History Main / AbsenceOfEvidence

[[AC:Anime and Manga]]

* In ''{{Anime/Monster}}'', Johan's crime scenes are devoid of evidence. In one arc, this enables Runge to determine that a certain murder was [[CopycatCrime committed by a copy-cat]] and not Johan.
** They aren't devoid of evidence, they are devoid of any ''feeling''.

[[AC:Comics]]
* In the first ''JudgeDredd'' comic in Hondo-Cit the Hondo-Cit Judge works out that the assassin he is chasing is a robot because there is no rollmat, no food, no toothpaste, etc. in his apartment.
** This was, oddly enough, used to discover Superman's secret identity back in the Silver age of comics. Superman has since started filling his bathroom with all the things needed for daily life, and putting medicines in his locker.

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[[AC:Literature]]

[[AC:Live Action TV]]

* In the DeepSpaceNine episode ''The Nagus'' one of the things that tips Odo off that Zek is not dead is the absence of Mairhar'du at his funeral.

[[AC:Video Games]]

[[AC:Visual Novel]]

[[AC:Western Animation]]

[[AC:Real Life]]

* Happened a few times in the ''AceAttorney'' series, for example:

** Another one in the 5th case of game 1 (MAJOR spoiler) [[spoiler: Damon Gant has just proved Ema Skye pushed the victim to his death using a fingerprint-laden piece of cloth he personally cut from the victim's vest. However, Phoenix notes that while the victim died of a pierced lung and was coughing up blood on himself for a while before death, the piece of cloth has NO blood on it. Since this proves the cloth was cut BEFORE the victim was killed, Gant is [[OhCrap a bit unnerved]]]].

* In ''{{Monk}}'', they mention a case that looked like suicide until Monk pointed out that there was no water for the overly-large pills on which the victim had [=OD'd=].

* In ''HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi'', Rena noticed that the bottle of shoyu in Rika and Satoko's house was missing, and deduced the possibility that they had visited the Sonozaki estate that night with an empty shoyu bottle and been kidnapped.

* In ''JusticeLeague'', when Superman is apparently killed by Toyman's latest machine, Bruce refuses to believe it, and presents his theory to Alfred by saying the lack of evidence is what tipped him off--Toyman's weapon left no trace evidence. It left no debris, so it didn't blow him up. It left no burns, so it didn't incinerate him. It didn't even leave ''radiation'', hence it didn't disintegrate him. Bats decides that since Toyman is merely an obnoxious MadScientist, not a god, the [[NoConservationOfEnergy Law of Conservation]] is still in effect, and therefore Superman couldn't have just been destroyed.
His conclusion; it teleported him somewhere. [[spoiler:He's right - Supes was shunted forward in time]], but the show doesn't make it clear whether or not Batman is [[NotSoStoic simply in denial]].

* In ''JusticeLeague'', when Superman is apparently killed by Toyman's latest machine, Bruce refuses to believe it, and presents his theory to Alfred by saying the lack of evidence is what tipped him off--Toyman's weapon left no trace evidence. It left no debris, so it didn't blow him up. It left no burns, so it didn't incinerate him. It didn't even leave ''radiation'', hence it didn't disintegrate him.
Bats decides that since Toyman is merely an obnoxious MadScientist, not a god, the [[NoConservationOfEnergy Law of Conservation]] is still in effect, and therefore Superman couldn't have just been destroyed.

* In ''JusticeLeague'', when Superman is apparently killed by Toyman's latest machine, Bruce refuses to believe it, and presents his theory to Alfred by saying the lack of evidence is what tipped him off--there are no burns, no debris on the pieces of scenery that half-disappeared along with Superman, which Bats concludes is impossible, and therefore Superman couldn't have just been destroyed. Even after the reveal that Supes was shunted forward in time, the show doesn't make it clear whether or not Batman is simply in denial.

* In ''{{Monk}}'', they mention a case that looked like suicide until Monk pointed out that there was no water for the pills on which the victim had [=OD'd=]. [[ConvictionByContradiction Because apparently, it's impossible to swallow pills without water]].

* In ''{{Monk}}'', they mention a case that looked like suicide until Monk pointed out that there was no water for the pills on which the victim had [=OD'd=]. [[Conviction by Contradiction Because apparently, it's impossible to swallow pills without water]].

* In ''{{Monk}}'', they mention a case that looked like suicide until Monk pointed out that there was no water for the pills on which the victim had [=OD'd=].

* In ''HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi'', Rena noticed that the bottle of shoyu in Rika and Satoko's house was missing, and deduced the possibility that they had visited the Sonozaki estate that night with an empty shoyu bottle and been kidnapped.
* In ''{{Monk}}'', they mention a case that looked like suicide until Monk pointed out that there was no water for the pills on which the victim had [=OD'd=].

