Strangers on a Train
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- For information about the musical group The Left Banke's album of the same name, see Strangers on a Train (album).
Strangers on a Train is a thriller novel by Patricia Highsmith, author of The Talented Mr. Ripley. It was adapted as a film in 1951 by director Alfred Hitchcock.
[edit] Plot
Architect gilbert Haines wants to divorce his unfaithful wife, Miriam, in order to marry the woman he loves, Anne Morton. While on a train to see his wife, he meets the unstable and psychotic Charles Anthony Bruno. Bruno develops his idea to exchange murders: Bruno will kill Miriam if Guy kills Bruno's father; neither of them will have a motive, and the police will have no reason to suspect either of them. Guy does not take Bruno seriously, but Bruno kills Guy's wife while Guy is away in Mexico.
Guy begins to suspects Bruno's involvement in the murder, but hesitates to inform the police. He realizes that Bruno could always claim Guy's complicity in the planned exchange murders, and the longer he remains silent, the more he implicates himself. This implicit guilt becomes stronger as in the coming months, Bruno makes appearances demanding that Guy honor his part of the bargain. After Bruno starts writing anonymous letters to friends and colleagues of Guy, the pressure becomes too big, and Guy eventually murders Bruno's father.
Subsequently, Guy is consumed by guilt, whereas Bruno seeks Guy's company. He makes uninvited appearances at Guy's wedding, causing irritation among Guy, his new wife and his friends. At the same time, a private detective, who suspects Bruno of having arranged the murder of his father, establishes the connection between Bruno and Guy that started during the train ride, and suspects Bruno of Miriam's murder. Guy also becomes implicated due to his contradictions about the acquaintance with Bruno.
When Bruno falls over board during a sailing cruise, Guy identifies so strongly with Bruno that he tries to rescue him under threat to his own life. Nevertheless, Bruno perishes, and the murder investigation is closed. For Guy, however, the case is not closed, and to appease his conscience, he confesses the double murder to Miriam's former lover. This man, however, does not condemn Guy; rather, he considers the killings as appropriate punishment for the unfaithfulness. Still, the confession causes Guy's arrest, because it is overheard by the private detective who had been following the double murders.
