Test: Evans Tries an O-Level- 2 - Class 12 MCQ

James Roderick Evans is a young prisoner in Oxford Jail. He is appearing for an 0-Level German Examination. He is not interested in the language. His appearing in the examination is actually his plan to escape from the prison.

In between intervals of Stephens' peeping into the cell, Evans was changing into the Parson's dress to look like McLeery. So, in order to conceal his effort to keep them in place, Evans draped a blanket round his shoulder. Stephens was misled into believing that Evans was feeling cold.

Colin Dexter, in full Norman Colin Dexter, (born September 29, 1930, Stamford, Lincolnshire, England—died March 21, 2017, Oxford), British author who wrote 13 acclaimed mystery novels featuring the erudite and curmudgeonly Chief Inspector Morse; the novels inspired the popular British television series Inspector Morse.

The Governor of the HM Prison, Oxford, appears to be kind-hearted fellow at the start as he arranges for on O-level exam for a prisoner renowned for his ability to escape. He was, though, quite skeptical of Evans and made every arrangement to make sure that Evans had no means to escape. He was also very proud and self-conscious. He did not want Evans to disgrace him by escaping from his prison. He had a sharp presence of mind, which was clear from the fact that he cross checked every call that was made to the prison that day.

However, he got over-confident of his arrangements and gave Evans the opportunity to escape. Also, he was a person who did not mind showering praise on a prisoner. When Evans revealed the secret plan to him, he admired him.

At last, he proved to be just another good-for-a-giggle, gullible Governor when again Evans tricked him and successfully escaped. His overconfidence and self-praise let him down.

Evans was a smart criminal. He had beforehand assessed the weaknesses of the jail officers successfully. Stephens was a new recruit to the prison set up. When he saw the injured McLeery in the cell he at once jumped to the conclusion that Evans had escaped from the prison. He did not even check who he really was and neither did anyone else. It did not occur to anyone to question how there could there be two persons one in the cell and the other who had been escorted out by Stephens.

Carter was the Detective Superintendent whom the Governor summoned after Evans’ supposed escape. The Governor wanted him to accompany the injured Me Leery as he was the only one who seemed to know what was actually happening and might be in a position to help in locating Evans who had escaped.

Evans outwitted the Governor in the end by escaping again. This was due to the fact that he knew the prison officer who handcuffed him and the driver who was driving the van.

McLeery showed a photocopied sheet to the Governor which had been cleverly superimposed on the last page of the German question paper. The Governor decoded it for Newsbury and by putting together the six figure reference, the index and centre number 313/271 and with the help of the ‘Ordinance Survey Map of Oxfordshire’ he was able to locate Evans in the middle of Chipping Norton. The correction slip provided him with the name of the hotel, ‘The Golden Lion’ where Evans was staying. So Evans was beaten in his own game as he left clues which aided in his arrest. He made things easier as he left the question paper behind in the cell. The clues the Governor got from it were sufficient to help him locate Evans.

McLeery showed a photocopied sheet to the Governor which had been cleverly superimposed on the last page of the German question paper. The Governor decoded it for Newsbury and by putting together the six figure reference, the index and centre number 313/271 and with the help of the ‘Ordinance Survey Map of Oxfordshire’ he was able to locate Evans in the middle of Chipping Norton. The correction slip provided him with the name of the hotel, ‘The Golden Lion’ where Evans was staying. So Evans was beaten in his own game as he left clues which aided in his arrest. He made things easier as he left the question paper behind in the cell. The clues the Governor got from it were sufficient to help him locate Evans.

The first call that the Governor received from the Assistant Secretary was a hoax. It misled the gullible Governor by demanding a prison van in connection with a remand case whereas the van was needed for Evans’ escape. The underlying idea behind the second call was to take Stephens away for some time so that Evans could give finishing touches to his makeup to look like McLeery.

The small brown suitcase that McLeery carried contained all that he would need for his 'morning duties' meaning his invigilation work. It contained the sealed question paper, envelope, a yellow invigilation form, special authentication card etc.

Evans did not have any chance of getting through the O-level German examination as he was not capable of understanding even a simple German expression of “Guten Gluck” (Good Luck). He was taking the test in an attempt to plan his escape from prison.

The prison staff and the Governor took all the necessary precautions to ensure a smooth conduct of Evan’s examination. The Governor personally supervised all the security arrangements. Evan’s cell was thoroughly .checked by Jackson to ward off the possibility of any incriminating material. Evans’ nail- scissors, nail file and razor where taken away. A police officer Stephens was posted to keep a constant vigil on his activities. Mr. McLeery, a parson, was to invigilate. The invigilator too was frisked to make sure that he carried no objectionable material with him.

For smooth conduct of the examination, various precautionary measures were taken. All sharp instruments like razor and nail -scissors were removed. The Governor, senior prison officer Jackson and officer Stephen were put on duty. A special invigilator was arranged.

The Governor should not have let Evans go with the driver of the prison van because the moment they are away from the Governer, the so-called prison officer, a friend of Evans, unlocked Evans’ handcuffs and tells the driver to move fast thus making Evans have the last laugh. The Governor should have travelled himself in the van with Evans and also had the credentials of the guards escorting Evans to the prison checked properly.