History Main / INeverSaidItWasPoison

*** April May, the witness of the second case, makes a similar mistake to Frank Sahwit above in revealing that she knew the Thinker statuette in Mia's office (the murder weapon), the twin of the one in the first case, was a clock. This contradicts her claims of being just a concerned bystander, because just like Sahwit, she couldn't have guessed on her own that the statuette was a clock. She initially claims that she heard it tell the time during the murder, but this proves impossible as Mia had had the statuette's clock mechanism removed prior to her death, then declares that she saw the statuette in a store, which also doesn't hold up since both clocks were handmade by Phoenix's friend, Larry. In this case, she's not the murderer (obviously, considering that we saw the killer's face at the start), but she ''had'' been wiretapping Mia's phone on behalf of her boss, Redd White, to listen in on a conversation in which Mia said it was a clock.

*** April May, the witness of the second case, makes a similar mistake to Frank Sahwit above in revealing that she knew the Thinker statuette in Mia's office (the murder weapon), the twin of the one in the first case, was a clock. This contradicts her claims of being just a concerned bystander, because just like Sahwit, she couldn't have guessed on her own that the statuette was a clock - her defense of "I saw it in a store" doesn't hold up because the clocks had been handmade by Phoenix's friend Larry. In this case, she's not the murderer (obviously, considering that we saw the killer's face at the start), but she ''had'' been wiretapping Mia's phone on behalf of her boss, Redd White, to listen in on a conversation in which Mia said it was a clock.

*** Later in the same case, Redd White describes a glass light stand falling over in his testimony. This immediately blows a hole in his account, as while there was indeed a glass light stand in the room and it did indeed fall over, White claims to have witnessed the whole thing from a nearby hotel window, which was at exactly the wrong angle to see the light stand. The only thing visible from the window was a pile of glass shards that could have been anything (and weren't particularly easy to make out, for that matter). Hence, Phoenix argues that the only way he could have recognized it was a light stand was if he'd actually been inside the office when he witnessed the crime... that is to say, he's the murderer. Edgeworth then has White confess to placing the wiretap in Mia's office a week prior instead of April May, during which time he claims White would have seen the light stand, but Phoenix presents the stand's receipt, which shows that Mia bought it the day before she was killed.

*** In the first case, Frank Sahwit claims that the murder weapon was a clock, when Phoenix thinks it's a statue. Prosecutor Winston Payne interjects and confirms that it's a clock made to ''look'' like a statue, which verbally tells you the time when you tilt its head. Phoenix then points out that this contradicts Sahwit's claim that he never entered the victim's apartment, because there's no way he could've guessed that it was a clock unless he'd interacted with it and heard it tell the time.

*** In the first case, Frank Sahwit claims that the murder weapon used to kill the victim was a clock, when Phoenix thinks it's a statue. Prosecutor Winston Payne interjects and confirms that it's a clock made to ''look'' like a statue, which verbally tells you the time when you tilt its head. Phoenix then points out that this contradicts Sahwit's claim that he never entered the victim's apartment, because there's no way he could've guessed that it was a clock unless he'd interacted with it and heard it tell the time.

*** In the second case, Redd White describes a glass light stand falling over in his testimony. This immediately blows a hole in his account, as while there was indeed a glass light stand in the room and it did indeed fall over, White claims to have witnessed the whole thing from a nearby hotel window, which was at exactly the wrong angle to see the light stand. The only thing visible from the window was a pile of glass shards that could have been anything (and weren't particularly easy to make out, for that matter). Hence, Phoenix argues that the only way he could have recognized it was a light stand was if he'd actually been inside the office when he witnessed the crime... that is to say, he's the murderer. Edgeworth then has White confess to placing a wiretap in the victim's office a week prior (when it was actually White's secretary, April May), during which time he would have seen the light stand, but Phoenix presents the stand's receipt, which shows that Mia bought it the day before she was killed.
*** The aformentioned April May makes a similar mistake to Frank Sahwit above in revealing that she knew the Thinker statuette in Mia's office, the twin of the one in the first case, was a clock. This contradicted her claims of being just a concerned bystander, because just like Sahwit, she couldn't have guessed on her own that the statuette was a clock- and her defense of "I saw it in a store" doesn't hold up because the clocks had been handmade by Phoenix's friend Larry. In this case, she's not the murderer, but she ''had'' been wiretapping Mia's phone on White's behalf to listen in on a conversation in which Mia said it was a clock.

