3. Don't Let Anything Be Traced Back To You (Strangers On A Train, 1951)
In an ideal world, youll be able to manipulate events so that nothing can be traced back to you, thus removing any need for brazen lying under oath or improvising the perfect getaway. Thats the premise of the Hitchcock classic Strangers On A Train, in which two men meet by chance on the titular public transport and agree to swap victims. Bruno will kill Guys wife so that he can be free to marry a senators daughter and facilitate his burgeoning career in politics; in turn, Guy will kill Brunos father. Since establishing motive is a key part of bringing a criminal case to bear, even if either man is suspected theres no way hell be charged. Its a brilliant plan, with only two drawbacks: number one, Bruno is a psychopath with a tenuous relationship with reality, and number two, Guy hasnt actually agreed to it when the two part company. However, Bruno - not being quite all there - thinks that they have and goes ahead with his part of the deal, killing Guys wife. When Guy refuses to live up to his end, having thought the whole conversation was a joke, Bruno makes it clear that he can still frame Guy for his wifes death. After all, the husband is the prime suspect, and who better to plant evidence than the real killer? This is where Brunos plan falls apart, because hes blackmailing an unwilling accomplice into committing his murder, thereby creating a scenario where the man committing his crime is actively looking for a way to implicate him on it. Still the set-up is pitch perfect. Its just those two drawbacks that muddy the playing field.
Jack Morrell
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Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
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