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Clue · 1985 — 第 6 / 17 章 · 2'34" · B2

Wadsworth Explains Why He Gathered Them, Explained：preyed on my mind

The butler explains that he was once Mr. Boddy's servant and that his own wife was blackmailed by the same man. Revenge, not justice, drives the story he tells: "The suicide of my wife preyed on my mind and created a sense of injustice in me." When he finishes, the guests realize the killer is still in the room.

あらすじ

After Mr. Boddy's murder, Wadsworth admits he was once Boddy's butler. Boddy had blackmailed his wife as well, and she killed herself; her death "preyed on my mind." He explains that he gathered all the victims to confront Boddy face to face and then hand him to the police — only for the group to realize one of them is the killer.

InvestigationStorytellingExplainingConfessingB2fastamericanClean
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注目の表現

put to good usepreyed on my mindgo to the chairturn over to

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  5. ❝ 独白The butler explains his wife4 行練習ページ ↗
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このシーンの表現

preyed on my mind

kept troubling my thoughts

The butler says his wife's death kept gnawing at him until he had to act.

The mistake preyed on my mind for years.

このシーンの他の表現

  • put to good use

    use it well

  • go to the chair

    be executed

  • turn over to

    hand someone to

  • take advantage of

    exploit someone

  • more American than that

    a bitter rhetorical question

このシーンのメモ一覧

43 行のセリフに 24 件のメモ

表現 · B2true and misleading

accurate but deceptive

When I said that I was Mr. Boddy's butler, this was both true and misleading.
表現 · C1an untimely death

a death too soon

but it was not his untimely death this evening that brought my employment with him to an end.
表現 · B1bring something to an end

finish something

but it was not his untimely death this evening that brought my employment with him to an end.
文法 · B2it was not his untimely death this evening that brought

emphatic it-clause: The it-cleft with not stresses what did not end his employment.

but it was not his untimely death this evening that brought my employment with him to an end.
表現 · B2end one's life

take one's own life

When my wife decided to end her life.
表現 · B1for the same reason that ...

for the same cause

He hated my wife for the same reason that he hated all of you.
表現 · B1take advantage of someone

exploit someone

Listing what Boddy found unacceptable, the butler mentions doctors exploiting their patients.

a senator to have a corrupt wife, for a doctor to take advantage of his patients, for a wife to emasculate her husband, and so forth.
表現 · B1and so forth

and similar things

a senator to have a corrupt wife, for a doctor to take advantage of his patients, for a wife to emasculate her husband, and so forth.
表現 · B2report someone to the authorities

inform the officials

If he was such a patriotic American, why didn't he just report us to the authorities?
表現 · B2put something to good use

use it well

Boddy didn't report the information; he turned it into cash, and the phrase makes it sound practical.

He decided to put his information to good use and make a little money out of it.
表現 · B2someone's role in something

one's part in it

What was your role in all this?
表現 · A2make mistakes

everyone errs

Well, we all make mistakes.
文法 · B2unless she named them

unless-clause: The unless-clause sets the condition that had to be met.

But Mr. Boddy threatened to give my wife's name to the House Un-American Activities Committee unless she named them.
文法 · B2was that we work

predicative clause: The that-clause after was spells out what the price actually was.

We had no money. And the price of his silence was that we work for him for nothing. We were slaves.
表現 · B2prey on someone's mind

kept troubling my thoughts

The butler says his wife's death kept gnawing at him until he had to act.

The suicide of my wife preyed on my mind and created a sense of injustice in me.
表現 · B2resolve to do something

decide firmly to

I resolved to put Mr. Boddy behind bars.
表現 · B2turn someone over to someone

hand someone to

The butler's plan was to expose Boddy and then hand him to the police.

and then turn him over to the police.
発音Nothing's explained

Nothing's blurs so the word sounds like nothins.

Nothing's explained. We still don't know who killed him.
表現 · A2find out something

discover the truth

But how can we possibly find out which of you did it?
発音had the

Had the weakens, with the reduced to a light consonant.

Well, one of us did. We all had the opportunity. We all had a motive.
表現 · C1go to the chair

be executed

One guest jokes grimly that they will all end up executed, and the flat phrasing makes it colder.

Great! We'll all go to the chair.
スラング · C1the chair

the electric chair — Old American slang for execution; best kept to film talk.

