Asking a private investigator which super power they wish they had is a fun experiment. The answer will vary wether the investigator’s specialty is surveillance, criminal defense, people locate, adoption searches or any other specialty within this fascinating line of work.
Pursuit Magazine ran a poll on social media a while back, offering P.Is the following choices: Invisibility, Reading Minds (within 2ft), See through walls and Teleportation.
After much hesitation, I chose “Invisibility”. Having done a certain amount of surveillance work until now, it seemed to me that this superpower would help free me of a great deal of stress. It would not only allow me to keep an eye on my subjects easily, but also to listen in on their conversations without raising suspicion, which can offer invaluable information.
When starting out as an investigator in the real world, where superpowers don't actually exist, I was more worried about the potentially disappearing subject.
The person who while being followed, suddenly melts into a crowd of people, or turns a corner only never to be seen again. And just like that, it’s “mission abolished”.
I was lucky enough to start out on the field with a partner who had been a private investigator for a few years, and was incredibly generous with his knowledge and experience. We often worked on the field as a team, and I always take with me one thing he told me on our first assignment: “There is no such thing as a disappearing act”.
After hours of waiting for your subject to come out, when that door finally opens, the adrenaline surges and the fear of losing sight of that person rises. You can know your environment as best as possible, you will never be able to control it. You cannot prevent that bus from stopping right in front of the door you are surveilling, you cannot compel your subject to respect the stoplights, and you cannot beckon them to leave their home at the light traffic hours of the day.
When surveilling on foot, provided that the distance you put between your subject and yourself is reasonable, the chances for them to effectively escape you are very slim.
In the moment where the pressure to perform well for your client envelops you, reminding yourself that people do not disappear can help you center yourself and think pragmatically.
Analyse the area where they seemed to have Houdinied their way out of your field of view. Ask yourself which stores or restaurant they may have entered. Go over the information you have on your subject so far, what kind of individual they are, what are they wearing, what are they carrying with them. If you have been able to gather enough information on them prior to the field assignment, you might even know the addresses of some of their family members and acquaintances.
Breathe, and wait...
With a little luck, just like a rabbit out of the hat, you will see your subject emerge out of that public bathroom or out of that bookstore you overlooked because books seemed to be a thing of the past.
In that moment, as the weight will start lifting off your shoulders, you might find that it still feels a little bit like magic...
HPI
- Image by Jr Korpa on Unsplash -