Question

Camille is taking notes on "A Simple Way to Create Suspense."

Like the old cartoon of the big fish eating a smaller fish eating a very small fish, you’ll find out the big answer after a string of smaller drip-drip-drip answers. The big answer is parceled out slowly and parsimoniously. I remember doing that in "Killing Floor,” my first novel featuring Jack Reacher, a drifter and ex-military policeman. Something weird is happening in a small Georgia town. O.K., great, but what? Well, it seems to be something to do with money. Fine, but what exactly? Well, it seems to be about getting hold of perfect blank paper for counterfeiting purposes. Wonderful, but where the heck are they getting it?

Which will be most helpful as Camille re-reads her notes to find the central idea of this paragraph?

Lee Child = author Jack Reacher
Fish, drips = answers
Big answer should come slowly
Blank paper to print money

Answer 1

"Big answer should come slowly."

Reason: the paragraph's focus is the suspense technique—revealing the main answer only after a series of small reveals. The other items are examples or metaphors that support that central idea.