History Main / PhoneInDetective

** Don Isidro [[MeaningfulName Parodi]] is a DeconstructiveParody of this (and many others mysteries) tropes combined with a juvenalian {{Satire}} of Argentinean society: All the ''"friends"'' who consult him are truly {{Jerkass}}es whom could not care less about Parodi�s MiscarriageOfJustice [[GovernmentConspiracy being falsely accused and judged by]] a KangarooCourt [[FrameUp only to save a]] SleazyPolitician mook (TruthInTelevision in all LatinAmerica). It�s implied that all the consultants have enough intellect to discover the crime for themselves, but they can�t because they are {{Hypocrite}}s who don�t want to face the truth about themselves. One of the consultants lampshades [[DefectiveDetective that an imprisoned man could not be the right person to solve crimes,]] [[HypocriticalHumor only to immediately explain Parodi his case]]. One third of the cases Parodi gets the consultants try to make him his DetectivePatsy, [[DudeWheresMyReward no one pays him]] or try to [[ClearMyName ClearHisName]], and given his situation as everyone�s ButtMonkey, the only triumphs he has is to be the DoomedMoralVictor and tries to make things ForHappiness.

* Literature/HerculePoirot once solved a crime without leaving his room for a bet. No phone was involved though, he just asked for police reports (and used his friend Hastings to run errands). On another occasion he was in bed with flu, and contacted Hastings at the scene via telegram.

** In ''Literature/ThreeActsTragedy'', Poirot comes in late in the story, and by the time he becomes involved, most of the bulk investigation has been completed by the {{Amateur Sleuth}}s. Poirot would remain in the background throughout the entire case, while the other three reported the results their investigations to him.

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** Don Isidro [[MeaningfulName Parodi]] is a DeconstructiveParody of this (and many others mysteries) tropes combined with a juvenalian {{Satire}} of Argentinean society: All the ''"friends"'' who consult him are truly {{Jerkass}}es whom could not care less about Parodi’s MiscarriageOfJustice [[GovernmentConspiracy being falsely accused and judged by]] a KangarooCourt [[FrameUp only to save a]] SleazyPolitician mook (TruthInTelevision in all LatinAmerica). It’s implied that all the consultants have enough intellect to discover the crime for themselves, but they can’t because they are {{Hypocrite}}s who don’t want to face the truth about themselves. One of the consultants lampshades [[DefectiveDetective that an imprisoned man could not be the right person to solve crimes,]] [[HypocriticalHumor only to immediately explain Parodi his case]]. One third of the cases Parodi gets the consultants try to make him his DetectivePatsy, [[DudeWheresMyReward no one pays him]] or try to [[ClearMyName ClearHisName]], and given his situation as everyone’s ButtMonkey, the only triumphs he has is to be the DoomedMoralVictor and tries to make things ForHappiness.

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* Officer Flim Flanagan will often arrive on the scene of a crime committed by the Fox after [[KingLeonardoAndHisShortSubjects The Hunter]] has solved it.

* Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's Literature/CAugustDupin solved ''Literature/TheMysteryOfMarieRoget'' by reading newspaper accounts.

* Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's C. August Dupin solved ''The Murder of Marie Roget'' by reading newspaper accounts.

* Henry, of Creator/IsaacAsimov's ''Black Widowers'' mysteries, can solve any mystery after hearing it described over dinner.

** In "The Empty Hearse", there's a montage of Sherlock solving cases in the initial interview, including the ''Sherlock'' counterpart to "A Case of Identity",

* Shinchi from ''DetectiveConan'' pretends to be this sometimes when Conan reveals the answer to a case, but is actually there at the crime scene himself (as Conan).

* ''Film/{{ROTOR}}'': 75% of Detective Coldyron's scenes involve him being on the phone with another character. Often, after he hangs up on one character, he goes ahead and ''dials another immediately''.

* SherlockHolmes's brother Mycroft.

* EdgarAllanPoe's C. August Dupin solved ''The Murder of Marie Roget'' by reading newspaper accounts.

* {{Sherlock}} Holmes, during "A Scandal in Belgravia", solved a case via webcam, which gave him a few quick glances at the crime scene. While wearing nothing but a bedsheet.

* The manga ''{{Remote}}'' was about such a detective--he'd developed agoraphobia, so was assigned a young policewoman with a two-way radio who did the leg work.

* An extreme case in {{Quincy}} where not only was our hero in a hospital bed but a coma. Done by his friends asking themselves "what would Quincy do?", with some of their answers verging on telepathy.

* NeroWolfe who rarely left his brownstone, having Archie Goodwin act as his leg man and collect all the information he needed to solve the crime.

** Another Asimovian detective, Wendell Urth, was so afraid of travelling that he, like NeroWolfe, worked almost entirely from home.

