History Main / GonnaNeedABiggerWarrant

Someone investigates a minor crime, or possibly something as major as murder, but finds something much bigger going on behind it. The first crime might be part of a RevealingCoverup, or it might be just a RedHerring. This is extremely common in crime fighting action films where the plot is more about building up a lead in from normal life and confronting the big secret, in other fiction there might be all manner of twists, turns and dead ends before it all links up. Its a staple of most Detective investigation version of Film Noir.

Some of the more complex {{Xanatos Roulette}}s may stretch from the most trifling crimes to the mind-bogglingly evil in a mind-bogglingly complex manner.

Sometimes the AntiVillain is revealed to be a CompleteMonster as a result of TheReveal; in other cases the AntiVillain teams up with the {{heroes}} to fight the BigBad.

As this is a trope about plots, many of the examples will contain spoilers. You have been warned.

Not to be confused with WantedMeter.
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!!Examples:

[[AC:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]
* ''StrikerSSoundStageX'' of ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'': Murder of various Old Belka researchers -> Terrorist plot to attack Mid-childa with the [[NightOfTheLivingMooks undead army]] of a [[ShroudedInMyth legendary Dark King]].
* ''DetectiveConan'' has the Black Organization. It looked like a simple case of blackmail, but they're actually an elite group of murderers that owns huge biological research facilities.
* Subverted in ''GhostInTheShell: Stand Alone Complex'', where the murder of a policeman who discovered illegal surveillance devices appears to bring the elite hacker Laughing Man out into the open, but it turns out the guy was an imitator. However, played straight later: Section 9 investigates a hack on the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare from a social welfare facility --> [[spoiler:Togusa learns of the connection the culprit has to ''TheCatcherInTheRye'' --> Section 9 learns that the Laughing Man is the culprit when he erases evidence of his existence from the social welfare facility --> based on the connection between the Laughing Man and the book, Togusa investigates the Ministry and finds that a list of patients treated with a secret vaccine has disappeared --> Section 9 learns that the secret vaccine was effective yet denied distribution -->]] using the Laughing Man's memory that he gave her, Kusanagi imitates his original crime of kidnapping the CEO of a nanomachine company and learns of the government coverup regarding the vaccine.
* ''ParanoiaAgent'': Who/What is Shonen Bat?

[[AC:ComicBooks]]
* ''{{Watchmen}}'': Who killed the Comedian?
* ''[[{{Tintin}} King Ottokar's Sceptre]]'': Kidnapping of an expert on Syldavian history -> coup d'etat

