Robert Blair was about to knock off from a slow day at his law firm when the phone rang. It was Marion Sharpe on the line, a local woman of quiet disposition who lived with her mother at their decrepit country house, The Franchise. It appeared that she was in some serious trouble: Miss Sharpe and her mother were accused of brutally kidnapping a demure young woman named Betty Kane. Miss Kane's claims seemed highly unlikely, even to Inspector Alan Grant of Scotland Yard, until she described her prison -- the attic room with its cracked window, the kitchen, and the old trunks -- which sounded remarkably like The Franchise. Yet Marion Sharpe claimed the Kane girl had never been there, let alone been held captive for an entire month! Not believing Betty Kane's story, Solicitor Blair takes up the case and, in a dazzling feat of amateur detective work, solves the unbelievable mystery that stumped even Inspector Grant.

ジョセフィン・テイの『フランチャイズ事件』は、集団心理の危うさと「無実の証明」を描いた心理ミステリの白眉です。平穏な日常が少女の嘘で崩壊する過程は恐ろしく、善悪が偏見で歪められる様を鋭く問いかけます。冷静な筆致で綴られる被告人の気高さと弁護士の執念は、読者の魂を激しく揺さぶる傑作といえます。 映像版では屋敷の閉塞感が視覚化され、物語に「空間の恐怖」を加えています。テキストの緻密な心理描写と映像が放つ剥き出しの狂気の相乗効果こそが醍醐味。二つのメディアを通して、この「美しき怪物」のような物語をぜひ堪能してください。