Someone comes into the police station about an old classmate, Pete Scanell, when a journal entry of his perfectly describes the fire that killed Pete’s therapist, Dr. Julie Ramirez, who was treating him for schizophrenia.
Tropes:
- Manipulative Bastard: Dr. Jack Galton, who preyed on Pete’s schizophrenia to murder Julie. Pete hallucinated a friend, Exly, who worked for a “resistance” and told him not to trust people, that they were part of a government conspiracy. Since he knew Julie had given Pete her cell phone, Jack called him and pretended to be Exly, telling Pete that Dr. Ramirez was evil and had to be extinguished by fire.
- Narcissist: Julie diagnosed her co-worker Dr. Jack Galton with Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Turns out, she was spot on.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Julie let Pete sleep at her house and even gave him her cell phone. Jack uses these things to trick Pete into killing Julie, calling him and pretending to be Exly, and persuading him that Julie must die.
- Plea Bargain: One of the suspects of killing Julie had that charge dropped as part of a deal to plead guilty of two other fires.
- Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Julie sincerely cared for her patients, especially Pete, whom she tried to help through music therapy, and even let him stay with her. When she stood up to Jack and pleaded for him to get help himself, he choked her and used Pete’s hallucinations to manipulate him into setting her house on fire.
