I mentioned a while ago that I'd post the tips from the very cool Manual of Detection by Jebediah Berry. So here they are - read them, and maybe you'll get a few tips on how to improve your detective skills. All credit for the text to Jebediah Berry and his Random House publishers - go read the book, it's awesome.
The Manual of Detection
On Shadowing
The expert detective’s pursuit will go unnoticed, but not because he is unremarkable. Rather, like the suspect’s shadow, he will appear as though he is meant to be there.
On Evidence
Objects have memory, too. The doorknob remembers who turned it, the telephone who answered it. The gun remembers when it was last fired, and by whom. It is for the detective to learn the language of these things, so that he might hear them when they have something to say.
On Corpses
Many cases begin with one - this can be disconcerting, but at least you know where you stand. Worse is the corpse that appears partway into your investigation, complicating everything. Best to proceed, therefore, with the vigilance of one who assumes that a corpse is always around the next corner. That way it is less likely to be your own.
On Clues
Most everything can be divided into two categories: details and clues. Knowing one from the other is more important than knowing your left shoe from your right.
On Memory
Imagine a desk covered with papers. That is everything you are thinking about. Now imagine a stack of file drawers behind it. That is everything you know. The trick is to keep the desk and the file drawers as close to one another as possible, and the papers stacked neatly.
On Leads
Follow them lest they follow you.
On Suspects
They will present themselves to you first as victims, as allies, as eyewitnesses. Nothing should be more suspicious to the detective than the cry for help, the helping hand, or the helpless onlooker. Only if someone has behaved suspiciously should you allow for the possibility of his innocence.
On Surveillance
It is the most obvious of mandates, to keep one’s eyes open, but the wakefulness required of the detective is not of the common sort. He must see without seeming to see, and watch even when he is looking away.
On Documentation
It is not enough to say that you have had a hunch. Once written down, most such inklings reveal themselves for what they are: something to be tossed into a wishing well, not into a file.
On Infiltration
The hideout, the safe house, the base of operations: you may assume that your enemy has one, but not that it is to your advantage to find it.
On Bluffing
Answer questions with questions. If you are caught in a lie, lie again. You do not need to know the truth to trick another into speaking it.
On Interrogation
The process begins long before you are alone in a room together. By the time you ask the suspect your questions, you should already know the answers.
On Cryptography
The coded message is a lifeless thing, mummified and entombed. To the would-be cryptologist we must offer the same advice we would give the grave robber, the spelunker, and the sorcerer of legend: beware what you dig up; it is yours.
On Nemeses
There is no better way to understand your own motives and dispositions than by finding someone to act as your opposite.
On Skulduggery
If you are not setting a trap, then you are probably walking into one. It is the mark of the master to do both at once.
On Apprehension
Woe to he who checkmates his opponent at last, only to discover they have been playing cribbage.
On Solutions
A good detective tries to know everything. But a great detective knows just enough to see him through to the end.
On Dream Detection
Among the many dangers associated with this technique - if it may be so characterised - is the possibility that its practitioner, upon waking, may wonder whether everything he has seen was real or simply a construct of his own fancy. Indeed, the author of this manual cannot claim with certainty that the technique described in these pages actually exists.
Bonus: Mystery, First Tidings of
The inexperienced agent, when presented with a few promising leads, will likely feel the urge to follow them as directly as possible. But a mystery is a dark room, and anything could be waiting inside. At this stage of the case, your enemies know more than you know - that is what makes them your enemies. Therefore it is paramount that you proceed slantwise, especially when beginning your work. To do anything else is to turn your pockets inside out, light a lamp over your head, and paste a target on your shirtfront.
Happy detecting!
