Usually CoC isn't freeform. Investigators usually start doing something regular and stumble into a cult or creature or object. You have to have in mind the target and each scene or npc should give hints toward the final truth of the encounter. The freeform to prevent it being linear is the three clue rule. So each site has at least three ways to advance. So finding tire tracks makes you able to identify car, or the witness describes a strange shadow, or you find a letter written in french and need to find a translator.