Business ProfileforHALO Private Investigators

I have paid ************************* ******. I hired him in April of this year. I scheduled a visit with him in September because I had not heard anything from him regarding the investigation so I wanted to see what he had done for the past 5 months. So the meeting lasted 3 hours and he had done absolutely nothing. He knew nothing I was talking about when I would ask him about it . Anyways long story short my mom was there so she can tell you all about it . I also recorded it so I have proof. Honestly I want to say that I brought something up that he was excited about and so I did left the meeting excited that I might have shared something that he could work with. But I had time to think on it and I realized that he really has done nothing and so the reviews about him were true. He takes peoples money who are desperate for help and takes advantage of them . He had done nothing in 5 months! I paid him ******! I told him the next day that I was talking to the lawyer on what we should do next and I wanted to put him on pause. I sent him ***** for travel money to ****** also and he never went! I have asked him to please give me my money back. I even told him to keep ***** for the paperwork he sent to my lawyer which I think is more than fair. I dont know what to do here. He wont answer me and I dont want to go to court . He is suppose to give me the unearned money back! I just want back $ *****. Thats all Im asking. Like I said I think thats fair. I didnt know this when I hired him but apparently hes done this to a lot of people You can find a lot of bad reviews on him doing this to people. So something needs to be done. Please help me. What do I do?