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* ''{{Chinatown}}'': Who killed Hollis Mulwray?
* ''LAConfidential'': What triggered the Night Owl Massacre?
* ''{{Cellular}}'' starts off as trying to trace a woman who was kidnapped by unknown men but soon found out some of the cops in involved in a greater plot
* ''AceVentura: Pet Detective'': Dolphin kidnapping -> murder, kidnapping, and attempted murder of NFL star Dan Marino.
** ''AceVentura 2: When Nature Calls'': Bat kidnapping -> plot to wipe out two indigenous African tribes and seize their land.
* ''[[AllThePresidentsMen All The President's Men]]'': Two investigative reporters look into a minor robbery in hotel Watergate.
* ''Film/AlienNation'': Murder of a cop during a robbery -> re-introducing a devastating alien drug.
* TheFilmOfTheSeries of ''Series/TheAvengers'': Sabotage of a weather control project -> holding Britain to ransom with the threat of a weather attack that will destroy London.
* ''BeverlyHillsCop'': Murder of a man in Detroit -> drug smuggling operation in Los Angeles
* ''BlueThunder'': Murder of a LA city councilwoman -> eliminating political undesirables.
* ''CastADeadlySpell'': Theft of a book and killing of the thief -> conspiracy to call Cthulhu to Earth.
* ''{{Constantine}}'': Suicide of a woman -> bringing the Devil's son to Earth and creating chaos.
* ''DocSavage: The Man of Bronze''. Death (murder) of Doc's father -> a plot to steal Indian land in Central America that contains a giant pool of gold.
* ''{{Dreamscape}}'': Murder of a woman while dreaming -> creating a psychic assassin to kill the President of the United States in his dreams.
* ''DropZone'': Skyjacking and kidnapping -> scheme to break into DEA headquarters, steal the names of all DEA undercover agents and sell them to the drug cartels.
* ''TheGoldenChild'': Kidnapping of a child -> attempt to bring Hell to Earth.
* ''HudsonHawk'': Theft of several items -> using a gold-making machine to destroy the world's economy.
* ''TheAdventuresOfBuckarooBanzaiAcrossTheEighthDimension'': Theft of the Oscillation Overthruster and kidnapping Penny Priddy -> the Red Lectroids' plot to return to Planet 10 and conquer it, leading to a threat by the Black Lectroids to start World War III.
* ''BigTroubleInLittleChina'': Kidnapping of a girl with green eyes -> David Lo Pan's plan to rule the universe from beyond the grave.
* JamesBond:
** ''DiamondsAreForever''. Diamond smuggling --> Hold the world for ransom with a [[FrickinLaserBeams laser-armed]] KillSat.
** ''DrNo''. Murder of a British agent --> Dr. No's SPECTRE operation to destroy American missiles.
** ''Film/GoldenEye'': Theft of a prototype helicopter --> crippling London with an EMP-based KillSat to cover up a massive electronic bank robbery.
** ''{{Goldfinger}}''. Murder of Jill Masterson and gold smuggling --> [[spoiler: nuking]] Fort Knox.
** ''Film/LiveAndLetDie''. Deaths of three British agents --> massive heroin smuggling operation.
** ''Film/{{Moonraker}}''. Disappearance of a space shuttle --> a plot to kill all humans on Earth.
*** [[Literature/{{Moonraker}} In the book]], it's Catching a man cheating at Bridge --> a plot to nuke Britain by an unrepentant Nazi.
** ''{{Octopussy}}''. Smuggling stolen Faberge Eggs and murdering a British agent --> nuclear sabotage, wiping out an American military base along with nearby cities.
** ''TheSpyWhoLovedMe'': disappearing nuclear submarines --> a plot to start a nuclear war between the U.S. and U.S.S.R.
** ''TomorrowNeverDies'': Sinking of a British ship --> starting a war to gain exclusive media rights in China.
** ''TheWorldIsNotEnough'': Murder of a prominent businessman --> forcing a nuclear sub into meltdown and contaminating 90% of the world's oil supply.
** ''AViewToAKill'': Using steroids in horse races --> destroying Silicon Valley (though these two plot points don't directly connect)
* ''JudgeDredd'': Murder of an investigative reporter --> assassination of the Judges' Council and a coup d'etat.
