Murder at Hearst Castle: An Introduction to Basic Mystery Writing (Part Two)

Please read Part One before moving on to this section of the lesson.


Think Back: Which characters have alibis that can be corroborated?

Character	Alibi- Before Dinner	Alibi- After Dinner
Jesse Rivers	Confirmed	Unconfirmed
Skylar Matthew	Confirmed	Unconfirmed
Morgan Gilbert	Unconfirmed	Confirmed
Danny Scarlet	Confirmed	Confirmed
Sam Alcott	Unconfirmed	Unconfirmed
Alex Casey	Unconfirmed	Confirmed

Alex Casey points out that there were certain pieces of evidence around the room. Firstly, the gun is still in the room, tossed carelessly on the floor. Everyone immediately checks for their own firearms, and the one that is missing is Jesse Rivers’. Every eye turns towards her, but Jesse insists on her innocence.

Then, Morgan mentions that the door was locked from the inside. So how did the killer get in? They look around the room and spot a window. Upon further examination, it is clear that the window was forced open so that someone could have gained entry through it. However, the room is on the third floor, so someone would have had to climb quite a ways in order to get in.

“But wait a second,” Danny says. “It rained yesterday. Maybe there are footprints in the mud.”

The group rushes outside, and sure enough there are the prints of a size 12 shoe in the wet mud below the window.

The shoe print is too big to be Skylar’s, Danny’s, or Morgan’s, and too small to be Jesse’s, Sam’s, or Alex’s.

Part Two Lesson

Definitions:

Physical Evidence: Fingerprints, footprints, DNA, blood evidence, ripped cloth, tire tracks, etc.

Subjective Evidence: Witness or suspect testimonies, a broken alibi, incriminating notes or emails, etc.

Red Herrings: Evidence that may have been planted by the culprit in an attempt to redirect the investigation, or simply evidence that seems important to one investigation but is really just important to another.

Be the Author: Vote below on where to go next in the story. Comment with either Option 1, 2, or 3 by March 6th.

Option 1: The victim’s body is more thoroughly analyzed

Option 2: A second victim is found

Option 3: A half-written note is found

 

To Be Continued...