"Next of Kin" - by John Boyne Trivia Quiz

Answer: He has white hair

For 20 years Owen Montignac has lived with his uncle Peter and family. They live in Leyville, the family estate. The family are very rich and old-fashioned. Normally Leyville and its wealth and estates are passed to the eldest son. But Owen's grandfather disinherited his eldest son Henry, Owen's father.

Henry fell in love with a French girl and eloped to France with her. Then the rest of the family severed ties. They only had one son, who became an orphan at five after both parents were killed in the war in 1916.

His uncle Peter kindly took the boy to England to live. Now 25, Owen's hair is still as white as it was the day he arrived.

Answer: His uncle's

It is 1936. England has a new king, and a well-known rich aristocrat named Peter Montignac has died. At the funeral Owen gives a very moving eulogy. Several guests are moved to tears. Owen has probably rehearsed his words beforehand and tried to sound as distraught as possible, since he's expecting to inherit his uncle's money. However, he has a shock coming.

Answer: He has been cut out of the will entirely

All these years Owen assumed as eldest male he would inherit the estate denied to his father. Peter had a son named Andrew but he was tragically killed years ago in a hunting accident. Andrew and his sister Stella had always treated their younger cousin as a true brother.

But now the money and land is actually going to Stella, Peter's only surviving child! (Stella's mother passed away so Stella is the last of her father's immediate family.) Owen is far from happy about this. Not least because he has huge debts he now won't be able to settle!

Answer: Art gallery manager

The Threadbare gallery is an unusual art gallery. It only sells modern art, i.e. nothing made before the 20th century. Owen often chuckles to himself that rich people only buy his gallery's wares because they're so naive they think unconventional art is good art. In actual fact, he is convinced his gallery's wares are junk!

Answer: Law

Gareth is not popular at home. He is about to turn 24 and has finished studying law at Cambridge. He parents are not pleased to see him generally laying around the house doing nothing. They do not insist he take up a legal occupation, but his father the honourable King's Counsel Sir Roderick Bentley has arranged one - unless his son finds something else. Gareth starts to panic; sooner or later he will serve as assistant to Sir Roderick's colleague Sir Quentin. One evening when Gareth is out on the town drunk and celebrating his birthday with friends, he confesses he's desperate to avoid a job. Almost at that moment he meets Owen Montignac.

This may turn out to be a stroke of luck.

Answer: 50,000 pounds

Nicholas Delfy is not a nice man. He has done well for himself, becoming the richest (literal underworld) gambling boss in London. He is nice and friendly to regular customers - especially rich ones who tend to lose. But when customers like Owen Montignac do not get to be rich after all, Delfy becomes less pleasant.

He "invites" Owen into his office to explain. Delfy is well aware the boy is not going to get the inheritance he'd expected. But he is not a lenient creditor. He gives Owen till Christmas to pay the 50,000, or else. Owen will not admit it, but he is slightly relieved.

He actually thought he owed 60,000.

Answer: Grand theft

One day Owen is approached by a strange man who only calls himself "Keaton". Keaton has heard the art gallery next door to Owen's is about to receive a valuable shipment. A priceless collection of French paintings, which Keaton means to have. If Owen steals them for Keaton, he will settle some of Owen's gambling debt. Owen has recently "recruited" Gareth to work for him at the gallery. Taking the boy into his confidence, they come up with a daring plan. Late one night they find a way to break into the neighbouring gallery's attic from their own building.

It takes all night, but they substitute blank canvases into the collection's wooden packaging. Now hopefully no one will notice the theft till the paintings are sent to Scotland and unpacked!

Answer: Stella has another brother

When Owen became a teenager he was violently attracted to his elder cousin, who'd been like a sister to him. She was just as fond of him, and the two started meeting secretly. They were hopelessly in love...until the day Stella found she was carrying a baby.

This was shortly after the tragic death of her brother Andrew. The only one they could confide in was Margaret the house-keeper, who was like a second mother to them. Margaret had a brain-wave. She convinced Stella's father to send her to a school in Geneva.

