Post History

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/37258
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/37258
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

### It isn't what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you know that ain't so.  
 --Mark Twain.

I think the best way to defeat a mastermind is to plant a seed and do it early; no matter how smart somebody is, there can be things they believe to be true that are false. They can be mistaken. They think somebody is dead, that isn't. They think they are the only one that knows something, but they aren't. They think they weren't seen doing something, but they were. They think a crime of their youth went undetected, but it is quietly found out and clues there reveal something about them that can be used against them. They killed somebody to protect a secret, but the person anticipated that might happen and the secret was cleverly preserved for somebody else to receive.

Their downfall lies in what they know that ain't so, which means they are not prepared for the attack (whatever form it takes) and this can plausibly be their undoing.

This way they don't make a new mistake that looks like a deus ex machina: The mistake was made long ago, the longer ago the better, and the more difficult it is for the hero to find this weakness the better; make them work for it.

Original score: 3