I Have The Time, If Not The Inclination

Well, Dear Reader, late last year I bought myself an early Xmas present: the COURG Type-A 39mm Ti-5 watch from RDX.

Yep, yet another watch. And I only had my last watch, the Suunto Traverse Alpha Stealth for less than 6 months.

What gives?

Snapping Victory From Jaws Of Defeat

Well, Dear Reader, I guess an update is long overdue. Apathy gets the better of us, or maybe it's just me. However, in my months back in Bad City I have had a few cases of possible interest.

I was contacted recently by a barrister whose client was facing some serious criminal charges in relation to the alleged use of a forged document to obtain money from a government grant.

It wasn't a lot of money but the charges had a 10-year, and 7-year, maximum sentence so serious enough for the alleged offender.

As the young man in question was maintaining his innocence in the matter, I was asked to make some local enquiries.

Drone On

Hello once again, Dear Reader, after an undeniably long hiatus I have returned. Actually, I returned a couple of months ago in body, just not in spirit. However, moping never got me anywhere (sadly) so here I am blogging once more.

So, what have I been up to, you ask?

Well, that a story for another day. What I can, and will, say for now is "spending money".

And this is my latest purchase.

Normal Transmissions Have Resumed

Carry on.

There and back again: A bit of an adventure

Hello Dear Reader. As you are no doubt aware, I've been awfully quiet for a while.

And one of the reasons is this.

Decided to go for a bit of a drive. Actually, the final mileage when I returned the rental vehicle was actually just over 5200 kilometres.

Had a couple side adventures.

Anyway, just letting you know I'm still alive and haven't come to any sticky or embarrassing end. Having said that, still have another 6 weeks, so anything could happen.

Something For Nothing: Paterva's CaseFile

In spite of my recent trend of doom and gloom postings, I actually have some good news, Dear Reader, that you might even be interested in.

You might recall an earlier post regarding tools for visualising or mapping human (or other) networks.

I've been using Paterva's CaseFile which had a yearly licence fee of US$200. Well, not any longer!

Now it is entirely free to use.

Check out their website here.

Another Bad Day: Lessons to be Learned

Ooh, look at the cute kitten

Well, as some of you might be aware, I got myself into a spot of bother with one of my major clients the other day. Actually, I got *them* in trouble with one of *their* major clients, an international banking organisation.

What did I do?

I told a woman to go fuck herself!

Sometimes the sounds are not always in their heads

So, I have this one new client, Dear Reader, let's call him Dinesh. Not his real name.

Dinesh is a somewhat eccentric, if not effete, Indian male living alone in a block of units for low-income earners.

Dinesh has a problem with his neighbours, apparently they are keeping him up at all hours with knocking on the walls day and night in an attempt to, well, I don't know what .  

Anyway, Dinesh is looking at getting incontrovertible proof from an independent third party (that would be me) that this is occurring, so he can take it to the relevant local body authorities who administer the units. Supposedly, they had not been very responsive to his complaints to date. 

You might remember the mixed results from my last feuding neighbours caper.

Well, trying to keep an open mind, I have made several visits to Dinesh's unit and there is more skullduggery going on than a BBC production of a Cold War espionage drama.

What do I mean by that, you ask?

From Bad to Worse: A Surveillance Tale

We've all had those days, Dear Reader, where nothing goes quite right and you would have been better off just not getting out of bed that morning.

This was another one of mine.

And the darkness shall no longer hide you

So, Dear Reader, in a fit of excess I went and purchased a few things I didn't really need but convinced myself that it was better that I have them than not.

You know the drill.

One of these toys tools is the ATN OTS-X 70mm thermal monocular. Sure, I can count the number of times I actually needed something like this on the fingers of one hand, but I'm sure I'll find any excuse for using it in the future, making this a totally worthwhile investment. 

I'm only thinking of the future.

Anyway, I'll put it through its paces and will get around to a review sometime in the coming weeks.

