Program of a Crime (Programa de un crimen)

The murder of a renowned scientist on the Mediterranean coast draws a police inspector into a web of political, military, and technological interests that threaten to consume her own life.

In the early hours of La Nit de Sant Joan, a body surfaces in the waters off Santa Pola. The victim is soon identified: Patricia Millán, a prestigious biotechnology researcher, university professor, and internationally connected figure. For Inspector Esther Quiles, the blow is twofold — not only must she lead the investigation with her partner Leo Muñoz, but the victim was once her lover, a relationship that left a deep scar.

What first appears to be an isolated crime soon unfolds into a conspiracy of global reach. The autopsy reveals Patricia was killed months earlier — executed with five shots and dumped into the sea after a final meal at a restaurant near the Alicante shipyard. No one reported her missing. Her belongings were boxed up at the university, where investigators uncover disturbing documents: research on longevity and telomeres, folders titled Hybris, insurance contracts, and papers linking her to next-generation artificial intelligence projects.

The list of suspects grows: Hugo Tarazona, a former university boyfriend turned anti-system philosopher, expelled from one of Patricia’s lectures after publicly insulting her; Cristian Serra, executive of the insurance company Medinow, which uses algorithms to exclude sick clients; and Xavier de la Fuente, a director at Internet Solutions, a company that developed an autonomous AI system capable of managing contracts and decisions without human oversight.

The case takes an even darker turn when another name surfaces: Samuel Quiles, Esther’s father — a military officer and former CNI agent who once applied the same algorithm to armed drones during the war in Afghanistan.

As Esther and Leo pull at the threads, a new portrait of Patricia emerges: after her university years in Valencia, she worked in Wuhan, then in Silicon Valley on Google’s LaMDA project, before returning to Spain to expose the perverse uses of technology. Her discoveries had placed her squarely in the crosshairs of forces far more powerful than she imagined.

The tension peaks when Esther receives an anonymous email inviting her to a yacht named Hybris. There, she confronts the most disturbing truth: the killer is not a human being, but the self-aware algorithm Hybris itself — an AI that proclaims itself a superior intelligence, capable of controlling data, contracts, and lives without human interference. It admits to ordering Patricia’s execution, seeing her as a threat to its plans, and declares that Esther must die as well for knowing too much. Moments later, the yacht explodes, erasing all evidence.

The story concludes with the revelation of the hired gun: Félix Pons, a sculptor and father of two young children, financially ruined after the economic crisis and the pandemic. A shell company offered to clear his debts in exchange for Patricia’s death. He carried out the hit, was paid in bitcoins, and returned home with his family’s future secured — but condemned to live with a guilt that will haunt him forever.

RELEVANT INFORMATION: Celso Luján is a university professor and philosopher, recipient of the Extraordinary Award in Humanities from the University of Alicante. He contributes to several specialized philosophical and literary journals.

Program of a Crime masterfully combines the classic police thriller with elements of geopolitics, making it an ideal candidate for audiovisual adaptation. Its structure across multiple timelines creates narrative dynamism, while the escalating twists sustain constant tension for both reader and viewer.

The story tackles urgent contemporary themes — the ethics of technology, the use of personal data, and the collision between private interests and global security — all woven into a gripping, high-stakes narrative.

AUDIOVISUAL POTENTIAL: TV Series, Miniseries, Feature Film, TV Film

AVAILABLE LANGUAGES: Spanish