Private Investigators And Agencies:
Chandu The Magician (CHANDLER, Frank):
Chandu The Magician Name: Frank CHANDLER. DOB: August 1985 (exact date unknown). Death: 21 September 1993. Cause Of Death: Respiratory Failure (ruled natural). Gender: Male. Occupation: Private Investigator/Stage Magician. US Army Intelligence. Employer: Self-employed. US DOD/US Army. Rank: Col. (Reserves). Children: Carl Michelle Dianna Isabel James Chandu, Circa 1940. Nationality: American and Egyptian (by marriage).   Frank CHANDLER, better known under his professional name Chandu the Magician, was an American private investigator specializing in supernatural matters. Frank studied eastern magic with the Yogis in India for years and claimed to have the power to teleport, astral project, mesmerize, as well as project illusions which he used to fight criminals. His life mission appears to have been "go forth with his youth and strength to conquer the evil that threatens mankind." His sister Dorothy REGENT assisted him in these effort. His mission culminated in his personal war with Baron ROXOR who had kidnapped Frank's brother in law Robert REGENT, an inventor who had been developing a and energy beam which in theory would reach halfway round the world and Dorthy and their children. ROXOR intended to use the ray to aid his plans for world domination. His dubious claims of psychic power notwithstanding, he succeeded in rescuing everyone and controlling ROXOR long enough to destroy both the weapon and detain the Baron long enough to transfer him to civil authorities. ROXOR'S base of operations (a warehouse in Cairo) was destroyed in the process.   Frank spent most of his life as a professional stage magician, though it was acknowledged that some of his magical acts could not be explained by mere stage magic. He married an Egyptian woman named Nadji who worked under the stage name of Princess of Naji as his "Lovely Apprentice" and the rather odd backstory that he had rescued her from by the Cult of Ubasti who had intended to be sacrifice her to resurrect their goddess Ossana, a story attested to several times under oath by both Dorothy and Robert. During WWII he joined the US Army with a direct commission to Captain "On Merits" and serving in the intelligence corps, primarily in Egypt and Italy. Unlike some in his field, Frank was no rear area analyst; He spent most of Operation Avalanche (the main joint allied landings in Italy) not more than 2 miles from the front lines, and under direct Italian and German fire on several occasions. During this time he was awarded the Silver Star once and Purple Heart three times, and was evacuated from the front lines with a head injury determined to probably have been caused by a German sniper. He resigned from active duty Army in 1948 with the rank of Colonel and continued to work as an advisor to the CIA for about a decade after that; He was recalled briefly to duty in the 1960's for intelligence work in Viet Nam.   Chandu's most promising apprentice was Naji CHANDLER, and her most promising apprentice was Dr. Stephen STRANGE.   He was known to have been a personal acquaintance of the NORTHS and professional acquaintance of Johnny DOLLAR before the war, and Richard DIAMOND during and afterwards. Curiously, while his personal acquaintanceships with the NORTHS and DOLLAR continued well after the war he never addressed DIAMOND as a personal acquaintance, nor did he ever address the NORTHS as professional acquaintances.
DIAMOND, Richard (Private Detective):
Richard DIAMOND Name: DIAMOND, Richard. DOB: 13 December 1913. Death: Unknown, but after 1983. Cause Of Death: Unknown. Gender: Male. Occupation: Private Investigator. Richard DIAMOND Nationality: American.   Richard "Rich" DIAMOND was highly active for several decades. Described as "babyfaced," Richard's mild manners and equally mild voice hid a private investigator just as tough as an else; Richard's prior employment as an OSS member at a time when spies when caught were routinely tortured made him tougher than average. Richard had also been a police officer for a period before getting his private investigator's license. He was known to have a radio telephone (a kind of proto cellphone) in his car.   Richard had a lifelong girlfriend named Helen ASHER whom he never married and was described by most of the people who knew him as having something of a sense of humor and a deeply sarcastic side. His professional reputation was considered top-notch, and not a single complaint was ever filed against him for professional misconduct, even though some of his clients were not necessarily the victim of anything other than their own actions (and some were later proven criminals in their own right).   He was known to have been a professional acquaintance of Frank "Chandu The Magician" CHANDLER but never referred to him a s a friend; Family members in recollections would say that Chandu unnerved Richard. Though they had served in the same Division during the war they didn't serve in the same company. He was an occasional professional colleague and competitor of Sam SPADE and The Green Hornet and "close personal acquaintance" of Pam and Jerry NORTH.   Regrettably much of Richard's professional history is unknown; He made it a practice to record clients names and contact information, but not to keep any kind of records of his investigations or other activities on their behalf once an investigation was complete. Further, his OSS records are still classified as Top Secret, and many of them were destroyed during the rise of the Internationalists and many more during Kara Qalliph Diel'are Kah Yar. It is rumored that there are backup files, and if found could prove useful to would-be blackmailers, leading to scavenger hunts world wide looking for the so called Diamond Papers.
