History Main / ChekhovsParty

But, if they're mentioned -- even, and often, especially, if it's mentioned offhandedly -- something huge happened there. Maybe a ChekhovsGunman was in attendance, or the party's subject receives a ChekhovsGift. Whatever you learn about this party, due to the TheLawOfConservationOfDetail, it will be important, and it will probably give you the answer to the mystery. Especially popular because HiddenInPlainSight is especially easy to pull off in a room full of people who may or may not know each other, and that also makes this a gift for situations where EveryoneIsASuspect.

But, if they're mentioned -- even, and often, especially, if it's mentioned offhandedly -- something huge happened there. Maybe a ChekhovsGunman was in attendance, or the party's subject receives a ChekhovsGift. Whatever you learn about this party, due to the LawOfConservationOfDetail, it will be important, and it will probably give you the answer to the mystery. Especially popular because HiddenInPlainSight is especially easy to pull off in a room full of people who may or may not know each other, and that also makes this a gift for situations where EveryoneIsASuspect.

[[folder:Film]]

** Two in ''Literature/LordEdgwareDies'': Two. The first is obvious, as Jane is at a party when her husband is murdered. Except in fact she isn't - Carlotta was, impersonating her. Donald Ross is killed when he figures it out... and that happens at ''another'' party. Donald overhears Jane mistake the "judgment of Paris" as referring to the city of Paris. This appears to be a simple social embarrassment, but it's much more significant to Donald because he was talking about culture with "Jane" at the dinner party. He puts these two parties together to figure out Jane had an impersonator - and so she killed him.
** Invoked and played with in ''Literature/ThreeActTragedy''. Everyone assumes that Sir Charles's first party is this, where Babbington died, and that it holds the solution to the second party that ends in murder. But it doesn't - the first party is merely a trial run that serves to throw people off the scent. The second one is the important one.

* It's mentioned several times in ''Literature/IHeardThatSongBefore'' that the night Grace drowned in the swimming pool she'd been hosting a small party at the Carrington mansion. It ended on a sour note because Grace got completely plastered even though she was in her third trimester of pregnancy; when Peter arrived home and saw this, he flew into a rage and publicly berated her. A few hours later, Grace was dead. When Greco questions the guests about their recollection of that night, several people mention that Grace had shown around a magazine article featuring her favourite actress; she later drunkenly tore the page out and still had it in her pocket when she drowned. [[spoiler:It turns out that the photograph of the actress – or rather [[ChekhovsGun the painting]] she's standing in front of – is the key to the entire mystery and the reason Grace died, as it was proof the villain was stealing priceless artworks from the Carringtons to sell and replacing them with copies]].

* ''Series/TheABCMurders'': Hermione mentions that Carmichael, her husband, always adored Poirot since they played a murder-mystery game at a party twenty years ago. This turns out to have been where the murderer, Franklin - Carmichael's brother - developed his obsession with Poirot.

* ''Series/Severance2022'': Harmony mentions early on that she's been invited to the Eagan family's gala. This is the setting of the finale, and Helly's outtie - Helena Eagan - is also in attendance, where innie Helly is woken up and manages to raise the alarm about severance.

** The Vortex Club party that Max sneaks into qualifies because Mr Jefferson is presenting the Everyday Heroes contest, which is how he manages to sneak up on Max after she and Chloe discover Rachel's body. But it qualifies even more so if you were nice to Victoria and she believes you that Nathan is dangerous - because, after he kidnaps Max, Mr Jefferson reveals that she came up to him at the party and told him about Nathan, causing him to kidnap and eventually kill her.

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But, if they're mentioned - even, and often, especially, if it's mentioned offhandedly - something huge happened there. Maybe a ChekhovsGunman was in attendance, or the party's subject receives a ChekhovsGift. Whatever you learn about this party, due to the LawOfConservationOfDetail, it will be important, and it will probably give you the answer to the mystery. Especially popular because HiddenInPlainSight is especially easy to pull off in a room full of people who may or may not know each other, and that also makes this a gift for situations where EveryoneIsASuspect.

