MovieChat Forums > Body Heat (1981) Discussion > Why not just dump.... (Spoilers)

Why not just dump.... (Spoilers)

posted 5 years ago by Speeed (190)
15 replies | jump to latest

Why not just dump.... the body in the ocean? If Ned and Maddy knew that arson was going to be detected then it would've made more sense to just dump the husband into the ocean where his body would decay quickly.

Hubby had dealings with seedy people. He also was gone for a week or weeks at a time so the authorities wouldn't have discovered him missing until the body had decayed substantially. It's also much harder to find forensic evidence of foul play in a badly decomposed body like that.

[–] kwestmo (4385) 5 years ago

Maddy wanted to Ned to get caught. She probably thought of that, being the more intelligent of the two, but that wasn't her plan

[–] Speeed (190) 5 years ago

Even if Maddy wanted Ned to get caught, it was Ned who devised, planned and went through all the details of the arson and body disposal. I'm sure through all this, he must've thought that there would be an easier and less riskier way.

Committing arson with a dead body in a building brought on an immediate investigation by both the fire and police departments. Ned must've realized that this would happen.

[–] kwestmo (4385) 5 years ago

Well, he wasn't too smart. Your points are valid

[–] MCguy (1136) 2 years ago

There is no "Even if Maddy wanted Ned to get caught". That was always her plan. Ned wasn't too smart and completely under her control.

[–] yatzo376 (7717) 5 years ago

Since Edmund had a share of the Breakers , Ned thought the cops would be looking for his partners.

[–] Speeed (190) 5 years ago

I see. So he wanted suspicion to fall on the dead man's seedy partners. That makes sense. Too bad it didn't work.

[–] yatzo376 (7717) 5 years ago

I guess his shady partners were too hard to track down.
Anyway, the cops always look into the spouse first following the death of the significant other.
Followed by the perfectly planned setup for Ned as the fall-guy
Brilliant movie!

[–] mnphotoguy99 (436) 5 years ago

I am under the impression that Ned thought that suspicion would fall on Edmund himself. Make the police think that Edmund screwed up when he was torching the Breakers and got himself killed doing it. That would technically clear Matty and anyone else. But as we know, there were other things at play like Edmund’s glasses, Matty using Ned, etc.

[–] yatzo376 (7717) 5 years ago

Interesting.
That theory works also.

[–] ExTechOp (2770) 3 years ago

it's an interesting theory, but it doesn't hold up

Edmund was wrapped in plastic and wearing only his boxer shorts

Ned knew it'd look like murder, but arson would help cover his own tracks while casting suspicion on Edmund's partners

[–] ProfessorPlum (69) 3 years ago

Ned unwrapped him before starting the fire, and he also made a point of trapping the body under something heavy to make it look like Edmund had set the incendiary device, then got caught under a heavy beam. He was definitely trying to make it look like Edmund was starting the fire to commit insurance fraud and killed himself by accident.

[–] ExTechOp (2770) 3 years ago

I always thought Ned just dropped the beam on Edmund’s head to hide the skull fracture Ned gave him back at the mansion

Your explanation fits with that though - make it look like Edmund set the bomb, and then the beam hit his head.

But now that I think about it, arson was REALLY stupid, especially because Ned was consulting with a known arsonist who has no known connection to Edmund and a very on-the-record connection to Ned

It's idiotic, but it makes perfect sense for a lazy thinker like Ned. He knows the Breakers is a dump, he knows about insurance fraud (because he's probably defended Teddy in other arson-for-insurance cases), so he consults Teddy instead of coming up with an original plan with fewer moving parts.

Ned was so dismally out of his depth all along. I have to confess, I think of Ned more often than I should whenever I’ve been tempted to take a shortcut or go after easy money. So many ways things can go wrong, I'm a genius if I can think of half of 'em, and I am no genius.

At least I'm smarter than Ned

[–] ProfessorPlum (69) 3 years ago

I love this reply - Ned really was outmatched

[–] ExTechOp (2770) 2 years ago

Just watched it again for nostalgia's sake and turns out I was wrong -- Edmund was fully dressed inside all that plastic. Ned and Matty took the time to put clothes on him before moving him to the Breakers.

Seems you were right; they were trying to make it look like Edmund was trying to burn the place down.

[–] JepGambardella (492) 3 years ago

If the husband had just disappeared, it could be years before he would be declared legally dead and she would have been able to get her hands on the money.