Thriller; psychological| Dallas, 2019
Main characters
Max Tirrel is an elderly man, investigator, former police officer, suffering from schizophrenia. He lives alone after his divorce. He has a bad temper and is an alcoholic. The only person to care for him is the young and beautiful housekeeper Siri, a girl whom Max plucked off the street and for whom he has the affection of a father, such as he never was. Thanks to him, Siri has rebuilt her life, married and is serene.
The call to adventure
On Christmas Eve Siri returns home and discovers her husband John, a truck driver, in a pool of blood. The police ascertain that the man was killed as a result of a killer's beating. Siri is desperate and asks Max to find the culprit.
The old investigator hesitates, is hesitant, feels old, weak, out of place, but the girl's insistence prompts him to give in. And he accepts the request.
The conflict
Max begins to investigate, but illness, hallucinations, and alcohol make both the investigation and his relationship with the local sheriff difficult. During a spat, the latter reveals to him that Siri's husband used to beat her. Max is shocked by the news; he had never realized anything.
As the hallucinations become more frequent and in them he sees unexplained scenes again, Max puts his old network of contacts to work and before long discovers that Siri's husband was also involved in shady dealings and indebted to a local gang. Gang that, in an attempt to get the money back, puts Siri in danger. The young woman is rescued by Max, who takes her into his home.
As time passes, Siri's affection and gratitude become love, but Max remains caught between sexual attraction and paternal feeling, rejecting (albeit with difficulty) the woman's advances.
The key
The sheriff has enough clues to incriminate the gang. At the moment of arrest, a furious gun battle leaves a couple of police officers and all the gang members on the ground. The case is dramatically concluded. Siri is allowed to return home and Max accompanies her. In the girl's kitchen, under the refrigerator, Max finds a lost bracelet of his own.
At that moment, all hallucinations become clear: him noticing the beatings on Siri, him going to her husband, the scuffle, the murder. Schizophrenia did the rest. Motionless, in front of Siri, Max wonders what to do with the little future he has left.
Plot alternatives
Every thriller follows a definite series of events, which are difficult to alter. However, alternatives can be constructed by changing the time and place, or by intervening in the characters, changing their age, social class, gender. In this way, infinite variations can be achieved.
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