Latest / The Unscripted Investigator Podcast / A PI’s Breakdown of an Active Surveillance Operation - Episode 5

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A PI’s Breakdown of an Active Surveillance Operation - Episode 5 · The Unscripted Investigator Podcast

• Daniel: Welcome back to the unscripted investigator podcast with Austin the PI, of course. Austin the PI: That's me. Daniel: And Daniel, your co-host. Not a PI. That's me. Austin the PI: That's him. Daniel Thappy. Daniel: Daniel Thappy. What's up, dude? Austin the PI: Dude, what's up? today was a busy day. Daniel: Yeah, same for me, kinda. Austin the PI: Yeah. For those who don't know, we record on Mondays. And so Daniel: Yes, this is Monday. Austin the PI: Yeah. So yeah, it was a I I've got a I can tell you about this. It's a revolutionizing new system that that I came up with. Daniel: yes. This is what you were telling me about earlier. Austin the PI: yeah. So Daniel: Yeah, this was super unique. W why don't you just give us a little taste? I'd never heard Austin the PI: Groundbreaking for me, at least. Daniel: never heard of anything like this before. Austin the PI: Yeah, so there's all these different kinds of scheduling apps and stuff out there. I've been using Motion for a while, AI assistant helps you schedule out your days. And I've just consistently been frustrated, I'll say, with my scheduling abilities. You know, I'm a one-man band, so if I don't schedule it, it done get done. So Kayla, my wife, knows this about me. And so We were sitting down last night. She she grabbed her utensils to to make it easier on me. I'm making this weird. But basic basically Yeah, Daniel: Utensils, fork and knife. Austin the PI: to to like start surgery on me or something. no. Kayla got a pen and paper. Okay. I see. She got a pen and paper. And she was like, tell me everything that is in your brain that needs to go on this paper. And I was like, All right. Daniel: How long was that list? Austin the PI: Long. Really long. Daniel: Sides. Austin the PI: Yeah. Yeah. It's like four pages long. basically I keep everything in my head. And I've always done that, which is fine for your normal workload. But when you're the business owner and you have all these things in different buckets, it just it adds up, dude. So Daniel: Yeah. Austin the PI: That was revolutionary for me. For the listener, I called Daniel earlier today and I was like, Bro, Caleb made me a list. It's like Daniel: You're like, want some good nude. I was like, sure, I thought you were gonna talk about a hundred and fifty K followers or something and you're like, I wrote something down and I didn't even write it down, Austin the PI: I was like I was like bro Caleb wrote a Daniel: Caleb wrote it down. Austin the PI: Kayla wrote me a list last night? Bro, it changed my whole day. It's amazing. Daniel: I was like I was like, Yeah, bro, I do that every Monday morning. Austin the PI: Yeah, I mean it was genuinely way more helpful than I thought it would be. Like it kept me on track so well. Daniel: It's good. It's good stuff. No, I I do think there's something there's Austin the PI: So that being said, I I bought some pens. Daniel: something therapeutic about actually writing. That sounds weird, but when I work on computers all day. Not like on computers, but I I use a computer. Now I'm being Austin the PI: Yeah. Daniel: weird. Everything is computer. but no, there's something nice about like using pen, using paper. Just getting your thoughts out willy nilly, Just dome Austin the PI: Well, and having a checkbox. Daniel: to paper. Austin the PI: I had there's I don't know, a bunch of things on this this list and I got get one done. I would just check it off. And then I would Daniel: Yeah. Austin the PI: sit there and look at it for a second. I just checked that off. Daniel: Yeah, I love a to-do list. Let me hit you with this Austin the PI: Yeah. Daniel: and then we'll jump into the the good stuff. if you really want to step it up. One of my co-workers gave me this idea. He he used to do it. I haven't tried it yet, but I think it'd be great. He wrote down all of his like anxious thoughts about work. Like, externalized all of it. And then he was like, then you have a then you have your to-do list. Like. You just work on eliminating every negative thought you have so that it's not like a negative thought anymore, because then you have something to back it up. You know what I'm saying? Austin the PI: Dude, I need to I need to remember that because Daniel: Isn't that genius? Austin the PI: that is, that's something that I've been working on with my therapist. we've been working on work stress because I'm like I was telling her, I was like, it seems like seems like stupid, but this permeates my whole life. Like work stress. And so how do I and and that's essentially what it sounds like is that's a form of or like one facet of cognitive behavioral therapy is what he's doing. But that's like a really cool application of it. Daniel: Yeah. Yeah, I thought it was pretty neat. Well Austin the PI: Well well before we jump in, how was your weekend? Daniel: dude, I was gonna save this story for the podcast. I don't think I told you this. It was good. It was pretty chill on Friday and Sunday. But Saturday I had an event that I went to. It was a charity event, if you will, for my wife's nonprofit that she works at. Austin the PI: And the Phoebe the Phoebe was there. Daniel: The Phoebe was there, yeah. The good old FBI. The Phibis. Austin the PI: Yeah. Daniel: yeah, I told him to like and subscribe, you know? Which by the way, Austin the PI: Hey. Daniel: if you're listening right now, don't forget to like and subscribe. So I didn't talk to the Phoebe actually. I think they were packing Austin the PI: Yeah, it's fine. Daniel: up by the time I was there. But this event was a Alcohol and workout themed event. Austin the PI: Can I say it? Beers and burpees. Daniel: Yeah, it's called Beers and Burpees. Great event. My first time participating in it. And for those of you who don't know, which is probably most people, I don't drink beer. Not because I don't like it, but because it just messes with me. I can have one light beer, Miller light, Coors light, and I will have a piercing headache the next morning. I will Austin the PI: Mm. Daniel: throw up shortly thereafter. So I was like, you know what? This is already not a great combination. Let's fix it. I'm gonna do mimosas and burpees, which for whatever reason I thought was a good idea. Don't ask me why. And then on top of it, my heat. So this event lasted all day from like nine in the morning till like three in the afternoon. People doing this event all day. it was like a 20 minute CrossFit workout. It was great. It was a great workout. But I had the grand idea to eat lunch 30 minutes before my heat started. And what did I have for lunch, you might ask? The one food truck that was present, Austin the PI: Chick-fil-A. Daniel: barbecue nachos. Austin the PI: Talk about sitting heavy. Daniel: You know where this is going. Austin the PI: Got an idea. Daniel: So I I actually ate my nachos about 1.45 till like two. So I was throwing them back. Not trying to do too much, but they were delicious. So right around two o'clock, I was like, let me quit. We're starting at 2.30. I need 30 minutes to let it settle. And I quit. Austin the PI: That that is like the general rule, isn't it? Yeah, thirty minutes and then you can swim. Yeah. Right. Daniel: Yeah, I was like, that's what they say about swimming, right? stop eating. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I was like, this feels fine. So I quit, start the workout. It was yeah, I don't need I don't need to go into the details, but we did three rounds. And the first round, 400 meters, and 25 burpees is was my half. So I did it with a partner. And after those first 25 burpees, I forgot. We started by drinking a mimosa. Then I did the lap. Then I did the 25 burpees. Austin the PI: Yeah, I think you was sloshing that around. Daniel: And from that moment on, the whole time, I was just trying to keep it down. Austin the PI: Ugh, talk about burpees, dude. Daniel: Yeah, and we had two more rounds of that plus more. So I held it down. Actually, a little bit came up, mid-workout, not that much. And if you don't want to hear the rest of the story, now would be a good time to skip 30 seconds ahead. But I finished the round, immediately sat down. My partner was like, Why don't you stand up, walk around? And as soon as I stood up and walked about 10 feet, I threw About half of it up and it was the orange juice, it was the bubbly, it was the nachos, it was the pork, Austin the PI: the Yak Daddy. Daniel: it was everywhere. And just when my wife came around the corner to see if I was doing okay, round two baby got the rest out. It's probably the biggest throw up I've had in my entire life. Austin the PI: Man, well, at le here's the the positive side to that. You're already married. She can't go back on it now. That I mean, Daniel: Yep. Austin the PI: think about that. You go to divorce court and she's like, he yakked at the at beers and burpees and I couldn't handle it. Daniel: Yeah. It was not pretty. And and on Austin the PI: man. Daniel: top of it, we got last. Austin the PI: I mean I mean I bet you did. With that kind of performance. Daniel: Yeah, last place. It was rough. but that was the most eventful thing Austin the PI: I can't say that I Daniel: from my weekend. Austin the PI: Yeah, I can't say that I envy you. I am proud of you for Daniel: Thanks. It was a great workout, honestly. I would do the Austin the PI: Yeah. Daniel: workout again. Austin the PI: Yeah, it might be it might be discolored now for you, but it'll get its color Daniel: I think that'll Austin the PI: back. Daniel: that's more so the case with barbecue nachos than the workout. Yeah. Austin the PI: Right. Yeah. Maybe mimosas as well. Daniel: Yeah, we'll see. We'll see. Austin the PI: Yeah. man. Daniel: Yeah, so that was my weekend. Austin the PI: Very nice. Daniel: How was yours? Austin the PI: Let's wait for that. my weekend was good. It was I don't like putting me on the spot. I don't remember anything particularly eventful that we did. I do remember that it rained on Saturday from the hurricane. Daniel: Yes. Austin the PI: and so that was kind of like but then yesterday, Sunday, was beautiful. We went to the park. If you watched my story, you saw that I posted a massive Massive spider. I have this thing. I love like bugs, nature, things like that. And I love capturing it with a camera and then posting it. Not as like a hobby where I wanna be like a photographer, just like I just wanna see it. I just wanna, I just wanna see that. Daniel: Yeah, your cockroach video that went insanely was that your first viral video on your Austin the PI account? It was like it was Austin the PI: Mm-mm. No, that was Daniel: one of your biggest though. Austin the PI: it was definitely one of the biggest. It was like Daniel: Yeah. Austin the PI: what maybe the sixth or seventh viral post, but it was like it went mega viral. And it's like, why? It's just like a cockroach dancing around dying on a Daniel: Sorry, I this is also let's just acknowledge you have a different setup this week. And as you're Austin the PI: yeah. Daniel: talking about bugs, the two wheel wheels behind your head look like little ears or something like that. And that's all I could think about. There you go. Austin the PI: Right, right, right. For the listener, I have bike wheels on my back wall and I guess they look like they make me look like a bug. Like a stinky little bug. Daniel: Mm just a little bit. Just a little bit. Austin the PI: They make me look like a like a bug that might bat you. Daniel: Ugh, well Austin the PI: Yeah. Daniel: that's good stuff. Bug content. Austin the PI: Yeah, quick touch on that. Different setup this week. My I my my laptop died. so I couldn't film on that. But to be honest with you, I like this setup better. I was sitting back there and pointing to a chair in the background. Daniel: Yeah. Austin the PI: this looks better. Daniel: I like this. I like this. Austin the PI: Yeah. Gives it more depth of field. Daniel: And I'm I've retired the strainer. So I'm I'm strainless. Austin the PI: Yeah. As you can see, I'm still rocking the Green Spoon. This is this is the Green Spoon gang after all. Daniel: Facts. Austin the PI: So Daniel: That in the swivel chair. Shout out the swivel chair. There it is. Austin the PI: And we're back. Daniel: We're back. All right. Shall we get into this week's content now that it's been thirteen minutes? Austin the PI: Yeah, we're just you know what? not to be insensitive, we're just yakking it up. Daniel: I think I think it's called a yapin. That's what the kids call it. Austin the PI: you're just Daniel: Sorry, that was an accident. Austin the PI: It's okay. it was time to be done. Daniel: Let's do it again. Storytime with Austin Thappy. Austin the PI: Hmm. Storytime first this week, huh? Daniel: Yeah. Austin the PI: Alright, sounds good to me. So this week's story is a cheating story. And it's one that I made a yeah. Love that. Daniel: That's terrible. Austin the PI: I I did make a an Instagram reel about this story, right? So this this guy