# How would you get Eric Dale?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-get-eric-dale/1033991>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [October 20, 2026, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-get-eric-dale/1033991 "2026-10-20T03:18:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-get-eric-dale/1033991/21 "2026-10-23T01:58:35Z")

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Agree. Better for the chief to stay in the office and coordinate

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**Author:** ![sweeteviljesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@sweeteviljesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweeteviljesus)\
**Post date:** [October 24, 2026, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-get-eric-dale/1033991/22 "2026-10-24T04:00:27Z")

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> [@Andy\_L](#):
>
> Dale is an employee of the company, so they know a lot about him. They know his address, his phone number and the name of his next of kin. They probably know his car’s license plate. If he’s carrying a company phone, they have access to his phone records, so if he called anyone before turning the phone off, they can call that person. If he’s got a company credit card, they know a lot of local places he likes to go to - and maybe the name of a place he was at, just tonight. And the head of security is not going to worry about waking up Dale’s supervisor, who knows who Dale’s work friends are, and maybe Dale’s favorite bar (or the name of Dale’s girlfriend).

His work phone is cut off when he’s laid off and he smashes it on the ground outside of the firm. Paul Bettany’s character thinks he knows where he is after Zachary Quinto’s character suggests that he’s probably drowning his sorrows. When they go there, they don’t find him. While he may have had a company card, that was likely frozen, but even if he does, it seems he’d know better than to use it for unauthorized expenses. Paul Bettany’s character gets lucky and runs into him as he’s returning home at dawn (Carmello pulls up a few minutes later).

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**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\
**Post date:** [October 24, 2026, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-get-eric-dale/1033991/23 "2026-10-24T19:56:22Z")

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> [@sweeteviljesus](#):
>
> His work phone is cut off when he’s laid off and he smashes it on the ground outside of the firm. Paul Bettany’s character thinks he knows where he is after Zachary Quinto’s character suggests that he’s probably drowning his sorrows. When they go there, they don’t find him. While he may have had a company card, that was likely frozen, but even if he does, it seems he’d know better than to use it for unauthorized expenses. Paul Bettany’s character gets lucky and runs into him as he’s returning home at dawn (Carmello pulls up a few minutes later).

I wasn’t thinking so much about current charges on his card, and using the phone directly to find it, but rather to _previous_ phone calls, and _previous_ (authorized) charges, which might reveal who he often calls, and where he often goes. At any rate, seems like the most obvious answer is correct - he went home.

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