* ''LethalWeapon'': A simple suicide -> a heroin-smuggling operation run by Vietnam War special forces troops.
** ''LethalWeapon 2'': A traffic stop (of a car with a trunk full of Krugerrands) -> an international drug smuggling conspiracy by South African government officials.
** ''LethalWeapon 3'': A botched armor truck robbery --> A corrupt officer stealing weapons from impound and selling them on the black market.
** ''LethalWeapon 4'': A ship full of smuggled Chinese immigrants --> A plot to sneak four Chinese Triad bosses into the country.
* ''Looker'': Murder of female models -> company conspiracy to brainwash customers with subliminal advertising.
* ''MenInBlack'': Disappearance of a man after encountering a UFO and a suicide -> theft of a galaxy and possible destruction of the Earth.
* ''WhoFramedRogerRabbit'': a private eye hired to take some dirty pictures -> the murder of Marvin Acme and R.K. Maroon, probate fraud and the attempted destruction of Toontown and genocide of its residents, the Toons.
* ''Film/TheFugitive'' (Movie version). Murder of Kimble's wife -> drug company conspiracy to market a deadly medical drug to an unknowing public.
* ''HotFuzz'' Series of murders made to look like accidents -> decades old murderous cult that mercilessly executes anyone who would jeopardize the reputation the village has for serenity and cleanliness. "Have you ever wondered why the murder rate in this town is so low, and yet the accident rate is so high?"
* ''StarWars: AttackOfTheClones'': Assassination attempt on a senator -> A clone army, cloned from the bounty hunter hired by the Separatists to kill the Senator, that no one seems to remember ordering, ready just as the Supreme Chancellor commissions a Grand Army of the Republic to deal with the Separatist Crisis -> (finally discovered in ''RevengeOfTheSith'') Plot by the Supreme Chancellor to overthrow the Republic and destroy the Jedi.
** Arguably, this extends to include the invasion of Naboo in the first one, ''ThePhantomMenace'' if we're talking about the final part of the plan from ''RevengeOfTheSith''.
* ''GoneBabyGone'' Who kidnapped the little girl? Not who you'd think.
* ''VantagePoint'' tries to do this when the first warrant is for "Who shot the President?" [[spoiler: Who infiltrated US Intelligence and tried to kidnap the President? is indeed somewhat weightier, //technically//.]]
* ''SkyCaptainAndTheWorldOfTomorrow''. The kidnapping of some German scientists -> A plot to build a spaceship that will destroy all life on Earth.
* ''In Like Flint''. The President's golf swing taking 3 minutes -> A diabolical plan to take control of the minds of women all over the world and put a nuclear sword of Damocles in orbit around the Earth.
* ''Film/IRobot'' Suicide -> ZerothLawRebellion
* ''{{Changeling}}''. The kidnapping of Walter Collins -> The vast corruption in the LA police department
* Somewhat subverted in StrangeDays - the plot ''looks'' like it's building into a huge far-reaching conspiracy, but [[spoiler: actually a lot of that is just the guy behind the first crime trying to misdirect the hero.]]

