Herringway

"You're very suspicious, huh? Well, I suppose I would be, too. It appears as though I should drop in at the Mayor's house."

- Herringway

Herringway is a Bumpty who appears in Paper Mario. He is a widely popular novelist that lives by himself in Shiver City, and is known for writing many popular murder mysteries. Herringway's name is a pun on famous author and the phrase "red herring", a term for a false clue. Herringway is the author of the in-universe novel "Paper Mario" ("Mario Story" in the Japanese version).

Paper Mario
After Mario is accused of murdering Mayor Penguin, he seeks out Herringway to clear his name. The two return to the scene of the crime and discovered that the mayor was not dead, but had only fainted; his wife, who is an avid fan of Herringway's novels, jumped to conclusions and thought her husband was murdered. With the mayor safe and coming to, Mario is cleared and able to continue his journey, while Herringway returns to his work, starting on a novel chronicling the events of the penguin murder mystery.

Tattle

 * "This penguin made a secret room in his house to hide in. What a cool idea! He's a friend of Mayor Penguin. His name is Herringway, and he writes mystery novels. His secret study, where he writes his novels, is on the second floor. I imagine that he has lots of fans in the city, so I can see why he'd need a secret room. I wouldn't mind reading one of his novels someday."

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
While he does not appear directly in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Herringway's novels are mentioned as being widely read. In Poshley Heights, many of the Bumpties living there claim to be relatives of Herringway, though only the one closest to the pasta stand actually is, according to Goombella's tattle.

Trivia

 * A glitch exists that causes Herringway's sprite to appear as that of a regular Bumpty or become invisible; if the former occurs, the game freezes midway through him meeting up with Mayor Penguin unless played on Virtual Console.