And the chances are equal that the stranger
will make a bungle of it.
Many of the best available detectives are men who work by
themselves without any permanent staff, and who have their own
regular clients, generally law firms and corporations. Almost
any attorney knows several such, and the chief advantage of
employing one of them lies in the fact that you can learn just
what their abilities are by personal experience. They usually
command a high rate of remuneration, but deductive ability and
resourcefulness are so rare that they are at a premium and can
only be secured by paying it. These men are able, if
necessary, to assume the character of a doctor, traveller,
man-about-town, or business agent without wearing in their
lapels a sign that they are detectives, and they will reason
ahead of the other fellow and can sometimes calculate pretty
closely what he will do. Twenty-five dollars a day will
generally hire the best of them, and they are well worth it.
The detective business swarms with men of doubtful honesty and
morals, who are under a constant temptation to charge for
services not rendered and expenses not incurred, who are
accustomed to exaggeration if not to perjury, and who have
neither the inclination nor the ability to do competent work.
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