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* The DresdenFiles does this OncePerEpisode.
** ''StormFront'': Hired to find a woman's missing husband and help the police with a murder -> uncovering a AxeCrazy practitioner of BlackMagic.
** ''Summer Knight'': Investigating a suspicious death -> [[spoiler: averting a faerie war]].
** ''Death Masks'': Recovering a stolen religious artifact -> [[spoiler: preventing a souped-up Black Plague.]]
** ''Dead Beat'': Finding a certain book for a vampire -> preventing some necromancers from saying AGodAmI.
** ''White Night'': Investigating the murders of a few low-level witches -> stopping [[spoiler: a coup in the [[OurVampiresAreDifferent White Court]].]]
** ''Small Favor'': Checking out an attack on [[TheMafia Marcone]] -> preventing [[spoiler: [[LittleMissBadass Ivy]] from becoming a [[DealWithTheDevil Denarian]]]].
** ''Turn Coat'': Giving the defamed [[InspectorJavert Morgan]] asylum -> outing TheMole in the White Council.
** ''Changes'': Saving [[spoiler: [[FriendlyTarget Harry's daughter]]]] from [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Red Court kidnappers]] -> Killing the [[spoiler: ''entire Red Court'']].
* ''Literature/{{Fatherland}}'': An alternate history in which Germany won WWII and a minor ''Nazi'' official discovers the Holocaust.
** The problem is, ''[[CriticalResearchFailure Holocaust was never a secret]]''. It's just the sheer mindboggling scale of it, and its utter inexplicable pointlessness, what makes it rather hard to believe to some -- and this leads to the idea that someone tried to hide it. In fact, nobody did.
*** 'Some' means, when you get down to it, most of the world. Most of those who were close but not directly involved did not really want to ''think'' about it. At the time, the scale was the ''least'' mindboggling aspect: the reports that did get out of Nazi territory before the camps got liberated were not believed because, even if they ''were'' the enemy, the Germans were a civilized people. It probably didn't help that, during and after the ''first'' World War, more believable false atrocity reports circulated. It was not until the camps were getting liberated that the world outside really believed that the Holocaust was going on... If you make the truth incredible enough, nobody will believe it.
*** Also, the Holocaust ''was'' a secret. The average German did not know that it was going on during the WWII, only that Jews and other undesirables were being isolated from the main populace. Those who suspected more and tried to go public found themselves inside a concentration camp very quickly. Had the fact leaked out to the German troops fighting in Europe, their morale would have probably fallen to all-time lows in the history of warfare.
*** 'Going public' could be as easy as 'being overheard spreading rumors about the Holocaust ''existing'' by the wrong people.' Because ParanoiaFuel makes everything even more fun, this included the [[SecretPolice Gestapo]]. And you didn't ''know'' who ''they'' were...
* In the LordPeterWimsey series ''Murder Must Advertise''. Murder of an advertising copywriter -> massive cocaine-smuggling ring.
* ''TheIlluminatusTrilogy'' starts off with this. Murder of a news columnist -> Wheels within wheels conspiracy for control of Earth, involving rock bands, undead Nazis and Eldritch Abomination(s).
* ''Origin InDeath'': Murder of "saintly" doctor -> massive decades-old illegal human-cloning and people-made-to-order operation.
* The ColdWar thriller ''An H-Bomb for Alice'' by Ian Stewart. A detective investigates the apparent suicide of the Australian Minister of Aboriginal Affairs. Although he was about to pass an important bill, there appears to be no motive for murder as no government or mining interests are threatened by it. It turns out the Soviet Union is planning to invade China, and a hidden strike force is waiting to seize the US surveillance station at Pine Gap which they fear will provide prior warning of the attack. The strike force was operating under the cover of a hippy colony that would have been evicted from Aboriginal land if the bill had been passed.
* SherlockHolmes stories had a lot of this.
** "The Adventure of the Six Napoleons". A madman is stealing Napoleon busts and smashing them -> [[spoiler: The recovery of a stolen pearl.]]
** "The Blue Carbuncle". Man loses his Christmas dinner -> [[spoiler: The recovery of the title stolen gemstone]] (seriously).
** "The Red-Headed League". Man was member of an exclusive club for only red heads -> [[spoiler: A bank heist using underground tunnel]].
** "The Adventure of the Copper Beeches". A woman gets a too good to be true job offer -> [[spoiler: Turns out that she was there to take the place of the daughter of his employer who is imprisoned somewhere in the house.]]
* Any novel by Jonathan Kellerman.
* In ''RainbowSix'', the FBI carries out a search for a missing woman, believing it to be part of a kidnapping or serial killing, only to find [[spoiler: a plan to wipe out most of humanity]].
* SilenceOfTheLambs: Clarice Starling goes from performing a personality interview on a captured serial killer, to tracking down an active one.
* ''HarryPotter/HarryPotterAndTheSorcerersStone''. The break-in at Gringotts -> Voldemort attempting to rise back to power.
** ''HarryPotter/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban''. The escape of a famous convict -> A devoted servant trying to rejoin with Voldemort.
** ''HarryPotter/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire''. The disappearance of a Ministry official -> a genocidal maniac planning to return to power.
* {{Lois McMaster Bujold}}'s ''[[VorkosiganSaga Komarr]]'' starts with the investigation of a collision between a freighter and an orbital terraforming mirror. It makes a detour to a modest embezzlement scheme before [[spoiler:settling on a plot to eliminate the only wormhole link between Barrayar and the rest of the populated galaxy that would actually, due to incomplete analysis of the underlying science, result in the destruction of at least one space station with several thousand residents and transients aboard.]]
* In the {{Greg Egan}} novel Literature/{{Quarantine}}, an investigation into the disappearance of a severely developmentally delayed woman from a care home eventually reveals a plot to [[spoiler: radically alter the nature of reality at a quantum level]].
* ''{{Discworld}}'' City Watch novels:
** ''Discworld/MenAtArms'': A break-in at the Assassins' Guild -> a plot to overthrow the Patrician.
** ''Discworld/TheFifthElephant'': The murder of a rubber goods manufacturer and the theft of a replica Scone of Stone -> a plot to overthrow the Low King of the Dwarfs.
** ''Discworld/{{Thud}}'': The murder of a rabble-rousing dwarf, and the theft of a painting -> a plot to prevent peace between dwarfs and trolls by obfuscating their shared history.

