The Evidence Room Clues
During a routine audit of the evidence room, a young detective notices irregularities with the items logged from a decade-old unsolved case. Explore her clandestine re-investigation into the high-profile disappearance of a city councilman that leads her deep into the past corruption of her own department.
Suggested length: A short story: 1,500 to 5,000 words, or flash fiction under 1,000
Start the clock
Pick a sprint, press start and keep going until it stops. Momentum beats polish on a first draft.
Make it yours
Three ways to take this prompt somewhere nobody else will.
- End with the solution in a single line of dialogue.
- Plant the key clue in the first scene, in plain sight.
- Limit it to one location and one night.
Writing mystery books
Who did it? You get every clue and a fair shot at the answer.
A mystery opens with a puzzle, usually a death, and closes with the solution. In between, a detective (professional or not) gathers clues and suspects while the reader tries to get there first. A mystery looks backward, at a crime that has already happened.
What readers expect
- A crime or puzzle early on
- Clues, suspects and red herrings
- A detective the reader follows
- A solution that is surprising but fair
A tip before you start
Play fair. Every clue your detective uses should appear on the page first, ideally hidden in plain sight.
More Police Procedural prompts
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- The Crime Prediction SystemIn a city where police officers are paired with AI-driven crime prediction systems, one officer becomes suspicious when his AI partner starts…
- The Precinct's Hidden CaseWrite a story from the perspective of a rookie police officer who uncovers a long-unsolved case hidden in the false bottom of an old filing cabinet at…
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