Welcome to Rumble to Rumble Strip Vermont, America Heilman.

Today, an interview with a very old friend of mine and the person who trained me as a private investigator.

Susan Randall has been a PI here in Vermont for 15 years.

She works on the state's biggest, strangest, and darkest cases, and she's really good.

Susan can find anyone, and she can get them to talk about anything.

Last week I went over to her house. We lay in deck chairs in the backyard and we talked about the job.

About crime, lawyers, and what it means to give so much of your life to dark stories. Fair warning there's some

explicit language in this show and references to violence. When you were first doing PI work as an early investigator what do you think you were most

surprised about.

I mean there's a kind of romance that people assume

when they hear the words private investigator which.

I mean I think I think what I was the most shocked about

was how little I knew about the legal system.

That here I was being hired to do this really important piece of a case and I didn't know what appellate court was. No idea. I think you and I had that

conversation. You're like what's a pellet and I was like, I know, let's like Google it.

I mean we, you know, I didn't know any rules of evidence I didn't know what a victim's

advocate was I had no idea the difference between state court federal court civil

court I frankly I didn't care state court, federal court, civil court.

I frankly, I didn't care.

I never wanted to be a lawyer.

I had no interest.

It was just like boring people in suits

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