** In ''VideoGame/Persona4'', [[spoiler:Adachi]] reveals himself to be the killer by declaring that everyone already knows that "[[spoiler:Namatame's]] the one who put them all in [the television]" — no one but the murderer and the protagonists could have known that that was how the victims were killed. He had also cast suspicion on himself in an earlier instance when the protagonists [[spoiler:find a list of everyone that Namatame had put into the television: Adachi shows no surprise at the contents of the list and declares that the it proves that Namatame is the murderer, despite the fact that it included people who were rescued before they could be murdered (and were therefore classed as mere "disappearances" that had no relation to the murders); Naoto becomes suspiscious of Adachi at this poimnt, but she is unable to link him to the murders until his later slip up]].

** In ''VideoGame/Persona4'', [[spoiler:Adachi]] reveals himself to be the killer by declaring that everyone already knows that "[[spoiler:Namatame's]] the one who put them all in [the television]" — no one but the murderer and the protagonists could have known that that was how the victims were killed. He had also cast suspicion on himself in an earlier instance when the protagonists [[spoiler:find a list of everyone that Namatame had put into the television: Adachi shows no surprise at the contents of the list and declares that the list proves that Namatame is the murderer, despite the fact that it included people who were rescued before they could be murdered (and were therefore classed as mere "disappearances" that had no relation to the murders); Naoto becomes suspiscious of Adachi at this poimnt, but she is unable to link him to the murders until his later slip up]].

** In ''VideoGame/Persona4'', [[spoiler:Adachi]] reveals himself to be the killer by saying that he thought everyone was sure that "[[spoiler:Namatame]] put them in [the television]" — no one but the murderer and the protagonists could have known that that was how the victims were killed. He had also cast suspicion on himself in an earlier instance when the protagonists [[spoiler:find a list of everyone that Namatame had put into the television: Adachi shows no surprise at the contents of the list despite the fact that it included people who were rescued before they could be murdered (and were therefore classed as mere "disappearances" that had no relation to the murders)]].

*** In the second case, Redd White describes a glass light stand falling over in his testimony. This immediately blows a hole in his account, as while there was indeed a glass light stand in the room and it did indeed fall over, White claims to have witnessed the whole thing from a nearby hotel window, which was at exactly the wrong angle to see the light stand. The only thing visible from the window was a pile of glass shards that could have been anything (and weren't particularly easy to make out, for that matter). Hence, Phoenix argues that the only way he could have recognized it was a light stand was if he'd actually been inside the office when he witnessed the crime... that is to say, he's the murderer. Edgeworth then has White confess to placing a wiretap in the victim's office a week prior (when it was actually White's secretary, April May), during which he would have seen the light stand, but Phoenix presents the stand's receipt, which shows that Mia bought it the day before she was killed.
*** Redd White's secretary April May makes a similar mistake to Frank Sahwit above in revealing that she knew the Thinker statuette in Mia's office, the twin of the one in the first case, was a clock. This contradicted her claims of being just a concerned bystander, because just like Sahwit, she couldn't have guessed on her own that the statuette was a clock- and her defense of "I saw it in a store" doesn't hold up because the clocks had been handmade by Phoenix's friend Larry. In this case, she's not the murderer, but she ''had'' been wiretapping Mia's phone on White's behalf to listen in on a conversation in which Mia said it was a clock.

*** In the first case, Frank Sahwit claims that the murder weapon used to kill the victim was a clock, when Phoenix thinks it's a statue. Prosecutor Winston Payne interjects and confirms that it's a clock made to ''look'' like a statue, which verbally tells you the time when you tilt its head. Phoenix then points out that this contradicts Sahwit's claim that he never entered the victim's apartment, because there's no way he would've guessed it was a clock unless he'd interacted with it and heard it tell time.

*** In Case 3, "Recipe for a Turnabout", this is done, ironically enough, by saying something was poison. Specifically, [[spoiler:Phoenix lies and says that a completely useless green plastic bottle (it held ear medication) that has Furio Tigre's fingerprints on it contained the poison used to kill the victim. Tigre laughs and calls Phoenix an idiot, since he should already know that the poison was in the ''brown glass'' bottle, not that one, so his evidence doesn't prove anything. And yes, Phoenix ''did'' already know that, as the bottles' contents had been established earlier in the trial. Thing is, Tigre hadn't been in the courtroom when the bottles were brought up, so the only way Tigre could've known which bottle contained the poison was if he'd ''used'' it]].

