History Main / MistakenConfession

* Done to death and continually for laughs in the stories involving William George (Billy) Bunter, by Frank Richards (one of around two dozen pseudonyms used by Charles Hamilton). Whenever Bunter is summoned or called by name by an authority figure, Bunter almost always responds with "It wasn't me, sir" followed by a denial of some misdeed which Bunter names and which therefore amounts to a confession. Yes, Bunter is an idiot. That's the point.

* ''Film/AThousandWords'': Jack's stony silence the first day he learns that talking brings him closer to death causes his assistant Aaron to become unnerved by his silence and babble on, thinking Jack is mad first about him missing work recently, then about kissing Jack's under the mistletoe at a Christmas party, then about having sex with the secretary in Jack's office while their [[{{YIFF}} wearing animal costumes]] all of which Jack gives incredulous expressions at.

* The ''Series/{{Leverage}}'' episode "The Three Days of the Hunter Job" was this trope weaponized when the team convinces ImmoralJournalist Monica Hunter that she's uncovered a secret government project called "Destiny" that involves the contamination of the worlds water supply. Naturally, Hunter wants confirmation before committing such a story, so they steer Hunter towards a congressman she knows. Said congressman is having an affair with a stripper named Destiny (something the team knows but Hunter doesn't) and when Hunter tells him she wants to know about Destiny the man panics, asks how she found out, then protests that she can't go on tv about that and then runs away in terror, making Hunter think that he just confirmed the government conspiracy.

* ''Film/AThousandWords'': Jack's stony silence the first day he learns that talking brings him closer to death causes his assistant Aaron to babble on thinking Jack is mad first about him missing work recently, then about kissing Caroline under the mistletoe at a Christmas party, then about having sex with the secretary in Jack's office while their [[{{YIFF}} wearing animal costumes]] all of which Jack gives incredulous expressions at.

%%* Pretty much every episode of ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' ever.

* ''Disney/TheLittleMermaid'': Triton asks Sebastian about Ariel being in love. Sebastian thinks the king knows that she is in love with a human, and blurts it out.

-->'''Skinner:''' The jig is up, Quimby.\\

** Lisa tries to get Jessica Lovejoy to confess to stealing the church's collection money, so she stands in front of the congregation and asks that the criminal confess now. As she didn't specify which crime she was referring to, everyone in town starts owning up to random things. And when Jessica plays dumb through the entire thing, Lisa just says "Oh what the heck...IT WAS JESSICA LOVEJOY!"

** There's also the episode where Bart believes Flanders killed his wife, Maude, after overhearing him saying "I've killed her... I'm a mur-[[CatchPhrase diddly]]-urdler!" [[spoiler: It later turns out that Flanders had merely just overwatered Maude's favorite ficus plant]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Catherine}}'': Near the end of the game, [[spoiler: Thomas Mutton confesses his involvement in the mysterious, deadly dreams Victor and other men have been having, when Victor just wanted to confirm that Mutton saw Catherine too and she wasn't just a figment of Victor's imagination.]]

Compare YouJustToldMe, SuspiciouslySpecificDenial, and OneDialogueTwoConversations. Subtrope of PoorCommunicationKills.

* One of the ''Toys/MonsterHigh'' web shorts centered around Mr. Rotter putting various ghouls in detention for a crime he doesn't specify until the end[[note]]Stealing his glasses...except [[FailedASpotCheck they're on his head.]][[/note]]. Each of the students confesses to something bad they did that doesn't relate to this crime–[[{{Mummy}} Cleo]] used a magical idol to [[MundaneUtility cut the lunch line]] (and got her food cursed as a result), Frankie [[PowerIncontinence accidentally blasted several students with electricity]], Lagoona decided to FreeTheFrogs, [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Clawdeen]] claims that [[ADogAteMyHomework her brother ate her homework]], [[PlayingWithFire Heath]] confesses to setting several things [[BeyondTheImpossible (including the swimming pool)]] on fire, and Draculaura [[MotorMouth just relays the latest gossip.]]

* A pretty wrenching example in ''Film/TheFugitive'', as the injured Helen Kimble dials 911. Her final words are "Richard... he's trying to kill me". The prosecution uses this as proof of Kimble's guilt, claiming that Helen was naming him as her assailant (completely overlooking the fact that at the beginning of the call, she clearly states that someone has broken in), never considering or realizing what really happened--that she was calling ''to'' her husband, begging for help.

* Played straight on the ''Series/{{CSI}}''-''Series/WithoutATrace'' crossover, in a bit of an IdiotPlot moment.

* Pretty much every episode of ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' ever.
* The Colonel does one of these in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "The Unicorn and the Wasp", [[spoiler:confessing to having been faking his need for a wheelchair for nearly ten years when the pointing finger of accusations seems to be on him. Creator/AgathaChristie then goes on to say "Actually, I was going to say you were completely innocent..."]]
* In ''Series/TheOfficeUS'' accountant webisodes, the accountants asked Phillis if she had spent any company money on something, hoping to find the missing $3000, she admits to having bought something with a company card, but it was a heel for her shoe, only costing $14.
* In ''Series/TheWire'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wABDobugvVE the Major Crimes Unit catches Proposition Joe's nephew Cheese on a wire talking about killing his "dawg"]]. The MCU are stunned that he's so freely discussing killing a friend. Bunk and [=McNulty=] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfsQaeIYWoY interrogate Cheese]], show him photos of some fresh homicide victims and ask him which one is 'Dawg'. Cheese eventually tells them where 'Dawg' can be found, that is, unless the SPCA has gotten there first.
-->'''Cedric Daniels:''' Tell me something good.
-->'''Bunk Moreland:''' We're charging him.
-->'''Jimmy [=McNulty=]:''' [[BaitAndSwitch Improper disposal of an animal. Discharging a firearm in city limits]].

