History Main / MinorCrimeRevealsMajorPlot

* ''Film/BlueThunder'': Murder of a LA city councilwoman → a U.S. government conspiracy to eliminate political undesirables with the title combat helicopter.

* Another variation in ''Film/Transylvania65000'' (1985). Two tabloid reporters get sent to Transylvania after their editor receives a tape--obviously fake--of a couple of tourists getting attacked by Main/FrankensteinsMonster. But during the course of their investigation, they discover that something is indeed going on there which involves a disgraced doctor trying to clear his family name, while Transylvanian officials engage in a conspiracy to shut the doctor down.

* In ''Literature/TheDayOfTheJackal'', the French police are baffled by a series of seemingly-unconnected bank robberies and jewelry heists. It turns out they're being orchestrated by the OAS terrorist group to fund the titular assassin's plot to kill Charles De Gaulle.

* Subverted in ''{{Series/Dexter}}''. In season 1, while pursuing the Ice Truck Killer, the Miami PD comes across a man named Neil Perry due to his having traffic tickets issued near the scenes of the Killer's kidnappings. The subversion comes because the man is actually a computer hacker who specifically planted those minor pieces of evidence in order to lead the police to himself. Therefore he could falsely confess for the killings and be famous.

* ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'': Persecution of a rogue crew that ends in an unknown planet -> an attempt from said rogue crew to RetGone the Autobots out of existence.

* On April 20, 2007, Davon Boddie was arrested for pot dealing outside of the Royal Suite nightclub in Roanoke, Virginia. Boddie was the cousin of [[UsefulNotes/AmericanFootball Atlanta Falcons quarterback]] Michael Vick and gave Vick's home address as his own. Five days later, police searched the home and discovered a massive [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Newz_Kennels_dog_fighting_investigation dog-fighting ring]], leading to the arrest and conviction of Vick and four others.

* In 1948, an attempted robbery took place in Los Angeles, in which the perpetrator was shot and killed. Normally, this wouldn't lead to much... but the investigation revealed an illicit partnership (and allegedly a love affair) between LAPD vice cop Elmer V. Jackson and madam Brenda Allen. The subsequent prostitution and police corruption trials resulted in a massive shake-up and reform of the Los Angeles Police Department.

* In "The Adventure of the Clapham Cook", the disappearance of a cook from her employer's place → the murder of a bank clerk and a plan to spirit away thousands of pounds in securities.

* In ''Literature/HickoryDickoryDock'', Literature/HerculePoirot gets interested in a student hostel because of a series of petty thefts. A kleptomaniac seems to be stealing random items, most of them with no real value. Poirot's investigation ends up uncovering connections between the owner of the hostel and smuggling operation.

-->'''Driver:''' Quite an imagination he's got. [[RefugeInAudacity And I bet he told you I was doing 70 in a 50 mph zone too, just to round things out!]]

->'''Driver:''' Quite an imagination he's got. [[RefugeInAudacity And I bet he told you I was doing 70 in a 50 mph zone too, just to round things out!]]

:The cop, seeing the arrest of a lifetime before him, immediately calls for backup, who proceeds to thoroughly search the car and test the man. Once they're finally done, having found absolutely no evidence of wrongdoing, another cop comes up to the driver and apologizes for wasting his time, as the arresting officer thought he was dealing with some kind of serial killer pedophile terrorist criminal.

-->'''Driver:''' Quite an imagination he's got. [[RefugeInAudacity And I bet he told you I was doing 70 in a 50 mph zone too, just to round things out!]]

::The cop, seeing the arrest of a lifetime before him, immediately calls for backup, who proceeds to thoroughly search the car and test the man. Once they're finally done, having found absolutely no evidence of wrongdoing, another cop comes up to the driver and apologizes for wasting his time, as the arresting officer thought he was dealing with some kind of serial killer pedophile terrorist criminal.

:::The cop, seeing the arrest of a lifetime before him, immediately calls for backup, who proceeds to thoroughly search the car and test the man. Once they're finally done, having found absolutely no evidence of wrongdoing, another cop comes up to the driver and apologizes for wasting his time, as the arresting officer thought he was dealing with some kind of serial killer pedophile terrorist criminal.

