Grant Bauer '85 is owner of Bauer Investigations in Albuquerque, N.M. The firm, which specializes in insurance fraud, has offices in 13 states and employs 47 investigators.

Q: So, is being a private investigator as cool as it looks on TV?
A: Definitely not. We don't conduct surveillance in a red Ferrari like Magnum, P.I. We're usually in a cramped van somewhere, waiting around for hours to catch someone on videotape. It can be dangerous - we go to some tough neighborhoods, and I've been shot at — but if we think we're being observed, we're out of there.

Q: How did you break into the field?
A: I was interested in the field in college. I was recruited by a government agency, I can't tell you which one, and later was hired by an agency in Los
Angeles. I moved to New Mexico, where I worked 3,000 hours as an
apprentice before taking the private investigator's licensing exam. Every state requires a certain number of hours before you can apply for a license.

Q: What's your most common type of case?
A: We investigate insurance fraud, so we take on a lot of workers' compensation cases, disability claims, auto accidents and slip-and-fall cases. We conduct surveillance, photograph accident scenes and take statements. About 70 percent of the time we find some degree of fraud.

Q: What are the most important qualities an investigator needs to have?
A: Patience, self-confidence, the ability to read people and the discipline to shut up and listen. Good investigators are self-sufficient and detail-oriented. I look for someone who can gather intelligence, put it in a neat package and communicate it to others.

Q: What's your best P.I. story?
A: I once was in very snowy mountain conditions on a surveillance, and I hadn't found the subject's house. My car overturned and slid into a ditch, and I crawled out and went for help. I went to the first house I found, and, as the owner let me in to use the phone, I realized he was the person I was looking for. I got out of there, but the next day I went back and filmed this supposedly disabled guy building a house. He finally saw me, realized what was up and chased me back to my vehicle. But we got him on tape.