You have an AmateurSleuth or an ExoticDetective. And to prove just how smart he is, not only can he solve any case just by scanning the crime scene, he can also solve crimes without ever having to visit the scene. The PhoneInDetective is the detective who is able to do some of his sleuthing over the phone due to being away for some reason. Full time {{Phone In Detective}}s are rare, often the detectives will only have to phone in very few of their cases their whole life and will only do so for special cases. It is not completely necessary for any phones to be involved, however.

* SherlockHolmes' brother Mycroft.

*** And remember that Holmes could still manage a lot of those cases in his career, [[LiteraryAgentHypothesis but given Watson is the guy who publishes Holmes' cases]], [[FridgeBrilliance it only makes sense that he publishes the most interesting cases (when Holmes does something) rather than those that could be solved by phone, or telegraph or consult or whatever]].

*** D'arcy countered by proving that the most likely suspect was Lord Bontriomphe, the Marquis' personal assistant (the Goodwin expy).
** Parodied in ''TheAreasOfMyExpertise'' with a detective who never leaves his bathtub.
* HerculePoirot once solved a crime without leaving his room for a bet. No phone was involved though, he just asked for police reports (and used his friend Hastings to run errands). On another occasion he was in bed with flu, and contacted Hastings at the scene via telegram.
* The Argentine detective Don Isidro Parodi, created by Creator/JorgeLuisBorges and Adolfo Bioy Casares under the pen name H. Bustos Domecq, is a man unjustly imprisioned to whom friends (and friends of friends) come visit at his cell with stories about mysteries and crimes, which he never fails to solve just by listening to their reports.
** Don Isidro [[MeaningfulName Parodi]] is a DeconstructiveParody of this (and many others mysteries) tropes combined with a juvenalian {{Satire}} of Argentinean society: All the ''"friends"'' who consult him are truly {{JerkAss}}es whom could not care less about Parodi’s MiscarriageOfJustice [[GovernmentConspiracy being falsely accused and judged by]] a KangarooCourt [[FrameUp only to save a]] SleazyPolitician mook (TruthInTelevision in all LatinAmerica). It’s implied that all the consultants have enough intellect to discover the crime for themselves, but they can’t because they are {{Hypocrite}}s who don’t want to face the truth about themselves. One of the consultants lampshades [[DefectiveDetective that an imprisoned man could not be the right person to solve crimes,]] [[HypocriticalHumor only to immediately explain Parodi his case]]. One third of the cases Parodi gets the consultants try to make him his DetectivePatsy, [[DudeWheresMyReward no one pays him]] or try to [[ClearMyName ClearHisName]], and given his situation as everyone’s ButtMonkey, the only triumphs he has is to be the DoomedMoralVictor and tries to make things ForHappiness.

* Creator/AgathaChristie had Literature/TommyAndTuppence solve one case in the style of the Old Man In The Corner in ''Partners In Crime''.

* The title character of the {{ITV}} series ''TheManInRoom17'' was a sociologist who consulted on difficult police cases and solved them without ever leaving his office.
* {{Monk}} once solved a hit and run by reading a newspaper. Then he solved a murder in ''France'' that was reported in the same newspaper and phoned the French police department about his revelation.

* ''{{Psych}}'': Shawn began his crime-solving career by reporting anonymous tips to the police through the phone based off observations he made watching news reports.

* The Fat Man of ''JakeAndTheFatMan''?
* Patrick Jane of ''TheMentalist'' once spent most of an episode in prison and ''still'' solved the case. One memorable trick: knowing Rigsby was on his way to interview a suspect, Jane phoned the suspect using Rigsby's name and insulted him, provoking the suspect to attack Rigsby and get himself arrested... and put in the same prison as Jane, who could then talk to him in person.

* {{Sherlock}} Holmes, during "A Scandal In Belgravia", solved a case via webcam, which gave him a few quick glances at the crime scene.. While wearing nothing but a bedsheet.

* Shinchi from DetectiveConan pretends to be this sometimes when Conan reveals the answer to a case, but is actually there at the crime scene himself (as Conan).

* In an episode of ''TokusouSentaiDekaranger,'' Sen was able to solve the mystery via the others describing the room they were in even though he was miles away (and ''in the villain's DeathTrap.'')

*** And remember that Holmes could still manage a lot of those cases in his career,[[LiteraryAgentHypothesis but given Watson is the guy who publishes Holmes cases]], [[FridgeBrilliance it only makes sense that he publishes the most interesting cases (when Holmes does something) rather than those that could be solved by phone, or telegraph or consult or whatever]].

*** D'arcy countered by proving that the most likely suspect was Lord Bontriumphe, the Marquis' personal assistant (the Goodwin expy).

* ''TheBoneCollector''. Quadriplegic forensics expert Lincoln Rhyme (Denzel Washington) uses police officer Amelia Donaghy (Angelina Jolie) as his eyes and ears to catch a serial killer.