Delaney & Murphy… psychological thrillers

Something happened here. Behind these walls, in these rooms, on the grounds, at the river. The inmate sketched it all – fine lines. See there, in the negative space, the truth in the pencil strokes. Then he was gone.

Joe was their friend; the man they spoke to through the wire fence of the Lunatic Asylum, and 10-year-old best friends, Nathan Walker and Adam Murphy, knew he wasn’t insane. Then, one day, Joe was gone.

Now hitting their thirties—jobs and divorces in their wake—ex-cop, current P.I. Nate and psychiatrist Adam decide to share office space and a receptionist. That’s when the letter arrives advising them that they have received ‘Expectations’. A quaint, old-fashioned bequest delivered by a solicitor which amounts to an inheritance for two boys – left by Joseph O’Connell, a missing-believed-deceased former patient at the River Park Lunatic Asylum.

Adam couldn’t wait… his Uncle Allan was coming to watch his cricket game this afternoon; Adam’s father was always too busy to get there. Uncle Allan believed Adam and his best friend, Nate, would one day be chosen for the State side if they kept practicing… Adam’s bowling was really improving. Adam didn’t have an Uncle Allan.

Then: Eleven-year-old Nate wasn’t happy. There was a new kid on the block named Griffin Maxwell and he wanted Adam to be his best friend. That was Nate’s job, they had sworn they were blood brothers forever. Two days after Adam’s birthday party when Adam received a strange birthday present from Griffin, the Maxwell family was gone.

They were two boys from opposite sides of the track and firm friends. Nate lived in a modest house in the new Riverlink Estate and went to the public school. His dad worked in sales; his mother baked cakes for the school fete and Nate was the centre of their world. Adam Murphy lived on the rich side of the estate with a jetty and water access, and went to the private college. Adam’s media mogul father also managed the career of Adam’s model mother, Winsome – the IT girl, and they spent their days interstate, leaving Adam in the care of his eccentric widow grandmother, Audrey, who lived on the property.

Outside of school hours, the two boys spent their days at the creek, climbing trees, fishing, and riding on their bikes; Griffin Maxwell’s friendship was not needed according to Nate.

Now… Twenty years later, Nate’s new client is concerned their daughter is being held against her will in a Wellness Studio, making content that was not what she signed up for at the time. Nate enlists Adam’s help to understand the psychology of the “cult”. That’s when they discover Griffin Maxwell is back. And he wants Adam to come out and play.