note making of Evans Tries an O level

EVANS TRIES AN O LEVEL

Note- making

1.     Setting of the story

(a)  Oxford prison

(b) O Level German Exam to be taken in prison

(c)  Co ordinated by the Secretary of the Examinations Board

(d) Under supervision of the Governor of HM Prison and Mr. Jackson and Mr. Stephens (prison officers)

2.     Character of Evans

(a)  James Roderick Evans- kleptomaniac

(b) Pleasant personality

(c)  Very good imitation skills

(d) Known as ‘Evans the break’ bcoz had escaped from prison 3 times earlier

3.     Preparation for exams

(a)  Nail scissors, nail file and razor taken away

(b) Kept incommunicado (can not communicate with anybody)

(c)  Special cell (room) prepared with listening devices (bugs)

(d) A parson, the Reverend McLeery from St. Mary Mags appointed as invigilator

(e)  2 hour exam to start at 9.15 am

(f)   Furniture set in- 2 square small tables and 2 hard chairs

(g)  Evans allowed to wear a bobble hat which covered his long hair bcoz he said it brought him luck.

4.     Safety measures

(a)  Room was bugged with listening devices with the Governor watching over

(b) Two officers posted outside the room (Mr. Jackson and Mr. Stephens)

(c)  All sharp edged things which could have been used as weapons were taken away.

(d) A parson appointed as invigilator. He, his documents and briefcase thoroughly checked before entering Evan’s cell. It contained:

(1) Sealed question paper envelope

(2) A yellow invigilation form

(3) Special authentication form from the Examinations Board

(4) A few pages of Holy Writ

(5) The Church Times

(6) A smallish semi inflated rubber ring (to give comfort to his haemorrhoids)

(7) A paper knife which was taken away.

(e)  All prison officers on alert

(f)   Two locked doors between him and yard

(g)  A high wall around yard

(h) Strictest silence to be observed during exam

(i)    Stephens checked into the room through the peep- hole every two minutes.

5.     Appearance of McLeery

(a)  Black overcoat with clerical hat and spectacles

(b) Hair clipped amateurishly

(c)  Nails meticulously manicured

(d) Black beard

6.     Conduct of Exam

(a)  Exam started at 9.25 am (10 minutes late)

(b) Evans was instructed to write

(1)  the name of paper 021-1 in left corner

(2) His index number 313 in the right corner

(3) Centre number 271

(c)  At 9.40, call was recd from the Assistant Secretary for Modern languages for a correction in paper. Mr. Jackson. Correction made by McLeery (in his broad Scots voice) about adjectives.

(d) Evan sat through with pen between his lips staring straight at the door.

(e)  At 10.50am Evans requested to cover his shoulders with a blanket as he was feeling cold.

(f)   At 11.20 am, five minutes left for exam to get over

(g)  At 11.22 am, Governor instructs Mr. Stephens to personally escort McLeery to the main gate.

(h) At 11.25 am the exam got over. McLeery collected papers and left the cell accompanied by Mr. Stephens. (His Scot accent seemed more evident and he seemed to have suddenly grown slimmer under the overcoat)

7.     Scene back in the cell and yard

(a)  Mr. Stephens went back to check one last time

(b) McLeery drenched in blood seeping from his closely cropped hair spreading over his white clerical collar.

(c)  Handkerchief held to the bleeding head to stop blood.

(d) Refused ambulance and claimed he knew where Evans had gone

(e)  Showed a photocopied sheet at the end of the question paper which had instructions for Evans to escape:

(1) Follow the plan

(2) Act 3 minutes before the end of exam

(3) Don’t hit him too hard

(4) Don’t overdo the Scots accent

(5) From Elsfield Way go to Headington roundabout where…

(f)   Detective Carter reaches the scene and injured McLeery offers to accompany them in catching Evans claiming that he knows where Evans has gone.

(g)  The call at 11.20am had not been made by Governor but by some accomplice of Evans to mislead Mr. Stephens so that he wouldn’t check in the cell till the mishap was done.

8.     Governor’s response

(a)  Furious, embarrassed

(b) Blames Stephens for being fooled by the false call at 11.20 am

(c)  Blames Mr. Jackson who had searched Evan’s room the previous night but could not find the false beard, pair of spectacles, collar and the rest of the parson’s dress and the weapon to hit him

9.     Governor’s reply

(a)  Realises that Evans plan was to go to Newbury which was a pretty big place to get lost in.

(b) Sends Jackson and Stephens to Aldates police Station to meet Detective Bell.

(c)  Informs Detective Bell on the phone about the whole mess.

(d) Gets a call from Detective Carter who had been following Evans with McLeery and is informed that Evans is trying to escape to Newbury.

10.                        Realization of truth

(a)  Detective Caretr had dropped McLeery at the Examinations Board office in Elsfield Way from where an ambulance had taken McLeery to Radcliff Hospital

(b) On calling Radcliff Hospital Governor comes to know that McLeery had vanished from the Examination Boards Office and realizes that he had been fooled

(c)  Real Reverend McLeery is found bound and gagged in his home. He had been attacked by two men at 8.15 am.

(d) Truth is found that the person who had walked out as McLeery(whom everybody thought was Evans escaping) was not the culprit. But the bleeding McLeery who was left behind in the cell was the real Evans who the police had themselves unknowingly helped to escape.

11.                        How had Evans managed to impersonate the bleeding mcLeery in the cell

(a)  He had closely cropped his long hair with razor the previous night to look like McLeery and hidden it under the bobble hat

(b) He had used sticking plaster for the beard

(c)  His friend who had replaced McLeery had been wearing two collars and two black fronts, one of which he gave to Evan (that is why he looked slimmer)

(d) He put on the collar and front under the blanket

(e)  The semi inflated rubber ring had pig’s blood which was used to impersonate the injury.

12.                        How did the Governor catch Evan?

(a)  The correction slip told him the name of the hotel where Evans had to go (Golden Lion)

(b) The area Chipping Norton was found with the co ordinates of index number and centre number (313 and 271) on a Ordnance Survey map of Oxfordshire.

(c)  The purpose of the correction slip was to tell Evans the name of the hotel and also to find the exact time of starting the exam so that they could know the time of finishing the exam and at that moment the call could be made to remove everybody from the scene (Stephens led out McLeery and in that duration Evans put on the disguise) escape plan could be put into action.

(d) Evans tells him that from the very beginning the plan had been made. Even the German teacher was an accomplice.

13.                        Conclusion

(a)  Evans is put into the prison van with a prison officer to be taken to prison.

(b) The prison officer is also Evan’s accomplice.

(c)  Evan escapes again. This time to Newbury where nobody will think of looking for him.