Hi people, I've hit a bit of a roadblock so would appreciate some fresh perspectives. Basically, the antagonist of my story is setting up one of the other characters, (the protagonist's brother) to make it look like he's having an affair with the protagonists wife. Knowing how possessive and erratic the MC is, the antagonist knows this is likely to spiral out of control. The antagonist is actually a close friend of the brother (the man he is trying to frame) and has known the pair of them for 15-20 yrs so is a well respected and trusted friend. The MC is a frequent drug user, the antagonist has also been spiking his drugs recently with a stronger batch, making the MC more erratic and prone to paranoid and often violent outburts - which is perfect for his aims! My question is, apart from the obvious (ie, leaving incriminating clothing) how could you frame somebody in this way? It's been driving me nuts! I'm wondering if its feasible to doctor photographs? Use someone's phone to send incriminating/inappropriate texts/pics? ... to be honest I'm struggling, especially as it all has to be done behind the scenes, I even want to keep it away from the reader until quite late in the story. If anybody could help I'd be very appreciative
After reviewing, the framing needs to be a series of small doubts instead of a huge glaring object that tips him over the edge. I was thinking of having objects such as: *Ticket stubs for a cinema/theatre etc - the kind of object a guilty part might overlook *The antagonist calling a hotel to book a reservation at the MC's home/office, then requesting a call back as he suddenly needs to go - this leads to a call 10-15 mins later and an awkward conversation. I don't know... I'm still struggling... anyone??
Your points are good. I don't know about the ticket subs thing, but the hotel call could work, as well as incriminating text messages, voice messages, and e-mails. Also, considering that the MC is a frequent drug user, there shouldn't be room for much doubt that he may be cheating on his wife. Hope this helped a bit?
Ok....kind of out of left field here. Since the MC is a druggie his mental status is poor. Lets go with a complete deception. Hire a hooker who looks like the wife. Dress her up and get her looking the part then put in places that may seem suspicious. The guy he is trying to frame walks out of the movies (the MC and pro. are at a bar next door?) and the pro. points him out to the MC. They get up to go and catch up with him but than they see the hooker walk out and go the opposite direction. Pro. says "hey isn't that your wife?"
The MC is not a druggie, not most of the time, he's a hedonist who's going a bit off the rails - which is also part of the antagonist's plan knowing how unpredictable someone on drugs is likely to be. Helmsing, I see where you're going, but that idea seems a little too elaborate and it's too risky, there's too many ways it could go wrong and I don't think my antagonist would try something that could backfire like that - subtlety is the name of the game. Thanks for the suggestions and keep 'em coming guys, this one has me pretty stumped.
I kind of like Helmsing's suggestion. It is crazy, but this is fiction and if you're trying to keep the deception from even an audience member, then something like catching a glance of a woman who looks just enough like his wife from behind- a tall brunette- for instance, with a distinguishing piece of clothing, like a scarf of a jacket the MC had given her, would be enough to get him second guessing. I wouldn't expect that as a reader either, whereas the text/ email/ clothing plant has been done a number of times. The antagonist could also strike up a secret friendship with the wife under the guise of being concerned for the MC and his increasing mental instability, he could call her, send her messages and arrange private meetings with her, forcing her to use the same excuses- 'I'm working late, I'm meeting a friend' as a woman in an affair. I think you hit the nail on the head when you said it's not one thing, it's lots of little things that add up.
Hmmm, maybe I did dismiss this too easily, apologies Helmsing. It IS crazy but it's also different, you're right. Texts blah blah blah aren't new, and though they might get the job done, they're not original and will lack the wow factor when the reader realises what is happening. Some good suggestions Baba Yaga, as the antagonist is actually a close friend and confidant of the guys it would be very easy for him to approach Aiden's wife with his concerns. What I'm struggling with, is the act of pinning the blame solely on the MC's brother, and to the extent the main character thinks he has been betrayed by two very important people in his life - something which would have serious mental ramifications to anyone, let alone someone who has (unwittingly) been exposing himself to stronger and stronger narcotics!
What if the wife had some sordid secret from the past, like a really bad secret (or at least she thinks it's bad) so the antagonist blackmails her to actually seduce the protagonist's brother? And then it's all filmed (hidden camera). You can show the wife looking distraught and torn in the video, seemingly enjoying it but her eyes are telling a different story. Brother might be really stoned from the strong batch (or whatever substances he is abusing) so he is not really thinking straight which is why he welcomes the advances, but also you could have the brother have a thing for the wife anyway, maybe a bit of sibling rivalry dynamic weaved into it, so when the protagonist finds out he says something like "I knew it, you've been trying to steal her away from me since ...(insert the event), don't deny it!" It's not a frame-up in a classic sense, but maybe it could work.
Ah... I see. If the antagonist was truly Machiavellian, why not have the antagonist approach both wife and brother to set up an intervention for the MC? The three of them meet a couple of times while the antagonist plans the fake intervention (what a good friend... they think). The bro and the wife both blow off the MC a couple of times at the same time (it makes sense you'd call your bro to hang out if your wife was working late/ going out with friends). He doesn't think anything of it at first, but the paranoid recesses of his mind start to register that they are both pulling away from him. One night Bro and Wife go to meet the antagonist at a restaurant chosen by the antagonist for one of their fake intervention meetings. The antagonist doesn't show up because he's taking the MC out for a night on the town, thereby being (in the MC's mind at least) the only person who still wants to hang out with him. They pass the restaurant on their way to a bar and the antagonist points out the bro and the wife sitting at the table he booked for them, right near the window. The MC, now suspicious and starting to put 2 and 2 together, asks them why they are having a private dinner. They either lie to avoid telling him that they think he's losing it, or tell him the truth, they are planning an intervention with the antagonist. The antagonist, of course, denies this- he's the MC's last remaining party buddy after all- and the MC is left to decide whether his bro and wife are lying to him, and have been lying to him all the time, or whether the antagonist (the only one who seems to have stood by him the whole time) has created this elaborate scheme. Who would you choose to believe, given the evidence? Hope that all made sense.
The easiest thing would be to have the supposed lovebirds keep a secret from the main character, who, being paranoid, will draw his own conclusions. The secret, however, should be something benign - the wife and the brother-in-law are planning a party behind the MC's back, that kind of thing. That can result in the wife having whispered conversations with the BIL, suddenly breaking off a telephone call when the MC enters the room, etcetera... [Which is pretty much the same idea BabaYaga just posted]
i think the texts and calls could work but you do need to add something else i reckon that sends the character off the edge. the idea about a hooker dressed as a wife might have a flaw with the main character chasing her down and looking at her more closely to realise that hey this isnt actually my wife, from what i got from aiden is that he would do something like that...although it could work if something is holding him back? but then what would hold him back? obviously not the antagonist or else something might seem a little suss to aiden, i mean he might be erratic and paranoid but hes still not stupid! the idea could work if something/someone holds him back though. i was thinking of the antagonist (seeing as he is a close friend to the main character/his wife/his brother) could actually record something/have recorded something of kenny and aidens wife, then he could pick out words from all those recordings mash them together and create some sort of a sex-tape audio/recorded phone call and from there he can plant it in an area of the room that belongs to aidens wife (eg: where she keeps her panties) somewhere where its sort of hidden but also someplace the antagonist knowing how aiden is, is going to enter. so when aiden looks at his wifes clothes, the tape falls out "Kenny and <insert wifes name> secret tape, and after all the other stuff with the phonecall stuff and texts and now this tape just sends aiden into a frenzy. he doesnt even need to look at/into the tape either, he could just see that description on the tape and go off (this works esp since hes paranoid and volatile). anyway good luck bro
The intervention sounds v good, I'm liking it and I'll see if I can swing it in... somehow. Also had a few more ideas. Bear with me if this is all kinda messy, it usually is when I begin to jot down ideas!! Ken has had a ghost from his younger, less well behaved days surface. A woman has approached him because he has a 9 yr old son, she waited this long because she thought he was a layabout, but now the family nightclub is starting to gain some exposure and really hit it off, she's changed her mind... This leaves him guarded and secretive, as he's uncomfortable talking about his emotions to his brother or his mates, and Aiden notices the change in his personality. Ken confides in Aiden's wife, believing she'll have a better perspective than his drinking buddies. This means they'll occasionally be alone together and leaves opportunities for this to be seen and misconstrued. The antagonist, Kirby, is using this fully to his advantage. There is a social BBQ at Kenny's house, when he and another guy turn up, it's just Kenny and Aiden's wife, Tiffany, having a private chat. The guys turn up early to get tanked up and the rest of the guests aren't expected for several hours. Kirby takes the opportunity to stealthily hide her phone in the sofa. He then makes a call to a hotel about a reservation for a room for two, using the names Kenneth and Tiffany Weeks. He says his memory is terrible so it would be great if the staff member could call back later that eve, actually, it'd be easier to run it by his wife... who's better at this kinda thing, yadda yadda, and gives them Tiffany's no. Tiffany arrives later with Aiden, who characteristically doesn't leave her side for most of the party, when the phone is discovered later on, he's going to realise she had been there before as she wouldn't have had the opportunity to drop it down the sofa while they'd been there - they're mostly in the garden smoking or similar. The phone is found later by Aiden, as he recognises the ringtone, he's a bit tanked at this moment and answers, hears about the reservation and jokes with the guy that they got his name wrong, it goes over his head as he doesn't suspect anything. On a separate occasion later that eve he sees Ken hugging a woman in his bedroom. He doesn't instantly recognise her as Tiffany, this comes back later... basically, Ken and Tiffany have had a heartfelt chat about Ken's newly found son and he's all over the place after a few too many drinks, her consoling him looks more than it is to a paranoid mind who reflects on it later... especially as he links this with the phonecall he overlooked early about the hotel room. I know this seems all over the place at the moment, it's only really come to me over the last hour or so. I know there are some gaps there (like how did Kirby know that it'd be Aiden that'd find the phone?) but I'm just interested in knowing if this is viable?
this is definitely a viable option. maybe instead of ringing back later, they leave a message later or something along those lines? that way tiffany would ignore it and think its one of those spam calls and aiden later will check the message out...i think the message later would work better than ring later thing personally
Yeah that makes a lot more sense HB. A voicemail makes more sense than him intercepting a call by being in the right place at the right time, there's too many things that could go wrong there. This idea is starting to form nicely, very appreciative to everyone who's taking the time to give me feedback. One thing I'll also mention, which is part of his plan but separate from these incidents, is that firstly Kirby had a whole batch of drugs being sent to the club spiked. They've been mixed with a combination of heavy sedatives, baking powder and citrus acid, so if someone tries to snort them its painful and ineffective and if people digest it or put it on the gums it foams up making them violently ill. The sedatives also make heavy users collapse, so you can imagine all these effects combined lead to a very messy night at the club which is very stressful to the owners! Kirby has also arranged for a drug dealer to be caught distributing carelessly in the club. The bouncers bring him to Aiden, who explains to him the only people allowed to distribute in his club, work for him, but luckily for him, one of his runners has gone missing (also arranged by Kirby). Aiden predictably takes the man's stash and keeps it for his personal use, unaware that it is spiked with meth or something similar, making it more potent and more addictive than what he's used to. These factors contribute to his overall wellbeing, meaning he overthinks little thinks and is becoming increasingly paranoid. I think these factors are important when considering the frame job affair.
Glad you found my idea crazy. I figure you don't want to roll with the same old thing so anything that can open the flood gates (as I see is happening) is a good thing.
