The Butler Did It? Actually, No, He Never Did.

“It’s the biggest cliché in mystery writing. But where did the cliché originate? Were any fictional butlers ever actually revealed as murderers? Judging from the phrase’s cultural resonance, you’d think the early mystery scene was seething with hatchet-wielding manservants. An investigation of the evidence, however, reveals another story entirely. The butler was framed.”