You’ve decided to be an amateur sleuth?
Great! You want to see justice done? Wonderful! You want to find clues, track
down the bad guys, and hand them over to the police? Terrific! How do you get
started? Do you check out your city’s crime line website, show up at the listed
address, and start asking questions? Do you duck under the police tape late at
night at a crime scene? Not a good idea, unless your plan was to end up in the
back of a squad car. You could be charged with obstruction of justice, or worse
yet, put yourself in danger. So how can you become a good amateur sleuth that
helps solve crimes?
First, assess your qualifications. Are you likeable? Are you easy to talk to, a good listener, caring? Do people open up to you? Are you intuitive? Do you have a “sixth sense” about things? Maybe you get a sense of what the Oxford New American Dictionary says “feels to be true even without conscious reasoning.” Just like Miss Marple, you’ll need these qualities to be a good sleuth.
