FUNERALS - I have often attended funerals in the course of investigations. While sensitive to the occasion, the effective investigator retains a pragmatic detachment. An empathetic nature is laudable, but how many scoundrels have executed their depredations in the full confidence that any potential observers are blinded by tears? The eyes of Coe might radiate compassion but, nonetheless, remain dry. While others might make a virtue out of grief, any unhappiness I feel remains subservient to the demands of truth. Accordingly, at funerals, I'm less likely to be brandishing a handkerchief than a Dictaphone into which I can discretely murmur observations for future reference (a notepad, of course, would serve the same purpose but with the disadvantage of causing the investigator to avert his eyes in order to write coherently. At funerals, as I have found to my expense, noting mourners' responses occasionally causes offence.)

I often attend such events in disguise. The presence of an internationally renowned psychic can have a stifling effect on people's behaviour. It's essential, of course, that any disguise is appropriate to the occasion. ‘Tommy the Punk' will blend in at a business meeting as effectively as ‘Boris the Banker' does a rave, i.e. not at all.

 

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