The cop, seeing the arrest of a lifetime before him, immediately calls for backup, who proceeds to thoroughly search the car and test the man. Once they're finally done, having found absolutely no evidence of wrongdoing, another cop comes up to the driver and apologizes for wasting his time, as the arresting officer thought he was dealing with some kind of serial killer pedophile terrorist criminal.

::The cop, seeing the arrest of a lifetime before him, immediately calls for backup, who proceeds to thoroughly search the car and test the man. Once they're finally done, having found absolutely no evidence of wrongdoing, another cop comes up to the driver and apologizes for wasting his time, as the arresting officer thought he was dealing with some kind of serial killer pedophile terrorist criminal.

* In the late 1970s and early 1980s, American and Italian authorities were investigating the business failures of prominent banker [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michele_Sindona Michele Sindona]], due to reports of financial irregularities. Digging into bank records and Sindona's dirty laundry revealed not only that he was a fraudster and connected to TheMafia, but also the existence of a very scary secret society called [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_Due Propaganda Due]].
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_bribery_scandals The Lockheed Bribery scandals]] began as an inquiry into Lockheed for the potential misappropriation of government bailout money. By the time it was over, a multinational bribery scandal had been revealed that caused major shakeups in the governments of Italy, Japan, West Germany, and the Netherlands, the arrest of the Japanese prime minister, a ''kamikaze attack on a Yakuza boss's house, by a far right activist pornstar'', a constitutional crisis in the Netherlands and nearly destroyed Lockheed as a company for good.

* The energy company Enron saw its luck sour in 2001, when many began to look into their finances when Enron's reported stock value was ''55 times larger'' than their earnings, along with numerous other opaque and bizarre accounting practices. This and other discrepancies forced the SEC to do its own investigation, and as it went on, more and more crimes were uncovered. What had essentially started into looking into the odd accounting practices of the company mushroomed into a laundry list of crimes committed by and with the knowledge of the majority of its executives that included embezzlement, insider trading and fraud, the last of which included a supervillain-level scheme of deliberately blacking out California to profit on hugely inflated energy prices. The end result saw several Enron executives going to prison (and the CEO dying of a heart attack before he could be sentenced), stronger penalties for "cooking the books", Enron becoming the world's largest corporate bankruptcy in history until the collapse of [=WorldCom=], just about a year later. The fallout also destroyed the reputation of Arthur Andersen, one of the world's largest accounting firms, so thoroughly that they too soon folded.

* In 2001; the FBI was investigating general corruption in the government of Waterbury, Connecticut[[note]]often likened to a New England version of UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}} with regards to municipal corruption[[/note]] when phone records and photographs were discovered of Waterbury Mayor Philip Giordano, who had been the Republican nominee almost by default running against 2-term incumbent Democratic Senator (and in 2000; the nominee for Vice-President) Joe Lieberman, alongside a [[TheOldestProfession local prostitute]] and, more seriously, [[PaedoHunt the woman's underage daughter and niece]]. The scandal tanked Giordano's campaign, leading to Lieberman winning a third term in a landslide. Giordano would eventually be arrested and ultimately convicted on 14 counts of using an interstate device (his cellphone) to arrange sexual contact with children, receiving a 37-year prison sentence - with Giordano not eligible for release until 2034.
* In 1951, one foreman in a Soviet unit dealing with construction since 1942 has complained to the police that he is not being paid correctly. An investigation was opened, showing that the entire unit is a huge scam created by one Nikolay Pavlenko, a deserter first lieutenant who faked documents [[PhonyVeteran proclaiming him a colonel]]. The unit was busy not only with construction profits, but also looting German territory during the war. 400 arrested, Pavlenko was shot, 16 sentenced, the rest released due to not knowing the truth themselves. Some senior officials tied to them were discharged as well, but avoided trial.

