Let me outline the scenario to give you some frame of reference. The male MC in my story hopes to locate a girlfriend he had as youth while as a freshman in high school, but she moved away soon after he'd met her and he has lost all contact with her as a result.
Twelve years elapse.
Now the MC is an adult and he contacts a P.I. to see if he can locate the young woman's current address or her phone number. The MC has very little information to give to the P.I. He provides him with her first and last name, her current age, and her physical description, along with her old address. He also provides the name and physical description of the girl's stepmother and the make and model of the car that she owned at the time. He claims his friend and her stepmother moved to the state of Nevada twelve years previously. In other words, the P.I. does not have much information to go on at that point.
I'm guessing a P.I. would have access to various records, files, and computer data bases that are not open to the general public as a rule. The P.I. might say that he could peruse the available databases to see what he can find, but warns that it would likely be a hopeless endeavor due to the limited info that he has available to him. To add to the problem, the MC doesn't have much money to spend on the investigation, but he wants the P.I. to do what he can based upon his limited financial resources. There is the rub.
We'll assume the P.I. takes the MC's financial situation into consideration. I'd like to know what a P.I. might charge to do a precursory and limited search through the various computer databases based upon this situation. In other words, is there a typical price structure or fee that would cover something like this, and if so, what might it be? I realize variables could influence the cost, but I hoped to get a general idea about what might be a typical fee a P.I. would charge to do a minimal database search for information in this case.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Twelve years elapse.
Now the MC is an adult and he contacts a P.I. to see if he can locate the young woman's current address or her phone number. The MC has very little information to give to the P.I. He provides him with her first and last name, her current age, and her physical description, along with her old address. He also provides the name and physical description of the girl's stepmother and the make and model of the car that she owned at the time. He claims his friend and her stepmother moved to the state of Nevada twelve years previously. In other words, the P.I. does not have much information to go on at that point.
I'm guessing a P.I. would have access to various records, files, and computer data bases that are not open to the general public as a rule. The P.I. might say that he could peruse the available databases to see what he can find, but warns that it would likely be a hopeless endeavor due to the limited info that he has available to him. To add to the problem, the MC doesn't have much money to spend on the investigation, but he wants the P.I. to do what he can based upon his limited financial resources. There is the rub.
We'll assume the P.I. takes the MC's financial situation into consideration. I'd like to know what a P.I. might charge to do a precursory and limited search through the various computer databases based upon this situation. In other words, is there a typical price structure or fee that would cover something like this, and if so, what might it be? I realize variables could influence the cost, but I hoped to get a general idea about what might be a typical fee a P.I. would charge to do a minimal database search for information in this case.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Your character could save money likewise. Lots of the same records that a PI would access are also available to the general public for a fee, or even for free. 
