GM needing help

[pugg]

I am about to start a campain and I need help flushing out the start of the campain. Here is how it is going so far.

It starts out in Freehold and the head of the cattle ranch invites the PCs to dinner, her daughter is killed and the PCs get blamed for it.
The theves guild bust them out becuse the leader was going to marrie the daughter. The guild hires them to find the killer and clear their names.

This is where I am having problems I am not sure what evidence I should have them find and where to find it.

I would like to have it where the evidance points to the cousin, but in realaty it is the mother that had her killed by a assassins guild.

The PCs can't do anything to her so they have to leave town at the end or face exicution.

I would like some suggestions on what evidence and where to find it stuff like a scroll with a contracte between the assassins guild and the cousin found in the captin of the gaurds house, stuff like that.

Thanks for any input on this.

[EWHM]

I'll be honest, it sounds pretty seriously railroad-y, and it may well raise the hackles of your players, especially the putting them in jail part. Having someone frame them for something is IMO more appropriate for a party established enough to have made a few good enemies.

[JackDrake]

Way more information is needed to be of any serious help. For instance:
Why would the mother have her own daughter killed?
What would the cousin gain from killing the daughter?
Why were the PCs invited to dinner in the first place?
How does the Thieve's Guild know they *didn't* do it?
Why would the guild hire them to clear their names? Wouldn't they do that of their own volition?
How does the mother even know about the assassin's guild?
If she's that evil, why would the PCs accept her invitation in the first place?

It's a bit of a cliche, but don't start with the plot; start with character motivations and build the plot to suit. If you can answer some or all of the questions above, we might be able to help more.

--JD