* An investigation into pornography being illegally sold in Soho → [[https://flashbak.com/the-schoolkids-oz-dirty-books-and-the-downfall-of-the-dirty-squad-56477/ a series of corruption inquiries and trials]] when it was revealed not only that the so-called "Dirty Squad"[[note]]the Metropolitan Police's Obscene Publications Squad[[/note]] were on the pornographers payroll, but that the corruption extended to multiple high-ranking officers.

* ''Anime/TheCastleOfCagliostro'': Lupin discovers the casino he robbed only has counterfeit money → Lupin uncovers an AncientConspiracy as well as a plot by the BigBad to claim a large amount of wealth.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_bribery_scandals The Lockheed Bribery scandals]] began as an inquiry into Lockheed for the potential misappropriation of government bailout money. By the time it was over, a multinational bribery scandal had been revealed that caused major shakeups in the governments of Italy, Japan, West Germany, and the Netherlands, the arrest of the Japanese prime minister, a ''kamikaze attack on a Yakuza boss's house'', a constitutional crisis in the Netherlands and nearly destroyed Lockheed as a company for good.

** ''Literature/StormFront'': Hired to find a woman's missing husband and help the police with a murder → uncovering an AxeCrazy practitioner of BlackMagic.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles1'': Mysterious disappearance of a lawyer known for fighting for the rights of supers → a scheming ArmsDealer's murderous plan to make himself a figure of public adulation.

* ''Film/FromHell'': The Jack the Ripper prostitute murders → one of the victims is the common-law wife of the British crown prince, and the royal family is covering it up.

** ''Film/NoTimeToDie'': Russian Scientist gets kidnapped → Stopping an assassin's attempt to destroy the world by wiping out half of the world's population with Nanobots.

** ''Film/StarTrekVTheFinalFrontier''. A routine hostage situation turns out to be an attempt to hijack a starship.

* ''Franchise/StarWars'': In ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'', an assassination attempt on a senator → a clone army, 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 ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'') a plot by the Supreme Chancellor to overthrow the Republic and destroy the Jedi.

* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' has this happen quite a few times. The biggest example is from ''WesternAnimation/KimPossibleMovieSoTheDrama'' where the attempted kidnapping of a toy magnate was merely the first step in Drakken's most ambitious TakeOverTheWorld plot. In one episode this trope is also implied when it is mentioned that Kim once brought an end to an interstate police chase that was set off by a driver having a broken brake light, [[NoodleIncident but no further details are given]].

* While ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'' is picking up trash in the Krusty Krab parking lot, he calls the police on someone he sees littering. It turns out the guy was a actually a dangerous criminal, who vows to strangle Spongebob in revenge for turning him in.

** It started on March 18, 1997, when Rampart CRASH[[note]]Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums, the Rampart Division's anti-gang unit[[/note]] officer Kevin Gaines was shot dead in self-defense by undercover LAPD officer Frank Lyga. The resulting investigation revealed Gaines not only had a history of road rage but lived a lifestyle far beyond his annual LAPD salary and was associated with Creator/DeathRowRecords CEO Suge Knight, and it came out that Death Row had gang ties with the Bloods and hired off-duty LAPD officers as security guards.

** Similarly, Leonard Lake and Charles Ng kidnapped and killed upwards of 25 people together and were only stopped when Ng was caught shoplifting from a hardware store, having driven there in a car that belonged to one of their victims. Lake was taken into custody where he promptly killed himself knowing it was all over, but Ng managed to evade authorities until he was again busted while shoplifting.

* The "Festina Affair" that first blew the lid off the systematic doping by teams at the Tour de France in 1998 began with one of the Festina team's cars being routinely stopped by customs at the France-Belgium border and the discovery of steroids, EPO, syringes and other paraphernalia in the car's trunk.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_PTL_Club#Scandal_and_subsequent_demise The PTL scandal]] could have its beginning linked to a 1980 scandal involving a sexual encounter between PTL founder Jim Bakker (who was temporarily separated from then-wife Tammy Faye) and a young church secretary named Jessica Hahn (depending on whether you believe either Hahn's account; accusing Bakker of essentially date-raping her, or Bakker's version, stating the sex was consensual and possibly an attempt at revenge due to Tammy Faye's infatuation with music producer Gary S. Paxton). What got the Charlotte Observer's attention was initial concerns of financial misdeeds such as the $1,000 lifetime partnerships for their Heritage USA theme park, along with later revelations that $265,000 was given to Hahn as "hush money" to keep the incident quiet.