Cover for Status / Cover for Action

As you probably know, Dear Reader, one of my favourite areas in the investigations business is conducting surveillance. If I could specialise in just one area, this is most likely it - although I also do enjoy other facets of investigations as well so the choice would not be an easy one.

Today I'm going to to briefly discuss two terms that come straight out of the tradecraft lexicon, Cover for Status and Cover for Action, and how they specifically relate to a surveillance operation.

While these terms are specifically in reference to intelligence operations, they are also useful concepts for your average gumshoe to keep in mind. However, unlike intelligence agencies, law enforcement agencies, or even terrorist groups - we have to rely on fewer resources and, often, with no support.  

No Ordinary Day

If you follow me on Twitter (@anonymouspi), Dear Reader, you might have been aware of an upcoming job I was tasked with. Specifically, effecting an 'at risk' repossession warrant - and you know just how much I hate doing those, right?

But it wouldn't be a 'proper job' if there weren't some aggravating factors or complications, right?

Right. So the occupants of the address were gang members and, in particular, members of a major organised street gang involved in a variety of illegal enterprises and known for their use of violence.

Particularly unlikely to put on the jug and offer us tea and biscuits.

Sweet!

What could go wrong?

So Let's Talk About Money

Recently, Dear Reader, there was an article posted by Susanna Speier on average PI salaries in the United States. Susanna also looked at salaries reported by indeed.com, payscale.com, rileyguide.com, privateinvestigator.edu, glassdoor.com, and even Federal Government publications.

The results vary, but Susanna concludes that several sources have agreed that the median salary for a PI sits at around US$44,500 (as of 2014).

And that got me thinking.

Public Service Announcement

No need to thank me.

Mrs Rountree, Liar

Welcome back to 2016, Dear Reader, whether it be a happy one or not. For the record, and probably somewhat unsurprisingly to you, my New Year's Eve turned out to be a bit of a downer.

Consistency is king, as they say.

But we're not here to hear maudlin tales of my cruelly dashed hopes and dreams, no. Well, not today at any rate.

Instead, I have the curious case of Mrs Rountree (not her real name), an unashamed trickster and would-be criminal mastermind. If only she understood that a clue of what I do lies in my title: investigator. You know, like looking into stuff and shit?

Endings

Well, Dear Reader, it is almost the end of yet another year.

I'll have to say that this has been one of the worst I've endured but there is some faint glimmering of hope for the future.

Wow, I'm almost sounding like an optimist.

So here is how 2015 shaped up (warning: I may get a bit personal):

No Good Deed

So, Dear Reader, you know me... always getting into one form of strife or another.

You'd think I might have learned by now.

Particularly when it comes to damsels in distress.

Especially when it comes to damsels in distress, right?

Yeah. But no.

The Entirely Not Unexpected Exposition of Mr Harker, Whinypants

So, Dear Reader, you should already be aware of my previous dealings with the aforementioned Mr Harker. If not, you can read about them here and here.

Well, when we last left out hero (that would be me), Mr Harker had decided that perhaps cooperating with his insurer and their appointed investigator might, in fact, be a good idea.

Hooray, we said. But in our hearts we knew this wouldn't be the last word on the matter from Mr Harker.

No.

And it wasn't.

The Vacillation of Mr Harker

Well, well, well. It seems that our friend, Mr Harker (still not his real name) has had a change of heart, Dear Reader, and now wants to meet me after all.

I wonder if it has anything to do with correspondence he may have received from the insurer?

Be that as it may, I look forward to him telling me a whole bunch of lies if he actually does follow through but I suspect he will back out once again before the appointed hour.

Will keep you posted.

Why do I always get the crazy ones?

Genuine question. I really want to know.

Latest case in point, a routine insurance claim investigation regarding a single vehicle accident.

The claimant, the hapless Mr Harker (not his real name), had only just insured his vehicle the previous day - which is suspicious enough, right?

But that isn't where I came in, no. My role started about seven weeks later.