5/24/05

7:23 a.m. I just got a call from one of my investigators (the one that keeps getting picked up by the Subjects...we'll call him Hummer). He tailed his Sub to a diner where she is apparently working. He got 2 seconds of video as she left her house without any clear identifying shots. He didn't get any video as she entered her work because the parking lot is "small and obvious" and he thought it was too likely she'd see him.

He went inside to have breakfast and check to see what our Subject was up to. Which is good. But he didn't bring his camera so he could document her activities and confirm her identity. Which is bad. Every private investigator needs a bag or purse or backpack with a well-disguised hole cut into it so you can take video on the sly outside of your vehicle. So, in addition to having no tint on his windows, Hummer has no spy purse. When I told him to go back in there with his camera and get video, he balked, saying he wasn't even sure which waitress was the one he should be taping. "Did you read the nametag?" I ask. Several seconds of silence. "No." Argh. "Okay," I say. "Call the manager and tell him that you are an experienced waiter and would like to know if he's hiring. Regardless of what he says, find a way to ask him a few more questions. Ask what the shifts are like for his wait staff because we want to find out when she's leaving today so that your chicken butt self (okay...I didn't say that last part out loud) can set up in the back lot to get good video of her leaving.

8:27 a.m. Sorry to interrupt that story. My Subject, an extremely large white male, 5'5", 300 lbs, wearing a white dress shirt and tan pants, just became active and it looks like we're going on a mobile pursuit in a few minutes. I'll update soon.