Hey guys, I'm a long time lurker of this forum, and have found it very useful in writing my first novel I have, however hit a wall. Without going into too much detail, why would a dead character who is helping my lead solve a murder not just outright say who the murderer is? They know who did it, and why, but this dead character only provides hints and leads my main to evidence. I need a plausible reason as to why they don't just come out and say "such and such" did it, and here is the evidence to prove it. Apart from the fact that it would make my story rather dull Thanks
Maybe your dead character is leaning towards the lead character actually WORKING to find out who did it or it might just be that the character wants to have the readers attention thus creating suspense. And really it is all about how you want the crime solved not the lead or the dead character.
Maybe due to the trauma of death, they can't remember the last few moments? Like, the name is on the tip of their tongue, but it JUST escapes memory? So the lead character has to help remind them through detective-y stuff? Then at the end, they're like, "IT WAS HIIIIM! CHARACTER F!" and the lead character is like, "Okay!" *Shoots* And then they realise that they shot the wrong guy... Or just the first paragraph.
just throwing some ideas out there... maybe the dead character did it, and the whole time he/she is leading him to the wrong clues- to try and put the blame on someone else
Maybe the dead character has something to gain by not revealing at first, like maybe they want to distract the MC while they go around at night haunting people for revenge or something, I dunno.
Though it's been done before, maybe the dead character won't get their "wings" or will go to "hell" if they tell outright. Maybe the MC needs to grow and discover things on their own (with hints) or they wouldn't believe it because of who it is. Maybe the dead person is the one who was killed and they haven't put it all together yet, like CF said, so they're giving snippets of what they remember going wrong. That's all I've got at the moment. Sorry.
Is it possible that some code of ethics from beyond the netherworld prohibits the dead guy from divulging the wrongdoer? Or perhaps he just a prankster with a wicked sense of humor and he just want the mc to work for his "prize"?
Maybe the dead character wants to tell, but through some sort of underworld rules is forbidden to tell, only to help?
Or maybe the dead character doesn't trust the MC outright, and they don't want to risk hurting their loved ones who are still alive - after all, for all they know, the MC could be working together with their murderer, and they're now seeking to kill even more people.
It depends on your story, but maybe the ghost doesnt know it all herself. Maybe the ghost only knows the it-guy and her(? it's?) only way to reveal the all story is by using a live person, thus the hints are the only thing the ghost actually knows.
