The backdrop is the 1922s. Setting is a big house on the outskirts of town (close enough to downtown to be the talk of the town, but far enough to where they have their privacy) The murder is important because it impacts the 3 daughters differently (none of them leaves the house) the eldest daughter was away at university when it happened and 10 years later, she doesnt leave the house because she wants to protect her sisters financially. the second sister was had snuck out to visit a boyfriend when it happened, so 10 years later, she doesnt leave the house so that she could protect her sisters (she becomes their caretaker) the last sister hid in the bathroom when it happened. the house gives her anxiety to the point of being triggered every time she hears the faucet drip. even though she WANTS to leave the house, she feels that she must stay to help her two sisters who are grieving in their own ways. now.... how do I kill the parents? I'm thinking a murder robbery, but if thats the case, is it logical that they would have checked the bathroom in their raid (especially since they scoped out the house before hand and knew that this family had at least 2 daughters still at home)? if its not logical..... what other way can i kill the parents and have it tied to the house? (Note: the story takes places 10 years after the murder... so its referenced by the youngest daughter who was in the house at the time, but she doesnt talk about it in detail)
Maybe the father had crossed someone important in the town concerning a shady deal of some kind, who sent a couple of goons to kill him and his wife. Said goons were just doing a job and didn't care if anyone else was in the house.
Could just be a serial killer who gets his jollies by raping and killing - anyone. He was satisfied with the mother and father, and just left.
i can kind of make this work The father was a successful accountant. Maybe the murderer was a goon who was looking for the documents for a certain deal gone wrong that the father had in his study. documents that could possibly put the guy away for a long time. (This, though, i'm having a hard time trying to visualize it not falling back on the daughters. like, the goons/boss still hanging around and what not) this seems like the simplest route.... the whole "sometimes people just do bad things"/"there are just bad people in the world" and could also explain why the sisters are reclusive. (this, though may also lead to a problem. 10 years after the fact, they have a boarder. he's part of the group of laborers migrating from the south and they keep him on to do repairs to their house. they trust him enough to let him into the house to do this... if they are so afraid of "bad people in the world", they wouldnt let this guy in their house. another main plot is trying to marry off the youngest sister for money so that they can keep up the house. to find her a husband, they host all sorts of people in their parlor) Good ideas that i'll keep playing around with!
Murder-Suicide? One caught the other cheating? Betrayal? One of the daughters isn't his and he finds out? Domestic Violence? He's abusive, she kill him? Lover's Quarrel? Scorned lover kills them both? Prohibition Crime? Dirty Sheriff taking care of business Angry gators? Is the house near a swamp?
i like the idea of a liquor/prohibition related crime this, though... so my great grandfather was murdered in a lovers quarrel. his BROTHER was messing with a married woman, and the spouse saw my great grandfather walking down the road and shot him, thinking he was his brother (my grandmother was 4, i believe, when it happened). all that to say..... now ya got me thinking about "mistaken identity" and i think i might be on to something!
Murder-suicide opens up all sorts of psychological consequences for the sisters that might help to explain their states of mind ten years later
but im struggling to come up with a trigger. what would cause the mom/dad to wake up one day and choose this? I know its hard to explain suicide.... "why" is often a question we ask when it happens. but for the sake of this story, i'd need a why. I have the family as a loving, hardworking family. the youngest daughter reflects on how her mother could make anything grow and loved her plants. she was also a homemaker and taught the youngest daughter how to cook. the middle daughter reflects on how neat and organized the mother kept everything. the oldest daughter reflects on how easy going the father was, but how very intelligent and that he was the one who inspired her to go to college while most girls were preparing to be wives and caretakers. to the girls, they were perfect and to the town, they seem like a wonderful family I guess thats why i havent consider this option
The possibilities for secret dual lives is exciting! Both so...normal...no one would suspect he was... and that she had been...and neither one knew, until...
You could hide the surviving daughter in the basement where one of the pipes was dripping. Oo, oo. She's in the basement and the pipe drips when it drains off water from the bathroom sink where the murderer washes his hands after doing the deed. That doesn't solve how to kill the parents but it might solve the dilemma of why didn't the murderer check the bathroom. The murder of the parents was a mistake. The murderer meant to take out the couple next door who owe money to Lenny the Usurer, but it is so hard to get good help these days...
I understand. Have you considered that it was just a freak accident? He was trying to fix the stove plug and gets electrocuted and she tries to pull him off the cable and gets it too. (My husband's cousin's husband actually died this way) A senseless freak accident would also lead the girls on a search for meaning
How about a case of mistaken identity? The perps intended to kill a couple next door or on a different street with a similar name, and got the address wrong.
Prohibition came in 1919 and that sparked an increase in crime, in particular the Mafia. A shadow of events might help the reader foresee the error—as Naomasa298 suggested in a mistaken identity—and raise the tension. The Mafia had the right name, but the wrong couple who had crossed them. The hit would have no apparent motive and no further action, leaving the three sisters to wonder if they were in danger.
An accident with a gun? Maybe he was cleaning it and it went off, shot her, and ricocheted and got him too. Maybe he was trying to teach her to shoot. Maybe he was drunk and trying to shoot a critter. Maybe the dad was Inigo Montoya. (Sorry!!! He killed someone's father and had to die....) Maybe one got sick and the other couldn't live without the love of their life. Maybe the healthy one told the youngest daughter to go to the bathroom/basement (were basements a thing at that time?) and to not come out "no matter what." Would explain why she doesn't leave even though she wants to. --The sick one could die from the sickness, OR the healthy one could feel they needed to put the sick one out of their misery (maybe they ask?).
I figured it out! I already have that the house is a big nice house and is a family heirloom that had been willed to the father. I've added a brother. when Prohibition hits, he falls on hard times and owes people money, so naturally he goes to the one person he knows with a big house and therefore big money. he shows up on his brother's doorstep and the younger daughter lets him into the house (because he's her uncle so she doesnt see him as a stranger). he and his brother argue, he shoots him in his study. The mother, having heard the shots, hides the youngest in the first place she could get to (the bathroom) and goes out to confront the brother and he shoots her too and flees (he doesnt care about the youngest daughter, he only cared about his brother's money). The uncle gets caught regardless (either by the police or by the people he owes money to.... havent decided yet), so he's out of the picture 10 years later. It would also lead to the younger sister feeling guilt for her parents deaths because she was the one who opened the door and let him in. Thanks everyone for getting the creative juices flowing again!!