** Although Jim Garrison's [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_of_Clay_Shaw prosecution]] of Clay Shaw has been generally ridiculed by serious assassination researchers, Creator/OliverStone found the way it spun out of a fight between two low-rent private eyes to be fascinating, which led to the movie ''Film/{{JFK}}''.

** And, as of 2017, the latter scandal has resulted in an investigation into Brazil's sitting president, the vice president who had replaced the president, ''and'' the conviction of her predecessor on corruption charges. All this galvanized support for the Brazilian far-right, culminating in the controversial election of the very far-right-aligned UsefulNotes/JairBolsonaro to the Brazilian Presidency in 2018. And the corruption has only gotten worse under him, to the point where the people are actively calling for ''him'' to be impeached, too--it doesn't help that the obstruction investigation the Supreme Court authorized towards the end of April 2020 in the wake of his termination of Brazil's top cop came as the country was sinking fast under the weight of his gross mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic.
* In late 1670s France, an investigation into a forged marriage certificate led to the exposure of a massive network of poisoners, one that reached as far as the inner circle of UsefulNotes/LouisXIV. The "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affair_of_the_Poisons Affair of the Poisons]]" became one of the greatest[[note]]not to mention one of the most ''damaging'' in the long run: one of those involved - the Countess of Soissons - had a son who wanted to join the Army but was rejected for her involvement. His name? ''Prince Eugene of Savoy''; Eugene was insulted by the refusal, so he left his homeland and betrayed France for their Habsburg rivals, [[CreateYourOwnVillain eventually becoming Louis's archnemesis and being one of the factors preventing Louis from securing French hegemony in Europe]][[/note]] scandals in French history.

* In 2019, a man was beaten up by security at a South Korean nightclub named Burning Sun. He claimed that he had been attacked after intervening to help a woman being sexually harassed by club staff. This led to more accusations coming out about numerous cases of date rape and non-consensual filming and online sharing of sex acts at the Burning Sun, including by K-pop singers Choi Jong-hoon and Jung Joon-young. Things escalated further when group chat messages were discovered showing that famous K-pop singer Seungri, Burning Sun's publicity director, had not only been aware of the endemic rape at the club, but had directed employees to procure prostitutes in order to bribe potential investors for his nightclub business, Yuri Holdings. The result was the prosecution of numerous persons involved at Burning Sun and Yuri Holdings, with those convicted including Seungri, Jong-hoon, Joon-young and Seungri's business partner Yoo In-seok, who exposed yet more malfeasance when he implicated himself and Seungri in embezzling money from Yuri Holdings. In addition, several police officers were accused of [[DirtyCop accepting bribes]] from Seungri in return for turning a blind eye to the crimes committed at the club.

** "8 Years". A fugitive wanted for murder is caught → the real killer was murdered by someone else.

* ''Series/{{Castle}}'': This appears to have been the case for Beckett's mother's murder. Decade-old murder of a lawyer → wide-ranging corruption and conspiracy, the full extent of which has yet to be revealed.

** ''Manga/TwentiethCenturyBoys'': Murder or an old classmate → conspiracy to TakeOverTheWorld with a cult.

* ''Film/IRobot'': Suicide → ZerothLawRebellion

* In 1976, while applying for a visa, a Soviet military officer found a discrepancy in his family documents: one of his relatives was actually [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonina_Makarova Antonina Makarova]], a notorious Nazi Germany collaborator who had murdered thousands of Soviet prisoners. After being identified by several people who had known her during World War II, Makarova was executed for treason in 1979.

