Mr Lestrade was a detective from Scotland Yard and often came to visit my friend Sherlock Holmes. Holmes could often help Lestrade.
"You bring a good case for me today?" Holmes inquired. "I can't say that," answered Lestrade. "It is still being investigated now."
He then told us that someone had stolen plaster busts of Napoleon and broken them.
"Four days ago, when nobody was looking, a madman took a bust of Napoleon from the shop on Kensington Road and broke it to pieces. Nobody saw him enter the shop."
"Why are you interested in this?" Holmes was surprised. "I'm sure he will steal one again sooner or later," Lestrade answered.
While I was dressing the next day, Lestrade invited us to the scene of the robbery. The owner of the house was a journalist, too troubled that day to write anything about what had happened. "I have been collecting the Napoleon busts for many years and nobody ever tried to rob me. Last night I was woken up by a loud cry. I swore to myself that I would catch the thief if I could find my gun but the door was locked. When I got out in the morning, I noticed that one of the Napoleon busts had disappeared."
To understand the correct forms of the verbs, let's break down each sentence with the appropriate tense and grammatical structure:
- came (past simple) - to denote a habitual action in the past.
- visit (base form) - following "to" for the infinitive form.
- could (past simple of "can") - to indicate past ability.
- help (base form) - following "could" for the modal verb.
- bring (present simple) - used in direct speech.
- inquired (past simple) - narrating an event that happened.
- being investigated (present continuous passive) - to indicate an ongoing action.
- told (past simple) - narrating an event that happened.
- had stolen (past perfect) - to show the action was completed before another past action.
- broken (past participle) - follows "had" in past perfect construction.
- was looking (past continuous) - to indicate an action in progress at a specific past time.
- took (past simple) - narrating a specific past event.
- broke (past simple) - narrating a specific past event.
- saw (past simple) - narrating a specific past event.
- enter (base form) - following "saw" for the infinitive form.
- are you interested (present simple) - used in direct speech.
- was surprised (past simple) - narrating an event that happened.
- will steal (future simple) - to predict a future event.
- answered (past simple) - narrating an event that happened.
- was dressing (past continuous) - to indicate an action in progress at a specific past time.
- invited (past simple) - narrating an event that happened.
- was (past simple) - narrating a specific past event.
- had happened (past perfect) - to show the action was completed before another past action.
- have been collecting (present perfect continuous) - to indicate an action that started in the past and continues to the present.
- tried (past simple) - narrating an event that happened.
- was woken (past simple passive) - to indicate the subject received the action.
- swore (past simple) - narrating a specific past event.
- would catch (future in the past) - to indicate a future intention from a past perspective.
- could find (past simple) - indicating ability in the past.
- was locked (past simple passive) - to indicate the state of the door.
- got (past simple) - narrating a specific past event.
- noticed (past simple) - narrating a specific past event.
- had disappeared (past perfect) - to show the action was completed before another past action.
