The Amateur

On Tuesday, I decided to do some research on what Murphy had told me over the phone. Maybe I needed a private investigator's license or something.

It was easy to find the local requirements for a private investigator. One part sounded ominously appropriate to me:
The "business of private investigator" includes, among other things, the making of investigations with the purpose of obtaining information with regards to the movements and whereabouts of any person.

Maybe I needed a license. So, I looked into what was required to get a license. Things were going fine, it looked like a test, a few fees, fingerprinting, nothing much. And three years experience as an investigator. And the board meets every quarter to review applications made three months in advance. I wasn't going to have my license by this weekend.

Further research, however, seemed to indicate that I only needed a license if I were doing investigations for a fee. Nothing seemed to prevent people from finding people on their own. Otherwise, it would be illegal to find old high school pals on the Internet, or look up addresses in the phone book.

I looked up my address in the phone book.
666 Barnum Street.

Ok, Murphy, book him.