A case from the catalogue
A converted mill deep in the Pennine hills, where polished copper vats and oak barrels stand silent witness. The sweet scent of malt hangs in the air, now soured by the acrimony of a shared dream curdling over money and control.
Open this fileElias Thorne — Charismatic founder of the Thorne & Grain Brewing Cooperative, attempting a controversial buy-back of shares from the original worker-owners.
Head of Finance — Long-time friend and the cooperative's bookkeeper, secretly aware of Elias's crippling personal debts.
Head Brewer & Worker-Owner Representative — Co-founder and the most vocal opponent of the buy-back, representing the original worker-owners.
Operations Manager — Fiercely loyal to Elias, who had given her a chance when she was a young, inexperienced brewer.
Marketing Director — An early believer who invested his own small savings, now feeling betrayed by the buy-back's low valuation of his shares.
Silent Investor — A wealthy city investor who provided a crucial early loan, now demanding a controlling stake as repayment.
The culprit, the alibis and the clue logic are locked before your first chapter. The narrator does not know the solution: it can neither leak it nor rewrite it when you close in.