private detective

After the alleged extortion started, Huang said, he hired an attorney and a private detective and began surreptitiously recording conversations with the defendants.

Police accused people on TikTok of "playing private detectives" in the area, and said they had been "inundated with false information, accusations and rumours" relating to the case.

Police had accused people on TikTok of "playing private detectives" in the area amid her disappearance, and said they had been "inundated with false information, accusations and rumours" relating to the case.

He even hired a private detective, though he was disappointed with the man’s effort.

Both articles were produced during a period when the newspaper has acknowledged paying the private detective explicitly to obtain material surreptitiously.