| abstract | - This trope describes situations in which a character has been seeking the culprit in a murder for a long, long time (in a television context, usually at least a season's worth of episodes). The character finally locates the murderer, only to find that it was a hired hit. They know who pulled the trigger, but they need to learn who hired the assassin. Then, before the killer can be questioned, he's taken out of the scene: he escapes custody, or is killed trying to escape, or bites down on a Cyanide Pill, or otherwise arranges things so that the murder still goes essentially unsolved, despite the killer's discovery. Particularly common is for them to give in, say, "His Name Is" and then a sniper pops his head... sometimes right off his shoulders. Might be expanded to any form of unsolved mystery, and indeed non-criminal mysteries as well. A subtrope of Yank the Dog's Chain, as it allows them to tease the audience with resolution ("This week, we find the identity of Leonard's father's murderer!") while at the same time preserving the tension of the unresolved mystery ("...but not why!"). Unmarked spoilers follow.
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