called me. We're gonna call him Neville. Daniel: Neville. Austin the PI: Yeah. Somebody made a comment that I love Harry Potter. And I was like, it took you that long to realize that I have a red Harry Potter hoodie that I post. I got all my videos in now. Daniel: Yeah. Austin the PI: yeah, so I love Harry Potter. We're gonna call this guy Neville. Neville gave me a call one day and he said, Austin, I need your help. I think my wife is cheating on me. Basically, the other day, my kids were playing. I have two two girls and they're I I think they were like seven and thirteen. So there's like a pretty big age gap. But they were playing together and they were playing with the iPad. And the 13-year-old walks up and she's like, Hey dad, I think you're getting you or mom are getting a text message on the iPad. and it's from this lady named Marcy. And he said he Daniel: Mercy. Austin the PI: doesn't know know of Marcy, and he just like opened it up. It's the family iPad. And so he opens it up, starts reading it, and Basically the text messages are not safe for little eyes, right? Like Daniel: Mm-hmm. Austin the PI: the ones that that were coming in at that moment were not unsavory, but if you scroll up a little bit, it was like, wait, who is this with? And then it's like full on not right. Right. Daniel: Not family friendly for it being on a family iPad. Yeah. Austin the PI: Got a little got a little down and dirty in the in the text messages. So then he's like, Okay, well, he told me I don't think my wife is a lesbian. So I think this is a man that she's talking with. Also, you can you can read through the context of Daniel: in the fur. Austin the PI: the text messages, this is not a woman. It's Daniel: Yes. Austin the PI: put into the phone. Well, in the iPad, the iCloud account. It's put into that contact section as a woman, but it's not, right? Daniel: RC. Austin the PI: Right. But because it's on iMessage, he can see the the phone number. So he's like, Austin, I have this phone number. I want you to figure out. He's like, my wife is a stay at home mom, but the kids go to school. Like they're not homeschooled. And so they're going to school. So she has like kind of free reign to do what she wants during the day. She has like stuff that she does. Like she goes to groups and things like that. But also she has a lot of free time. So he's like, I would like to follow her during the week because that's when she has the availability to cheat. I'm like, gang, gang, player. Daniel: Okay, hold on. Let me take a timeout. 'Cause I got a question. If it was me. I'd be tempted to just call the number, right? Is that a lot of people do that, and is that a bad thing to do? Austin the PI: Right. And that's what a lot of people do. A lot of people do it. Daniel: I imagine it might not be the best. If if they're Austin the PI: It's an awful thing to do. Daniel: intending on hiring a PI. But if it's like, Austin the PI: That is the last thing you want to do. Daniel: okay, talk about it. Austin the PI: Yeah. So this is what I always tell my clients. And I I always think this is like an understood thing, but it's not. So when you're in that situation, you think about if you if you put yourself in the person in the mind of the person that is cheating, right? And you're thinking, How am I going to get away with this? As that person cheating, you want everything in your life to stay the same as it always is. Right. You don't want any red flag to go up. And the inverse of the other person. If you don't want them to know that you suspect them, you want everything to stay the same. So I s I tell my clients, I'm like, if you, if it's normal for you and your spouse to argue, keep arguing. Don't don't try to play nice now because that's only going to make them think that you've like you might think, I don't want to argue because I don't want to upset them, because then something might come out. But you want them to think that nothing is wrong or nothing is out of place, right? So along those lines, if you call the paramour, you're giving away the bag. You just told them, I'm on to you and they're gonna be a lot more careful. So it makes my job harder. Yeah. Yeah. Daniel: Make sense. Bang. Good answer. Austin the PI: Thanks, I've done this before. Daniel: Yeah. Austin the PI: Feel like I'm talking to a client. yeah, so basically that is a natural thing to do. Luckily, he did not do that in this situation. He said, I have the number, so I got the number. And for anybody that doesn't know, I can run that in a database. And immediately it it ties back to a person. These databases are so good that the only ones that don't tie back to a person would be like. A burner phone that you get at like what what are those things called? Daniel: Dollar general. Austin the PI: Dollar General. Well, it it depends on which phone you get at Dollar General, but a bodega, like a a phone you would get at a bodega, like with a with a charge card, you know what I mean, like a track phone type of thing where you don't have Daniel: Yeah, yeah yeah, yeah, yeah. Austin the PI: to put a name in. because even prepaid cell phones from Dollar General. A lot them you have to put a name in and it will it will attach your name to that and then they sell that data. Daniel: well. Austin the PI: Yeah. Takes about a month to to generate in my system, but like it comes back. All that's to say. I was able to identify him from the phone number. That gives me Daniel: Mm-hmm. Austin the PI: his person record and that that opens up the floodgates. I'm able to Daniel: Everything. Austin the PI: figure out everything from that. So I figure out his name and I'm like, hey, Neville. This is this is Marcy, right? Daniel: What was his last name? Austin the PI: Longbottom. Yep. Daniel: There you go. That's what we're looking for. Austin the PI: I was like thinking, bro, I can't tell you that. But yes, long bottom. And he was specifically he was a botanist and he he knew a lot about gillyweed. Went swimming with him one time. Yeah, in the lake. Daniel: Hmm, suspicious. Mm. Austin the PI: Yeah. Got hold of a mermaid. Not as nice as they might seem. Daniel: Starting to lose the reference on me. Austin the PI: Yeah, well, maybe you need to watch that that Harry Potter movie. Daniel: Yeah. True. Austin the PI: anyways, Mr. Longbottom gave me the number and I slid Daniel: Yes. Austin the PI: I slid the deets over to him and I said, This is Marcy. And he was like, I see. That is one of the parents of another little girl that plays soccer with my little girl. These these dirty no do gooders. Daniel: No good dirty rhyme pig stealing. Austin the PI: Evil doers. That's what I meant to say. Daniel: Great great grandfather. Austin the PI: No good doers. Yeah. Daniel: There you go. Austin the PI: Yeah. So they they met each other at soccer. She would take the the girls to soccer practice after school because Neville was still working. And then that's where she met this guy. They didn't really have any other connections other than that. They played like club soccer or something like that. Daniel: P. I finds cheating spouse at soccer practice. Austin the PI: OOOO Daniel: That's the title. Austin the PI: Never never been seen before on Dateline. Daniel: Dang. So you got Austin the PI: we're not there yet. Daniel: sorry. That's that's how I that's how I finish all the stories, then so you got them. Austin the PI: Yeah. you kind. Yeah. So so we set up we set up surveillance to to watch her a couple of times, right? Daniel: Mm-hmm. Austin the PI: mostly during the day. She would she would do like she would go to her she actually did Pilates and then she would go to somewhere to shop like TJ Maxx. Then she had a like Wednesday Bible study with the ladies from church and then A couple of times after those activities, she would go meet him for lunch. And then one time she didn't go do anything else with him. She just met him for lunch. And then the next time she Daniel: Where did they meet at lunch? Austin the PI: one time it was at like Kava. And then one time somewhere like Panera bread. Daniel: That's ballsy to be meeting up with someone in public like that. Austin the PI: You would think so, but so Daniel: Don't you think anyone that she knew or he knew could have just like Austin the PI: Well and that happens all Daniel: Stumbled upon them. Austin the PI: the time. That happens all the time. People be stumbling. Daniel: you find Austin the PI: Like in Daniel: that out in your investigations. Austin the PI: Yeah, well, no, I hear stories. But in in Fayetteville, like when I was a PI in Fayetteville, bro, they would do that all the time. Cause it's like a big enough city, two hundred and fifty thousand people, where you're probably not gonna see anybody you know, but you totally could. You know what I mean? Yeah. Daniel: Yeah. Charlotte's three million and I see people I know out and about. But I guess you could play in an obscure spot if you wanted to. Austin the PI: Right. Yeah. Daniel: At that point just get it to go, Austin the PI: Right. Yeah. Just just go to wherever you're going. But yeah, so they they went to get lunch one day and then the next time they went to get lunch. Then they went to his house where they went inside the house. And so at that point, you know, I got them at at lunch holding hands and like kissing at the car. So so that's great. Like but but it just shows like affection. It's not it it confirms it for him, but it doesn't prove anything for court necessarily, right? It proves a little bit, but you want more than that. So then getting them at the house is is like the money shot. and so yeah, I reported back to to Neville and he's like like he he didn't really suspect too much, but he he knew that his relationship was growing distant in the the year before that. He just didn't think that that would happen. 'Cause like they they go to church, they have these family values where, you and I are both Christians and we know the the family values are like you don't get divorced or you it's it's very taboo to get divorced, right? So yeah, he didn't see it coming, but yeah. Daniel: He did. Austin the PI: In a in a little in a sense, yeah. Daniel: In a way, yeah. Dang. That's crazy. Austin the PI: The iPad snitched on him. Yeah. Daniel: I've had That's crazy, Austin the PI: Sad. Daniel: just to think and we you've talked about this before, this kind of thing ha is like out there. this happens maybe more frequently than just the average person might care to even think about, right? Austin the PI: All the time. Daniel: Yeah. And of course you see it more too. So maybe your perception is a bit skewed the other way, but you also see the reality of it much more than most people do. Austin the PI: I think I think if you were like to ask somebody who didn't think about it all the time like I do, they might Daniel: Right. Austin the PI: say like twenty percent of the time. And Daniel: Yeah. Austin the PI: then if you ask me, my my realistic perception is like, no, it probably happens more like forty percent of the time. Daniel: I thought you were gonna say seventy. Austin the PI: No, no. I don't think the that's the thing. I think some people might think that private investigators or people in this sort of field get super, super jaded. Daniel: Yeah. Austin the PI: And you can, you certainly can. But it's all about the people that you have in your corner living the the type of life that you live and the values you hold. Daniel: Yeah. Austin the PI: Like community is Such a powerful thing. Can you g can you hear Bella? Daniel: Yeah. Austin the PI: She isn't needing some attention. That's why keep going like this. I'm petting her. Bella is my cat, by the way. Should I g Daniel: Start we'll start to include her on the intro. Austin the PI: Should I give her a a guest appearance? Daniel: Yeah, of course. Austin the PI: Pause. Daniel: Everybody's in for a treat. Austin the PI: Here's Bella. Daniel: Mm-hmm. Give us a good pur, Bella. Me. Austin the PI: Call I call her little bear. she's afraid of literally anything that moves, including me. Daniel: There she is. Austin the PI: There you go. Right. Yeah, so that's kind Daniel: Good stuff. Austin the PI: of the end of that story. that's one where it's kind of like in the in between stages, he didn't know that he needed an attorney. And so throughout my conversations with him, I'm like, You should get an attorney and Daniel: Gotcha. Austin the PI: I will send my report to you or the attorney, whatever you want. There Daniel: Yeah. Austin the PI: we go. Daniel: Yeah. Well don't have much more to say about that. Austin the PI: No. Caught in the act. Yeah. Daniel: That seems like a pretty straightforward case. simple, maybe I should say. Yeah, open. Open and shut. Austin the PI: O open and shut. I was just about to say that because that that one was one budget. So I've we've talked about this in previous episodes. Sometimes cases take more than one budget. And that's that's very realistic. that it might take more than one budget. And I tell people that 'cause it seems like a lot of money, right? I mean it is. It's a lot of money to be hiring somebody, paying them almost like for me, it's like basically two grand to get me started. And then I come back and I'm