[…] “It was a beautiful day,” recalled Marge, who was working at a fruit stand on Route 9 in Westborough when the coast-bound foursome cruised by. “They were tooting …read more […]

Dang that's dark and creepy. And the kind of flick I do enjoy watching (I'm picturing "Zodiac," "Seven," the Castle Rock Killer scenes from "The Dead Zone," "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo," and "Empire Of The Wolves.") Of course, for loving those movies, I don't really know how to write one. Not that I'm worried my idea will come out like True Detective meets The Heat (talk about a movie with an audience of ZERO), I just... it's not something I've practiced for. I also haven't seen True Detective yet (no HBO), so there's the possibility that what I come up with might be similar. But I think the big thing for me is that the mystery hooks me more than solving the mystery does. I'm thinking the person who left the box with the bone might be one of the kids... one was forced to murder and dismember the other.

I don't have HBO so I haven't watched True Detective. The concept of a retired/freelance forensic investigator that has kept evidence of cold cases sounds good. "Cold Case" meets "Bones" would be nice for a series in a "mystery of the week" format and with season-long arcs. One idea: Back in the 70's. A forensic anthropologist was among the best, but always frustrated by two things: technology wasn't as sophisticated as he wished (he knew the theory) and the department's budget was minuscule. He does his job but one day his wife is murdered. Policy forbids him to do the tests, and they're done sloppily. He tries to do the tests himself and that only gets him a suspension. Meanwhile her wife's remains are "lost". When he returns he suspects the killer was someone inside. Using pioneer techniques he starts to uncover clues that lead to the killer - and he's murdered. Today: the son/daughter is also a forensic investigator. One day he tries to fix some stuff in the basement of his house and finds a secret room full of evidence that his father kept. So, he has access to technology and the lab, he starts solving cold cases sending boxes of evidence to the newspaper. But the man who killed his father notices and goes after him. And not just him. Now it's a father-son team of killers

Or... Our protagonist is a well known reporter for a national newspaper. He receives a box from "Deeper Throat" The box has no fingerprints, it's mailed from a fake address and contains bones and documents that could help solve a case that gained national attention. He publishes the documents and at first the police is unwilling to reopen the case, but they eventually have to do so. And the boxes keep arriving. This time: the evidence for a case in which apparently a maid was killed by a gardner. The evidence sent by "Deeper Throat" demonstrates it wasn't the gardner - it was the maid's and gardner's employer: a powerful and very popular politician. The editor doubts about the authenticity, so the reporter starts to dig for info, but henchmen hired by the politician will try to avoid his boss being exposed - at any cost.

Or how about some darker stuff... Think of Zodiac-style killer. But his M.O. is nearly flawless. He has been killing people and nobody has noticed it, he disguises them as accidents. So he sends a box full of evidence - pictures, about two murders: one happened 30 years ago, the other 30 days ago. He says he wants the fame he deserves and will continue killing until he reaches 666 murders. So, detectives and the reporter start to chase him, solve riddles to avoid him killing more people.

With modern technology we wouldn't be talking about packages sent through mail, but emails sent through fake email accounts. Hard or nearly impossible to trace.