History Main / PhoneInDetective

** In ''Literature/ThreeActTragedy'', 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.

*** 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's 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]].

* Kyouko Kirigiri in ''VisualNovel/{{Danganronpa}}'' solves the bulk of the third case after hearing about it once, in which she'd mysteriously disappeared for the entire incident. She looked like she was going to pull off the same in the fifth trial, but that was a HopelessBossFight in which none of the students had the information necessary to make it solvable.

** Literature/BlackWidowers: "{{Literature/Northwestward}}", where the only information that the Black Widowers have is what Mr Wayne is able to convey about the mystery. This is quite enough for Henry to solve the problem.
** ''Literature/ASimovsMysteries'': This {{anthology}} has all four stories featuring Wendell Urth, a detective so afraid of travelling that he worked almost entirely from home.

* Creator/IsaacAsimov's Literature/BlackWidowers story, "{{Literature/Northwestward}}", where the only information that the Black Widowers have is what Mr Wayne is able to convey about the mystery. This is quite enough for Henry to solve the problem.
* Another Asimovian detective, Wendell Urth, was so afraid of travelling that he, like Literature/NeroWolfe, worked almost entirely from home.

* Kazahaya Kyoko from the Japanese drama ''Series/KeishichouNashigorenKa'' despises legwork and solves cases from crime scene recordings and news reports. Averted in her cameo on ''[[Series/MajisukaGakuen Cabasuka Gakuen]]''.

* Early in ''Film/SherlockHolmes'', the titular character hasn't left the flat for months after capturing [[BigBad Lord Blackwood]] having no interesting cases. Watson tries to get him interested in some cases, only for Holmes to brush him off having already solved them with the information in the letters alone.

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

You have an AmateurSleuth or [[TheExoticDetective an exotic detective.]] 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 Phone-In Detective 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 Detectives 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, the detective might get the information from telegrams, newspapers, e-mail, or regular reports from TheWatson or the police.

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 Phone-In Detective 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 Detectives 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, the detective might get the information from telegrams, newspapers, e-mail, or regular reports from TheWatson or the police.

Not to be confused with detectives who are "phoning it in", ie doing an incredibly lazy half-assed job.

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

** 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 Clear His Name]], and given his situation as everyone's ButtMonkey, the only triumphs he has is to be the DoomedMoralVictor and tries to make things ForHappiness.

* An extreme case in ''Series/{{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.

[[folder: Western Animation ]]
* ''WesternAnimation/KingLeonardoAndHisShortSubjects'': Officer Flim Flanagan will often arrive on the scene of a crime committed by the Fox after The Hunter has solved it.
* Similarly, the animated ComicStrip/DickTracy shows up right after one of his irregulars (Hemlock Holmes, Go Go Gomez, Joe Jitsu, Heap O'Calorie) wraps up a case.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Manga and Anime ]]

* The manga ''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.
* ''Manga/DeathNote'': L has been in hiding his entire career, and communicates via phone, computer and his intermediary Watari, emerging only on special occasions for particularly complex crimes [[spoiler: or particularly helpful assistants]].
* Victorique from ''LightNovel/{{Gosick}}'' isn't allowed to leave the Academy until later in the story, so she often solves crimes based on descriptions of the circumstances given to her by witnesses.
* Shinchi from ''Manga/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).

[[/folder]]

* J.L. "Fatman'' [=McCabe=] of ''Series/JakeAndTheFatman'' would send investigator Jake Styles out to do his legwork for him.

* The Fat Man of ''Series/JakeAndTheFatMan''?

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 Phone-In Detective is the detective who is able to do some of his sleuthing over the phone (or telegraph, e-mail, or relayed messages) due to being away for some reason. Full time Phone-In Detectives 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.

* ''WesternAnimation/KingLeonardoAndHisShortSubjectsOfficer'': Flim Flanagan will often arrive on the scene of a crime committed by the Fox after The Hunter has solved it.
* Similarly, the animated Dick Tracy shows up right after one of his irregulars (Hemlock Holmes, Go Go Gomez, Joe Jitsu, Heap O'Calorie) wraps up a case.

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 Phone-In Detective 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 Detectives 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.