Great! We'll all go to the chair.
表現 · B1who else could it be

who else is possible

- Maybe it wasn't one of us! - Who else could it have been?
発音could it have

Could it have runs together and can sound like couldi-tav.

- Maybe it wasn't one of us! - Who else could it have been?

「Wadsworth Explains Why He Gathered Them」を読み解く

What's really going on

Wadsworth has been running the room all night, and now he finally explains himself — but the confession rearranges the whole night's meaning. He was Boddy's butler and, more importantly, a fellow victim: Boddy blackmailed his wife too, and drove her to suicide. "We had no money. And the price of his silence was that we work for him for nothing. We were slaves." So he staged the evening as a trap, hoping to confront Boddy and "turn him over to the police." Yet the guests immediately spot the hole in his plan: if everyone had a motive, the killer is still among them. His grief may be real, but so is his vanity about the game he built.

Theme

RevengeWadsworth explains he gathered everyone to expose Boddy and put him behind bars, driven by his wife's death.
Death & griefHis wife's suicide 'preyed on my mind,' and he says it left him with a lasting sense of injustice.

このチャプターで学べること

  • The butler's grief, not greed, drives the whole gathering.
  • A patriotic pose can be the sharpest joke in the room.
  • Everyone here has both a chance and a reason.
  • The plan was justice, but the body changes everything.

発音のポイント

  • Nothing's explained — Nothing's blurs so the word sounds like nothins.
  • had the — Had the weakens, with the reduced to a light consonant.
  • could it have — Could it have runs together and can sound like couldi-tav.
We had no money. And the price of his silence was that we work for him for nothing. We were slaves.

Wadsworth describes the blackmail's cost: with no money to pay, he and his wife had to labor for Boddy for free — a kind of slavery.

The suicide of my wife preyed on my mind and created a sense of injustice in me.

The line explains his motive. His wife's death never left him, and the grief hardened into a feeling that he had been wronged.

Well, one of us did. We all had the opportunity. We all had a motive.

The group's logic after the plan collapses: each had a reason and a chance to kill Boddy, so suspicion falls on everyone present.

What could be more American than that?

A sarcastic line from the monologue: turning blackmail into profit, he says, is the most American thing of all.

このシーンについての質問

Why did Wadsworth gather everyone at the house?

He wanted to confront Boddy with his blackmail in front of the victims and then hand him to the police — a plan to free them all and settle his own debt.

What happened to Wadsworth's wife?

Boddy blackmailed her too. She refused to name her friends, had no money to pay, was forced into unpaid work for Boddy, and eventually killed herself.

Why does Wadsworth say he was 'a victim, too'?

It is only half true. His wife was Boddy's victim, and he lost her to suicide — but he also ran the scheme and knew far more than he let on.

Who killed Mr. Boddy?

The group cannot tell. They conclude that whoever did it is one of them, since everyone had both the opportunity and a motive.

What does 'go to the chair' mean here?

It is old slang for being executed in the electric chair. The line jokes that if the group is blamed, they will all be sentenced to death.

殺人ゲームへの招待 · 全 17 章

すべて見る →
次のチャプター · 第 7 章defence mechanismMr. Boddy's Body Disappears
第 1 章break the iceMrs. Peacock Breaks the Ice第 2 章over my dead bodyGuests Arrive at the Mansion第 3 章in the same boatWadsworth Reveals the Blackmail第 4 章behind barsBoddy Is the Blackmailer第 5 章over his dead bodyMr. Boddy Is Found Dead再生中 · 第 6 章preyed on my mindWadsworth Explains Why He Gathered Them第 7 章defence mechanismMr. Boddy's Body Disappears第 8 章overkillLocking Up the Weapons第 9 章make an omeletWadsworth Won't Say Yes or No第 10 章a likely storyTrapped in the Secret Passage第 11 章nothing to hideUnexpected Guest Asks to Use the Phone第 12 章step by stepWadsworth Reconstructs the Evening第 13 章get your hands onWadsworth Reveals the Secret Passage第 14 章hold something over someoneWadsworth's Black Market Confession第 15 章whistling DixieWadsworth Recaps the Murders第 16 章a red herringWadsworth Reveals He's the Killer第 17 章fatal mistakeWadsworth Counts the Last Bullet
第 6 / 17 章 · 残り約 33 分