Истории и точки зрения

события — Past Simple; фон — Past Continuous; предыстория — Past Perfect (previously, beforehand, earlier that day, up until then); длительная предыстория — had been + -ing; после входа в предысторию можно вернуться к Past Simple

had been + -ing: длилось до момента в прошлом (for / since, all along, since dawn, for hours on end … when …) или объясняет состояние тогда (was soaked — had been walking); нужен момент в прошлом; глаголы состояния — had known

had done — завершение, число, результат (three chapters, by then, already); had been doing — процесс, срок, состояние тогда (for an hour, since January); no sooner had I … than; hardly had we … when; I was in the middle of -ing when; it dawned on me that …

точка зрения: as far as she knew, from his point of view, it seemed to him that, she assumed, he had no idea that, at the time; что уже было — Past Perfect; сопоставить: the accounts contradict each other, the stories (don't) match, each blamed the other, both partly right

ожидание: I'd expected, presumably, assumed; незнание: little did I know that; поворот: it turned out that / to be, apparently, to my surprise, only to find; сбылось: sure enough; развязка: in the end, as it happened

оставить: время, место, предысторию, если они объясняют причину или поворот (crucial, relevant); убрать minor / irrelevant; обороты: the thing is, what matters is, in a nutshell, skip, get to the point, sorry — I'm rambling, to be fair