Borrow a wise mind. Complex problems, figured out forensically, for a fee.

For the person with the problem: describe the scenario and a very wise person — someone who has read contracts for forty years, or done time and learned to see through things — digs through the record and tells you what it shows. An opinion, never advice. Always remote. The alternative to a private detective. For the person with the mind: a research club, and street smart jobs under your own name — for seniors with wisdom, for ex-cons, for anyone who has been through it.

Wise Sleuth is for people with time, patience and a nose for a record. Members take research gigs — a company’s filings, a claim in the news, a family history, a property, a court file, a public record — and are paid for the work, under their own name. And the club meets: walks, coffees, library days and evenings to dig together, each with a small price on the door so the people who come mean it.

For senior citizens. You have the time, the patience and the judgment. Research pays by the job, from home or the library, at your own pace, and the club is company.
For people coming out of prison. You can figure things out — that is the whole skill. The kid who kited checks in Catch Me If You Can had a mind worth something, and in the end the FBI used it. Here the work is honest, it is paid, and it goes under your own name, which is how a record of your own gets built. Nobody here is judged on the past; everybody is judged on the work.
Nobody is anonymous. Every sleuth has a name, a telephone and a town on file, and we telephone before the first job. Every guest at an event is registered with a picture.
Nothing is free. A gig has a price; an event costs at least $5. Free costs everyone time and problems. Credit for events, paid by bank transfer, no interest.
Everyone has a profile. Your name, your face, your town, what you can do, the jobs delivered, the events held, and every review as written — 140 characters, from sleuths, the people who hire them, hosts and guests. Your record; your value, seen.

How a gig works. You describe the scenario — what happened, what you already know, what you want found out — and name what you would pay; a sleuth bids; you pick one or none. Pay up front by card; the money is held and goes to the sleuth by bank transfer two days after the work is delivered. Always remote, all digital — the alternative to a private detective. The work is a named person’s opinion, never advice.

How the club works. A verified sleuth puts an event on — what, when, where, how many, and the price. You register once (name, telephone, email, hometown, where you are now, a picture) and ask to come; the host decides who is in. Who is coming is shown on the event.

Where a sleuth starts. The three tell-tales of a company — a name change, a reverse split, warrant paper — are free at Warrant Wire; every filing, read in plain English, at 8K10Q; who to serve and where a company is incorporated at the agents page.