In need of a lift
As Dostoevsky pointed out, laws are about crime and punishment. The criminal justice system specifies how much jail time be accorded for the felonies and misdemeanours committed. Defence lawyers plead mitigating circumstances to lessen the severity of the verdict. Prosecutors are determined to throw the book at the defendant.
Which is where motive plays a major part. The defence will try to make it appear as if the defendant had compelling reasons. To the prosecutor, this will be irrelevant; the act speaks for itself.
To be sure, motives do greatly vary. Having had abusive parents is a common one. This warps a child’s concept of human relationships. Blind jealousy is another common motive, as an infuriated wife or husband learns their spouse has betrayed their marriage vows.
Then there’s the co-ed who killed and chopped up her classmate for coming on to her best friend’s boyfriend. Or what of the gunman massacring a crowd, claiming he’s a political activist?
Vengeance is in a class of its own, because it applies to countries as well as individuals. Countries that have lost a war and, with it, possessions and/or territory, often look for an excuse to wage a new war to redress the balance. Individuals may harbour thoughts of vengeance for wrongs, real or imagined, done to them or their loved ones.
Crime thriller novelists are particularly fond of this variety. US author Linwood Barclay has a go in Elevator Pitch. Set in Manhattan, it focuses on its ubiquitous skyscrapers, filled with offices and thousands upon thousands of people coming and going every day.
In the The classic film The Towering Inferno a packed skyscraper catches fire. Not all survived. We don’t even need fiction to imagine such scenarios; the 9/11 suicide attacks on the Twin Towers left around 3,000 dead.
In Elevator Pitch the scrivener zeros in on the lifts; regardless of the floor button pressed, it shoots to the top, then plummets to the bottom, fatal to all aboard. A tragic, inexplicable accident. Or is it? When it happens again the next day, the media starts asking questions.
The third such crash a day later shuts down the offices. A body is found with its hands cut off, delaying identification. Elevator inspectors and the NYPD find other means to reach the top. Sure enough, the gear had been sabotaged. Why? There’s an intense investigation, a journalist at the forefront. It all adds up to not very much.