History Main / BookmarkClue

* '''Series/MidsomerMurders'':
** In "The Stitcher's Society", the SOCO team find an important clue--a newly signed lease--in a book in the first VictimOfTheWeek's house.

* In Creator/{{Infocom}}'s ''Witness'', one potential clue is a receipt that Hong the butler carelessly used as a bookmark.

* '''Series/MidsomerMurders'': In "The Stitcher's Society", the SOCO team find an important clue--a newly signed lease--in a book in the first VictimOfTheWeek's house.

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* In ''Fanfic/TwelveMoonsAndAFortnight'', remnants of Mo Xuanyu’s distinctive makeup are discovered between the pages of a book Nie Huaisang gives to Wei Wuxian. Wei Wuxian identifies the makeup by its scent, and deduces that it must have belonged to Mo Xuanyu because [[spoiler: the book’s original owner was a doctor who would not have regularly worn makeup, and Mo Xuanyu was known for heavily powdering his face.]]

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* In ''[[LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya]]'', Kyon returns to the Literature Club room the next day and finds ''The Fall of Hyperion'', which was the same book Yuki used to reveal her true identity in the ''[[LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya]]''. Kyon opens the book and finds a bookmark that reads: "Program Run Condition: Collect the keys. Deadline: Two Days Later". Kyon is unsure about the message's significance and decides to heed Yuki's request to go to her apartment.
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* In Infocom's ''Witness'', one potential clue is a receipt that Hong the butler carelessly used as a bookmark.

* In ''[[LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya]]'' Kyon returns to the Literature Club room the next day and finds ''The Fall of Hyperion'', which was the same book Yuki used to reveal her true identity in the ''[[LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya]]''. Kyon opens the book and finds a bookmark that reads: "Program Run Condition: Collect the keys. Deadline: Two Days Later". Kyon is unsure about the message's significance and decides to heed Yuki's request to go to her apartment.

This trope is when someone (most often a murder victim) uses something as a impromptu bookmark that later turns out a vital clue in solving the crime. Expect a scene where the detective is searching the victim's room, picks up the book to flick through it--perhaps wondering if the victim had been researching something relevant to the crimes--and either notices the bookmark or has it fall out.

* In ''[[LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya]]'' Kyon returns to the Literature Club room the next day and finds ''The Fall of Hyperion'', which was the same book Yuki used to reveal her true identity in the ''[[LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya]]''. Kyon opens the book and finds a bookmark which reads: "Program Run Condition: Collect the keys. Deadline: Two Days Later". Kyon is unsure about the message's significance and decides to heed Yuki's request to go to her apartment.

* ''Film/{{Lo}}'': A loner named Justin falls in love with a ManicPixieDreamGirl named April. She is kidnapped by demons, and leaves behind a book. Looking for any clue to save April, he finds a bookmark, showing how to summon a demon named Lo.
* Played with in the film adaptation of ''Literature/TheLordsOfDiscipline''. Set in a southern military academy during the 1960's, the protagonist is trying to help a black cadet deal with racial harassment. He advises the cadet that if he wants to contact him, there's a book in the library that's never been checked out in the history of the school, and he should leave a note for him in that book.

* In ''[[Literature/LordPeterWimsey Have His Carcase]]'', the murdered man gave a document to his mistress, who used it as a bookmark and then forgot about it. It thus survived when he burned his papers, and was later found by Wimsey.

* ''Series/DeathInParadise'': Inverted in "Frappe Death Day" where DI Mooney becomes fixated on the fact that the VictimOfTheWeek '''hadn't''' placed a book mark in the heavy tome he was reading before he was shot. Typically for the show, this AbsenceOfEvidence turns out to be a vital clue.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Fahrenheit}}'', the two detectives Carla and Tyler find a copy of ''Literature/TheTempest'' in a crime scene, at the table that Lucas (the killer) was sitting at. Tyler finds a piece of scrap paper inside that Lucas was using as a bookmark, and a friend of Carla's identifies the scrap paper as a printout from a financial institution, enabling the detectives to track down Lucas to his office.

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