* On ''Series/{{Suits}}'', five years before the series started, Jessica gives Louis a chance to come clean and he confesses that he likes to sleep on her couch, drinks Harvey's liquor, steals another associate's candy bars and likes to walk barefoot in the library. She was actually talking about him [[spoiler: stealing half a million dollars from the firm]] and his outburst makes her realize that he has been framed.
* In an episode of ''Series/{{NCIS}}'', all signs point to the doctor being the one who killed the nurse and let the patient (who Abby had befriended) die. The doctor confesses, but believes they're interrogating him about him embezzling, not murder. [[spoiler: As it turns out, the patient was never under the doctor's care, never died, and was the one who killed the nurse.]]

* In the ''Series/Warehouse13'' episode "Age Before Beauty", Pete and Myka are investigating the murders by artifact of several supermodels and notice that Jenny the PA is acting suspiciously. They confront her, and she tells them that the models deserve to pay. They tell her that this is a poor justification for murder. Shocked, she explains that she thought they were busting her for dealing drugs. Later in the episode, one of the designers confesses to giving Myka "a killer dress": he gave her a metaphorically killer dress as a snub to one of the other models. For those unfamiliar with the show's premise, Pete and Myka are tracking down objects with mysterious properties, so a dress that kills anyone who puts it on would've been par for the course.

* On ''Series/TwoTwoSeven'', Lester shows up at his wife Mary's hotel room in order to surprise her. He's shocked to find men's clothing in her closet (which she bought for ''him''). When she returns to the room, he holds up one of the shirts, asking her, "How could you do this to me?", assuming she's having an affair. Thinking he's complaining about the clothes and not understanding why he's upset, she blithely declares, "Honey, I do it all the time! Whenever I shop, whenever I travel! I thought you liked it!"

[[folder:Theater]]

** Pinkie decides to interrogate Spike to find out [[ForgottenBirthday why her friends are ignoring her]]...

* One of the ''Toys/MonsterHigh'' web shorts centered around Mr. Rotter putting various ghouls in detention for a crime he doesn't specify until the end[[note]]Stealing his glasses...except [[FailedASpotCheck they're on his head.]][[/note]]. Each of the students confesses to something bad they did that doesn't relate to this crime-[[{{Mummy}} Cleo]] used a magical idol to [[MundaneUtility cut the lunch line]] (and got her food cursed as a result), Frankie [[PowerIncontinence accidentally blasted several students with electricity]], Lagoona decided to FreeTheFrogs, [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Clawdeen]] claims that [[ADogAteMyHomework her brother ate her homework]], [[PlayingWithFire Heath]] confesses to setting several things [[BeyondTheImpossible (including the swimming pool)]] on fire, and Draculaura [[MotorMouth just relays the latest gossip.]]

* In ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' Willow literally sweats a confession out of Jonathan, using a desk lamp, but it turns out instead of killing the swim team bullies, he just pissed in their pool.

--->'''Skinner:''' I smelled marijuana smoke in Vietnam!\\
'''Grampa:''' I was the one who cancelled ''Series/StarTrek''!\\
'''Dr. Hibbert:''' I left my Porsche keys in Mrs. Glick!

* On ''Series/{{227}}'', Lester shows up at his wife Mary's hotel room in order to surprise her. He's shocked to find men's clothing in her closet (which she bought for ''him''). When she returns to the room, he holds up one of the shirts, asking her, "How could you do this to me?", assuming she's having an affair. Thinking he's complaining about the clothes and not understanding why he's upset, she blithely declares, "Honey, I do it all the time! Whenever I shop, whenever I travel! I thought you liked it!"

* On ''227'', Lester shows up at his wife Mary's hotel room in order to surprise her. He's shocked to find men's clothing in her closet (which she bought for ''him''). When she returns to the room, he holds up one of the shirts, asking her, "How could you do this to me?", assuming she's having an affair. Thinking he's complaining about the clothes and not understanding why he's upset, she blithely declares, "Honey, I do it all the time! Whenever I shop, whenever I travel! I thought you liked it!"

* ''Series/TheWire'' features a drug dealer named Cheese being caught talking about killing "my dog" on the phone, and the cops listening in on it through their wiretap are stunned that he's freely discussing killing a friend. Turns out he really was talking about his dog, who he had to kill after it was injured in a dog fight, and the cops have just advertised that they have a wiretap up over this.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Hoodwinked}}'', the Wolf and Twitchy are convinced from a conversation with an informant that Granny Puckett is the thief who's been stealing recipe books in the area, and her granddaughter Red Puckett might have information. They use a high-powered radar dish to listen in on Red as she rides a cable car up into the mountains. While they listen, Boingo asks Red if she delivers goodies up this area, and Red replies, "Well, not usually. But I was thinking about what you told me earlier? About the Muffin Man? I need to protect Granny's recipes from that bandit's evil plan. They're gonna shut down everyone in the forest if we're not careful." Unfortunately, the Wolf's equipment fails to pick up every word, so he only hears "....But I was thinking of....the Muffin Man....Granny's recipes....an evil plan....to shut down everyone in the forest," which seems to confirm his prior suspicions.