* A DEA raid, on suspicions of illegal prescription sales, led to the uncovering of a deeply unsanitary abortion clinic in Philadelphia, where the unsafe practices of [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kermit_Gosnell Kermit Gosnell]] had inflicted several women with serious injuries or venereal diseases.

* The FBI's Operation ABSCAM, initially targeting forgers and art thieves, ended up uncovering widespread political corruption and leading to the conviction of multiple senators after a forger targeted in the sting mentioned that gambling licences could be bought from New Jersey politicians.

* Back in 1995, [[Creator/CookieJarEntertainment CINAR]], the Canadian animation company best known for shows like ''Series/AreYouAfraidOfTheDark'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Caillou}}'', was sued by Claude Robinson, a Montreal animator who accused CINAR of stealing the concept for their ''WesternAnimation/RobinsonSucroe'' series from him (he had pitched the series to the company back in 1986). While investigating these claims, Canadian authorities wound up uncovering [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CINAR_scandal something much worse]] -- namely, that CINAR's co-founders and others had been embezzling millions from the company via offshore bank accounts, including money earmarked for Canadian content development. Said co-founders wound up ejected from their own company, and CINAR proceeded to go down the tubes for a few years, until Michael Hirsh (founder of rival Creator/{{Nelvana}}) purchased the assets in 2004 and reconstituted the remains as Cookie Jar Entertainment. (As for Robinson, a court ruling in 2009 concluded that CINAR had in fact ripped off his pitch; Robinson was awarded $5.2 million in damages).

* In 2010, police raided an abortion clinic in Philadelphia and found, among other things, conditions which stank of urine and cat shit, potentially lethally unsanitary and non-sterile equipment, pregnant women lying around under sedation in the uncleaned blood of previous patients and, worst of all, jars full of the mutilated remains of partially-aborted foetuses, many of which were found to have been past the legal cut-off date when they were terminated. It was later discovered that the doctor in question, Kermit Gosnell, had killed several infants even after they were successfully born by severing their spines, and his unsafe practices had led to many of his patients being seriously injured or developing venereal diseases. The reason for the raid? Suspicion that Gosnell was selling unlicensed prescriptions.
* In 1976, a Soviet army officer tried to register for a visa and discovered a discrepancy in his family documents. This led to the discovery that one of his relatives was actually [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonina_Makarova Antonina Makarova]], a notorious wartime traitor who had [[LesCollaborateurs sided with the Nazis]] during the invasion of the Soviet Union and was implicated in the murders of thousands of Soviet prisoners. Makarova was identified by several people who had known her during the war and executed for treason in 1979.

** ''The Beast Within'': Investigate the possible presence of a werewolf killing people in Munich → Become entangled with the much older, ManipulativeBastard werewolf who turned the aforementioned werewolf in the first place, and had previously inflicted the same curse on UsefulNotes/LudwigIIOfBavaria.
** ''Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned'': Get hired to stand guard over the youngest child of a RoyalBlood line whose family have been known to suffer sporadic fits of anemia after waking up with a [[VampireHickey pair of puncture marks on their neck]] → Witness the child's kidnapping by a shadowy figure and pursue said figure to a remote country town → Uncover an AncientConspiracy of [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampiric]] cultists who want to sacrifice the infant, who is also descended from UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}}, in order to become {{Physical God}}s and TakeOverTheWorld.

* The first ''VideoGame/GabrielKnight'' game: Investigate seven ritualistic murders → Stop an ancient cult that has taken over New Orleans and cursed your family for centuries.

** "Lonely Hearts". Conman commits suicide → conmanand his partner/lover took advantage and killed women.

** "Daniela". Abused wife brings a snuff film that her husband and his friend made when they were teens. It at first seems to be a misunderstanding until evidence was found that the victim on the film might actually be dead.
** "The Sleepover". A mentally challenged man kills someone → parental abuse and murder of a child

** "Debut". A man accused of killing his wife is also accused of killing a girl in 1969. He was innocent of his wife's death but not of the other murder.

** "Lonely Hearts". Conman commits suicide → conman had a partner/lover. They took advantage and killed women.