*** Redd White's secretary April May makes a similar mistake to Frank Sahwit above in revealing that she knew the Thinker statuette in Mia's office, the twin of the one in the first case, was a clock. This contradicted her claims of being just a concerned bystander, because just like Sahwit, she couldn't have guessed on her own that the statuette was a clock- and her defense of "I saw it in a store" doesn't hold up because the clocks had been handmade by Phoenix's friend Larry. In this case, she's not the murderer, but she ''had'' been wiretapping Mia's phone to listen in on a conversation in which Mia says it's a clock.

--->''Vetinari:''' And, indeed, some rumours about the death of young Mr. Dearheart last month.\\

* ''Film/LethalWeapon3'':

*** In the third case, a witness who's trying to convince the court that she didn't see the crime slips up and mentions that the victim was shot. The crime was put under a gag order, so nobody who wasn't actively involved with the crime or its investigation should know its details.[[spoilers: Turns out, she didn't ''[[ExactWords see]]'' the crime, because she's secretly blind. She ''heard'' the sound of the shot.]]

*** In Chapter 3 [[spoiler:Celeste, [[{{Irony}} ironically enough given what happened in the second trial]], is nailed by this. In the case, she had engineered the circumstances in such a way that the students split into two groups; one group found the body of Ishimaru, while the other found the [[FakingTheDead "body"]] of Hifumi at the same time (so Monokuma would broadcast a 'Body Discovery' announcement, tricking the people who discovered Hifumi into thinking the announcement was for him). Shortly after, Celeste (who was part of the group that discovered Hifumi) glumly remarks that everyone is going to die "just like those guys died", despite having no way of knowing at that point that Ishimaru was also murdered.]]
*** Then in Chapter 4, [[spoiler:Yasuhiro trips over this, though he isn't the culprit. He points out the message written in blood naming Toko as the killer... only, among other things, the magazine was hidden in the rack at the time the body was found, and Hina had kicked him out of the crime scene before he could take more than a look, so how did he know about it? [[SubvertedTrope However, he wasn't the murderer in this case. He ''thought'' he might have killed Sakura by hitting her on the head with a bottle and so tried to frame Toko for it, but Sakura was too tough for that to kill her and was merely knocked unconscious for a bit]].]]

*** A variation happens in Chapter 5, [[spoiler:which leads to Chiaki being confirmed as TheMole. While investigating Nagito's death, they find a diary that Monomi claims to be hers in order to protect Chiaki's cover as the Future Foundation's spy. One of the entries revolves around Hajime nearly risking his life by entering the Final Dead Room in the Funhouse during a short-lived SanitySlippage in the previous chapter. However, aside from the fact that Monokuma states that Monomi doesn't know how to write, not only could she not have learned about the incident on her own (as she was trapped in a different part of that chapter's ClosedCircle until the following morning), but only one student other than Hajime knew about it-- Chiaki, due to her being the one to talk him down from doing it, meaning that the diary is either hers to begin with, or she's the one working with Monomi, either of which proves that she's the spy. This evidence ends up being the smoking gun that [[CassandraTruth finally convinces the other students to believe that she's telling the truth about being the spy despite how badly they don't want to believe it]], and makes them realize that she's the student who the [[WindsOfDestinyChange supernaturally lucky]] Nagito arranged to [[AccidentalMurder accidentally kill him]] in a way that he hoped the other students couldn't solve as part of a convoluted plan [[ThanatosGambit to use his death to allow the spy, whose identity he did not know]] to [[DeadlyGraduation "graduate"]] while killing off everyone else via the "graduation" rules.]]

*** In the first case, Frank Sahwit claims that the murder weapon used to kill the victim was a clock; when Phoenix points out that the murder weapon is in fact a statue, prosecutor Winston Payne reveals that the statue doubles as a clock, audibly telling the time when activated. However, Phoenix then points out that it would be impossible for Frank to have known it was a clock unless he had entered the apartment and held it in his hand, thus implicating himself as the real killer.
*** In the second case, Redd White describes a glass light stand falling over in his testimony. This immediately blows a hole in his account, as while there was indeed a glass light stand in the room and it did indeed fall over, White claims to have witnessed the whole thing from a nearby hotel window, which was at exactly the wrong angle to see the light stand. The only thing visible from the window was a pile of glass shards that could have been anything (and weren't particularly easy to make out, for that matter). Hence, Phoenix argues that the only way he could have recognized it was a light stand was if he'd actually been inside the office when he witnessed the crime... that is to say, he's the murderer. Edgeworth then has White confess to placing a wiretap in the victim's office a week prior (when it was actually White's secretary, April May), during which he would have seen the light stand, but Phoenix presents the stand's receipt, which shows that it had been bought the very day before the murder.
*** Redd White's secretary April May accidentally revealed that she knew that the small 'The Thinker' statue in Mia's office was a clock. The clock had been made by Phoenix's friend Larry and given to Mia as a gift; the only ''other'' clock he made was in police custody after being used as a murder weapon. It doesn't look like a clock and doesn't visually tell time (you tilt the statue's head and it announces the time verbally), so the only way she could know is if she'd eavesdropped on a conversation Mia had over the phone where she stated it was a clock.

