Well, an almanac is something to notice, as is anything that's out of place. It's like a piece of a jigsaw puzzle. One piece doth not a puzzle make.

My point is that many (maybe most) law enforcement officers are good at what they do, as are many people in other professions - and it can be foolhardy to second-guess them. A good investigator looks at everything, but tends to pay more attention to things that are out of place. I suppose this may be a sore point for me. I remember many job applicants I investigated who were quite perturbed by the things I questioned - like their Ku Klux Klan membership, and their wearing of Nazi uniforms, and their less-than-honorable discharge from the Army, and their overwhelming debts for luxuries. For months, one guy faxed me daily messages of leads he thought I should pursue in his investigation, which I had concluded within a week after my first encounter with the man.

One problem in law enforcement and in many professions is that the managers have no experience in the work done by their subordinates. When I had about twenty years on the job, I had a new manager who had three years of field experience, and he drove me crazy. He wanted every "t" dotted and every "i" crossed. I can picture him posting me at the door of a building, keeping record of every person who entered and whether or not the person was carrying an almanac. I swear he'd do it.

-Joe Offer-