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{{trope}}
You have an [[Amateur Sleuth]] or an [[Exotic Detective]]. And to prove just how smart he is, not only can he solve any case just by scanning the crime scene, he can also solve crimes without ever having to visit the scene. The
Will sometimes be the only interaction the lead has in a [[Lower Deck Episode]].
{{examples}}
* The manga ''[[Remote]]'' was about such a
* ''[[
* Victorique from ''[[
* Shinchi from [[Detective Conan]] pretends to be this sometimes when Conan reveals the answer to a case, but is actually there at the crime scene himself (as Conan).▼
== [[Film]] ==
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*** And remember that Holmes could still manage a lot of those cases in his career,[[Literary Agent Hypothesis|but given Watson is the guy who publishes Holmes cases]], [[Fridge Brilliance|it only makes sense that he publishes the most interesting cases (when Holmes does something) rather than those that could be solved by phone, or telegraph or consult or whatever]].
* [[Edgar Allan Poe]]'s C. August Dupin solved ''The Murder of Marie Roget'' by reading newspaper accounts.
* [[
* [[Nero Wolfe]] who rarely left his brownstone, having Archie Goodwin act as his leg man and collect all the information he needed to solve the crime.
** And Nero Wolfe had an [[Expy]] in the ''[[
*** D'arcy countered by proving that the most likely suspect was Lord Bontriumphe, the Marquis' personal assistant (the Goodwin expy).
** Parodied in ''[[The Areas of My Expertise]]'' with a detective who never leaves his bathtub.
* [[Hercule Poirot]] once solved a crime without leaving his room for a bet. No phone was involved though, he just asked for police reports (and used his friend Hastings to run errands). On another occasion he was in bed with flu, and contacted Hastings at the scene via telegram.
* The Argentine detective Don Isidro Parodi, created by [[Jorge Luis Borges]] and Adolfo Bioy Casares under the pen name H. Bustos Domecq, is a man unjustly imprisioned to whom friends (and friends of friends) come visit at his cell with stories about mysteries and crimes, which he never fails to solve just by listening to their reports.
** Don Isidro [[Meaningful Name|Parodi]] is a [[Deconstructive Parody]] of this (and many others mysteries) tropes combined with a juvenalian [[Satire]] of Argentinean society: All the ''"friends"'' who consult him are truly [[Jerkass|JerkAsses]] whom could not care less about Parodi’s [[Miscarriage of Justice]] [[Government Conspiracy|being falsely accused and judged by]] a [[Kangaroo Court]] [[Frame
* Henry, of [[Isaac Asimov]]'s ''Black Widowers'' mysteries, can solve any mystery after hearing it described over dinner.
** Another Asimovian detective, Wendell Urth, was so afraid of travelling that he, like [[Nero Wolfe]], worked almost entirely from home.
* ''The Old Man in the Corner'' stories by the Baroness Orczy, creator of [[The Scarlet Pimpernel (
* [[
* In ''[[
== [[Live Action TV]] ==
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** In direct parallel with Sherlock Holmes, we have Adrian's much smarter brother Ambrose, who never leaves his house. Unlike Mycroft's laziness, Ambrose is severely agoraphobic.
* ''[[Psych]]'': Shawn began his crime-solving career by reporting anonymous tips to the police through the phone based off observations he made watching news reports.
* [[House (TV series)|House]], the medical detective, once had to solve a case through the phone while at the airport. Another case was solved over a webcam since the patient was stuck in Antarctica. Even in normal circumstances, he often can't be bothered to talk to the patient, and phones in a diagnosis via his underlings.
* The Fat Man of ''[[Jake And The Fat Man]]''?
* Patrick Jane of ''[[The Mentalist]]'' once spent most of an episode in prison and ''still'' solved the case. One memorable trick: knowing Rigsby was on his way to interview a suspect, Jane phoned the suspect using Rigsby's name and insulted him, provoking the suspect to attack Rigsby and get himself arrested... and put in the same prison as Jane, who could then talk to him in person.
* Arkady Balagan in ''[[
* [[Sherlock]] Holmes, during "A Scandal In Belgravia", solved a case via webcam, which gave him a few quick glances at the crime scene.. While wearing nothing but a bedsheet.
▲== [[Manga]] and [[Anime]] ==
▲* The manga ''[[Remote]]'' was about such a detective--he'd developed agoraphobia, so was assigned a young policewoman with a two-way radio who did the leg work.
▲* ''[[Death Note (Manga)|Death Note]]'': L has been in hiding his entire career, and communicates via phone, computer and his intermediary Watari, emerging only on special occasions for particularly complex crimes {{spoiler|or particularly helpful assistants}}.
▲* Victorique from ''[[Gosick (Light Novel)|Gosick]]'' isn't allowed to leave the Academy until later in the story, so she often solves cries based on descriptions of the circumstances given to her by witnesses.
▲* Shinchi from [[Detective Conan]] pretends to be this sometimes when Conan reveals the answer to a case, but is actually there at the crime scene himself (as Conan).
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Phone Tropes]]
[[Category:Phone In Detective]]
[[Category:
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