How we investigate
A method that can be explained, repeated, and checked.
Research is only useful if someone else can follow how you got there. Every engagement moves through the same six stages.
The method
Six stages.
Stages overlap in practice. Verification often sends us back to collection, and analysis often produces new questions.
- 01
Question
Define what actually needs to be understood.
Most requests start broad. We narrow the situation into specific questions that research can answer, and we say plainly which ones it cannot.
- 02
Collect
Identify and gather relevant records, sources, documents, and information.
Public records, court files, digital sources, client-provided documentation, and authorized sources — identified deliberately rather than collected at random.
- 03
Verify
Confirm important information against credible or original sources whenever possible.
A search result is a lead, not a fact. Material findings are checked against the underlying document or an independent source.
- 04
Connect
Identify relationships, patterns, timelines, entities, and relevant intersections.
Names, dates, addresses, companies, filings, and digital traces usually mean something only once they sit next to each other.
- 05
Analyze
Separate what is established from what is assumed or still unknown.
We state what the evidence supports, where it stops, and what would be required to go further.
- 06
Document
Present findings clearly with supporting sources and organized evidence.
Findings arrive organized: the conclusion, the support behind it, the open questions, and the records themselves.
Evidence standards
Every finding carries a certainty level.
This is the difference between a report you can rely on and a list of search results.
Confirmed
Supported directly by reliable documentation or evidence.
Corroborated
Supported independently by more than one meaningful source.
Probable
The available information strongly supports the conclusion, but it has not been fully established.
Unverified
Information exists but has not yet been independently confirmed.
Contradicted
Reliable evidence conflicts with the claim or information.
Unknown
There is not currently enough reliable information to reach a conclusion.
What you receive
Findings, organized.
- A written summary of what the research establishes.
- A timeline of relevant events with the records behind them.
- Identified connections between people, entities, and documents.
- A list of inconsistencies and where accounts diverge.
- Open questions and where further research could go.
- The underlying records, indexed and labeled.
Have a question that needs more than a search?
Tell us what you are trying to understand. We can help determine whether investigative research is the right next step.