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
* ''Series/StateOfPlay'' starts off with a murder, an affair and a suicide which are all investigated by the newspaper who find [[spoiler: that they are all related to a much larger government conspiracy]].
* Several ''{{Leverage}}'' episodes do this, albeit on a smaller scale than a lot of the examples:
** "The Homecoming Job". Coverup of a friendly fire investigation -> multi-billion-dollar money-laundering scheme.
** "The Snow Job". Negligent home contracting job -> nationwide foreclosure-related fraud.
** "The Stork Job". Spanish Prisoner scam with orphans -> weapons smuggling.
** "The Gone-Fishin' Job". People being scammed by fake IRS agents -> anti-government militia planning a terrorist attack
* ''{{Weeds}}'' subverts the hell out of this early in the third season. The second season CliffHanger ends with Silas arrested for petty vandalism with a trunk full of marijuana [[spoiler: Celia drives away in his car before the cop sees it]], and a few episodes later a DEA agent shows up at the Botwins' door while they're bagging product [[spoiler: and never gets in the door so he doesn't notice it]].
** Also played straight at the end of the third season [[spoiler: stolen cross -> new grow house]].
* ''TwinPeaks'': The murder of a teenage girl -> otherdimensional demonic conspiracy [[strike:to confuse the audience]].
* ''TheWire'': Season Two: Warfie with suspicious amounts of money buys a stained window for a church -> bulk smuggling of drugs, prostitutes and goods; multiple ethnic gangs, murders agogo.
* This has happened frequently on CSIMiami.
* This seems to be the point of the BuddyCopShow, ''TheGoodGuys''. An old NobleBigotWithABadge CowboyCop [[OddCouple is paired with a young]] ByTheBookCop and sent to investigate minor crimes (vandalism, shoplifting, etc.) to [[ReassignmentBackfire keep them out of trouble, but the duo almost always stumble across something much bigger]] (drug smugglers, car theft ring, etc.)
* Pretty much every MythArc episode of ''TheXFiles'', and several Monster of the Week ones as well.
* ''Series/TheShadowLine'': The death of a drug baron --> [[spoiler:A GovernmentConspiracy using drug money to fund police pensions.]]]]
* ''CriminalMinds'': DEA raid on a suspected meth lab --> an impending terrorist attack using nerve gas.

