I am plotting on a whodunit for kids and I am stuck for red herrings. Two twins are solving a case at a carnival and they are following a trail of white gloves which should match the one that was left behind. There are three suspects the carnival queen, judge and the magician all wearing white gloves at the time of a theft. The magician - sparkling white gloves, Judge - a white glove with a brass button with a ship on it and the Carnival queen - white lace gloves with a butterfly on them. The brass button I know could have something else on it. The sparkling gems could be a necklace or something but it's the carnival queen's clove that I need. Also I don't want to make it too easy for the twins who are 11.
I can't think of any glove red herrings. It would be trickier if all gloves came from the same box. My red herrings involve means (the tools to commit the crime), motive (the reason to commit the crime), and opportunity (the inability to establish whereabouts at the time of the crime, or worse, being in the same area at the time of the crime). Red herrings are one or more of these, as well as other physical evidence, such as the glove. One witness might have the means and the motive, but then an alibi emerges placing them somewhere else at the time. Does the alibi hold-up to scrutiny? A false alibi can be a red herring because it doesn't necessarily prove guilt, just an attempt to keep a secret, such as hiding an affair, or hiding an unrelated crime. My only advice is to work out a story outline for all three suspects, an outline you will keep from the reader. The outline will help establish for each of your suspects a time line for the story, as well as means, motive, opportunity, and red herrings.
It would be much more difficult to figure it out if they all had the same type of gloves. Add a bit of a challenge to discern who could have done it. Also Walking Dog raises a good point about false leads/alibis. Good Luck.