like, Hey, we haven't found anything. Do you wanna continue? Another two grand. Daniel: How long did that take you for that story? Austin the PI: It took three days. Daniel: wow. Austin the PI: Yeah. Yeah. Daniel: Easy. Austin the PI: Yeah, it's not very long. Yeah, that that's the thing. Sometimes like but that's not that's not like typical necessarily. That's when they that's when typically it's three days or something like that when they know they're cheating because they've because the spouse told them or something something crazy like that, you know? And They're estranged, basically living like roommates in the house. They're both Daniel: Mm-hmm. Austin the PI: ready to be divorced, all that kind of stuff. That wasn't this Daniel: Yeah. Austin the PI: case though. Yeah. Daniel: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Can you tell before you take on a case if it'll be shorter or longer based off of the information up front? Austin the PI: Sometimes. Yeah. Yeah. If if it just sounds like an absolute stinker from the get go, you can bet it's gonna be long. Daniel: Mm. Austin the PI: but yeah. And that's kind of the goal is to get away from those kind of cases because they're just it's all about like managing expectations and making your client happy, right? So if you can have happier clients more often, then that's what you want. But it just depends on your workflow, like the the flow of cases you have. Daniel: Yeah. And by Austin the PI: Yeah. And everybody's deserves help, but yeah. Daniel: So by unhappy you mean by happy you mean unhappy, which in turn makes your clients happy. Satisfied. Austin the PI: Right. You get it. Yes. Pleasured. Daniel: Yes. Well Austin the PI: Huh? What did you say? Daniel: All right, moving on to segment number two. I got a clip ready for you. we're gonna we're we're gonna have to figure out what to do about this because for whatever reason, all all all of these clips I'm pulling up are Sony clips. And pretty sure Sony's Austin the PI: that's fine. Daniel: the strictest about like copyright violation. But Austin the PI: Dude, I'll talk to Sony. Daniel: Sony, if you're listening, just let us have this one. All right, because this is a good one. This one, as I mentioned earlier, I am particularly excited about for reasons we will see in just a minute here. If you're listening in, I'm getting ready to show Austin a trailer from a TV show that recently came out that is directly tied to his world of private investigation. And this TV show trailer is none other than Spider Noir. Austin the PI: I haven't even seen a trailer. Daniel: You haven't seen the trailer for this? Austin the PI: I haven't seen anything of this. Daniel: This'll be good. This will be good. So let's just set the scene. Austin the PI: Mm-hmm. Mm. Nikki C Daniel: That's right. Well, actually that was the wrong trailer that I showed you. But I mean it Austin the PI: That's okay. Daniel: was the it was the correct show, but there was another trailer I watched earlier where there was a line where it was like, What do I do about this? And then the lady's like, You're an investigator. Investigate. And I thought that would be very fitting. But that's okay. I gave him the line anyway. but for everybody listening, that was the Spider Noir trailer. There was a lot going on there. There was lots of Spider-Man things going on, lots of PI stuff going on. I mean, he his door to his office literally says private investigator, so that's what he does. He was given a photo of somebody to go find out who he was. trying to think he had the camera, right? Which is also like a Peter Parker Spider Man kind of thing. so a lot tying in with each other. But what are your thoughts? It it was also a black and white, noir style show. I know you're not the biggest fan of PI sort of movies and shows, but like this one's a little bit different. This one's like set back in the day, I don't know, like the nineteen thirties or something like that. You think it would be tough being a PI then? Do you think the same skills you have now? you could you could really use back then. Austin the PI: Okay. Daniel: talk to me about it. What do you think? Austin the PI: Yeah. It so yes, it would be it would be tough. It but it it would just be a different f frame of mind. So now, you know, you do a lot of telephone interviews, you do a lot of I do a lot of walking around to people's houses doing interviews that way, out of surveillance. Daniel: yeah. Austin the PI: But back then, just as technology is a weapon today for or a a really useful tool. It's and it wouldn't be back then as much. It goes the opposite Daniel: Mm-hmm. Austin the PI: way too. Cause technology works against us a lot. like surveillance cameras or, you know, people having ring doorbell cameras, all kinds of stuff where you Daniel: Yeah. Austin the PI: wouldn't have to worry about technology as much either. Or widespread knowledge of who you are or just even security like being at the forefront of people's mind. It just wasn't as much at the forefront of their mind in the 30s and all all the way up to the 60s and 70s. The 70s is where it really became more of a thing with the the Cold War. But but yeah, so I think I think really it would be hard to be a PI back then, but it would also be like a rustic sort of boots on the ground style that Daniel: Yeah. Austin the PI: I would really enjoy. 'cause you can do a lot of that today, but it's just different. It's just a different vibe, I think. Daniel: Yeah. in the show, not that it's historically accurate, but it was probably somewhat they thought about it. he was using a lot of you even talked about this with the the clip from Taken, you were you were using the example of if you're in London, you know, there's gonna be a ton of people around that you could speak to, that may have witnessed the event. but in like the thirties, maybe people were like looking up more, looking around, and were more aware of stuff in their environment. And so you would have to rely on that more Austin the PI: Totally. Daniel: than seems like nowadays there's a bit of a reliance on technology more than people as like eyewitnesses. Austin the PI: Well well and that's the thing that I think is most important to to point out about this is like today as an investigator, you are inundated with information. The the problem is how much information can you take in to Daniel: Mm-hmm. Austin the PI: to understand a case. Back then it was every piece of information is a a gem. Like Daniel: Yeah. Austin the PI: you you work hard for every piece of information. It's not sorting through a needle and haystack so much as