[[AC:TabletopGames]]
* One {{Shadowrun}} supplement, about Lone Star Security, mentions how police in the Robbery division often wind up investigating major crimes: ones that'd started out ''looking'' like a simple robbery due to cover-up efforts by the perpetrators.

[[AC:VideoGames]]
* MaxPayne: Murder of Alex Balder -> massive government conspiracy involving a failed attempt to create a SuperSerum for the military [[spoiler: which Max's family was killed to protect.]]
* BaldursGate: An Iron shortage due to bandit attacks -> plot to spark a war between Baldur's Gate and Amn. Attempted assassination of some nobody orphan -> resurrection/replacement of a dead god.
* Happens on occasion in the ''AceAttorney'' series. The last case of the third game is probably the biggest example: the murder of a children's book author is ultimately tied into a gigantic revenge scheme.
** ''Investigations'': (Seemingly disconnected) murders of a police officer, a plane flight passenger, a prosecutor and a defendant -> [[spoiler:An international smuggling ring]].
* In ''PoliceQuest 3'', the endgame involves the investigation of a house linked to a series of murders. When it turns out that the place is fortified, the player must go back to the courthouse and get authorization to use the departmental battering ram, which uncovers a cocaine manufacturing ring.
* ''MassEffect'': An unprovoked attack on a human colony -> [[spoiler:The destruction of all sentient life by [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch Abominations]].]]
** The sequel gives us: Human colonies disappearing -> [[spoiler:Creation of an [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch Abomination]].]]
* This happens in pretty much every game in the ''JakAndDaxter'' series:
** In the first game, the quest to change [[WeaselMascot Daxter]] back to normal resulted in the group stumbling on a plan to flood the world with [[PsychoSerum Dark Eco]].
** The second game, in which Jak is out for revenge against [[AristocratsAreEvil Baron Praxis]], leads to him saving the city from the [[EldritchAbomination Metal Head Leader]].
** The third game opens with Jak and Daxter only trying to survive in a harsh new environment, and ends up pitting them against an OmnicidalManiac working for [[TheCorruption dark versions]] of the {{Precursors}}.
** In the fourth game, a racing spinoff, Jak and friends are coerced into entering a competition, only to find out they're in the middle of a gang war.
** In the fifth game, an {{Interquel}} that [[GaidenGame focuses on Daxter]], he's just trying to make a living and figure out how to rescue Jak, only to to uncover the brewing invasion plot by the Metal Heads.
** In the sixth game, Jak, Daxter and [[ADayInTheLimelight Keira]] set out to find more eco and restore balance to the world, but things [[ItsShortSoItSucks quickly]] escalate into stopping a power-hungry madman.
* ''ChronoTrigger'': SaveThePrincess -> Prevent the EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt.
* ''{{Daggerfall}}'': Exorcise a walking spirit and deliver a letter -> Shape the future of TheEmpire.
* ''DragonAge2'': Sneak a free Qunari mage out of Kirkwall -> [[spoiler:Halt a Chantry plot to spark open conflict between humans and Qunari]].
** Humorously played with the Bone Pit mine, going from an invasion of small dragons to a Coterie plot to steal shipments to a [[OurDragonsAreDifferent High Dragon]] taking over.
* ''{{Touhou}} 8: Imperishable Night'': BadMoonRising -> alien conspiracy from the antiquity.
** Touhou 11: Subterranean Animism: Strange creatures from BeneathTheEarth -> nuclear conspiracy going out of hand.
** {{Inverted|Trope}} in ''Touhou 12: Undefined Flying Object'': cultists trying to awaken Pandemonium monstrosity -> decent people wanting their saintly leader back.
* YourMileageMayVary but {{Persona 3}} has your team investigating the mystery of the Dark Hour and why your school turns into a freaky tower every night. You end up [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt saving the world]]
** [[{{Persona4}} 4]] has you and your team exploring The Midnight Channel and stopping people from being killed by facing their [[EnemyWithout enemies without]]. You end up uncovering a DirtyCop [[spoiler: and an AssimilationPlot by the goddess Izanami to turn everybody into Shadows and form one, collective conscience.]]
* The standard plot of TexMurphy games. Tex gets a small, simple gig (find my missing friend) and it turns into a save the world scenario.
* ''FalloutNewVegas'': Find the man that shot you and stole the package you were supposed to deliver, get said package back, and finish the delivery -> decide which of the factions vying for control of New Vegas and the rest of the Mojave Wasteland emerges triumphant, or [[ICanRuleAlone make your own power play and take over for yourself]].

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* AmericanDad: Parodied, and played straight. Steve does a research project on peanut butter and discovers a secret conspiracy dating back to the days of Abraham Lincoln. The parody occurs earlier in the episode in the form of a NoodleIncident where Snot claims that he gave up sleuthing after 'the case of a missing bike horn turned into a double rape homicide'.

