History Main / FingerInTheMail

* Used on ''{{Bones}}'' quite often.
** Especially during the [[spoiler: Gormogon arc]] and with some from crime scenes involving scavenger animals, winds, or other such scattering mechanisms.
* In an episode of ''ColdCase'', a coyote (smuggler of humans along the US-Mexico boarder) would kidnap the children of families that missed payments, cut off their ear and mail it to the family, then kill the child if there was still no payment received.
* Similarly, the season 1 finale of ''CriminalMinds'' features a variation on this trope; SSA Jason Gideon receives, at his cottage, a baseball card and a head in a box via courier, which sets the BAU's targets on this new case.

* In ''{{Frasier}}'', when Niles is taking care of [[CompanionCube a sack of flour as though it were a child]], he tells Frasier about his nightmares where the sack of flour is kidnapped and he starts receiving muffins in the mail.

* One ''{{CSI}}'' episode featured a man who had found the cut off index finger of his mistress in her apartment. Later, [[spoiler:they find the body]] and it is revealed that [[spoiler:it was the man himself who had killed her. To avoid suspicion of the murder, he staged it as a kidnapping gone wrong.]]

* PlayedForLaughs in the ''{{Scrubs}}'' episode "My White Whale". In a CutawayGag after Dr. Cox denies acting like a complete lunatic, doll enthusiast Dr. Norris receives a parcel containing the hand of a doll that went missing after he refused to break his schedule to look at Dr. Cox's son. Soon after, Dr. Cox reveals that [[SubvertedTrope the hand belongs to another doll]]--not the one that Dr. Norris is missing.

* In ''{{Oz}}'', African-American inmate Johnny Post kills Italian inmate Dino Ortolani on the orders of Homeboys leader Jefferson Keane. In retaliation, the Italians [[spoiler:dismember Post and send Keane his penis in a box.]]

* In RobertEHoward's ''ConanTheBarbarian'' story "Rogues in the House", Murilo is given a recognizable ear as a hint.

---> '''Bart:''' He'll pay more money if he thinks the bear's in danger.

* Used in ''HeatGuyJ''. A CorruptPolitician kills [[EliteMook Ian]] when the latter was caught spying. The guy then cuts off Ian's hand and sends it to Ian's boss (and friend), who then declares war on the senator.

* In ''Series/BlackMirror'' the kidnapper mails the Princess' finger to the press after it is revealed that the PM is using a [[ItMakesSenseinContext body double in a sex tape.]] [[spoiler: However, forensic examination shows it's NOT the Princess's finger. In an appallingly extreme bluff, it's the ''kidnapper's''.]]

--> '''Bart:''' He'll pay more money if he thinks the bear's in danger.

* The maniacal doctor Hush from ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'' [[InvertedTrope turns this around]] by sending Batman the entirety of Catwoman... minus her heart. [[IGotBetter She gets better.]]

* Parodied in Season 4 of ''{{House}}'', when Drs. Cuddy and Wilson try to force House to hire a new team. Wilson attempts blackmail by "kidnapping" House's guitar. When House still won't give in, Wilson sends him the torn off whammy bar as a threat.

* Done with an added layer of {{Squick}} on ''{{Luther}}'' where the kidnappers cut out their hostage's ''tongue'' just to prove they're serious. Later, [[ItGotWorse it gets worse]].

See Also: {{Fingore}}, NotVeryPrettyNowIsHe

* Tsutomu Miyazaki, the infamous [[MoralPanic Otaku Killer]] who murdered several young girls ([[GollumMadeMeDoIt and blamed it on a side of his personality he called "the Rat Man"]]) sent a box containing the ground-up bones of one of his victims to her parents, as well as several of her teeth.

* JackTheRipper sent the head of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee, George Lusk, half a human kidney that is alleged to have come from the body of Catherine Eddowes, the Ripper's fourth victim.

* In the fifth ''{{Pendragon}}'' book, St. Dane leaves Bobby a bag containing [[spoiler:Gunny's severed hand. He turned up alive, just missing the hand.]]

In the event of a kidnapping or HostageSituation where characters are held for ransom, when the kidnapper is ready to make his demands known and/or make sure he is taken seriously by his hostage's loved ones/law enforcement authorities, the kidnapper will send severed body parts from his hostage to the family/police. Fingers are very common, but ears, teeth, toes, hair, etc. are frequently fair game, as well.

Compare: LucaBrasiSleepsWithTheFishes

* In ''AmericanPsycho'', when Patrick Bateman is listing his priorities before Christmas, one of them is "saw a hardbody's head off and Federal Express it to Robin Barker – the dumb bastard – over at Salomon Brothers".

* Parodied in ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'', when Helix is kidnapped. Since he's a ''robot'', his compatriots just reassemble him as the parts arrive in the mail. The last thing to arrive is his head.

* In ''[[ASongOfIceAndFire A Storm of Swords]]'', [[CompleteMonster The Brave Companions]] cut off The Kingslayer's sword hand, intending to send it to his father with a ransom demand.

