Related Clues:

• Hammett's Spade, e.g.
• Short investigator?
• Sleuth, briefly
• Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone, e.g.
• Common pulp protagonist
• He works on a case-by-case basis
• Private investigator, in slang
• PI
• American eye has failed to sum up
• Private Eye mock the Guardian?
• P.I
• Gumshoe or shamus
• Noir hero
• Sam Spade, e.g., for short
• Caper film narrator, often