Archives of Nethys

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Mystery Adventures / A Mystery’s Three Pillars

Means

Source Starfinder #25: The Chimera Mystery pg. 41
A suspect has the means to commit a crime if they are physically able to do so. Could they reliable fire a pistol to kill the victim with one shot? Are they dexterous enough to reach the only window that showed signs it was forced open? Do they have the knowledge to be able to create a malignant computer virus?

Some crimes are simple enough that all suspects could conceivably have the means to commit them. Other times, the means by which a crime was committed are unknown or indefinite. In such cases, discovering the culprit’s motive and opportunity become even more important. However, knowing that a suspect couldn’t possibly have had the means to perpetrate the crime is probably the easiest way to eliminate them from the list.