by Elisabeth
Ben Bradford is a Wall Street lawyer. He is married to Beth and they have two little boys.
Ben’s life is apparently a success as he has a good job, a nice family and an elegant
property in Connecticut. But, in fact, he is becoming more and more frustrated. He wanted
to be a photographer but his father hindered him from doing it for he thought it’s not a way
of making money. So Ben studied law and is now an associate in a lawyer firm. However,
Ben has a room in the basement of his house where he stashes all the cameras he has bought.
Beth, his wife, is also frustrated. She wrote novels which many publishers turned down (Ben
thought her books were cheesy). His wife is becoming estranged from him. Now they are not
on speaking terms.They only argue when they talk to each other. He suddenly understands
that Beth has a lover, Gary Summers who is one of their neighbours and another failed
photographer.
Ben goes to Gary’s home and has a row with him. Ben is beside himself. He blows a fuse and
hits Gary’s head with a wine bottle. The bottle breaks and the neck of the bottle goes into
Gary’s nape. Blood spurts out and Gary dies.
Ben loses his bearings during a few minutes and then decides to face up to the situation. He
covers up his crime. He washes himself, cleans up the room, puts the corpse into the fridge
and goes back home (his wife is not there).
He sneaks into Gary’s house during the following nights. He hacks into his computer to know
everything about him and to take on his identity. Then he stages his own death. He brings
Gary’s corpse onto a boat that a couple of friends lent to him. He puts his own clothes onto
Gary. He sails toward the place he wants to go. Then he spreads oil all over the boat and
before leaving it on a dinghy he sets fire on it.
Afterwards, he gets back Gary’s car that he has hidden and drives westwards to keep himself
far away from his previous life.
Can you see any expressions or phrasal verbs in the above text?