Growing up, Ashley Wardlow was the type of kid who always had to get to the bottom of a mystery.

I investigated everything. My brother stole something out the refrigerator one time. It was mine. And I remember trying to use tape to lift his fingerprint off the refrigerator so that I can

then see if it matched the fingerprint on my empty bottle. I knew it was him. Today, she makes a living

out of detective work as a licensed private investigator. Aside from being a very good, nosy person,

a private investigator is going to go out and get you the answers that you need to questions that police may not get involved in because it's not a crime.

We go out, we get the dirt, the grime, the good stuff, the bad stuff.

You name it, we get it. Most of us have a preconceived idea about what

private investigators do all day. Maybe you've read about their exploits in a paperback thriller

or watch their daring pursuits in a TV show. Yeah, it's definitely laughable. We cannot jump

out of the helicopter and get you the evidence that you need. We cannot go and hold our breath underwater for eight hours. I'm sorry, we're not mermaids. Yeah, people ask us to do some stuff and it's like, that's humanly impossible. They don't understand that. That's on TV. This is real life. For Wardlow, a typical

week is a little more subdued. It often involves sitting around in a car for hours at a time,

or piecing together a trail of evidence from social media posts. But that's not to say the job is

dull.

I'm very good at disguising.

I will change my hair.

I will throw in a wig.

I will put on the fat suit.

Like, you won't even know it's me.

For the Freakonomics Radio Network,

this is the economics of everyday things.

I'm Zachary Crackett.

Today, private investigators. If you're the victim of a crime, like a robbery or an assault, you can call the police. They'll file a report and investigate

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