Our understanding of what private investigators do for work mostly comes from watching movies. The media typically portrays PIs as mysterious, cunning, morally ambiguous, and lawless agents who spend their workdays chain-smoking and following people dressed in khaki trench coats. While this depiction is certainly fascinating and entertaining, it has led to many misconceptions about what they actually do.

To clear some things up about this profession, two private investigators on Reddit invited people to ask them anything and answered as best as they could. Scroll down to see for yourself the secrets they revealed and myths they debunked, and don’t forget to upvote the ones that surprised you the most.

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