Dollar Private Investigations Agency:
Johnny DOLLAR/ Dollar Private Investigations: Name: DOLLAR, Johnny. Employees/Successors: DOB: 14 November 1904. Dick POWELL: 1948. Death: Unknown, but after 1983. Charles RUSSELL: 1949 to 1950. Cause Of Death: Unknown. Edmond O'BRIEN: 1950 to 1952. Gender: Male. John LUND: 1952 to 1954. Occupation: Private Investigator. Gerald MOHR: 1955. Employers: US Marine Corps. Bob BAILEY: 1955 to 1960. NY Police Department. Bob READICK: 1960 to 1961. The Hartford Insurance Group, Et Alia. Mandel KRAMER: 1961 to 1962. Johnathan DOLLAR. Date unknown, but suspected to be during his time as a Marine. Children Jack DOLLAR, son. Jane HATWICK, daughter.   Johnathan "Johnny Dollar" DOLLAR founded Dollar in 1932 specializing in insurance investigations. Previously, DOLLAR had been a US Marine for 4 years and a cop for 10 more, but was offered a position at The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. (aka "The Hartford") to investigate their claims. His success in clearly cases (not always in favor of his employer, but often enough) eventually led to him forming his own corporation, Dollar Investigations. Multiple extremely high-profile cases brough him to prominence; The most famous of these was the Midas Mine collapse, which had resulted in the death of two brothers each insured at $3 million for an accidental death. DOLLARS' investigation revealed it was murder, nullifying the claim entirely (Hartford eventually paid out about $65,000 to settle all claims, in addition of taking custody of a massive ranch in Nevada which they later sold for a few million dollars).   Johnny was also known for keeping a very careful expense account- Often with entries of questionable interest to his clients. Most ignored these, as he typically made such "expenses" only after finding sufficient evidence to dismiss the claim (or at least the majority of it). His investigations in fact overwhelmingly returned a few dollars on whatever investment they'd made in him, and brought more than a dozen serious criminals to justice (including over a dozen murderers). Several of these resulted in various rewards, which Johnny invested (below).   However, Johnny also had invested early earnings into various companies that he'd patronize for business, meaning every dollar he spent on expenses later came back to him as pennies in dividends- Dividends he re-invested heavily, so that by 10 years into his new career he could theoretically retire. The investments were owned by DDAI, and as a result even when his son Jack took over the company in the 1970 Jack was unaware that he was taking over these assets. The investments remain in the company's control, but Johhny set up the company's ownership to give a large share of the dividends to his decedents in perpetuity. As originally set up, all dividends were re-invested, and as he had children over the years he set up their investment funds, with a portion of his shares going into their funds. As such, by the time Johnny died his fund was producing of a million dollars ever year in dividends, and he children's were as well. He instilled this ethic into his children, who in turn instilled it into their children, and as such the DOLLAR family is very wealthy- A investment Johnny's former employers could not have foreseen.   Dollar Private Investigations continues to operate significantly under family control, though the family has long since ceased direct operational involvement- Other than being shareholders in the company, no DOLLAR decedent has worked for the company since Jack stepped down as the president.
SPADE, Samuel "Sam":
Samuel "Sam" SPADE. Name: Sam SPADE. DOB: 25 December 1899. Death: 14 January 1957. Cause Of Death: Esophageal Cancer. Gender: Male. Occupation: US Navy. Private Investigator. Militry Service: US Navy WWI. US Coast Guard WWII. Rank: Boatswains Mate Second Class. Nationality: American And Canadian. Children: Steven SPADE, son.   Sam enlisted in the United States Navy in the spring of 1918 during World War I and was recorded as a model sailor who spent most of his sea time after the armistice ferrying troops back from Europe. During this time he was permanently scarred when a prisoner of war attempted to escape. Sam left the service on 18 June 1920 at the rank of Petty Officer 2nd Class. During World War II he attempted to re-enlist in the Navy but was rejected due to age and volunteered for the Coast Guard Temporary Reserve in 1944, patrolling the California coastline in his personal yacht. In the course of this, he rigged the yacht up to destroy the German commerce raider KONIGIN LUISE as she attempted to sneak into San Francisco Bay. He was not offered reimbursement for this action, but received the Navy Cross and, with the assistance of some Los Angeles and San Francisco residents, had a new custom built 60-foot sloop within a month which he named the Bold Venture. He never put to sea again in any official capacity, stating "One charity boat is enough" though his widow and ex-wives would state after his passing that he had nightmares "every night, or at least nearly every" about the sinking of the first boat. It is believed however by most experts these nightmares were related to WWI, where his ship came under intense shore based fire for nearly an hour and had been unable to train her guns high enough to effectively counter fire. Though the ship survived, she did so with significant damage and loss of life.   