Isabel Dalhousie: "The Sunday Philosophy Club" Quiz

Answer: A man falling from the upper level of a theatre

Isabel was attending a concert, and as the crowd left the theatre, she stopped to chat with a friend. They both saw the young man "fall from the gods" and land on the ground level. He didn't survive the fall.

Answer: Crushed strawberry corduroy trousers

When Cat, Isabel's niece, brought her boyfriend (later fiancé), Toby, to Isabel's house for dinner, he was wearing "crushed strawberry corduroy trousers", and for the rest of the book, whenever Isabel thought of Toby, she thought of those trousers. When she spotted him in town one day, he was wearing the same trousers, which is why she noticed him.

Answer: Mark Fraser's flatmates

Henrietta "Hen" Duffus and Neil Macfarlane were the flatmates of the late Mark Fraser. Mark's death had become an obsession with Isabel, and she decided to visit Hen and Neil to see if they could shed any light on whether it was a suicide, an accident or something more ominous.

Answer: Insider trading

Neil Macfarlane, Mark's flatmate, hadn't given Isabel much information about Mark when she visited him at his flat. However, he later stopped by her house and told her that Mark had been scared. Mark had discovered that insider trading had occurred at his firm, and he believed that the people responsible knew that he was on to them.

Answer: Minty Auchterlonie

Minty was the fiancée of Paul Hogg. Isabel had met Paul at an art gallery, and by an odd coincidence, Mark Fraser had worked for him. After Mark's flatmate, Neil, had told her that Mark had discovered insider trading at his firm, Isabel decided to meet with Paul again to see if she could get information from him.

When she went to Paul's house, she met his fiancée, Minty, and Isabel took an immediate disliking to her. Isabel believed Minty had the right mix of ruthless ambition and immorality to use her fiancé to get insider information that she could use for her own benefit.

Answer: A "Really Terrible Orchestra" concert

In his spare time, Peter Stevenson played clarinet in an amateur orchestra made up of mediocre musicians. It was Isabel's first "Really Terrible Orchestra" concert, and Peter suggested she come to the show because Johnny Sanderson's sister was in the orchestra, and Johnny would be in attendance. Johnny had worked at the same firm as Mark Fraser, and he could provide her information on the firm and also on Minty Auchterlonie.

Answer: Johnny Sanderson

Isabel had told Johnny Sanderson about her suspicions regarding insider trading at Mark Fraser's firm and her belief that whoever was involved had pushed Mark to his death. Minty Auchterlonie found out that Isabel had been talking to Johnny, and Minty told her that Johnny was the one who had been acting on insider information.

When Isabel called Johnny, his phone rang outside her bedroom door; she ran downstairs and ran into him. He claimed her door was open, but she didn't believe it was.

Answer: Neil Macfarlane

Neil Macfarlane confessed to Isabel that he had been at the concert the night that Mark died. After the performance, the two of them argued about Mark's relationship with Hen, and during the argument, Neil gave Mark a light shove. Mark lost his balance and fell over the railing to his death.

Answer: A copy of an orchestra programme

Although Isabel had spoken with Neil Macfarlane a couple of times, she still felt he wasn't being completely honest with her. She went to his apartment, but he wasn't there. While she was chatting with Hen, Hen mentioned something about the music that had been played at the concert, and when Isabel asked her how she knew what had been played, Hen told her that she had seen the programme.

When Isabel realized that the programme was Neil's, she knew he had been at the concert the night that Mark had died.

Answer: Truthfulness in sexual relationships

Isabel read articles on all of the above subjects for her journal in "The Sunday Philosophy Club". She was particularly entertained by the article "Truth telling in sexual relationships", and she thought about the topic frequently as she dealt with the problem of Cat and Toby. When she first met Toby, the word "unfaithful" popped into her head, and she later found out that this was the case. She then struggled with the dilemma of whether to tell Cat the truth about Toby or not.

When Isabel first met Hen and Neil, Mark's flat mates, she discovered there was a relationship between Hen and Neil; she later found out that Neil had argued with Mark regarding the relationship between Mark and Hen. A lack of honesty about the nature of the relationships resulted in jealousy that brought about Mark's death.