* ''Film/{{Sick}}'': The "end of the world" party where Miri kissed [[ChekhovsGunman Benji.]] We see it a couple of times through cell phone footage. Turns out it was a super spreader event and Benji died of COVID, which is the killers' motive for murder.

* ''Series/{{Severance}}'': Harmony mentions early on that she's been invited to the Eagan family's gala. This is the setting of the finale, and Helly's outtie - Helena Eagan - is also in attendance, where innie Helly is woken up and manages to raise the alarm about severance.

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': In the first book, Ned Stark briefly recalls the Tourney at Harrenhal, a massive, multi-day tournament held by Lord Whent which took place when Ned was a teenager. It's significance is elaborated on in later books, including: Jaime Lannister's [[KickedUpstairs promotion]] to the Kingsguard, which ended his father's friendship with the king; Howland Reed befriending the Stark siblings; a mystery knight disrupting the joust before disappearing; Ashara Dayne apparently being dishonored; the possibility that the whole event was just a pretext for the great lords to conspire together against the king; and Prince Rhaegar snubbing his wife Princess Elia by crowning Lyanna Stark the Queen of Love and Beauty, which eventually [[DisasterDominoes lead to a civil war and the end of the Targaryen dynasty]].

** * Invoked and played with in ''Literature/ThreeActTragedy''. Everyone assumes that Sir Charles's first party is this, where Babbington died, and that it holds the solution to the second party that ends in murder. But it doesn't - the first party is merely a trial run that serves to throw people off the scent. The second one is the important one.

* ''Literature/{{Curtain}}'': The drinks at the Franklins where Mrs Franklin was poisoned. Poirot realizes she was actually the murderer, and was trying to kill her husband. Hastings drunkenly rotated the table which caused a PoisonedChaliceSwitcheroo.

* ''Literature/LordEdgwareDies'': Two.
** One is obvious, as Jane is at a party when her husband is murdered. Except in fact she isn't - Carlotta was, impersonating her. David is killed when he figures it out...
** And that happens at another party. David overhears Jane mistake the "treaty of Paris" as referring to the city of Paris. This appears to be a simple social embarrassment, but it's much more significant to David because he was talking about culture with "Jane" at the dinner party. He puts these two parties together to figure out Jane had an impersonator - and so she killed him.

* ''Literature/MagpieMurders'': The Easter Egg hunt at Pye Manor. Mentioned offhandedly, Mary's other son Thomas drowned while looking for eggs. But Atticus realizes that, because of the detail about Robert's wet trousers, that Robert actually killed Thomas in a fit of jealousy about finding the eggs first. This caused Mary to write the letter implicating Robert that could be opened by Magnus in the event of her sudden death, which was why Robert had to kill him.

* ''Literature/TheMirrorCrackdFromSideToSide''. Shortly before Heather was killed by a poisoned drink meant for Marina Gregg, she told Marina and Miss Marple about a previous time where she had snuck out while ill in order to meet Marina during another of her appearances. She infected Marina with German measles, which infected her fetus and forced her to give the child up despite wanting him for years. This is why Marina killed Heather.

* Invoked and played with in ''Literature/ThreeActTragedy''. Everyone assumes that Sir Charles's first party is this, where Babbington died, and that it holds the solution to the second party that ends in murder. But it doesn't - the first party is merely a trial run that serves to throw people off the scent. The second one is the important one.

* In the ''VideoGame/Sly2BandOfThieves'' level "[[Recap/Sly2BandOfThievesMission02AStarryEyedEncounter A Starry Eyed Encounter]]", the MacGuffin that the Cooper Gang are after -- the Clockwork Wings affixed to a statue -- are being showcased in a party in [[ArcVillain Rajan's]] "ancestral palace." It is at this party that the other members of [[LegionOfDoom the Klaww Gang]] (The Contessa, Jean Bison and Arpeggio) make their first appearance and Sly dances with Carmelita in a RhythmGame as a distraction, a photo of the event later used by Neyla to [[FrameUp have Carmelita falsely arrested as a Cooper Gang member at the end of "[[Recap/Sly2BandOfThievesMission03ThePredatorAwakes The Predator Awakes]]"]].