Mid-Year Madness

Oh no, Dear Reader! Over a month has passed without any posts from me. Is this The End?

Well, worry not. It's not (quite) the end of me just yet.

Over the past few weeks, I have been:

Tailing Mister G to the Races

It was Daddy-Daughter day. Apparantly.

The thing about surveillance cases, Dear Reader, is that it can often take you to unexpected places.

Quite literally.

As with this particular case in point. The subject, let's call him Mister G - I don't think I was actually told his name - is a mid-level manager within a national business chain.

It transpired that Company Management had a number of concerns regarding Mister G's work-ethic and wanted some Third-Party confirmation and documentation of his activities.

That is where I came in.

This is the beginning

We are now a few days into this new year, Dear Reader, and I hope we all made it through relatively unscathed.

I, for one, have several case files open (received one while out of town on what one might euphemistically call 'a holiday') so this year is already off to a flying start.

Which is something.

Anyway, on a semi-unrelated note, I was recently thinking of this Zen Buddhist parable. Make of it what you will.

A soldier named Nobushige came to Hakuin, and asked: "Is there really a paradise and a hell?"

"Who are you?" inquired Hakuin.

"I am a samurai," the warrior replied.

"You, a soldier!" exclaimed Hakuin. "What kind of ruler would have you as his guard? Your face looks like that of a beggar."

Nobushige became so angry that he began to draw his sword, but Hakuin continued: "So you have a sword! Your weapon is probably much too dull to cut off my head."

As Nobushige drew his sword Hakuin remarked: "Here open the gates of hell!"

At these words the samurai, perceiving the master's discipline, sheathed his sword and bowed.

"Here open the gates of paradise," said Hakuin.

Deperately Seeking Albert

Oh no, Dear Reader. It seems that Albert (not his real name) has missed a very important date at Court and a Warrant has been issued for his arrest.

When the Bailiff and Police attended Albert's last known address, one I had originally provided, he had already hastily departed so, once again, I am instructed to locate his current whereabouts.

While I can, and often do, perform miracles, it isn't always easy - particular with one arm tied behind my back.

The Scientific Method

Well, Dear Reader, I received an answer, of sorts, from the boffins in the laboratory in regards to my earlier post.

Dr Bambi* (artist's impression, left) sent the following email** to clarify their position.

Justice Denied?

A colleague recently called me to ask for some advice (hey, it happens!) in regards to his current criminal defence investigation. This is the one regarding the murder I mentioned briefly earlier.

His first roadblock is that he has to locate, then interview, a pivotal witness who happens to be in prison. Somewhere.

And he needs to do so early this week.

Hence Problem #1: how do you locate a currently-serving inmate when robust privacy laws protect that information from the public?

Well, in this part of the world the answer is not very easily. And even when you do, getting in to see them is another problem itself.

Have I got a deal for you...

If you aren't at least in your mid-30s and from the UK or one of her Colonies, you probably have no idea who Arthur Daley (aka 'Arfur') is.

He is, or was, the lovably roguish but eternally dodgy wheeler and dealer in the UK TV series 'Minder', from 1979-1994.

Sadly, the archetype is not just a stereotype.

Meet our own very real-life  Arthur Daley, Mr. Patton. Not his real name.

The Curious Case of Mr Meringue

Meet Mr Meringue (not his real name). Mr Meringue is a cantankerous older gentleman who has had a bit of a bad run with his vehicle. Namely, in that it has been stolen three times in the past four months.

Enter the detective. And that would be me.

An Indecent Proposal

Once again, Dear Reader, I have to apologise for my tardiness and otherwise remaining silent whilst you eagerly and impatiently await an update of my recent exploits.

Stay tuned, for in this exciting episode our Hapless Hero (that would be me) is propositioned by a witness in a current investigation.

 But, as it turned out, it was a case of mistaken identity...

Open Case Files

This week is turning out to be a fairly hectic one. I've got a number of cases I'm working outside the routine (bread and butter) work I do as an agent for several out-of-town companies.

Case A: Surveillance on a sex offender who may be breaching his parole conditions.

Case B: Background investigation into a possible fraudster who is also threatening to kill family of victim if she ends her relationship.

Case C: Further work on Mrs Crusoe's case.

And if that wasn't enough to keep me occupied, which it is, even my 'routine' cases are anything but. A simple field visit regarding payment defaults has now also turned into a fraud investigation as many details provided in credit application have since turned out to be entirely false.