In this month’s Vanity Fair,contributing editor Mark Bowden re-unites with Ken Brennan—the private detective whose intrepid work Bowden first profiled in “The Case of the Vanishing Blonde”—to chronicle the cracking of yet another unsolvable case. VF Daily caught up with Brennan to discuss his tricks of the trade, his taste for detective fiction, and his thoughts on wearing a fedora.

VF Daily: As a child, did you want to be a detective?

*Ken Brennan:*I always wanted to be a police officer. I credit my mother with my interest in being a detective. Back then, she was into True Detective magazine and the original National Enquirer—a precursor to today’s tabloids with much more emphasis on violent crimes, including full-on graphic crime-scene photos—and she’d also watch whatever detective shows were popular, like Dragnet. I remember hanging out with her watching these shows and checking out the magazine stories and became very interested in being a detective because of that.

How long were you a D.E.A. agent?

I was with D.E.A. for eight years as a lead agent in a narcotics task force for Broward and then Palm Beach counties. The best way to continue using my skill sets that I’d developed during my career in law enforcement was to be able to apply them in the private sector—kind of a no-brainer.

What is the biggest difference between being a public officer and being a private detective?

The most obvious difference has to do with the law, as it applies differently to members of law enforcement than to private individuals. The scope of what a private detective can do is much narrower, as it should be to protect not only every citizen’s rights but to protect the criminal justice system necessary to prosecute the bad guys. That’s why I work closely with the relevant law enforcement that has jurisdiction of a case during an investigation.

The other side of the coin is that as a private detective, I’m able to devote my efforts to a specific case—a luxury not generally afforded to (police homicide) detectives.

Do you read crime novels?

With my caseload, I barely have enough time to review all the info relevant to the ongoing unsolved murders or disappearances I’m working on, so reading for pleasure doesn’t happen very often, but when it does, I think Ann Rule and John Douglas get it right. I’ll also make time for any golf-related material when I can!

Do you have a favorite fictional private eye?

Probably Sherlock Holmes—especially the old series with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. Again because of my mom, since that’s what she watched when I was a kid.

Have you ever considered wearing a Sam Spade–esque fedora?

While it’s often been said that I’m a throwback to the old-school kind of detective (Spade, Marlowe, etc.), I’ve never thought about dressing the part.

How do law-enforcement types usually treat private investigators? Is there ever any antagonism?

Florida has strict licensing requirements for private investigators, but unfortunately the laws governing and regulating private investigators aren’t uniform and vary from state to state. In some states, there is no testing or licensing required for P.I.’s, so I can understand why there is sometimes disdain and resistance within law enforcement when a family hires one. Generally speaking, when I’m retained and contact the assigned lead detective on a case, any preconceived issues are quickly resolved once I share my law-enforcement background; belonging to the same brotherhood has its advantages across the board, from knowing the correct protocol and procedural directives uniform to any branch of law enforcement, among other things.