Private Investigators reveal the weirdest cases they've dealt with

You'd think being a private investigator would be a pretty cool gig; following people, going into dangerous places and taking saucy photos of a clients wife who was suspected of cheating. The truth is, it's pretty dull and mainly involves a lot of sitting around, drinking coffee and waiting. A recent Reddit AMA recently asks what was the most bizarre case a PI has ever been assigned, and the thread didn't disappoint.

Someone wanted to know what their cat was up to when they were working. Paid me to tail it. I don't like wasting my time but the works not always busy as a PI. Turns out the cat just walks around the streets, licks itself and climbs trees....

Was hired to follow a woman who claimed she was completely blind (collecting insurance money of course). Spent the day following her around as she DROVE from store to store in a church van.

A couple was divorcing and the wife was sure her husband was sticking random items of hers up his ass.He was.

Worked as a PI for about a year once when I was much younger. This wasn't a case I took, which will be obvious by the end why I didn't.One day a lady comes in to the office asking all the usual questions. "Are you REALLY a PI?" "What cases do you take?" "How much do you charge?" Yada Yada Yada, I spend 10 minutes going through all that. This lady seem pretty wound up, which is not unusual, people don't come in looking for a PI when everything is great.I ask her to tell me what brought her in today and be as detailed as possible. She tells me that someone stole her ideas and now she's being followed. I'm thinking, great, potential intellectual property case. I ask her to start from the beginning, what were these ideas? She starts telling me about here last gynecological exam. I immediately stop her and ask her what this has to do with her ideas being stolen. She flips out.She begins screaming about how the doctor implanted a listening device inside her and that's how they are stealing her ideas. I do my best not to react. She screams, "You don't believe me either! But I have proof!" She runs out of the office and comes back a minute later with a large envelope. She pulls out x-rays of her pelvic region and shoves them in my face. "See! Right there, that white spot on my ovary, that's the listening device!" I agree that there is a small white dot, but tell her I'm not a doctor or an expert in listening devices and can't confirm that it is one. In reality, it didn't look like anything to me, I know it wasn't an electronic device of any kind, let alone one that can capture you ideas and transmit them to vans that were following you around now.She goes on to tell me how the doctor was in on it and they were stealing her ideas and making them into TV shows for Telemundo. This is the part where I tell you this middle aged, blonde haired, blue eyed lady didn't speak a word of spanish.I ask her about the vans that were following her. They were different colours and often different drivers. But they were definitely following her around and that's how they were collecting her ideas. I'm looking for a polite way to tell this lady I won't be taking her case. I finally catch a break. I tell her the retainer amount I would need to get started. She responds, "Well I don't have that kind of money. When we win in court you can have half the settlement."I tell her if she were to find a lawyer willing to take up her case, I could work for that lawyer as their PI.She calms down and says thanks for hearing her out. I say no problem. I ask her if there was a family member she could call or a doctor she did trust that she could see. She tells me she's not crazy and storms out. I felt horrible for her, she was obviously living in terror and needed professional help. This was the first time I encountered the seriously mentally ill.