People want to be taken for a ride.
I watch a lot of murder TV programs, and it is utterly amazing how willing people are to believe what they want to believe. An undercover cop will pose as a drug buyer and a drug dealer will get in his car to make the deal. Then the drug dealer notices a camera inside the car, pointed at the interior. Concerned, he'll ask, "Is that a camera?" And the cop will say something like, "It hasn't worked in years." Or "That was here when I bought the car. I never use it." The drug dealer might then ask, "Are you a cop?" "No," the cop says, shaking his head. This verbal reassurance is all the drug dealer needs, so he makes the deal and then his arrested as soon as he gets out of the car. Why didn't he get out of the car as soon as he spotted the camera? Because he wanted to make the deal. He wanted to believe the cop wasn't really a cop. His desire to believe was so strong that it was worth risking his freedom.
Likewise, they'll be an undercover cop acting as a hitman for hire. The baddie wanting someone killed will get in the hitman's car to discuss the intended murder. They often ask, "You aren't a cop, are you?" "No. No way," the cop chuckles. That's all the baddie needs to hear -- they're so willing to be lied to. In one case, the baddie spotted a camera in the cop's car. "Is that a camera?" she asked worriedly. "That's just something my kids play with," the cop lied. That's all the reassurance the woman needed and she proceeded to talk about how she wanted her husband killed as soon as possible.
I feel there's a lesson here for writers. Readers want to go wherever the writer wants to take them. The reader wants to believe the bizarre coincidence or the thing that happened that wasn't scientifically possible, for the sake of being brought along on an interesting or amusing or dramatic story. When authors know a lot about something, we tend to want to explain all our reasoning in the story when, most of the time, the reader doesn't care about all that background stuff. They just want to know what's happening. I recall reading a behind-the-scenes anecdote from the original Star Trek series. A writer spent three precious pages of a script, using dialogue for the characters to explain the science behind a space phenomenon. The producer cut those three pages down to one sentence: "Captain, there's an ion storm approaching." That's all the viewer needed to know.
After the Kentucky Derby a few weeks ago had such a bizarre ending with its first disqualification in history, the Preakness was also the subject of a lot of news for a few hours after it was run. There were few words stated about the winner, War of Will. Everyone was talking about Bodexpress, the riderless horse that ran the whole race -- as though that was a bizarre phenomenon. It not only isn't an unusual thing for a riderless horse to run the race -- when he could just make a beeline for the outside rail and try to find the gap to get back to the barn -- but sometimes riderless horses finish first. It never counts, because they didn't carry the correct weight.
Having said that, it's terrifying for an owner to have a loose horse. That happened to one of our horses in the 90s when I was part of a racing partnership. Our horse Charley -- official name Warwhatisitgoodfor -- was in a night race at The Meadowlands in New Jersey. I was able to watch on my satellite dish. He was in mid pack on the backstretch when a stirrup broke and his jockey tumbled off, unhurt. The first feeling is extreme disappointment that, for him, the race is over. But immediately following is the sheer terror that the Charley might hurt himself or another horse by slamming into them (which I've seen happen with riderless horses). The safest thing for everyone is if the loose horse decides, "Goodie! I can pay hookey and not have to work" and charges to the outside rail to try to find his way back to the barn. But no, Charley stayed in the race, like the professional he was, and thankfully didn't bother anybody. In fact, I'm pretty sure he finished first or second and was none the worse for his decision to stay in the race.
I started a new story that isn't part of the "Adventure" series. I only have a loose plan for it at this point. I'm rather intrigued by the idea of playing around with it, though I haven't written anything further after the first few brief scenes.