[[AC:RealLife]]
* Investigation into the disappearance of candy heiress [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Brach Helen Brach]] lead to the discovery of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_murders a massive, ongoing fraud scheme in the world of horse trading]].
* ''The Cuckoo's Egg'' tells of how astrophysicist Clifford Stoll was asked to resolve a [[AmericanCustomaryMeasurements 75¢]] discrepancy in the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory computer usage accounts, and ended up uncovering a German computer hacker selling secrets to the KGB.
* A foiled burglary at an upper class hotel uncovered attempts to influence the US election that go right up to the [[RichardNixon POTUS himself]]. As well as adding [[{{Scandalgate}} a new suffix to the English language]].
* Not exactly the same, but in 1999, a Vietnamese American had police protect his video rental store which was flooded with protesters who didn't like his North Vietnamese flag and picture of Ho Chi Minh. While protecting the store owner from protesters, police discovered the owner's video piracy operations and arrested him.
** Ahem, there not being a North Vietnam around for 25 years at the point already -- it was news for them?
*** Using that flag is SeriousBusiness for most Vietnamese Americans, who are mostly exiles and refugees from the South and regard the red flag with the yellow star as a usurper's symbol; they tend to hate the current government of Vietnam with all their might and are usually virulent anticommunists. The One True Flag (for them) is the yellow one with three thin red stripes, and Hell to anyone who displays the other one.
* The Los Angeles Police Department '''Rampart Scandal''' in the late 1990s, which was the inspiration for the movie TrainingDay and the TV series ''TheShield'', started with the arrest of one police officer for stealing cocaine, and ultimately implicated more than 70 officers in serious misconduct, as well as contributing to the Police Chief, District Attorney, and Mayor of Los Angeles all eventually being not re-appointed or re-elected.
* Initially, the only question people had about Enron was whether its stock was overpriced. People trying to figure that out found themselves in the incomprehensible accounting practices Enron used, which led to more questions and then KABOOM!
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** ''{{Moonraker}}''. Disappearance of a space shuttle --> a plot to kill all humans on Earth.
*** In the book, it's Catching a man cheating at Bridge --> a plot to nuke Britain by an unrepentant Nazi.

** ''LiveAndLetDie''. Deaths of three British agents --> massive heroin smuggling operation.

** ''StormFront'': Hired to find a woman's missing husband and help the police with a murder -> uncovering a AxeCrazy practitioner of BlackMagic
** ''Summer Knight'': Investigating a suspicious death -> averting a faerie war.
** ''Death Masks'': Recovering a stolen religious artifact -> preventing a souped-up Black Plague.

** ''White Night'': Investigating the murders of a few low-level witches -> stopping a coup in the [[OurVampiresAreDifferent White Court]].
** ''Small Favor'': Checking out an attack on [[TheMafia Marcone]] -> preventing [[LittleMissBadass Ivy]] from becoming a [[DealWithTheDevil Denarian]].

** [[WhamEpisode ''Changes'']]: Saving [[FriendlyTarget Harry's daughter]] from [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Red Court kidnappers]] -> Killing the ''entire Red Court''.

* The standard plot of TexMurphy games. Tex gets a small, simple gig (find my missing friend) and it turns into a save the world scenario.

* ''AlienNation'': Murder of a cop during a robbery -> re-introducing a devastating alien drug.

** ''{{Goldeneye}}'': Theft of a prototype helicopter --> crippling London with an EMP-based KillSat to cover up a massive electronic bank robbery.

* ''TheFugitive'' (Movie version). Murder of Kimble's wife -> drug company conspiracy to market a deadly medical drug to an unknowing public.

* ''Fatherland'': An alternate history in which Germany won WWII and a minor ''Nazi'' official discovers the Holocaust.