clawing for more details. And I I Daniel: Yeah. Thank you. Austin the PI: think I think that is so that's like true, true detective work. And so that's it's at its most raw form. So I think that would be super cool. And the the Spider Man aspect of it, I mean like how Daniel: I was gonna ask you. Austin the PI: how can you not fanboy over that? That's so cool. Daniel: Yeah. Austin the PI: Yeah, I love Spider Man. you wouldn't know because I haven't watched any of the movies in years. But I do I do love Spider Man. I'd watch him with you. Daniel: Yeah. I thought it was pretty good. It was the show had a slow build a little bit. but Austin the PI: Yeah. I can see that. Daniel: it was cool. It was good. I liked Austin the PI: Yeah, so I think obviously I don't think any of that is very realistic. If anytime Nicholas Cage is in it, it's not gonna be very realistic. Like but that's kind of like his bit, right? It's part of it. Yeah, sure. Daniel: Yeah. Yeah. I'm just trying to hit you with all the legends like Liam Neeson, Nick Cage. Yeah no. Austin the PI: Yeah, yeah. It's working so far. No, but I think the it's not meant to be like real. It's not meant to be realistic. It's Daniel: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Austin the PI: meant to be like heavily dramatized and that's the fun of it. Daniel: Yeah. Here's my question that I was thinking about after I watched it. What is it, as we've been doing more and more of these segments, I'm realizing like and I've known this too from just from talking to you about like your social media page and stuff like that. What is it that like people just like get riled up about when it comes to private investigation? It's it feels like you could like take an ordinary situation and just make the main character a PI and it'd be like, what's going on here? I feel like part of it is that there is the misconception that it's like secretive. And it is. I guess it is secretive to a degree. it's not a total misconception. But I don't know. What do you think? Like why why you think it's like so prolific in our world? Austin the PI: Yeah. Well, I think I think it's a conglomeration of a few things. So it is secretive, not not in that like I have to be secretive all the time, but I can't like all of the information that I gather is a secret. Like I can't share that. It's covered by attorney client privilege. I can't share that with someone. And if there's no attorney involved, basically I am holding it ethically. I can't tell anybody just ethically. I can't do anything to to go against my client's case, right? And you're you're a Daniel: And so naturally people are gonna want to know more. Austin the PI: exactly and it's you're a detective, you're trying to figure out what happened in whatever situation you're investigating. And I think that is the the true crime aspect. People love true crime, including me. I am a true crime fangirl. I'll tell you that right now. I will ooh and awe. over some true crime. My mom and I used to Daniel: Yeah. There's a mystery there's an actual mystery to it of figuring out the situation more fully. Austin the PI: Totally. Yeah. Daniel: Yeah. Austin the PI: And sometimes it's not super interesting. it might be a personal injury case. It's not super interesting, but you can still it's still fun, You're figuring out details, you're going interviewing people, you're doing real detective work in the private world. The private realm. Yeah. Daniel: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Austin the PI: I think that's what it is. That's that's why I think Daniel: Makes sense. Austin the PI: it's cool. Daniel: Yeah. I agree. Should I I just blanked, we'll have to clip this part out. That was like the the longest blank I had doing Austin the PI: no, we can leave it. It's all good. Daniel: this so far. All right. Any other thoughts on that? Austin the PI: No, but I think that's a perfect opportunity to cut to our sponsor of this video. Daniel: you're right. I was gonna pull up all right, here we go. Austin the PI: Are you gonna read it? Daniel: Yeah, I got it this time. Austin the PI: Go for it. Daniel: Today's episode is sponsored by Integrity Investigations. That's integrity investigations SC dot com. This is worse than last week. Austin the PI: Yeah, no I feel that. It's like every time I ever say my email over the phone. Daniel: Right. You can reach us at eight three seven five eight three eight six eight or email us at Austin at Integrity Investigations SC dot com. Austin the PI: Bless you, Daddy. Daniel: Shy run that back. Austin the PI: No. It's great. It's for my business, so it's all good. It Daniel: Perfect. Austin the PI: was for somebody else, we would clip it and Daniel: I think it if it was for someone else it'd be funny. Leave it in. Austin the PI: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. If you need a private investigator, I'm your man. I operate in North and South Carolina. I do everything from cheating spouse, child custody, criminal defense, criminal prosecution, backgrounds, locates, missing persons, you let me know. We'll we'll work, we'll chop it up. Daniel: And what kind of what kind of cases are you trying to take on right now? Austin the PI: So I'll take criminal cases. I'll take, you know, really I'll I'll take anything if you're a serious client. But what I'm trying to to get more of, and this is kind of an interesting bit that we could talk about, what I want more of is, you know, locating documents, doing background investigations, locating people. And if I need to fly out to wherever you're at to locate them, like I'm all about it. So that stuff where it's less less risky and it's it's higher higher yield for the effort, in my opinion. and it's just the stuff I enjoy. I post these open source intelligence videos because I really I geek out geek out about that stuff. That stuff is like really interesting to me and I think younger PIs have the upper hand there. And so I'm just kinda like playing to my strengths. Daniel: Yeah. So if anyone's listening, what types of businesses or people might need to do locates or that you might do locates for? Austin the PI: Yeah. So the ones that I'm thinking about colleges, children's homes, alumni associations or other associations that have former members. So like Daniel: Mm-hmm. Austin the PI: different lodges or clubs or things like that, like what like fraternities have alumni associations. So those kind of things, like that's the type of business that would do it. And then people that are looking to locate somebody, if you have a missing relative or if you have a missing friend or like, I don't know, college roommate that you want to get in touch with, like I can locate them for you. That kind of stuff. Yeah. Daniel: Yeah. Have you done a a missing individual case before? 