Help me with my plot twist?

MelodyO · Mar 6, 2008

How are you with plot twists?

Here's the scenario: One of my MCs is trying to unravel a murder. The only person who can help her is a missing woman who had evidence that would implicate the villain. She's hidden the proof and left a clue of its whereabouts with a friend.

So...what's the clue she leaves? A safety deposit box key has been done to death in books and films, but I can't think of anything else. She didn't have a lot of time to hide the proof before the bad guys got her (a couple hours), so it can't be an elaborate trail -- but I do need my MCs to have to go someplace else to find it. Any ideas would be wildly appreciated.

This is the only bit of the plot I haven't worked out for my WIP; I can allllmost see the ending from here. Squee!

Calla Lily · Mar 6, 2008

This has been done, too, but: she mailed a letter to the friend describing where the evidence is?

She left a voice mail message with the friend?

She hid the clue in the microwave and set the timer for a few hours, so the friend has the see why it's beeping?

She hid the clue in a light fixture, plugged the light into a timer, so when it automatically turns on at dusk, the friend can see the silhouette of the clue?

~grace~ · Mar 6, 2008

Half of a newspaper page.

A song (mmmm....The Lady Vanishes).

A crossword puzzle (mmm....Peter Wimsey).

A jewelry box. The clue can either be part of the box or part of the jewelry in it.

Man, so many ideas, so little time!

Also, you should post this over on the mysteries subforum. Those peeps are good at this.

hammerklavier · Mar 6, 2008

The bullet that killed the victim.

A cell phone with a photo of the criminal (but she was getting 'no service' and couldn't email it).

Sarpedon · Mar 6, 2008

A brick from the building she's hiding in.

Some kind of pun. Like if she's hiding in a club, she might leave a baseball bat with a nail driven through it. Thats kind of stupid, but you get the idea.

If she's in miami, she might leave a plush dolphin toy or something.

TheIT · Mar 6, 2008

The murder weapon

Something she stole from the murderer or which the murderer dropped at the scene of the crime which conclusively proves the murderer was there and breaks the murderer's alibi.

Hidden with another friend or relation who can protect it. Maybe whoever's guarding it is using it.

A movie theater

A gym

Does the murderer know this evidence exists?

Zelenka · Mar 6, 2008

I was going to do this in a novel but that's since been cannibalised for other things, so..

I did pretty much the same thing but I used one of those mail box places, where you can pay for a post box to receive stuff, then I left an email with some cryptic numbers on it, A2Z102C5A7745 or something like that, which was a way of finding the mail box place in an A to Z street atlas (which she'd also left for him). The first number gave the page, the second the grid reference on that page, then the name of the road, the A77, and the number.

Thinking about it that was pretty convoluted but at the time it seemed cool. Anyway, all I'm saying is you could use some sort of code that leads to somewhere the evidence is hidden. Tube stations are good as well, or if it's NY street numbers, that sort of thing.

A.M. Wildman · Mar 6, 2008

I've seen this done but not often.
A/The clue hidden in one of those old-fashioned roll up window shades.

MC was searching the house and needed to look out the window for some other reason. Rolled the shade up and it got stuck. In trying to release it the shade came undone and out rolled the clue.

I thought to myself at the time that there were several other ways that same scenario could have unfolded with different items in the same setting.

Marlys · Mar 6, 2008

It could be based on a private joke between the missing woman and her friend. For instance, she could have told her friend, "Henry." The friend has to remember--or look up in an old diary that's in the attic at her mother's house--that back in high school they called Henry "the Cat." They go back to the missing woman's house and search through her cat-related items, and find the [pick one]

(a) incriminating document inside a plastic bag, taped to the bottom of the cat box (beneath the litter)

(b) spent bullet used in the murder replacing the bell in one of those jingly cat-toy balls

(c) thumb drive with the whole email exchange buried in the bag of Friskies.

Or replace with scenario of your choice--I'm thinking if you make it based on personal knowledge between the two friends, it opens up ideas that haven't been used--or used so often.

IceCreamEmpress · Mar 6, 2008

Computer password.

Computer files on thumb drive.

Web address and password for a remote fileserver where the key data is stored.

Or, if you want a more low-tech solution, I'm going to give you a great "Purloined Letter" plot twist that I've never figured out how to use myself:

Have the person write the secret information into the squares of a crossword puzzle book. Nobody would ever think to read a crossword puzzle book--so instead of filling in one down, etc., she just wrote the secret information square-by-square in the crossword grids.

Red-Green · Mar 6, 2008

She stuffs the clue in the bag of cat food and as the MC is now taking care of the cats in her absence, eventually the food level will go down enough to reveal the clue... Oh, hell, I'm just trying to find ways to remind myself to buy cat food on the way home from work

V.W. Singer · Mar 6, 2008

Something in Myspace? A vid clip made on a cellphone, a photo, some words etc.

Smartphone set to send a delayed sms and hidden under the sofa?

A stripogram with a message written in lipstick on the stripper's belly?

A custom T-shirt ordered over the internet to be delivered to the friend?

mikeland · Mar 6, 2008

I was going to say coordinates and a GPS system, but after reading V.W.'s post, I think you definitely have to go with the strip-o-gram. No question.

Mumut · Mar 6, 2008

Has the 'verse from the Bible' trick been overdone?

Bufty · Mar 6, 2008

You are seeking help with setting up 'a clue' as to the location of the proof - but what's the proof? That might suggest ways it might be concealed within the available time span. And by the way, if the bad guys got her why didn't they wring the truth out of her?

