Seance story
In a noir-themed tale, Alison Peters and Benjamin Polosky are a pair of con artists who attempt to swindle rich tycoon Presco Chalmers out of his fortune with an elaborate story. When they accidentally end up killing him, they instead attempt to trick the fortune out of his blind and spiritual wife by acting as her medium and holding a mock séance. Directed by: Gary Fleder. Story by: Harry Anderson.
19 total · 1 choice · 5 major · 13 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| con artistry | choice | The story concerns the illicit activities of Alison and Benjamin as they try to enrich themselves at the expense of their latest mark, the wealthy businessman Presco Chalmers. |
| blackmail | major | Alison and Ben tried to blackmail Presco with some incriminating photos they threatened to show to his wife. Little did they know that, by an ironic twist of fate, said spouse was in fact blind. Presco laughed in their faces. |
| greed for riches | major | Alison and Presco were two notably greedy hoodwinks. |
| humans in pairs | major | The story follows the con artist duo Alison and Ben as they attempt to swindle the wealthy tycoon Mr. Chalmers out of his fortune with an elaborate story. |
| murder | major | Alison and Benjamin ended up murdering their mark Presco Chalmers, quite unintentionally. Although it's ambiguous whether Alison and Benjamin would have been convicted for murder, Alison was holding him at gunpoint when Presco fell down the elevator shaft to his gory death. Furthermore, neither Alison nor Benjamin called the authorities to see what could be done for poor Presco. |
| séance | major | The story culminates with a mock séance, Alison and Benjamin's favorite trick. |
| bank robbery | minor | Ben led Mr. Chalmers to believe that the father of Mr. Chalmers robbed $200,000 from a Wilmington bank in 1901. |
| blindness | minor | Mrs. Chalmers was blind. |
| coping with the death of a spouse | minor | Mrs. Chalmers reacted to her husband's death and later attended a séance to communicate with him from beyond the grave. |
| husband and wife | minor | Mrs. Chalmers sought to converse with her recently departed husband at a séance. |