If you are a lover of detective novels or investigative television shows, you may be besotted with the idea of meeting a private investigator or maybe even becoming one! A detective’s job may not be easy, be full of twists and turns but it sure is adventurous. There is variety in the nature of assignments, you need to put your brains to work to connect the different dots together and there is of course the satisfaction to be had from creating a solid case that helps resolve disputes or solve a crime.

A private investigator investigates a crime or an offense that has been committed. Usually someone would approach a detective with a problem or a perceived wrongdoing. They would enlist the services of the detective to help resolve this issue. The first thing that the private investigator needs to do is discover the problem that is the root of the entire case.

Once a problem has been defined, the next few steps in the investigation process, lead the detective to solve mysteries in the case. There will often be unanswered questions, confusing statements or proclamations of innocence or guilt, all of which must be properly sorted out by a detective.

How To Solve Such Mysteries?

In order to solve such mysteries, the private investigator will follow leads. Any event will have a timeline leading up to it, other events that contribute towards it. The detective must follow those leads and uncover clues in the process and establish how and when things occurred, where people were at a particular time and what their actions were. The private investigator will often work with other people besides the accused and the accuser, especially the witnesses, the law enforcement agencies, medical personnel and maybe even other private detectives, recording their statements.

Most cases that come to a private investigator require him to settle disputes between two parties, the argument could be about anything – settling property issues, tax issues, family disputes etc. Disputes occur when two or more parties cannot reach an agreement and the private detective will help compile well researched documentation that can help the various parties reach a settlement.

The other type of case where the services of an investigator may be employed is for solving crime. The investigator may be tasked with gathering evidence, building a concrete case, reviewing different types of scenarios and replaying a scene, so that the actual events leading up to a crime can be outlined. This usually means dedicated efforts which may span days or even weeks and would require intense research. Often the private investigator will have to be on the scene of the crime, trying to reconstruct an event, talk to people in the neighbourhood, conduct stakeouts to keep an eye on different people, interview witnesses and conduct follow-ups.

Irrespective of the nature of the case, the primary job of a private investigator is to gather facts. The facts are what help the various parties arrive at conclusions that ultimately helps to resolve the problem that had arrived at the investigator’s desk.