In civilian life Sam was a hard-boiled private detective, an erudite solver of riddles but also a cynical and shifty man. A man hardened already in WWI and thus more than capable of taking care of himself in any situation, he was a determined investigator with a keen eye for detail and a reputation for achieving his own sense of justice. His professional demeanor, fighting ability, and ability to manipulate people whether they were criminals, innocent by-standers, or his clients. As was often the case with such men, he had his own unorthodox but absolutely inviolable code of ethics, which included hunting his partner's murderer unrelentingly but also sleeping with his partner's wife and their secretary. Some would later describe it as a willingness to do anything to bad people (which the late partner qualified as, being a general philanderer) to get one over on them, and subscribing generally to a "Do unto other's as they have done unto you" philosophy.   Sam was often described as "a blonde Satan with nostrils curved back to make another, smaller, v. His yellow-grey eyes were horizontal. The v motif was picked up again by thickish brows rising outward from twin creases above a hooked nose, and his pale brown hair grew down from high flat temples in a point on his forehead," demonic features that intimidated all but the toughest people he dealt with during his career.   One of his watershed cases was the escape of Czechoslovak resistance leader Victor LASLO and his wife Ilsa LUND. This case was complicated by the fact that Sam had to assist Victor, but could not tell him why nor how until Victor and Ilsa were on a plane bound for the United States (which was at this point a neutral party to the war), blurring the line between rescue and kidnapping.   Although he died before she was born, Sam would be the namesake of another private investigator, Samatha SPADE. He was known as an occasional professional colleague and competitor of Richard DIAMOND, and personal acquaintance of Jerry NORTH. It is unknown if he ever met Pam NORTH.   Sam had several naval tattoos, including a star on his right arm.
SPADE, Samantha "Sam":
Samantha "Sam" SPADE: Name: Samantha "Sam" SPADE. DOB: 19 June 1992. Death: 29 July 2091. Cause Of Death: Heart Failure (ruled natural causes). Gender: Female. Occupation: GIS Agent/Private Investigator. Nationality: International/Austrailian. Samatha "Sam" SPADE Children: Finn SPADE (son).   Samantha "Sam" SPADE was a Special Agent in the New York City office of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) as a liaison with the American FBI; With the rise of the UEG she transitioned to the UEG's Central Investigations, and later to the UWA's Investigations Bureau. She excelled in the Missing Persons division. Sam grew up in a poor, troubled home in the town of Kenosha, Wisconsin, When Samantha was fourteen, she killed her mother Patricia's then-boyfriend with a shovel because she caught him sexually abusing her sister that resulted in a child Randy. They buried him in the woods next to the cabin. As a result was particularly empathetic to kids in troubled situations, and survived a short-lived marriage at eighteen. Later she had a son, Finn.   At IB, Sam was part of the team that tracked down Dana STERLING; Her contribution was never specifically mentioned but her name was particularly mentioned during the press releases related to Dana's apprehension.   After leaving IB Sam went into business for herself as a private investigators. She was mostly known for her work at ASIO and IB (most of which is public information with some victim and national security redactions) and for the MORIARTY-WATSON Affair (an attempt to start a world war involving the assassination of Henry GROPINGER).   Sam often told the story that got her name because her mother was a fan of her great-great grandfather Samuel SPADE and had wanted a son. She was disciplined at IB for tattoos on her arms that she had from her days at ASIO, despite attempts to appeal, eventually leading to laws specifically prohibiting such action in cases involving pre-existing conditions.   Sam eventually inherited her great-great grandfather's yacht the Bold Venture and relocated from New York to Homestead Florida; In her resume as a private investigator Sam has recovered treasures (most notably the lost treasure of Seirra Madre), fought pirates and corsairs, rescued endangered people and encountered "smugglers, killers, and ... other shady characters." Though it could never be proven, it is generally believed she also engaged in gun running to Mexico and parts of South America in support of various factions fighting the Invid and more so their puppet regimes and people fleeing those regimes.
