  Mystery
This week: Means, motive, and opportunity Edited by: Arakun the twisted raccoon  
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Quote for the week: If the book is a mystery to its author as she's writing, inevitably it's going to be a mystery to the reader as he or she reads it. ~Nicole Krauss
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A crime has been committed, and investigators start combing through a list of suspects. How do they decide which ones to investigate further, and which ones are unlikely to be involved?
According to US law, three aspects of a crime must be established before a defendant can be found guilty of a crime: means, motive, and opportunity (MMO). The suspect must have the ability to commit the crime (means), a believable reason to do it (motive), and the chance to carry it out (opportunity). Just like in a real life case, the means, motive, and opportunity must be established in a mystery story for the solution to be believable.
Means
Did the person have the ability to commit the crime?
If a weapon was used, did the person have access to the weapon, and were they capable of using it? If strength was required, is the person strong enough? If the crime required sophisticated planning, is the person intelligent enough to carry it off? If the crime was expensive to carry out, is the person wealthy?
Of course, it may seem that the suspect doesn't have the means to commit a crime, when in fact, they do. A person may be much stronger than he or she seems. An expert in the use of weapons or martial arts may pretend to know nothing about them. An intelligent person may hide their intellect to avoid being taken seriously as a suspect.
Motive
Why did the person commit the crime?
Motive is often the most difficult to establish, but probably the most important of the three. While many people might have the means and opportunity to commit a crime, hopefully few will have a strong enough motive to want to carry it out. Determining motive often requires an understanding of psychology as well as regular evidence gathering. Possible motives include love, money, revenge, jealousy to name a few.
Opportunity
Did the person have a chance to commit the crime?
Was the person in the area at the time the crime was committed? Do they have an alibi that establishes their presence somewhere else?
Remember that just because a suspect has means, motive, and opportunity to commit a crime, it does not mean they are guilty. Sufficient evidence to convict them must also exist.
Of course, in a mystery story, things aren't always as they seem. Maybe one of your suspects was the victim's best friend, had no experience handling the type of weapon that was used, and was in the next county when the crime was committed. Or was he...
You might want to list motives, means, and opportunities for each of your suspect characters before you start writing. That will help you throw suspicion on several characters without making the guilty party too obvious. It will also help you spot any plot holes before you get too far into the writing.
Something to try: Before you write a mystery story, make a list of all suspects, and their means, motive, and opportunity to commit the crime. |
This great activity only happens once a year to commemorate WDC's birthday, and it is tons of fun! Come as your favorite character, help solve a mystery, and win prizes!!!
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Mystery: August 30, 2017 Issue [#8468]
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