1B. Early in the story, reveal clues suggesting both physical and psychological aspects of the initial crime. These clues should point to suspects and motive which will carry the sleuth (protagonist) to the end of Act 1. Some clues should point the sleuth in the right direction, others not so obvious, or recognized as factual clues until later in the story.
The building failure occurred because of compromised terra cotta fire proofing that did not shield the structural members along the edge of the foundation on one wall of the structure. The building, of course, was somewhat old with a raft foundation reinforced with steel plate. The company that owns the property and structure is a paper and stationary manufacturing company that has fallen on hard times in this digital age.The company is a mom and pop operation with the family still running the business.
The structure is adjacent to a site under development to become a large structure with retail and commercial at the base, shared office space on the next 5 levels and a limited number of apartments on the upper floors, as well as a bar and restaurant on the upper level, partially open.
The structure was designed by a well-known architect from Chicago who was famous for not only for his buildings, but for his relationships and rumored abuse. Some even believe he was a white nationalist who promoted racism and suppression of blacks, irish, and german population. These same people point to ornamentation on the building that they say are symbols that represent and broadcast his racist beliefs. There have been petitions and rallys by a group of Chicagoans to have the ornamentation in question taken down.
Entering emotional state of the point-of-view character
Character objective: What do they want?
Conflict: What impedes them from what they want?
Motive for antagonism: Some understanding of the other characters’ motivations
Character’s worldview: What belief system is he/she operating in?
Tactic: What actions the character takes in the scene to achieve their objective (remember, dialogue is action)
Turn: Does the character get what they want in the scene? What comes out of the conflict? What causes their emotions to change?
Objective achieved: Yes or no?
Exiting emotional state: If not the opposite of the entering emotional state, it must at least be different