* ''[[{{ptitle46vep1yvhihu}} I, Robot]]'' Suicide -> ZerothLawRebellion

* ''Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone''. The break-in at Gringotts -> Voldemort attempting to rise back to power.
** ''Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban''. The escape of a famous convict -> A devoted servant trying to rejoin with Voldemort.
** ''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire''. The disappearance of a Ministry official -> a genocidal maniac planning to return to power.

** ''Discworld/{{Thud}}'': The murder of a rabble-rousing dwarf, and the theft of a painting -> a plot to prevent peace between dwarfs and trolls by obsfucating their shared history.

** [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] in ''Touhou 12: Undefined Flying Object'': cultists trying to awaken Pandemonium monstrosity -> decent people wanting their saintly leader back.
* YourMileageMayVary but [[{{Persona3}} Persona 3]] has your team investigating the mystery of the Dark Hour and why your school turns into a freaky tower every night. You end up [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt saving the world]]

* ''StateOfPlay'' starts off with a murder, an affair and a suicide which are all investigated by the newspaper who find [[spoiler: that they are all related to a much larger government conspiracy]].

** [[WhamEpisode ''Changes'']]: Saving [[spoiler: [[FriendlyTarget Harry's daughter]] from [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Red Court kidnappers]] ]] -> [[spoiler: Killing the ''entire Red Court''.]]

** [[WhamEpisode ''Changes'']]: Saving [[spoiler: [[FriendlyTarget Harry's daughter]] from [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Red Court kidnappers]] ]] -> [[Killing the ''entire Red Court''.]]

** ''Changes'': [[spoiler: Goes from "My daughter was kidnapped"]] to [[spoiler: "Someone is going to cast a death curse on everyone who is related to me"]] to [[spoiler: "Wait a minute, it's really aimed at the assassin for the White Council, my friend and mentor, who is related to me". And then to a plan to wipe out the entire Red Court.]]

* The first [[DresdenFiles Harry Dresden]] book. Hired to find a woman's missing husband and help the police with a murder? Instead, how about uncovering a AxeCrazy practitioner of BlackMagic creating drugs that gives mortals magical sight and drives people insane while using/causing thunderstorms to power it all.
** Not the only one. Changes is pretty big, too. [[spoiler: Goes from "My daughter was kidnapped"]] to [[spoiler: "Someone is going to cast a death curse on everyone who is related to me"]] to [[spoiler: "Wait a minute, it's really aimed at the assassin for the White Council, my friend and mentor, who is related to me". And then to a plan to wipe out the entire Red Court.]]
** Really, this is almost OnceAnEpisode. ''Summer Knight'': investigating a suspicious death -> averting a faerie war. ''Death Masks'' -> recovering a stolen religious artifact -> preventing a souped-up Black Plague. ''Dead Beat'': finding a certain book for a vampire -> preventing some necromancers from saying AGodAmI.

* ''[[AllThereInTheManual StrikerS Sound Stage X]]'' of ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'': Murder of various Old Belka researchers -> Terrorist plot to attack Mid-childa with the [[NightOfTheLivingMooks undead army]] of a [[ShroudedInMyth legendary Dark King]].

* Pretty much the entire reason for the Wanted level in the GrandTheftAuto series.

** Not the only one. Changes is pretty big, too. [[spoiler: Goes from "My daughter was kidnapped"]] to [[spoiler: "Someone is going to cast a death curse on everyone who is related to me"]] to [[spoiler: "Wait a minute, it's really aimed at the assassin for the White Council, my friend and mentor, who is related to me"]]. [[supersecretspoiler: And then to a plan to wipe out the entire Red Court.]]

* In the {{Greg Egan}} novel Quarantine, an investigation into the disappearance of a severely developmentally delayed woman from a care home eventually reveals a plot to [[spoiler: radically alter the nature of reality at a quantum level]].

** ''LethalWeapon 3'': A botched armor truck robbery --> A corrupt officer stealing weapons from impound and selling them on the black market
** ''LethalWeapon 4'': A ship full of smuggled Chinese immigrants --> A plot to sneak four Chinese Triad bosses into the country