Red herrings
Three friends look guilty. They aren’t. Exoneration is earned.
Guilty on paper. Innocent in fact.
Three of your friends are materially tangled in the story — suspicious habits, unexplained gaps, motive on paper — and completely innocent.
Rule
Every clue that implicates a herring has a paired exoneration clue waiting in a later round. Somebody has to chase the lead that turns it up.
How herrings defend themselves
Each herring’s dossier holds the true, innocent explanation for their damning secret. When they land in the Hot Seat, they can defend themselves with the actual truth. Whether anyone believes them is a separate problem.
At accusation
Convicting a red herring doesn’t count as a win. See Winning for what does.