NORTH, Pam And Jerry:
Pamela "Pam" And Gerald "Jerry" NORTH Name: Pamala "Pam" NORTH. Gerald "Jerry" NORTH. DOB: December 1915. January 1907. Death: 14 July 1993. Cause Of Death: Plane Crash. Gender: Female. Male. Occupation: Homemaker/Secretary. Publisher. Amateur detectives. Employers: The Daily Sentinel. Local Law Enforcement; Personal Contacts. Home: Greenwhich Village, NYC. : Nationality: American. Pam And Jerry NORTH Sometime In The 1930's Children: Adam NORTH Sarah MacBEE Rebecca PATTON Aaron NORTH   Gerald "Jerry" NORTH and Pamala "Pam" NORTH were an American couple married roughly 1930 or 1932. Jerry was a publisher, Pam worked part time as his secretary and as a home maker (Jerry would make a point of it to remind anyone who insinuated anything that he hired her over a year after their marriage). Despite their full time occupations Pam and Jerry were often drafted as amateur detectives. By the admission of both Pam was generally the brains of the team and typically solved the cases with her husband's help. At a time when the industry typically attracted confirmed bachelors Pam and Jerry's involvement presented a stark contrast.   Jerry's close contact with law enforcement as a publisher resulted in their involvement in investigations; Additionally, certain parties contacted the couple on several occasions seeking assistance. Though the details are obscured, a few cases had national security implications.   Pam and Jerry's first major case began when the couple found a body in their topside head shower bludgeoned, stripped naked, and left to rot while preparing for a party. The apartment had been empty as long as they could remember. With this they found themselves in the middle of the investigation with their begrudging intermittent partner, NYPD Detective Lt. Bill WEIGAND that eventually had national security implications.   Death   Pam and Jerry died in 1993 when the Cessna 206 they were travelling in crashed in the Florida Everglades; When investigators realized who the passengers were they launched a deep investigation, the object of which was to find evidence of intentional acts but no such evidence was found despite conspiracy theories to the contrary.   Pam and Jerry's investigations occasionally drew them into national security matters; With WWII looming, several of their cases had implications of spying. The only case that is generally known is that in one case a spy ended up dead, and Pam and Jerry ended up involved in finding the killer (who turned out to a be a con man who thought the spy was just a common mark).   Due to their investigations from the 1930's through the 1960's, family and friends insisted the plane was intentionally crashed. Despite such protestations, the cause of the crash was determined to be engine failure caused by an oil line failure, which the family insists to the current day as Jerry took immaculate condition of the plane, and Pam looked over his shoulder every moment. Their children Arron and Sarah were particularly driven in this matter; though it risked forfeiture of their life insurance, Arron and Sarah pushed law enforcement to rule the case a homicide.
STRANGE, Stephen (Dr):
Dr. Stephen STRANGE. Name: Stepehn STRANGE. DOB: 19 July 1976. Death: 31 August 2094. Cause Of Death: Respiratory failure (ruled natural causes). Gender: Male. Occupation: Neurosurgeon. Sorcerer. Vigilante. Private Paranormal Investigator. Employers: Several major hospitals, notably Quartermaine Memorial Hospital in Port Charles, NY. Avengers. Home: NYC. Nationality: British/American. Children: Reportedly 3, widely believed to have been more. Dr. STRANGE In Battle.   Dr. Stephen STRANGE was a wealthy, acclaimed, and arrogant neurosurgeon, until he severely injured his hands in a car crash while en route to a speaking conference leaving him permanently unable to operate. He pursued experimental surgeries to heal his hands, but these mostly made them worse. In the midst of severe depression he learned about Jonathan PANGBORN, a paraplegic who mysteriously regained use of his legs who directs him to the city of Kamar-Taj where he was taken in by Mordo, a sorcerer under the Ancient One, aka Naji CHANDLER. The Ancient One demonstrated her power to Stephen, revealing the astral plane to him. She agreed to train him despite his arrogance and ambition. Under her training Stepen became an accomplished sorcerer and adopted their collective sworn duty to protect the "Sanctums" (spiritual hubs of unknown type). Stephen progressed quickly, and secretly read certain books, eventually learning to bend time with the Eye of Agamotto. Mordo and Wong warned Stephen against breaking the laws of nature, drawing a comparison to another sorcerer's desire for eternal life.   Somewhere during this time, New York was attacked by zealots, killing the guardian of the Sanctum there but Stephen held them off with the help of the Cloak of Levitation; During this battle he was severely injured and The Ancient One was mortally injured. Before dying, she ordered Stephen and Mordo to work together to defeat a traitor, balancing Mordo's steadfast nature against Stephen's willingness to bend rules. Exactly what happened next is unknown, but they claim they forced the attackers to withdraw. For reasons related to this victory Mordo renounced his sorcerer career and departs, but not before confronting PANGBORN and stole his energy, telling him that Earth has "too many sorcerers."   During the First Invid Occupation Stephen actively assisted the various freedom fighters, though nobody would claim he fought the Invid directly. During the Second Invid Occupation he sat completely on the sidelines claiming "mystic knowledge" that the Invid crisis would be resolved in everyone's best interests without elaborating. Despite this, he would treat injuries suffered by freedom fighters, including reportedly Thomas MCCANN; If the rumor is true, he never told anyone anything he knew.   After the occupation he intermittently accepted contract work with the REF in various capacities.   "He was one hundred and twenty years old?!   "One hundred and eighteen..."   "Holy god Damn. A human? Really?"   "Well, he had some advantages..."