The Butler Did It: Difference between revisions

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The butler is the avatar of the most unlikely suspect that, of course, turns out to be guilty because the author wasn't creative enough to come up with a better way to surprise the reader. It's the mystery writer equivalent of the [[Ass Pull]], except that you can see it coming a mile away, making it, for modern readers, [[The Untwist]]. Ironically because this trope is so well known, when an 'actual' butler is involved he rarely 'did it' or when he did it is down as a parody and [[Played for Laughs]].

The expression "The butler did it" was probably coined by novelist Mary Roberts Rinehart, although it's likely to be a real-world example of [[Beam Me Up Scotty]]. The earliest ''verified'' explicit statement of disapproval dates to S.S. Van Dine's 1928 essay [http://gadetection.pbwiki.com/Van+Dine%27s+Twenty+Rules+for+Writing+Detective+Stories "Twenty Rules for Writing Detective Stories"] (it might be noted that these rules would disqualify the authors who defined the genre, including [[Wilkie Collins]], [[Edgar Allan Poe]], and [[Arthur Conan Doyle (Creator)|Arthur Conan Doyle]]). [http://www.straightdope.com/columns/030926.html This] article explores in detail the origin of this strange semi-existent trope.

The expression "The butler did it" was probably coined by novelist Mary Roberts Rinehart, although it's likely to be a real-world example of [[Beam Me Up, Scotty]]. The earliest ''verified'' explicit statement of disapproval dates to S.S. Van Dine's 1928 essay [http://gadetection.pbwiki.com/Van+Dine%27s+Twenty+Rules+for+Writing+Detective+Stories "Twenty Rules for Writing Detective Stories"] (it might be noted that these rules would disqualify the authors who defined the genre, including [[Wilkie Collins]], [[Edgar Allan Poe]], and [[Arthur Conan Doyle (Creator)|Arthur Conan Doyle]]). [http://www.straightdope.com/columns/030926.html This] article explores in detail the origin of this strange semi-existent trope.

It is okay, however, for a butler to be a suspect, primarily to mislead the reader.

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* [http://lileks.com/institute/100mysteries/51.html Reportedly], the old film ''[[The Mandarin Mystery]]''.

* No murders involved, but ''Fitzwilly'' takes this trope [[Up to Eleven]] by starring a butler who's a [[Con Man]] criminal mastermind. Subverted in that all the other domestic servants in the household also Did It.

* Lawrence from ''[[The Princess and The Frog]]'' is a lesser villain, but still needs mentioning; He was Prince Naveen's butler on his visit to New Orleans before he became an accessory to [[Big Bad|Dr. Facilier]]'s plot to {{spoiler|feed all the souls in New Orleans to his friends on the Other Side by being magically disguised as the Prince (the real thing being transformed into a frog).}} [[~~Its~~ a Long Story]].

* Lawrence from ''[[The Princess and The Frog]]'' is a lesser villain, but still needs mentioning; He was Prince Naveen's butler on his visit to New Orleans before he became an accessory to [[Big Bad|Dr. Facilier]]'s plot to {{spoiler|feed all the souls in New Orleans to his friends on the Other Side by being magically disguised as the Prince (the real thing being transformed into a frog).}} [[It's a Long Story]].

** Technically, Lawrence was a ''valet'', not a butler, although I don't believe either was specifically stated by Naveen or Lawrence in the film.

* In ''Where The Truth Lies'', Lanny believes Vince killed the girl and Vince thinks Lanny is the murderer. It turns out the butler strangled her. The reveal hurt the movie; as one critics noted the ending was "straight out of the big book of mystery clichés".

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* In Kaori Yuki's [[Godchild]], a flashback chapter has the lead solving a mystery about a maid's murder. It turns out the butler ''didn't'' kill her, she died of her own greed and foolishness. He ''did,'' however, tamper the evidence to frame someone else.

* Really; we can call ''[[Detective Conan]]'' a "Zig-Zag" of this trope. There are a couple cases where [[The Butler Did It]], but there about as many if not ''more'' cases where the butler ''clearly'' did not do it.

** And even on a couple cases where it looks like the Butler or the housekeeper/groundskeeper ''could'' have done it because s/he had motive (Namely ''Billionaire Birthday Blues'' wherein the {{spoiler|two victims had caused the death of the housekeeper's granddaughter}}) s/he is shown to be above it. {{spoiler|She even delivers a [[The Reason You Suck Speech]] to the culprit, her granddaughter's suitor.}}

** And even on a couple cases where it looks like the Butler or the housekeeper/groundskeeper ''could'' have done it because s/he had motive (Namely ''Billionaire Birthday Blues'' wherein the {{spoiler|two victims had caused the death of the housekeeper's granddaughter}}) s/he is shown to be above it. {{spoiler|She even delivers a [["The Reason You Suck" Speech]] to the culprit, her granddaughter's suitor.}}

== Comic Books ==

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== Live Action Television ==

* An episode of ''[[Police Squad]]!'' has "The Butler Did It" as the episode title displayed on-screen (while the [[Narrator|narrator]] solemnly intones a different title); true to form, the butler did in fact do it.

* An episode of ''[[Police Squad!]]!'' has "The Butler Did It" as the episode title displayed on-screen (while the [[Narrator|narrator]] solemnly intones a different title); true to form, the butler did in fact do it.

* In a televised version of one of the Hercule Poirot mysteries, Poirot and Hastings attend a murder-mystery play. The two agree to a game: Poirot will try to figure out which character is the murderer, and write it on a slip of paper which Hastings will read during the third act. Poirot's paper reads: "The butler did it." {{spoiler|The play's butler turns out ''not'' to be the culprit, much to Poirot's annoyance, and the Belgian detective spends several minutes complaining to Hastings about bad scripting.}}

* In an episode of ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'' that featured Dame Agatha as a character and was itself a murder mystery, Donna Noble at one point quips that "Well, at least we know the butler didn't do it."