On the subject of research while writing:
Do you think the NSA plays "writer or legitimate threat" with Internet searches?
This is how I imagine the interaction at the NSA when your writer peeps end up on a list.
"Oh hey, Dan, look at this! We have a ping! Some suspicious searches about ballistics and the effectiveness and weak points of modern body armor. What's your bet? I think we might actually have a threat this time."
"I don't know, Jake, really it all depends on what they searched before that. What's their pattern?"
"It says they searched 'what is the cheesiest cheese?' Before that it was, 'how long can your arm survive with no circulation,' and, 'funny cat memes.'"
"Definitely a writer."
