Rule of 7 in research. You can find out anything if you are willing to go seven levels. If the first source you ask doesn’t know, ask them who you should ask next, and so on down the line. If you are willing to go to the 7th source, you’ll almost always get your answer.
People can be really smart or have skills that are directly applicable, but if they don't really believe in it, then they are not going to really work hard.