Pinkerton (detective agency) a few businessmen saw the need for greater control over their employees; their solution was to sponsor a private detective system. In February 1855, Allan Pinkerton, after consulting with six midwestern railroads, created such an agency in Chicago." In 1871, Congress appropriated $50,000 (about ) to the new Department of Justice (DOJ) to form a sub-organization devoted to "the detection and prosecution of those guilty of violating federal law." The amount was insufficient for the new DOJ to fashion an internal investigating unit, so they contracted out the services to the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. However, since passage of the
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (novel) forthcoming in the series." This novel was released in 1998 in Scotland. This novel and the next two in the series were released at one time in the US, in 2002. An adaptation for the screen "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" was made in 2007, directed by Anthony Minghella (who also co-wrote the screenplay), and scripted by Richard Curtis. A series of six programs for television was made jointly by the BBC, HBO and some other production companies. The first was broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC1 television on Easter Sunday 23 March 2008. The novel was adapted