Evidence Scavenger Hunt
Oops. There's a body, or the jewels are gone, or someone ate the last piece of pie. Time to start looking for clues. That piece of pie was mine!
This is the section of a crime and punishment show where the cast chases down clues. The CSI shows spend a good bit of time in this phase, usually with at least two lab montages. In fact, the section has become so stylized and perfunctory that some shows have resorted to doing the whole thing in montage.
Sometimes, after some Perp Sweating or a Eureka Moment, the detective will be given an additional montage where he gathers the last shreds of evidence he needs, asking questions and making arrangements which will be completely meaningless and confusing to the viewer until The Summation makes everything clear.
Anime and Manga
- THE iDOLM@STER anime plays with this, when the Futami twins are trying to discover who stole Iori's pudding from the fridge. Complete with summation in the end.
- Another one from the same episode, earlier they are shooting a drama episode where this happens to the three sisters that are the played by the three girls from the Ryuugu Komachi.
Film
- Deja Vu: After the bomb, in Claire's house and at the suspect's house.
Literature
- In "The Three Apples", the caliph Harun al-Rashid, orders the The Good Chancellor, Grand Vizier Jafar ibn Yahya, who gets a Historical Hero Upgrade in this tale, to play the role of a Detective and sends him on a scavenger hunt to solve the murder mystery and bring the culprit to justice.
- The Daughter of Time: Carradine does all the legwork, seeing as how Grant has broken his.
Live Action TV
- The Forgotten: A prominent portion of the show revolves around the volunteers of the Forgotten Network assembling clues as to who the victim is, usually punctuated by beyond the grave narration from the John or Jane Doe.
Roleplay
- Archipelago Exodus: The first two acts, or at least until Renard tails Channery's car.
Video Games
- Deadly Premonition: As part of the profiling game mechanic.
- Sigma Harmonics: After going back to a certain time and a certain place, Sigma can use his sound-related powers to uncover 'moments of sound' - clues as to what happened in that place during that time.
- Almost every case in the Ace Attorney series of games has you scrambling for evidence just after the crime was committed, alternating with days in court.
Western Animation
- Scooby Doo every episode involves the gang looking for clues in the mystery they are currently solving.