Humphrey Partridge was in his house and suddenly the postman arrived. He told his mother that it was just the post. Reg Carter, the postman, gave Partridge a package. He said it was from the garden centre. Reg asked Partridge many questions about his mother. And he just said that she didn’t usually receive letters because at her age, all her friends were dead. Then, he told the postman that he had to go to work. And he closed the door.
On his way to the station, he stopped at a shop to buy the newspaper. The shopkeeper greeted him and the shopkeeper’s wife told Partridge that there was going to be a meeting and she wanted him to go. But Partridge said that he had to look after his mother and that he worked all the week and he wanted to stay with his mother at weekends. The shopkeeper (Mr Denton) said that Partridge lived for his mother. And his wife told him that she wasn’t going to live much longer and that she was going to leave him some money. They also knew that Partridge was going to live in Canada.
At work, Partridge was about to go home when Mr Brownlow called him. He wanted Partridge to go to Antwerp, because Brownlow had to replace Parsons, and go to Rome in his place. But Partridge said that he couldn’t go to Antwerp because he had to look after his old mother. Finally, Mr Brownlow agreed-very angry-and told him that he was going to miss the train. So Partridge went home.
In his house, Partridge told his mother that he had arrived. And he also said that he nearly missed it, but he didn’t. Partridge went upstairs and looked at the second bedroom. There was a smile on his lips as he looked at the empty bed.
The next morning, Partridge was preparing breakfast and he turned his old cooker.
Then he looked at the garden. There were lots of roses. Suddenly, the bell rang. It was Reg Carter with a package about Canada. And he also gave Partridge a letter. Finally, he asked Partridge if his mother was all right. He said yes and closed the door. He opened the letter. He had won a lot of money in a competition!
At work, Humphrey told Mr Brownlow that he was leaving to go to live in Canada. And Mr Brownlow said that he had to go in a month. But Partridge asked him if he could leave sooner. And, angrily, Mr Brownlow said that he could go that same day. Partridge was very happy. He had telephoned a man who had agreed to sell the house for him.
At home, Partridge greeted his mother and he was really surprised when he saw Reg Carter, the postman. He told Partridge that he had seen smoke while he was passing his house. So he entered through the window and stopped it. He had already called the police and had explained it all; there was a fire in the kitchen. Partridge had left the cooker on. Partridge thanked him. And the postman said that there was no one in the house; Humphrey’s mother was nowhere. And Partridge said that she had died two days ago. He said he had been shocked.
A week after the fire, everybody in the village knew what’d happened. And Sergeant Wallace, the village policeman, decided to talk to Partridge because he had heard strange stories about him. He went to Humphrey’s house. Partridge was packing and there were lots of boxes. Partridge told him that he was leaving in a month and that he was going alone because his mother had died. So the sergeant told him that people said that he had killed his mother to get her money. But Partridge said that it wasn’t true. The sergeant asked him when his mother had died and Partridge made a mistake and told the sergeant a wrong date. He said he had said that because it had been a great shock. He also said that he had arranged the funeral with somebody from town. But then the sergeant started asking him lots of questions and Partridge lost control and shouted saying that he had never had a mother because she had left him when he was 6 months and he had grown up in a children’s home. He said that nobody lived with him; he lived alone and he had invented his mother because he hated people because they always asked a lot of questions and his mother never said anything. He said she was kind and beautiful. And that they had all killed her. He said that he had won the money in a competition but the sergeant thought he HAD killed his mother because he had been digging the garden and he didn’t believe Partridge when he said that he had put roses in.
So Partridge was put in prison. BUT when the police found out that there was no body in the garden, they freed him. His story was true!
One day, while Partridge continued preparing everything for Canada, the bell rang. It was a cold night. He opened the door. It was an old woman with a lot of makeup. She said she was his mum. Partridge didn’t believe her. But she was. She told him that he wanted to be with her son and wanted to go with him to Canada. (She had read everything about the money in the newspapers and that was why she was there) Then, angrily, Partridge put his hands around her neck and shock her. She fell to the floor, DEAD.
The next morning, Partridge went to the police station and told the sergeant that he had killed his mother. But the sergeant thought he was joking so he asked him if he had buried her in the garden. And Partridge said yes. The sergeant told him that he didn’t want jokes. But Partridge wasn’t joking! So, he told Humphrey to go away to Canada. And, happily, Partridge told his mother that THEY were going together to Canada.
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