had left someone to die on Mount Everest.

Answer: Eddie had told her that he had seen Jamie at a cinema.

Eddie, assuming that Isabel was at the cinema with Jamie, had asked her how she enjoyed the film. Isabel hadn't been with Jamie; on the evening in question, he had told her that he was at a rehearsal. When she confronted him, he told her that the rehearsal had ended early and that he had gone to see a film with Prue, a colleague from his orchestra who was terminally ill. Later, Isabel once again doubted Jamie's loyalty when Prue lied to her and told her that she (Prue) and Jamie were lovers.

Answer: The painting by Raeburn that she wanted to buy

Isabel was surprised to find out that the woman and granddaughter in the painting were distant relatives of Iain Alexander; it turned out that Iain and she were related. He needed to sell the painting to raise money for his daughter's medical expenses but was clearly sad to do so. Isabel made the decision to buy the painting from him and to let him keep it for the next five years, at which time she would take possession of it.

Answer: She wasn't dying.

Jamie had told Isabel about Prue, but he hadn't really told her how hard Prue was pursuing him. When Isabel found out from Eddie that Jamie had been to the cinema without her, Jamie confessed that Prue wanted a relationship with him. Isabel eventually went to confront Prue and found out from her sister that Prue wasn't dying -- she claimed to be terminally ill to get sympathy from others.

Answer: The existing principal decided to stay.

In the end, the current principal, Harold Slade, decided to stay at the school. Isabel was rather irritated with Alex Mackinlay, as he knew that none of the candidates would be chosen and had still called her in to discuss her findings. It turned out that he was more interested in knowing who had written the anonymous letter. Isabel briefly shared her thoughts on who she thought might be the author, but when it finally dawned on her who the true author was, she decided not to tell Alex.

Answer: Jillian Mackinlay

After finding out that Cat's boyfriend Gordon knew who the three candidates were, Isabel initially suspected him of being the letter writer. But when Alex Mackinlay told Isabel that he had never shown the letter to his wife Jillian, Isabel suspected that Jillian was the writer. Jillian had told Isabel that the letter was written in green ink, and she couldn't have known this if she hadn't seen the letter, particularly since Alex didn't realize the ink was green - he was color-blind. Isabel believed that Jillian was involved with the current principal, Harold Slade, and wanted to delay his departure. Isabel also thought that Slade was involved with his secretary and Jillian was hoping that Isabel would suspect the secretary of being the author (which she briefly did).