*** In the second case, "The Stolen Turnabout", [[spoiler:Luke Atmey claims the lack of fingerprints on the alarm button on the victim's office is proof that Ron [=DeLite=] is the culprit since Ron was wearing the [=Mask☆DeMasque=] costume at the time, which included gloves. The issue is, the fact that Ron was wearing the costume at the time was only revealed while Luke was on trial for a different crime in a different courtroom, so the only way he could have possibly known about it is if he was in the victim's office at the time of the murder]].
*** In Case 3, "Recipe for a Turnabout", this is done by ''saying'' it was poison. Specifically, [[spoiler:Phoenix lies and says that a completely useless green plastic bottle that has the witness's fingerprints on it contained the poison used to kill the victim. The witness laughs and calls Phoenix an idiot, since he should already know that the poison was in the ''brown glass'' bottle, not that one, so his evidence doesn't prove anything. And yes, Phoenix ''did'' already know that, and so did everyone watching the trial. But this witness hadn't ''been'' watching the trial, so the only way he could have known what the poison bottle looked like is if he had used it himself]].
** ''VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney'': The villain of the first case has a ''really'' bad habit of running his mouth, and does this no less than three times in the first case.

*** In the third case, a witness who's trying to convince the court that she didn't see the crime slips up and mentions that [[spoiler:the victim was shot. The crime was put on a "gag order"]], so no one apart from those investigating it, or someone who saw the crime happen, should know those types of details. [[spoiler:It turns out she didn't '''[[ExactWords see]]''' the crime. She's secretly blind, and only heard the shot]].

*** In Case 2, Frank Sahwit comments that he swears he didn't [[spoiler:hear the scream of the person who discovered the body]]. Edgeworth points out that, normally, [[spoiler:if someone is told a scream rang out during a murder, that'd they'd assume it belonged to the victim, not a witness]], and that he never mentioned [[spoiler:who they believe the scream belonged to]]. Frank admits at this point that [[spoiler:he was the one who found the body]].

*** Also in Chapter 2, this is part of how it's discovered that [[spoiler: Byakuya tampered with the crime scene]]: immediately after the body discovery announcement was made, he headed straight to the room where the body was, even though the location wasn't part of the announcement and he couldn't have known exactly where it was unless he had already been there. Moreover [[spoiler:the body is found inside the girls' locker room, which none of the boys can normally enter (the same is true in reverse for the girls)]].

* Macedonian crime reporter [[http://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/jun/24/pressandpublishing.internationalcrime Vlado Taneski]] became a suspect of being the SerialKiller that stalked Taneski's own hometown and he often wrote about, when he included copious details about the crimes that had not been disclosed to the public, such as the type of phone cord used to strangle the victims, or the fact that it had also been used to tie them.

* In Brazil, there was suspicion that television presenter Wallace Souza had ordered or at least coordinated gangland murders for his TV show ''Canal Livre''. This suspicion only grew when he approached a still-smoldering body in a forest, saying, "It smells like a barbecue. It is a man. It has the smell of burning meat. The impression is that it was in the early hours... it was an execution." even though the police had never given a time of death. Also, he tended to arrive a little too quickly at the scene of the crime. He died before he could be prosecuted.

* In Brazil, there was suspicion that television presenter Wallace Souza had ordered or coordinated Brazilian gangland murders for his TV show ''Canal Livre'' grew when he approached a still-smoldering body in a forest, saying "It smells like a barbecue," he says. "It is a man. It has the smell of burning meat. The impression is that it was in the early hours... it was an execution," even though the police had never given a time of death. Also, he tended to arrive a little too quickly at the scene of the crime. He died before he could be prosecuted.

