Investigation

 

Something went wrong or doesn’t work or perhaps should be done. Let us investigate.

What does that mean?

Investigate is to carry out a systematic or formal inquiry to discover and examine the facts of (an incident, allegation, etc.) so as to establish the truth.

People who are official because they wear uniforms and carry badges rope off the area and with flashlights and dogs start looking for clues. Any blade of grass or smudge might solve the question so they are carefully sealed in plastic bags and sent to a laboratory where more professionals in white coats meticulously check every detail for evidence.

Then some other person assigned to this investigation logs in the data of time and place and relevance to the occurrence with charts and graphs and numbers on a spreadsheet.

Not through yet.

All these findings are nicely packed and sent to lawyers. The legal beagles have to try and decipher all the findings and decide if it is worthy of continuing the investigation or just shelf the file and move on.

Wait! There is more.

If investigator #1 gets sick, the investigator #2 has to pick up the search without any previous knowledge. If the numbers don’t match up, a supervisor becomes involved to evaluate and rearrange or discipline or send the file up the chain of command to the next level for further review.

If the situation is news worthy, reporters will start asking questions. They will search for other sources for details on this investigation.

Now if the incident turns into some larger than a missing cat, experts from agencies all over the world will be requested to examine the conclusions and give their synopsis.

Perhaps a committee should be formed for in-depth study of all variables. A commission to assess and redress all the matters from every point of view may need to be formed.

This investigation is good for our economy.

All these people need to be hired. They need to be assigned titles and given identification. They need assistances and equipment like laptops and secure phones and autos to go from place to place. They need room and board somewhere to sleep between meetings. There should also be a budget for meals for these folks.

If all this cost has not been previously set aside (and how could it because this is something new) then funds need to either be reassigned or accumulated from other means.

We (as a species) are always investigating who, what, where, when and why of our existence. Sometimes we think we find the answer. Sometimes the investigation never ends.