In the lines “When she walked across the room she couldn't feel her feet touching the floor. She couldn't feel anything at all [...] Everything was automatic now-…” (3), it indicates that Mrs. Maloney:

The lamb symbolizes Patrick Maloney's strength and power over his wife.

What would be a good word to describe the mood of the following passage? “For her, this was always a blissful time of day [...] she [...] was content to sit quietly [...] She loved to luxuriate in the presence of this man […]” (1).

IRONY: “At that point, Mary Maloney simply walked up behind him and without any pause she swung the big frozen leg of lamb high in the air and brought it down as hard as she could on the back of his head.”

As used in the passage, “She was just going home with the vegetables […] She put the parcel down on the table and went through into the living room […],” (6) the word PARCEL most nearly means:

Which statement best expresses a central idea of the text?

The lamb symbolizes Mary Maloney's initial innocence and vulnerability.

IRONY: “‘Personally, I think it’s right here on the premises.’ / ‘Probably right under our very noses.’”

IRONY: “‘Whoever done it, they’re not going to be carrying a thing like that around with them longer than they need.”

The language used in “So they left her there while they went about their business, searching the house. Occasionally on of the detectives asked her another question. Sometimes Jack Noonan spoke at her gently as he passed by” (8) serves to

A central idea of the text is

The author's primary purpose in writing this story is to...

“And I know it’s kind of a bad time to be telling you, but there simply wasn’t any other way. Of course I’ll give you money and see you’re looked after. But there needn’t really be any fuss" shows the THEME of: