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Mr Hess, for his part, compared the department to a "McGuffin" - a plot device famously used by Alfred Hitchcock to develop a character's plot arc, while at the same time being largely irrelevant.

“The belt’s kind of a McGuffin,” added Roth.

Nichols called for his mother and told officers he wished to go home, McGuffin said.

This is not to say these plot lines are McGuffins, though they nod toward that convention of the form.

In fact, the judge limited her ruling only to the possibility of a change in policy, according to Jennifer McGuffin, a spokeswoman for Romanucci’s firm.