9. Casing Mary
I’ve worked a few bizarre cases, including one involving a stolen horse and almost getting shot by rednecks. But due to legal reasons, not sure if I can mention that one.
There was a workers compensation case I worked last year. I was told to get film of this older lady who had supposedly be on total disability due to a severe ankle injury. Seems cut in dry. But she lived in a motel in the middle of nowhere Pennsylvania. The motel was called “Johnnies” I looked up the place online, and found reviews of it on google. There were really shitty reviews including one that said the place was mostly run by the owner’s son, who was a druggie and would ask people who stayed there if he could buy any prescription drugs they had. That isn’t sketchy at all.
So I show up to this ‘motel’ which looked like it hasn’t been renovated in 40 years. It was a small motel, had about 14 rooms. I have no idea what room the person I’m supposed to find is in. I figure I should talk to someone at the front desk. There is no front desk. The office part of the motel looked boarded up. But next to it was one of the motel rooms, and in the window of the room was an “Open” sign. On the door it was a sign that said “office” and instructions for long term customers of the hotel on where to drop their payment. There was a door bell. I rang it and waited. The guy who opened the door looked exactly like Kenny Powers from Eastbound and Down. He was wearing a Ninja Turtles t-shirt and Hawaiian shorts. He tells me to come in. I walk in and what I walk into is just a room with 1 desk. Nothing else. There was shag carpeting and really dark colored walls and a lava lamp on the desk. I realize that this was the owner’s son, Johnny Jr. I give him some fake story how I’m an insurance adjust looking for this lady, he then replies “Oh Mary? She lives in the room next to me, want me to go get her?” This is a problem because I have absolutely no backstory on what to tell this lady. She was repped by an attorney and likely knew a PI might be looking for her. I tell him, no, I just needed to confirm she lived her and bolted.
Now, park in the parking lot with view of the room Johnny Jr pointed at. A couple hours go by and then some old guy is standing near my car getting stuff out of his car. Johnny Jr walks out and starts talking to him. I realize the older guy is Johnny Sr. They are literally standing right next to my car and I can hear everything they say. What proceeds to happen is they start talking about me, well at least the “insurance adjuster” who visited earlier. Johnny Sr having seen some shit in his day immediately says “that wasn’t an insurance adjust you idiot, that was a PI, insurance adjusters don’t work on Sunday” He tells Johnny Jr to tell Mary to watch out that a PI might be in the parking lot.
My car is tinted. I think I’ll be fine. Except, the parking lot I’m in is shared with a Diner. The owner of the diner comes out and starts talking to Johnny Sr. Apparently, I parked in front of a shed that the cleaning staff for the motel use. Johnny Sr now starts talking to the owner of the diner asking her if my car belonged to any of her employees or any of the people in the diner currently. She says she’ll ask and she leaves. Johnny Sr then goes into on of the motel rooms, where apparently he lives. He constantly stands in the doorway looking at my car. I leave as soon as he looks the other way.
I would come back later in the day and would get film of the lady I was supposed to watch. Was totally faking her injury. Johnny Jr and his girlfriend actually came out a couple times and tried figuring out what cars might be a PI’s car. But because they saw my car earlier that day, they didn’t seem to suspect it as suspicious.
