Where should I put stress in the sentence below?
If only I knew who it was from
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Sign up to join this communityWhere should I put stress in the sentence below?
If only I knew who it was from
From my unpublished play The Kidnapped Goat. Dramatis personae:
Police Detective
Mysterious Man
Act I, Scene I, the Police Detectives, holding a blood-stained sheet of notepaper in his hand, inquires of the Mysterious Man about a kidnapping.
Police Detective (to the Mysterious Man): We can solve this case only with your help since you're the only one who knows who sent the ransom note.
Mysterious Man: Ah, but that would be true if only I knew who it was from. It's possible you're mistaken: there may be other who can help you, and I may not be able to.
Police Detective: Do you mean you know who sent the note but decline to help us or do you mean you don't know anything helpful?
Mysterious Man: If only I knew who it was from, then I could help, but I don't know, so I can't.
Police Detective: Then we're at an impasse.
Mysterious Man: That would be true if only I knew who it was from, but there are others.
Police Detective: How about giving us an educated guess?
Mysterious Man: If only I knew who it was from would I help. Guessing will do more harm than good.
Police Detective (holding up the paper): Can you tell us anything at all about this note?
Mysterious Man: If only I knew who it was from could I tell you more, say about where it was mailed from or the motives of the kidnappers.
Police Detective: We have had several ransom notes, but you'll see that this one is bloodstained, which worries us. Can you tell us about the other notes?
Mysterious Man: If only I knew who it (gesturing to the note in the Police Detective's hand) was from could I tell you about the others.
Police Detective: We expect more notes from the kidnappers.
Mysterious Man: If only I knew who it (again gesturing to the blood-stained note) was from could I tell you about who will send further notes.
Police Detective: This note arrived at its final destination after having been passed though several intermediaries. Does that tell you anything?
Mysterious Man: If only I knew who it was from could I tell you anything about the route it took.
The lights go out; a shot is heard; a voice heretofore unheard shouts, "What's all this then?"
Curtain.