Joining The Crime Scene Team

I never realized how nervous I would be sitting in the office of a private investigator. What if someone came into the office with a gun? What if it misfired and struck me? What if my kids were visiting and a fight broke out?

I should have thought of this before.

I promised John Bentley that I would monitor his phone calls in the DeVito case so I couldn't leave. I sat there for two hours and the phone rang 24 times. The receptionist kept shaking her head, "no" that the incoming calls had nothing to do with me. Finally, Bentley called to say that another DeVito employee identified the bloody blouse. It belonged to Annie Norman.

The Miami Beach police were organizing search teams. John wanted me on one of them for the next four hours. He offered to pay me $100. Everyone else was a volunteer. He thought it was a great idea to learn more about his business and what better way to start than on a search team. I told him I still didn't know if I should take the job. He said I didn't have to commit to anything but this assignment was extremely important to his agency and they needed me or anyone else they could trust because the case was high-profile and complicated.

He told me there would be certain restrictions to my involvement because I wasn't licensed but the PIs would be doing all of the serious work. I was backup for research, recording details and coordinating the communications between the associates.

I put on my sneakers and then raced to my assigned location: The beach at 8th Street. My heart was pounding.