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THE EXECUTIONER’S LIE: A SYNOPSIS The
time is twenty years from now. Capital punishment has been re-introduced in all
its forms and is shown prime time on television. Carnelian Smith is approached
by Gene Twice – liaison for the Office of Administers – and is given the
commission for the execution of serial killer Thomas Dalton. Before he can
accept this commission he must interview Dalton, as in this society the
executioner is ultimately responsible, for they must judge the judges. Prior to
this interview Gene Twice’s boss, Ethan Mason, is killed in a hotel room. Smith
accepts the commission: he will behead Thomas Dalton at the appointed time.
Meanwhile the police have discovered something strange about Mason’s death.
There is genetic evidence at the murder scene that Jennifer Feldane, a woman
executed some years before, was present. They investigate. As
things proceed with the execution, Smith grows closer to Gene and the press pack
close in. The police discover that the woman present in the hotel room with
Mason was Jennifer Feldane’s daughter, Polly. They have discovered that the
murder Jennifer Feldane was executed for, was her attempt to cover-up the fact
that she had cloned herself. Hence the genetic match. Smith
carries out the execution of Dalton and the whole thing is televised. After, he
goes to meet Gene in a hotel. The police have meanwhile discovered that Gene
Twice is Polly Feldane. They surmise that she is exacting vengeance for the
execution of her mother – Mason signed the death warrant and Smith carried out
the sentence. They hurry to find her and Smith before she kills him. They arrive
and arrest Gene. Anomalies
in the evidence lead the officers to suspect that Gene is not the killer they
thought. To prove this to themselves, and at Gene’s request, they call Smith
in to give her the pre-execution interview before the trial, as the opinion of
the executioner can stand as evidence. Soon convinced of Gene’s innocence they
see the obvious: that it was Mason’s wife who did the dirty deed. With Smith
in tow they go to arrest her. Upon their arrival Mason’s wife, terrified by
the sight of Smith, kills herself. Ends
with TV program introducing the latest method of execution. Running
time: One hour. |
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