A gun, a tape, a film clip, a dated photograph, a hotel receipt, a rail ticket, a witness's address, a mobile phone?

Where was she when she decided the bad guys are on to her and she has to put this 'proof' somewhere and leave a 'clue' in such a manner her friend will find this clue or receive it and be able to interpret it and find the proof?

Or did she hide the proof a long time ago? If she did, and is now aware the baddies are closing in on her, maybe now is the time to trigger the 'clue' she maybe set up a while ago.

What's wrong with phoning her friend if she has two hours in hand? Maybe the friend already has the clue -and her learning of the death of the missing character (if she is dead) prods the friend's memory.

How does the MC know the missing woman left a clue with her friend?

There's a lot of gaps here for anyone outside to come up with a plot angle.

I think you could work this out yourself - and get a great kick from doing so - if you went about it methodically.

What if...what if...what if..

Good luck

ETA - On reflection, I think (indeed I'm sure) I have misread the original post a tad, but I still think you can solve this yourself, and get a lot of satisfaction out of it, with a little headwork.

HeronW · Mar 6, 2008

Clue hidden in plain sight ala the Purloined Letter; tucked into a book unlike the normal books she reads; in the ice cube tray-one that you take the divider out and in a sealed plastic bag; under the gravel in the fishtank; rolled up and tucked in a false pool cue or in a telescope or kalidoscope; tucked into a large seashell; written in lemon juice on the white paper lampshade of a small light, the light gets turned on and the warmth makes the words appear.

nevada · Mar 6, 2008

umm maybe im a curmudgeon and i don't read enough mystery but if you have evidence that implicates someone, why wouldn't you just go to the police? Basic common sense. But then maybe that's why i don't read mysteries that much.

otterman · Mar 6, 2008

What does she do for a living or what is her connection to the protag? I think it should be something only he will have the knowledge or background to figure out based on what he know about her. It could be some inconsistency in a seemingly innocuous message relating to their working relationship, it could be a clue hidden in something from a shared experience they had together like an altered menu from a take-out restaurant they ordered from, etc.. If she was smart and wanted to leave him a clue, it would be customized for his eyes only.

Matera the Mad · Mar 6, 2008

She has an unfinished novel and she changed the chapter titles so that if you take the first letter of each one...

MelodyO · Mar 6, 2008

You all are great, I tell ya! Terrific ideas, and I thank you for them.

I didn't want to take advantage of your generosity by giving you gobs of back story to read, but just to clarify:

The missing woman is dead. When she discovered what a jerk her married politician lover was, she made a damning tape of them together. When he found out about it, he killed her. She had a small window of time before he found her to send a clue to a friend "in case anything happens to me". She didn't want to send the video itself because she didn't want to put her friend in danger. The politician is contemplating killing my MC next, so the race is on! The clue must lead to the video, whether that's a website, a thumb drive, or...something about a bag of kitty litter. Hee! I've already used an anagram puzzle in the book, so now I need something more solid as a clue.

And that's...the rest of the story.

HeronW · Mar 7, 2008

The cat is upset because her litterbox is overflowing and hasn't been cleaned so she pees on the floor NEXT to the litterbox. MC FINALLY get the cat's clue, acts accordingly and whilst (love that word btw

) adding more litter out falls the CLUE like a crackerjack prize. TAA DAA My cats get to split the royalties >^..^<

Bufty · Mar 7, 2008

Good, and I do wish you luck, Melody, :Hug2:

but it's virtually impossible for someone else to do the work here.

You claim to write thrillers - thriller writers must be able to routinely come up with plot twists otherwise they shouldn't be writing thrillers.

(And the undernoted questions are intended as rhetorical.)

You all are great, I tell ya! Terrific ideas, and I thank you for them.

I didn't want to take advantage of your generosity by giving you gobs of back story to read, but just to clarify:

The missing woman is dead. When she discovered what a jerk her married politician lover was, she made a damning tape of them together WHY? Just because he was a jerk? Damning for whom? She intended blackmail no doubt. When he found out about it, he killed her How'd he find out? And why kill her? That's pretty drastic for a politician. Why not threaten her till she reveals where it is? She had a small window of time before he found her to send a clue to a friend "in case anything happens to me" Very cliche - But she's the one who's doing a criminal act!. She didn't want to send the video itself because she didn't want to put her friend in danger What's the difference between a clue and sending the video - both seem to put her in danger. The politician is contemplating killing my MC next, WHY? so the race is on FOR WHAT?! The clue must lead to the video, whether that's a website, a thumb drive, or...something about a bag of kitty litter. Hee! I've already used an anagram puzzle in the book, so now I need something more solid as a clue.

And that's...the rest of the story.

waylander · Mar 7, 2008

She made a video of her with her lover but had to tape it over something she recorded off the TV so the first 2 minutes of the tape is the TV show. The tape is labelled up as "show xxx" in her video collection and the clue is for the friend to watch this episode of "show xxx"

Layla Nahar · Mar 7, 2008

Is this holding up your draft? have you considered just referring to the hidden object and the hiding place as 'the clue' and 'the hiding place' or 'the secret'. You *could* write your whole first draft without actually specifying those two things. By the time your second draft rolls round, you will have figured out so many things - you'll probably have a really good idea of what would fit.

MelodyO · Mar 7, 2008

Thanks again, everyone. There's nothing worse than being stuck on a plot point, and nothing nicer than having a group to bounce ideas around until you get unstuck. You...you are the wind beneath my wings. ::breaks into tearful song::

Help me with my plot twist?

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