Insist on a film record of the investigator's observations if surveillance is required. Since payment in advance is customary, you should always ask if a contract is available before money changes hands. Be sure that you know how much you are spending, how your retainer will be spent and when you can expect your report. A PI has the privilege of working a task and seeing the end result. The job is important, always evolving, ever challenging and demanding.
PIs appear in publications, TV documentaries and behind the scenes on headline making cases.
Collected information and analysis can have a lasting impact on everyone and everything it involves. Further, since we mostly work in secret on issues of great sensitivity, professional satisfaction has to come from within. Truth is, many cases are worked with a cold sandwich and a thermos by our side. Bringing home the truth. Mickey Spillane would have been proud.