Lesson: Climax and Resolution
We're now at the most tense part of the story. Two characters know who the killer is (Morgan and the killer themself), but the reader and the other characters are still in the dark. This can be used to your advantage. What red herrings could be thrown in now? Is there an implication that one character is the murderer, even if they aren't?
To create a good climax, there needs to be tension, and there needs to be something on the line. In this case the stakes are that the murderer would get away, and possibly kill again. In other stories it could be a ticking bomb about to go off (either literally or figuratively), the possibility of failure on a personal or professional level, etc. No matter what your stakes are, you need to be able to boost the level of tension to the point where your reader is on the edge of their seat, reading your words like their life depends on it. You want to pull them into the story, have them rooting for the good guy, and hoping the bad guy doesn't get away with it.
Resolution in mystery stories, especially short mysteries, comes very quickly after the climax. There is a short amount of falling action and conclusion to wrap the story up, and bring the tension back down. This is the end of the rollercoaster, pulling back into the station after the craziest drop. The murderer has been revealed, the detective has triumphed (or not, depending on the story), and the ending has been completed.
(Back to the story now)
All of a sudden, someone
turns the lights off and the room is plunged into darkness. When the lights
come back up, Skylar, Danny, and Morgan are gone.
The remaining three
investigators rush from the room and follow the fleeting sound of footsteps
outside. Alex sees them running down the hill to the indoor pool at the bottom.
Alex, Jesse, and Sam follow them into the pool…
Now it is up to you as
writers to finish the story! Which of the three characters (Skylar, Danny, or
Morgan) is the killer? What is going on inside the pool? How can you create a
climax, and then solve the mystery? How does the story end? Post your endings below if you would like to share, and soon the real killer will be revealed!
Here is the ending that I wrote for this story. How does it compare to what you came up with?
ReplyDeleteAlex, Jesse, and Sam follow them into the pool. Bulbs of light float around the water, reflecting like stars in the surface. It seems deathly quiet, and perfectly still.
On the opposite side of the room, Skylar, Danny, and Morgan are standing very close to the edge of the pool. Danny has two guns in his hands, one pointing at Skylar, one pointing at Morgan. If one of them moves, it is a sure bet that he would shoot both before they even got a foot away. Even if the shots weren’t fatal, they would fall into the pool, and probably drown.
Alex steps forward, his hands in front of his chest. “You don’t have to do this, Danny,” he says in a soothing voice.
“Don’t I? I should kill you all for what you’ve done. I should have realized you would figure it out, of course, but I couldn’t resist. The setting, the timing, it was all perfect.”
“But why would you kill Chief Smith, Danny?” Jesse asks. “He got all of us to where we are now.”
“No, I got myself to where I am. Smith never did anything for me! Then, of course, he found out that some of the reasons why I rose so high are not necessarily… legal. He was going to out me at this meeting. My reputation would have been ruined! What else was I going to do?” Danny sneers. “I had it all planned out so well, too. I made sure I had an alibi for both before and after the dinner. When I was in the kitchen, I poured a bit of cyanide on Smith’s food. The staff was none the wiser. (If path 2 was chosen, add: One of the chefs must have tasted his food before it was delivered, though, and was killed himself. That was never part of my plan.)
“When Smith returned to his room, I’m sure it was only a matter of minutes before he was dead. (If path 3 was chosen, add: It was obviously enough time for him to write down that he had been poisoned, though.) After everyone went to bed, I snuck into Jesse’s room and stole her gun. I put on shoes that I knew were too big, then left a footprint in the mud beneath Smith’s room. Then I took them off, put them in my bag, and climbed up to his window. Once inside, I shot him and discarded Jesse’s gun nearby. He was already dead from the poison, of course.
“That was when I saw the notebook. I hadn’t even known Smith had a notebook. After flipping through it…” Danny laughs wryly. “I knew it needed to go. I ripped off the part with my name on it, then planted the notebook in Morgan’s room. Then I went right back to my room. None of you had a clue.”
In a flash, Skylar tries to turn and attack Danny Scarlet, but a loud bang reverberates through the pool as one of the guns goes off. Skylar falls to the ground, but before Danny can get another shot off, Morgan grabs his wrist and the gun. As they struggle, they slowly approach the edge of the pool. Danny manages to fire the gun again, and it grazes Morgan’s arm, but then they both tumble into the water.
For a few moments both are submerged, then Morgan grasps the edge of the pool and hoists herself up. When Danny resurfaces, he immediately tries to fire at Morgan, but the gun is soaked. He’s weaponless.
Sam pulls out his own gun and points it into the water at Danny Scarlet.
“Did you really think you were going to get away with it, Danny?” Morgan says.
With a reluctant sigh, Danny puts his hands in the air.