* Suspicion that Wallace Souza had ordered or coordinated Brazilian gangland murders for his TV show ''Canal Livre'' grew when he approached a still-smoldering body in a forest, saying "It smells like a barbecue," he says. "It is a man. It has the smell of burning meat. The impression is that it was in the early hours... it was an execution," even though the police had never given a time of death. Also, he tended to arrive a little too quickly at the scene of the crime. He died before he could be prosecuted.

* In ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow'', when Brad asks if he can use the phone, Frank smirks into the camera and comments on Brad and Janet getting a flat tire, even though Brad never mentioned it. However, Brad doesn't pick up on this. Theatre productions vary on how meaningful this detail is, as any of the motorcyclists passing by on their way to the castle could have mentioned the unoccupied car. Some directors do try to establish there was a car-trap on the road, either to get random passersby [[spoiler: for fresh body parts if necessary]], Brad and Janet specifically [[spoiler: for their connection to Dr. Scott, although this colours his own arrival]], and in one instance the original trap was replaced by a tyre-puncturer by one of the guests in an attempt to somehow incriminate Riff-Raff and Magenta after the play's normal ending. The movie leaves it unclear if Frank is just amused at this.

* In ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow'', when Brad asks if he can use the phone, Frank smirks into the camera and comments on Brad and Janet getting a flat tyre, even though Brad never mentioned it. Though Brad doesn't pick up on this. Theatre productions vary on how meaningful this detail is, as any of the motorcyclists passing by on their way to the castle could have mentioned the unoccupied car. Some directors do try to establish there was a car-trap on the road, either to get random passersby [[spoiler: for fresh body parts if necessary]], Brad and Janet specifically [[spoiler: for their connection to Dr. Scott, although this colours his own arrival]], and in one instance the original trap was replaced by a tyre-puncturer by one of the guests in an attempt to somehow incriminate Riff-Raff and Magenta after the play's normal ending. The movie leaves it unclear if Frank is just amused at this.

* ''Film/PrimalFear'': Played with. Aaron is a suspect charged with murdering a Catholic Cardinal. The played with part comes in [[spoiler:when Aaron appears to have multiple-personality disorder and doesn't remember what his other personality, named Roy, does. It helps him beat the first-degree murder charges for an insanity verdict. During the trial, Aaron turns into Roy and he attacks the prosecutor while he's on the stand. This causes a mistrial and the judge to find him insane. After the trial, arrogant defense attorney Martin Vail, who begins to feel sorry and care for Aaron, feels proud of himself, only for Aaron to let a detail slip (possibly intentionally) that only Roy would know: Roy attacking the prosecutor. It's at this point that Aaron confesses that he never had multiple-personality disorder and faked his Aaron personality to con everybody.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}'': This is what reveals the villain. After discovering why predators are going savage, Nick and Judy rush to the police to pass off the evidence, shake off the mooks that were pursuing them and cut through the Natural History Museum. As they're passing through, [[spoiler:the now Acting Mayor [[BitchInSheepsClothing Dawn Bellwether]]]] is waiting and praises them for their work... just as Judy is about to hand over the evidence, she suddenly wonders how they knew where to find them.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'', Princess Jasmine uses this to ferret out Prince Ali's true identity as Aladdin. While watching a fireworks display in China, Jasmine says that "it's a shame Abu had to miss this," referencing Aladdin's NonHumanSidekick. Instead of asking who Abu is, Ali/Aladdin says "Nah, he hates fireworks," which instantly blows Aladdin's cover and reveals him to be the same boy from the marketplace that Jasmine met earlier. Jasmine then asks Aladdin who he really is, but instead of being honest, Aladdin [[FawltyTowersPlot compounds his initial lie with another lie]] by saying that [[KingIncognito he's a prince who dresses as a commoner to escape the palace life]].

* In ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', this exchange happens when investigating missing refugees from Aerotech Office Park:

* In ''VideoGame/LANoire'', the DLC case "[[MeaningfulName A Slip of the Tongue]]" features one of these. If Phelps and Bekowski manage to catch up to Jean Archer, they'll mention Belasco (another suspect, [[spoiler:and Archer's accomplice]]). She later drops his full name, "James Belasco", which confirms to Phelps that she's connected to the case.

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': In "And Then There Were Fewer", [[spoiler: Tom Tucker is arrested for allegedly murdering several people at James Woods' mansion when Lois speaks to his partner Diane Simmons about the matter. Diane then shows off a blouse that her mother bought her for her first solo newscast, causing Lois to wonder how could she have known prior to the murders happening the night before.]]