The old man actually agreed, since their home was far from happy at that time. But in actuality Stella would have an abortion her parents would never learn of. Owen was away when all this was decided and Margaret later told him where Stella went and why. Owen was very angry, but it turns out later on Stella never had an abortion after all.

Her visit to a "school" in Geneva was simply so the child could be born and adopted. Margaret saw to that. But Owen never found out.

Answer: The new King's mistress

It is 1936. All these events are taking place, but David the new King (aka Edward VIII) occupies more conversation than anything else. ("Edward" is his first name but those closest to him call him "David", the last of his numerous middle names.) From the beginning of his reign he was unpopular with his politicians and courtiers.

It was felt he did not take royal protocol seriously enough. And now there is talk of him abdicating in favour of his more-suitable younger brother. No one really believes it will come to that.

But such talk becomes more common when the King falls for an American woman named Wallis Simpson. A lot of British statesmen are strongly opposed to this since she's a divorcee, a taboo subject in those days.

Answer: Murder

It takes a while, but Owen finally pays Gareth for his help in the burglary. Gareth then gladly accepts Owen's invitation to go out to celebrate, but little does he know Owen has an ulterior motive. Owen gets his colleague hopelessly drunk. Gareth looks up to Owen, he sees him as the elder brother he's often wished for. Owen on the other hand does not think much of his "protege" and is only using him - so Keaton will pay off the rest of his debt.

He puts the legless Gareth into a cab and tells the cabbie to take Gareth to his own flat, giving him the key.

Then he goes off to meet Keaton. Poor Gareth wakes next morning in an unfamiliar flat...with a dead man on the doorstep! With the man's blood all over his clothes! Suddenly the police burst in and arrest him.

But how could his happen? Gareth doesn't remember a thing; let alone ever meeting the dead man they tell him was named Raymond Davis. His next month or so in prison is a nightmare. During his trial it is revealed he was very nearly arrested once before.

He got drunk at university one night and assaulted a school-mate. He was so drunk he could not even remember doing it. (If his father hadn't given the school a generous donation then Gareth would certainly have been arrested.) Now years later he accused of murder, and since he himself cannot remember whether he did it or not, defending him will not be easy.

Answer: He doesn't want Raymond to marry Stella

Owen has never forgotten the passionate love he shared with Stella. As a teenager he had to accept it was all over when Margaret persuaded his uncle to send her abroad. Stella and Owen had had no one else but Margaret to confide in when Stella got pregnant.

But Owen has always wanted Stella to come back to him and assumes she feels the same. When she announces she will finally marry her "friend" Raymond, Owen's jealously flares up. Then it occurs to him: he can use his cousin-in-law-to-be to frame Gareth. Keaton (who reveals he is Lord Keaton and in fact a colleague of Gareth's father) asks why Owen has chosen Raymond. Owen asks if Keaton has ever had anything stolen from him he was entitled to by birth.

As it happens Keaton has, so the two conspirators have a lot to chat about. (Keaton's ancestor was denied a position that The Duke of York will probably grant, if he becomes King.) So Owen invites Raymond to his gallery one night for a "private chat". Poor Raymond is knocked unconscious and bundled into the back of Keaton's car.

He later wakes on the floor of Owen's flat...just before Owen bashes his head in with a candlestick. Owen then goes into his bedroom and puts the murder weapon into the hands of his sleeping guest. Plus as much blood as possible on Gareth's clothes.

Answer: Bribing the jury

When Jane approaches Gareth's counsel at his posh lunch club Sir Quentin is not unsympathetic. He can see she is not sleeping at nights and coming apart with anxiety. But when she proposes such an outrageous scheme he is furious! He threatens to drop the case if she ever makes such a scandalous suggestion again.

He has enough problems already. For instance, Gareth simply will not look repentant in court. (He's actually wishing he had gone to work for Sir Quentin after all, instead of becoming his client.) Sir Quentin does not know what to do. Owen is called in to testify, and he makes no attempt to stand up for his young friend.

He makes matters worse by testifying Gareth had been exceedingly drunk and a bit aggressive before they parted company. Gareth cannot believe his new friend Owen's doing this to him.

The jury can clearly see guilt growing on his face. What can anyone do?