In other circumstances, the situation can involve a SerialKiller mailing more [[{{Squick}} gruesome]] body parts (typically internal organs or severed heads) from recent victims to both taunt the police or detectives tailing him and to prove to them that they are receiving correspondence from the suspect they are after. If the body part is delivered to a loved one of the victim in this circumstance, it's typically a way to convey to that character receiving it the gruesome fate met by the victim.

* Parodied in a ''MrShow'' sketch, in which a kidnapper calls the wealthy father of the boy he's kidnapped and demands to know whether he received his son's toe in the mail, to prove his serious intent. Except he forgot to mail the toe. And he appears to have accidentally removed his ''own'' toe instead of one of the kid's. And he's already released the kid. And the police are able to track his call while he's dithering about all of this. The kidnapper ends up trying to sell the father his own toe for $50.00. Obviously, [[StupidCrooks he's not a very effective kidnapper]].

* In an episode of ''PoliceSquad'', Frank and his co-workers tell the mother of a kidnapped young lady about a similar case they had in which the victim's ear was cut off and mailed to her parents. The story naturally horrifies the woman.

* Parodied at ''HomestarRunner'' when Strong Bad's old computers kidnap his Lappy: they send him her "toe" (a keyboard key) through the mail.

* In ''TheSimpsons'' episode "Pranksta Rap", Bart pretends to be kidnapped and makes a call to the rest of the family while posing as the kidnapper. Homer immediately demands that the kidnapper send body parts to prove that he really has Bart. Marge objects.

See Also: {{Fingore}}

* Also parodied on the Nickelodeon show ''NedsDeclassifiedSchoolSurvivalGuide'', where the school bully, Loomer, takes the title character's Life Science baby care project doll and send it to them piece by piece. The horrified [[GeniusDitz Cookie]] exclaims, "What do we do now?" to which Ned smiles and replies, "Nothing." Backfires when the day before the babies are to be inspected the teacher suddenly moves up the deadline they still don't have the head.

* Done with an added layer of {{Squick}} on ''{{Luther}}'', where the kidnappers cut out their hostage's ''tongue'', just to prove they're serious. Later, [[ItGotWorse it gets worse]].

* In PiersAnthony's ''Adept'' series, the villains kidnap Clip, one of the protagonist's unicorn allies, and send him Clip's horn as proof. [[spoiler:Clip is rescued, and the protagonist uses his magic to reattach the horn.]]

* Used in the ErastFandorin book ''The Coronation'', in the ransom demand variation... but subverted in that the hostage was killed immediately after the finger was cut off as part of the villain's EvilPlan.

* In one of the ''Literature/AlexRider'' books, Alex swaps rooms with a friend he made in hospital to protect him from kidnappers (the friend's father is rich). They threaten to do this once they finally catch him, forcing him to admit the truth.
* In ''[[MythAdventures Myth-Inc Link]]'', Skeeve receives a package containing a severed finger. Recognizing the ring it's wearing as one he'd foisted off on Queen Hemlock to force her to give up conquering the world[[hottip:*:He gave her and King Roderick unremovable magic rings, claiming that if one wearer died so would the other.]], he concludes that she cut it off to free herself from its magic and is once again a threat.
** [[spoiler:At the end of the book, however, both Skeeve and the reader learn that things aren't quite what they seem. The finger was Roderick's, and Hemlock sent it to Skeeve to tell him that she'd figured out the rings were just a bluff when Rod died of natural causes.]]

* The ''SherlockHolmes'' story "The Adventure of the Cardboard Box" has a pair of ears placed in a box, but delivered to the wrong person.

* Used in ''MPDPsycho'': A killer sends one of the detectives looking for him the armless, legless torso of [[StuffedIntoTheFridge the detective's girlfriend in an ice chest]]

* In ''EscapeFromNewYork'', a creepy punk taunts the government troops with the kidnapped President's finger.

* Seen in the Rutger Hauer films ''SplitSecond'' and ''TheHitcher''. In ''Split Second'', a long-vanished SerialKiller returns and taunts the protagonist by sending him a metal briefcase that turns out to contain the heart of the first new victim packed in ice. A very large bite has been taken out of it. In ''The Hitcher'', the protagonist stops at a roadside diner to call the cops on the serial killer who's been pursuing him. The killer slips a human finger into a plate of fries the waitress brings him.

* In ''AmericanPsycho'', when Patrick Bateman is listing his priorites before Christmas, one of them is "saw a hardbody's head off and Federal Express it to Robin Barker – the dumb bastard – over at Salomon Brothers".

* Screw up the investigation of the first murder case in ''Kara no Shoujo'' and a suspiciously large crate will be delivered to your office. [[spoiler:Contents: the body of your good friend's wife, minus her right leg, uterus, and the unborn child she'd been carrying. Made even worse once you discover that ''she's still alive''.]]

* Used in ''MPDPsycho'': A killer sends one of the detectives looking for him the armless, legless torso of the detective's girlfriend in an ice chest