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Mystery: November 15, 2023 Issue [#12275]




 This week: Hiding evidence
  Edited by: Arakun the twisted raccoon Author IconMail Icon
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Table of Contents

1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions

About This Newsletter

Quote for the week:

"Mystery spread its cloak across the sky.
We lost our way.
Shadows fell from trees.
They knew why."

~From House of Four Doors by the Moody Blues


Word from our sponsor

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Letter from the editor

If the criminals in your mystery stories don't want to be caught too easily, they will have to make sure they don't leave evidence for the police to find.

Depending on what the evidence is, there are different ways they might try to hide it. If it is something they don't care about keeping, they might destroy it. Papers might be burned or shredded. The guilty party might try to clean up any fingerprints or other indicators that they were present at the crime scene. They might wash or burn the clothes they were wearing. A weapon such as a gun or knife might be discarded somewhere far from the scene or thrown in to a body of water. They might try to destroy surveillance video that might show them in any place they shouldn't have been.

If the evidence is something the person does not want to destroy, they will need to hide it. They might bury it or hide it in some place where they think the police will not look.

Most crimes are solved because the perpetrators are not as good at hiding evidence as they think. For example, they might try cleaning up blood stains with bleach, not knowing that forensic scientists still have ways of detecting it.

In the short story, "Lamb to the Slaughter" by Roald Dahl, a woman uses an unusual weapon to kill her cheating husband and also disposes of it in an unusual way. I don't want to give away too many details for anyone who hasn't read it, but the murder weapon was literally right under the investigators' noses!

Something to try: Write a mystery story that involves someone hiding evidence in an unusual way.


Editor's Picks

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The Fun of Fishing Open in new Window. (E)
Mark has time to kill
#2101720 by WakeUpAndLive Author IconMail Icon


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Reflection of the Night Open in new Window. (13+)
Very Short Story About Tolerance Written for W/C Contest 2003
#637654 by ♥HOOves♥ Author IconMail Icon


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VIRGIL BEAVER Open in new Window. (13+)
A short story about two Kentucky friends: one Virgil Beaver.
#1321995 by Maria Mize Author IconMail Icon


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Twenty-nine Open in new Window. (13+)
There's some things in this world you can't explain. (2142 w) Winner: 2020 Quill Awards.
#2235558 by Nightkeeper Author IconMail Icon


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Founder's Day Fireworks Open in new Window. (13+)
The high-browed community's celebrations are marred by revenge.
#2304592 by Joey's Feeling the season! Author IconMail Icon

 
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