Answer: False

Just as Keaton planned, poor Roderick has likewise been going out of his mind with worry. Months ago Roderick sentenced a defendant with royal blood to hang for murder. So most people are wondering what he will say about his own son in this case. Reporters are virtually camping outside their front door.

But then one day, convinced his son is going to be found guilty in a day or two, Lord Keaton asks Roderick for a meeting. Keaton explains that he has the ear of the judge overseeing Gareth's case.

He may be able to change the sentence from execution to imprisonment. Roderick brightens considerably, but what does Keaton want in return? Keaton smiles. He simply wants Roderick to sign a bit of paper allowing him to vote in Roderick's absence on one of their committees.

This particular committee has been debating the issue of whether or not they can allow King Edward to marry Mrs. Simpson. Keaton is a staunch conservative and thus firmly against the marriage. Roderick was going to allow the King to make his own mind up...but now he has no choice but to agree. Roderick naturally cannot care less about matters of state when his son's life is at stake! But he knows full well he will resign sooner or later - his conscience won't allow to him keep his post after being virtually bribed.

Answer: The coroner testifies Raymond was injured earlier

Things looks black for Gareth. Owen has finished testifying what he did that night (neglecting to mention he killed Raymond, of course) and how aggressively Gareth behaved at times. So the jury are more convinced now that Gareth has an uncontrollable temper.

But Sir Quentin has one last card to play! When he's cross-examining the coroner it's revealed the victim had a nasty bump on the head, not the right shape to be from the murder weapon. Hello, this is news. Sir Quentin asks what this means. The doctor explains Raymond had to have been knocked unconscious earlier that night - not fatally, but certainly hours before the time of death. Since Owen's just confirmed Gareth was with him all night, someone else must have done it.

Not only that, Mr. Davis certainly couldn't have walked to Owen's apartment where he's supposed to have bumped into Gareth by mistake and been killed! Everyone gasps.

This means poor Mr. Bentley has been framed! So Gareth is released almost immediately. But Owen and Keaton are not surprised; all along they expected him to be.

The object was simply to manipulate his father into siding with Keaton. The plan works, and Wallis Simpson doesn't become Queen of England after all, and the King soon abdicates. Weeks later Owen is at Gareth's celebration party. When he arrives, surprised to have been invited, he is taken into a room by Jane and Sir Quentin. Sir Quentin coldly informs him (off the record) that when Owen testified he could see the guilt in his eyes. Sir Quentin has seen enough guilty men in his time. No one will reveal Owen was the real murderer, but they warn him to stay away from Gareth - for good! Owen hastily leaves.

Answer: Gareth Bentley

Stella, still grieving for Raymond, is enjoying the sunshine on the roof of her family home. Since the mansion now has few or no servants she thinks she has it to herself. So she gets a shock when Owen appears behind her. They chat. Stella reminds him she is determined to travel overseas and donate their family estate to some non-profit outfits. Owen will not hear of it.

It's their family estate! He decides now is as good a time as any to tell Stella he loves her and he wants her to stay. Stella thinks he's joking at first.

But he's serious. She just laughs; their teenage romance was a big mistake - she thought he'd gotten over like her! What?! Owen is heart-broken. He cannot believe his ears. He's a murderer who's madly in love with Stella.

He has already killed to protect their love. Stella does not follow. So Owen finally outright confesses to killing Andrew. Stella is shocked. Owen, her cousin, friend and lover killed her own brother?! (It's possible Owen killed Stella's father too, but that's never established.) Owen cannot understand her reaction.

He always thought she knew deep down. He insists he had no choice; Andrew had caught the two of them in bed and would have told his father! So Owen had to arrange a hunting "accident" where he was the sole witness. But Stella wants nothing to do with him now! Was he responsible for Raymond's death too? She angrily orders him to leave. But Owen is angry too. Why should he be forced to leave the property that is rightfully his? He advances on Stella threateningly. She springs away from Owen. Maybe Owen didn't mean for her to trip backwards over a garden hose...or fall off the roof. But after her funeral Owen's dream finally comes true. He has the fortune and land denied to his father. He tries to look distraught to disguise how happy he is.