Grammar / B1+ Grammar lessons and exercises / Past modal verbs of deduction
Complete the sentences using the verbs in brackets with a past modal verb form.
Old Mr McGraw had been murdered and everybody was wondering who 1 (do) it. Two police officers were speculating about the murder.
SEBASTIAN: It 2 (be) Mrs McGraw. I’m totally convinced it was her. She absolutely hated him. She 3 (use) a kitchen knife as the murder weapon, or maybe an axe from the garden tools.
JESSICA: It 4 (be) Mrs McGraw. She isn’t strong enough to drag the body and put it in the car boot. It 5 (be) their older son; I would bet all my money it was him. He had motive, because Mr McGraw had disinherited him long ago, and everybody knew they hated each other.
SEBASTIAN: Impossible. It 6 (be) their older son because he has a plausible alibi. He was fishing with his brother at the time of the crime, he testified.
JESSICA: Then the younger son 7 (lie) to protect his brother. They 8 (agree) on an alibi after the murder. If you think about it, they 9 (plan) the murder together. It’s a reasonable possibility. Maybe the younger son was afraid that his father would disinherit him too; they had a difficult relationship.
SEBASTIAN: That makes sense. They killed him so that at least one of them could get the inheritance.
JESSICA: Well, if they wanted to get the money from the inheritance, they 10 (kill) their father. Because now we’ll catch them and they will be in prison and without a penny.