'Cause that would be a good Austin the PI: Yeah, it's been a while. Daniel: story for next week. Austin the PI: Yeah. Let me think on it. Daniel: Think about it. Tune in next week. Austin the PI: Yeah, talk about it later. Daniel: Next episode. If that's what we decide to do. Come and find out. Austin the PI: Yeah. We'll we'll bring the heat either way. Daniel: Good stuff. All right. We're moving quick. And for a final segment, we've got some questions. Austin has some answers and I have some guesses. So Austin the PI: Hey. Daniel: let's get after it. Austin the PI: It's honestly my favorite part. Daniel: My guesses. Austin the PI: Yeah. No, I like hearing what you had to say. You have a different perspective than I do. Daniel: True. All right. First question we've got today. What's the ring mean? Show the rain. Austin the PI: Do you n do you know what I I don't have it. Daniel: You don't have it? you don't have it yet. You haven't gotten it. Maybe we should save this for another week. Austin the PI: Yeah. Right. So it No, no, no, no, no. I Daniel: All right. Austin the PI: I told him I would answer it tonight. What so what do you think that's talking about? Daniel: Alright. Tonight, three weeks from today. the ring means I don't know that it really means anything other than like whatever a magnifying glass means, like a clo taking a closer look. but I know that it is yeah, it's a it's a image of a hand holding a spyglass or magnifying glass. Spyglass? Magnifying glass. Austin the PI: No. Spy glass is like a telescope. Daniel: Right. That's a spyglass. Yeah. magnifying glass. Very detective investigator esque. Looks very cool. And it's just kind of a kind of like a treat yourself kind of thing for how hard you've been working at Austin the PI: Exactly. Daniel: building your business. Austin the PI: Exactly. Yeah, it's a celebration. Daniel: Yeah. Austin the PI: Kayla and I came from a very hard time into a very good time. And so I was just like, you know what? I found this guy on Instagram. I think it's Snakes X Roses on Instagram. I can tell you for for sure here in a second. But basically I found this guy, he makes custom jewelry and it's incredible. It is Snakes X Roses Jewelry on Instagram. Daniel: Nice. Austin the PI: And he he does incredible work. He makes jewelry out of titanium and zirconium. So titanium being like the silver, and then zirconium is like jet black. And and yeah, I was like, dude, I love your your pendant rings. Could you make me one with a magnifying glass? And he was like, easy money, dude. And he made it. He made it in like three hours. crazy. Yeah. I think I don't know Daniel: Nice dude. Shout out to Snakes and Roses. Austin the PI: if it was yeah, I don't know if it was actually three hours, but it quick. Daniel: That's cool. Austin the PI: so yeah, little little treat yourself type vibe. Daniel: There you go, there you go, I like that. I Austin the PI: Yeah. Daniel: like that. Austin the PI: Yeah. I like that. Daniel: Gotta say it one. There you go. All right, next question. Ever had a case where evidence pointed one way, but the truth turned out different? That's a great question. Austin the PI: Ooh wee. Tell you what, man, this is Daniel: Difficult advanced level questioning. I have no guesses. Austin the PI: This is advanced level. Daniel: I I don't know. Austin the PI: Well no, what do you think that means? Daniel: No, I know what it means, I just don't know if you've ever had that. But I would love to know. Austin the PI: Yeah. Well, I'll tell you, the the answer is yes, many times, but this is this is a question from another PI, and I told him I was like, bro, that is a great question, and we are asking that tonight. So basically, in a case, let's say let's say I'm a defense investigator, right? I've done defense and prosecution, but let's say on this case I'm doing defense work. And The the government's evidence says that this person did X, Y, and Z. We'll say cheated on their wife. Let's say it's in the military, right? Cheated on their wife. And then my job is to look at the evidence, reinvestigate, get interviews, and see how it shakes out, then deliver it to the attorney and say, Hey, this is your strength in the case. This is your weakness. This is I I think this is your best strategy. Do best for your client. And there have been times where I have investigated and I knew for a fact that this person did what they were accused of, but I proved otherwise. Daniel: That's crazy. Austin the PI: I know. And that's the moral dilemma with all this. Because it's like, they did that. But at the same time, you're you're the only way our system works well is if you you work to defend your client to the best of your ability. And so Daniel: Mm-hmm. Austin the PI: I deliver it's not like I fabricated anything. I just deliver what I found. I know. Aww. Daniel: Take you lying, cheatin' little scoundrel. Austin the PI: I can hear it in the comments now. We're gonna clip this and put it on Instagram and people are gonna flame me. Daniel: That's the hook. That's the whole hook right there. Austin the PI: And you know what? That's fine. Because at the end of the day, I I don't make the facts. I don't tell anybody to say anything. But if my investigation brings forward that the evidence that he didn't do it or she didn't do it, I report it like I find it. Daniel: Sheesh, that might be the juiciest part of this whole episode. Austin the PI: Kinda heavy, ain't it? There there have been times Daniel: Yeesh. Austin the PI: where we we got somebody like off scot free and I'm like I called the attorney, I'm like, dang, bruh. And they're like, Yeah. Daniel: Crazy. I I actually didn't know Austin the PI: Yeah. Yeah, it's tough. Daniel: that. Austin the PI: Yeah. but Daniel: Well, good for you. You're good at your job. Austin the PI: Thanks, Dad. But the the other thing is like Daniel: Proud of you, son. Austin the PI: So when when somebody is really, really innocent and the government has done a good job of investigating and they have decent evidence, you have to be at that level to to get the evidence to keep that person out of prison. that doctor I told you about. that Daniel: Mm. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Austin the PI: if you're not at that level, then that person goes to jail because you you're both playing the game. You know what I mean? Daniel: Right. It's like yeah, it's like defense. Yeah. Austin the PI: Yeah, sometimes it shakes out un unfair to the wrong person. Or to the wrong side. And that's that's Daniel: That makes sense 'cause yeah. Austin the PI: you you can't really you you could control it, I guess, but you'd be going against the the ethics of the court, the ethics of your role. so so people do like like, how can you sleep at night? It's like, well, because that's one out of out of a hundred, you know. The rest of them I investigated and I'm like, yeah, he's guilty. And that's what my evidence says. Yeah. Daniel: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Makes sense. Thing. Great, great question. Great answer. These things aren't black and white always, right? Austin the PI: It's not we're not sp it's not spider noir. Daniel: Yeah, this isn't Spider Noir. This is like Spider Man. Austin the PI: Yeah, yeah, this is this is like this Daniel: Some red, there's some blue. Austin the PI: is spider fuchsia. Daniel: Exactly. All right. I got I got a another spicy question for you. Question is. Austin the PI: Who are you looking at? Daniel: I don't know. The question is do you carry? A question I'm sure many, many people want to know. Austin the PI: Hmm. That is a spicy question, isn't it? My and my answer to that would be wouldn't you like to know? Daniel: Ugh. That's all we're gonna get. Austin the PI: For me to know and you to find out, big boy. Daniel: There you go. This is an A and B conversation. You can see your way out. Austin the PI: Yeah. I was trying to find like you you can Glock twenty seven C your way out or something like that. I don't know. It it didn't work. Daniel: That's all right. And actually, this is a great question to end it on. this was asked last week. We just didn't have time for it. But the question is, what talents and qualities did you notice that you had that lent themselves to being a good PI? Austin the PI: That's a delicious question. I could go on that for days. I won't. Yeah, yeah, you. Daniel: Let me take a stab. Let me take a stab at it. What talents and qualities did you notice you had? Hmm. If I had to guess, if I had to guess your answer, I would say you didn't at first know all of the talents and qualities. Maybe this is me just saying it. Maybe you wouldn't actually say this. But I'm I'm guessing you had to develop some of your talents and qualities that you didn't have initially before you became a good PI. That's probably a given. But of the ones that you already had, dang. I would say that you were probably raised to be situationally aware to a good degree, whether that's from your dad, whether that's from being in like a military environment. Like I feel like I kind of have that just from growing up. around a bunch of military dudes. They're like watcher six or whatever. Other than that, let me see, let me think. Maybe being analytical to a degree is important. That's general, but I guess not everyone is analytical. Yeah, those are my best guesses. Austin the PI: Yeah. Which so the question I think is which ones did I realize I had? Is that right? Daniel: That yeah, that you noticed you had. Austin the PI: Yeah. So so not ones that I think are necessary. w not I'm not telling about the full suite of things. Which ones did I notice I had? So the biggest one by far is when I started doing PI work, I realized I had a a keen eye for details. So like it it was to the point where I was so focused on the details that I would look at details that didn't matter, like too long. You know what I mean? So I would go I would move through saying things really slowly. which is probably Daniel: Mm. It's an example of a detail that you maybe spent too much time on. Austin the PI: Yeah. So like when you're reading discovery and you're reading through a homicide packet, homicide investigation packet, you you don't need to worry about every single detail if it doesn't if it makes sense, right? If it makes sense in the flow of the the packet and like you you just don't need to pay attention to every single little thing. You can just read it normally and then whatever kind of jumps out is what jumps out. I would fester on the details that didn't really matter. yeah. So but that comes with experience too. You don't you're not just gonna start and know exactly what matters, right? Yeah. So the the next thing that I noticed I had. So I grew up in a a house with four women. so three older sisters and a mom. And maybe you see where this is going, maybe you don't. I think what that what that helped me with was emotional intelligence. So being Daniel: Mm. Austin the PI: able to read someone and being able to empathize in certain ways that maybe guys who just grew up with a bunch of dudes wouldn't be able to. Or women that grew up with a bunch of dudes or you know what I'm saying. So being able to being able to empathize on a deeper level and understand people's motivations is huge when you're trying to understand what they might have done and why they might have done it and all those kind of things. Yeah. Daniel: Yeah. For sure. That makes a lot of sense. Austin the PI: I would say those are the the two biggest things. and then I was certainly lacking. in a bunch of areas too. when I first started, I'm better now. I was dog crap at surveillance. I was so Daniel: Mm. Austin the PI: bad. And I'm glad I got better because that would be truly unfortunate. Daniel: Yeah. What does it take to get better at surveillance? Just a lot of reps or anything else? Brack yeah. Austin the PI: Practice. Yeah. Practice and being aggressive. you you have to be more aggressive than you initially think. well, I shouldn't say that. Some people are initially very aggressive. but but someone like you that would be worried about like that would like not be typically v overly aggressive, you know who's gonna do that. Like it's like a stereotype. Daniel: Yeah, yeah. Austin the PI: You know who's gonna do that. you and me, we're not gonna be the overly aggressive type, the the super macho, hit him over the head with a hammer, you know. Daniel: Right. Austin the PI: If you're not gonna be that person, then you probably need to be more aggressive. Daniel: Hm, interesting. Austin the PI: Yeah. Daniel: Sweet. Well, as always, thanks for sharing your expertise. and as always, if you guys have questions, comments, leave them down below in the comment section. Hit us up on Instagram, either at unscripted investigatorpod or Austin the PI, and we'll be sure to answer your questions every week. Austin, any last words before we call it a night? Austin the PI: thanks for being here. And D Snizzy, thanks for thanks for hosting. You did an excellent job, as always. Daniel: Thank you, sir. Peace.