* A similar situation to the SherlockHolmes example occurs in an episode of ''CaseClosed.'' The daughter of a wealthy businessman has been kidnapped and Conan figures out who the kidnapper is when he remembers that no one reported hearing the sounds of dogs barking the previous night. (For clarification, the [[TheButlerDidIt butler]] who claimed to have witnessed the kidnapping said that the kidnapper climbed down a tree, but the businessman's dogs routinely barked at anyone who got near the tree.)

* The LordPeterWimsey mystery ''The Five Red Herrings'' turns on the absence of [[spoiler:a tube of white paint]] from the crime scene.
* Happened a few times in the ''AceAttorney'' series, for example:
--->'''Phoenix:''' So... were any fingerprints found on the gun?
--->'''Klavier:''' ...Unfortunately, no. Of course, the defendant is known for wearing gloves. We might say that a lack of fingerprints is, in fact, a "fingerprint" of its own.
** Another one in the 5th case of game 1 (MAJOR spoiler) [[spoiler: Damon Gant has just proved Ema Skye pushed the victim to his death using a fingerprint-laden piece of cloth he personally cut from the victim's vest. However, Phoenix notes that while the victim died of a pierced lung and was coughing up blood on himself for a while before death, the piece of cloth has NO blood on it. Since this proves the cloth was cut BEFORE the victim was killed, Gant is [[OhCrap a bit unnerved]] ]].

* In ''{{Anime/Monster}}'', Johan's crime scenes are devoid of evidence. In one arc, this enables Runge to determine that a certain murder was [[CopycatCrime committed by a copy-cat]] and not Johan.
** They aren't devoid of evidence, they are devoid of any ''feeling''.
* In the DC one-off "World Without Grownups" (a Prelude to ''ComicBook/YoungJustice''), it appears as though all the children in the world have disappeared. However, Batman deduces that the ADULTS were the ones who were transplanted to a parallel earth when he notices that none of his bat-gear has any dust on it (and then proceeds to carbon date everything he can find to back up his hypothesis).
* In ''JusticeLeague'', a similar thing happens. When Superman is apparently killed by Toyman's latest machine, Bruce refuses to believe it, and presents his theory to Alfred by saying the lack of evidence is what tipped him off--there are no burns, no debris on the pieces of scenery that half-disappeared along with Superman, which Bats concludes is impossible, and therefore Superman couldn't have just been destroyed. Even after the reveal that Supes was shunted forward in time, the show doesn't make it clear whether or not Batman is simply in denial.

* One of the final reveals in Rashomon is that the woodcutter, who at that point was the only person the viewer would be inclined to believe entirely, [[spoiler: stole a valuable dagger mentioned by all the other witnesses]], but the object was never mentioned by him.

* In the DC one-off "World Without Grownups" (a Prelude to YoungJustice), it appears as though all the children in the world have disappeared. However, Batman deduces that the ADULTS were the ones who were transplanted to a parallel earth when he notices that none of his bat-gear has any dust on it (and then proceeds to carbon date everything he can find to back up his hypothesis).

* EncyclopediaBrown uses this, too. Example: A stamp is stolen at a costume party, and the magnifying glass is missing from the stamp kit... because the thief, dressed as Sherlock Holmes, broke his magnifying glass while breaking in and had to replace it to complete his costume.

* In ''{{Monk}}'', they mention a case that looked like suicide until Monk pointed out that there was no water for the pills on which the victim had [=ODed=].

* In ''{{Monster}}'', Johan's crime scenes are devoid of evidence. In one arc, this enables Runge to determine that a certain murder was [[CopycatCrime committed by a copy-cat]] and not Johan.

* One of the final reveals in Rashoman is that the woodcutter, who at that point was the only person the viewer would be inclined to believe entirely, [[spoiler: stole a valuable dagger mentioned by all the other witnesses]], but the object was never mentioned by him.

* A similar situation to the SherlockHolmes example occurs in an episode of ''CaseClosed.'' The daughter of a wealthy businessman has been kidnapped and Conan figures out who the kidnapper is when he remembers that no one reported hearing the sounds of dogs barking the previous night. (For clarification, the [[TheButlerDidIt butler] who claimed to have witnessed the kidnapping said that the kidnapper climbed down a tree, but the businessman's dogs routinely barked at anyone who got near the tree.)

* In ''HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi'', Rena noticed that the bottle of shoyu in Rika and Satoko's house was missing, and deduced the possibility that they had visited the Sonozaki estate that night with an empty shoyu bottle, and gotten themselves killed by the {{Yandere}} Shion there.

** ConvictionByContradiction: Not everyone drinks while taking pills
**The pills were specifically described as large horse tranqualiser types that would be very difficult to take without water.

* In ''HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi'', Rena noticed that the bottle of shoyu in Rika and Satoko's house was missing, and deduced the possibility that they had visited the Sonozaki estate that night with an empty shoyu bottle.