: Re: How do I hide Chekhov's Gun? If there is a gun on the mantelpiece in the Act 1, then in Act 2, that gun must be fired. Background I'm a big believer in Chekhov's Gun. I try not to

In your specific case, I don't think it is possible.

Your case is not a case of Chekhov's gun, as Zeus mentioned. Your case is that you want to have a twist that surprises the reader, but you also want to foreshadow some crucial details of the twist.

Not only should the reader know that there is a padlock, the reader should also know that the padlock has a combination that is only known by the housemate. At the same time, you want to write it in a way that the reader will never question whether this will become important later on.

I frankly think this is impossible. The plot-important objects are too well-established in fiction. Any fiction-savvy reader will immediately know that a locked basement always equals bad news, especially if it's locked with a padlock, which implies high security and secrets even more than a normal lock does.

The obvious choice to confuse the reader would be the use of red herrings, i.e. other potential clues to mislead the reader, which are maybe not related to the house at all. If the reader thinks the story is heading in a certain direction, you can surprise them by suddenly going back to the locked basement that was introduced way earlier. But this depends strongly on the execution, and more importantly, it's practically the opposite of Chekhov's gun.

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: Re: How do I hide Chekhov's Gun? If there is a gun on the mantelpiece in the Act 1, then in Act 2, that gun must be fired. Background I'm a big believer in Chekhov's Gun. I try not to

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