Beneath Suspicion: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

A character who is clearly linked with all the victims of a crime spree is inexplicably not even regarded as a suspect by the detectives until halfway through the final act.

* Played with ([[Troperifficalong|with everything else]]) in ''[[Hot Fuzz]]''; whenever Nicholas voices his suspicions of Simon Skinner, people respond that he runs the local supermarket, as though that puts him beyond all possibility of wrongdoing.

** Well, mostly, it's because the police don't believe that any murders have taken place at all, as they have all been set up to look like accidents {{spoiler|Except for [[Mole in Charge|the Chief]], who is one of the murderers himself}}.

 

== Literature ==

* In ''[[Dune]]'', Dr. Wellington Yueh is the obvious suspect to be the traitor who will betray the Atreides to their Harkonnen rivals. However, he has supposedly been the recipient of Sukh mental conditioning, guaranteeing that he can never voluntarily take a human life. Therefore he is able to fool even a [[Living Lie Detector]] who is specifically alert for signs of potential treachery. In other words, he is set up as a [[Red Herring Mole]] to conceal the fact that he is actually [[The Mole]].

 

* This is used in an episode of ''[[Sherlock]]'' when the killer was {{spoiler|a taxi driver}}.

{{quote|'''Sherlock:''' This is his hunting ground. Right here, in the heart of the city. Now that we know that his victims were abducted, that changes everything. 'Cause all of his victims dissapeared from buisy streets, crowded places, but nobody saw them go. ''Think!'' Who do we trust, even though we don't know them? Who passes, unnoticed, wherever they go? Who hunts in the middle of a crowd?

'''Watson:''' I dunno, who?

'''Sherlock:''' ... I haven't the faintest. Hungry? }}

 

== Tabletop Games ==

* In one ''[[Paranoia (game)|Paranoia]]'' adventure, when a robot claims to have video footage exonerating the [[Player Characters|PCs]], the gamemaster is advised to maintain this trope: "Don't go 'heeeeeeey, there's a data port right over there, wanna try it?'. Wait for the PCs to ''ask'' if there's a data port nearby, then casually say 'oh yeah, there's one over in the corner'." {{spoiler|When the robot is hooked up, it restores the previously-crashed Computer.}}

 

* {{spoiler|Dee Vasquez and Acro}} in ''[[Ace Attorney]]''. Somewhat justified by the fact that the investigators didn't even know {{spoiler|Vasquez}} was near the murder scene until the very end of the first trial day, and {{spoiler|Acro is in a wheelchair}}. {{spoiler|Acro basically even says, ''"I'm in wheelchair, you jerk, how could you accuse me?!"''}}

** Also the {{spoiler|true head of the smuggling ring in ''Investigations'' and culprit of both 5-5 murders}} is the sweet, self-effacing {{spoiler|[[Manipulative Bastard]] Quercus Alba. Despite being the ambassador from KG-8 to the present, nobody thinks to investigate the guy who can barely walk even with a cane.}}

* In a meta example, {{spoiler|Kalas}} in the first [[Baten Kaitos]] game. Few players would expect to be betrayed by {{spoiler|the main character.}}

** In an even more meta example, the sequel has {{spoiler|''the player themselves'' (unknowingly)}} lying to Sagi and co.

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* ''[[Strays]]'' sets out to invoke this by [https://web.archive.org/web/20110829062214/http://www.straysonline.com/comic/168.htm having Meela pose as a servant].

* ''[[Impure Blood]]''. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130608174054/http://www.impurebloodwebcomic.com/Pages/Chapter006/ib034.html If she hadn't told him, he would never have guessed she was not a servant.]

 

== Western Animation ==

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Mystery Tropes]]

[[Category:Crime and Punishment Tropes]]