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Yes the cops would suspect there is a leader to this gang, but they do not who the leader is. They do not know who anyone is in the gang accept for the one person who was caught and arrested. They know there is a gang going around committing crimes, but only know the one suspect who was caught and that's all.
In my research I was told by someone who knows more about the law than I do, that even if a lawyer meets up with a gang leader in person, legally a form still has to signed for the lawyer to exchange information.
You keep thinking that the lawyer is a crook, and that is my fault for not explaining it clear enough. This lawyer is not a crooked lawyer. He is an honest lawyer who wants all the necessary forms signed, and wants to keep things legal. He is not a crooked lawyer, or a "mob lawyer". He is just a normal honest lawyer doing his job legally by having all the necessary papers signed and everything. Sorry for not explaining that well enough. The reason why he doesn't want to do anything illegal is cause if he doesn't get the proper forms filled out and signed, he could very well be disbarred, and he doesn't want to be.
And the reason why the other police do not go finding out who is paying the lawyer is because the police are not allowed to investigate who is paying a lawyer, since paying a lawyer to do a job is not a crime. If the police went down to the law firm, flashed their badges and said we want to know who paid this attorney's fees, the law firm is under no legal obligation to supply that information, since paying a lawyer to represent someone is not a crime legally. So the police cannot actually investigate that.
The main cop character becomes obsessed with is case and is willing to break the rules in finding out who paid the lawyer, where as the police are not willing to do that. That is why the main character is the only one on it, cause he is willing to break the rules, in order to find out the truth about who is behind everything. The reason why the cop doesn't share his suspicions with the department and say whoever payed the lawyer is probably a higher up in the gang, is because his department will just tell him there is nothing they can do to investigate, since paying a lawyer to do a job is not a crime.
I thought of that, but it feels kind of lacking in suspense, as oppose to maybe blackmailing the secretary, thereby cranking up the drama, as oppose to a bribe. However, I couldn't really come up with any good blackmail scenarios for the secretary without complicating the plot more...
But if I go that route, than that means the hacker character becomes a secretary instead, which is okay, as long as the idea of the main character getting his hands on these signed status reports works or not, or does it feel too convenient of a paper trail for the villain to leave behind?
Blackmail means you'd have to show her backstory, and make her a bigger character. If the cop just fixes a ticket for her, she doesn't get in the way of the story.
But if you want to add a character, she's obviously sleeping with the lawyer, and if his wife--the daughter of a mob boss--finds out, well...
That's true. It's a tough call between blackmail and bribery. It's just blackmail creates more drama and suspense compared to just slapping down a bribe.
That's true. It's a tough call between blackmail and bribery. It's just blackmail creates more drama and suspense compared to just slapping down a bribe.
That's not true. It's all in how you handle it. A bribe can be just as dramatic as blackmail when written for the drama. Anything can work for creating drama and suspense.
Where does the drama in blackmail come from? A guilty conscience and the need to cover up the guilt.
The same emotions can work with a bribe, a threat, or even an innocent chance encounter.
The thing that creates the suspense is the guilt and the need for a cover-up. The suspense can actually be increased if the cause for the guilt isn't even evident to the reader up front. Not understanding why a character does what he's doing can increase suspense. Give away too much up front, and the characters will be just going through expected motions to the reader.
It must be explained somehow before the end, though. Most times, the event that causes the bribe or blackmail is relatively trivial to the story if it's only a device to get the story going, but not always. It all depends on where the author wants to take the readers.
Readers will follow along with any device as long as there is something they can engage and connect with in any story. Unintended consequences is often a very good way to get a story rolling. Some little thing that begins to compound into one disaster after another doesn't nee to depend on the little thing at first.
Don't have a live hacker who is a real person doing the hacking, have the detective use a sectretive online hacking group on the Dark Web. That way you don't need any additional character at all. The hacker will be represented by cryptic Instant Messages. No character development needed.
That's true goodpoint. Since the main character is a beat cop though, I didn't think he would have as much money for a bribe to get someone to take a big risk like that though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kettlepot
Don't have a live hacker who is a real person doing the hacking, have the detective use a sectretive online hacking group on the Dark Web. That way you don't need any additional character at all. The hacker will be represented by cryptic Instant Messages. No character development needed.
Okay thanks, but the secretive hacking group would still need a motivation for helping out, wouldn't they?
Okay thanks, but the secretive hacking group would still need a motivation for helping out, wouldn't they?
Hackers have various motivations:
Money
Politics
Promoting general anarchy
Showing off/bragging rights
A grudge - in this case against lawyers (but who would have a grudge against lawyers? Everyone LOVES lawyers )
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