Days in the life of a Private Investigator

"There is a serene tranquillity to be found sitting next to someone’s car while they lay sleeping not 20 feet from where you are. Whether it’s the fact that you are about deliver answers to an aggrieved husband or wife, or simply that the world seems to find a level of peace during the early morning hours that elude it during the day, I don’t know. What I do know is that the shroud of deceit that the owner of this vehicle has hidden under for so long is about to be ripped away..."

Showing posts with label private detective. Show all posts

Happy Valentines Day?

As January gently fades away taking the memories of Christmas with it, we move ever closer to the next most anticipated date in the cheaters calendar - Valentines day. Here, the skills of juggling the balls of deceit are truly tested as cheaters around the world desperately try and formulate a plan that will allow them to spend time with their spouses AND their lovers.

Cash flow needs to be managed to allow the secret withdrawal of funds from the joint bank account and for the truly daring, nights away holed up in a travel lodge somewhere supposedly working on phantom corporate projects need to be arranged. And lets remember that one can't simply announce that they will be away around the 14th if the hammer of suspicion is to be kept away; No, our cheater has to start laying the groundwork for VDAY: Part II months in advance. And even then its not over: Bank statements have to be intercepted as the postman delivers, receipts have to be disposed of, alibis have to be reinforced and god forbid you have to try and remove makeup stains from fresh white shirt collars.

All in all, the whole Valentines day period can be a very stressful one for our cheater so if you see two people with mismatched wedding rings sitting together somewhere romantic on the 14th, remember to congratulate them on their planning prowess....

The problem with affordable surveillance equipment

A top doctor's perverse campaign of voyeurism unravelled when he accidentally filmed himself on one of the James Bond-style hidden cameras he rigged to watch his victims on the toilet. Depraved NHS consultant Dr Lam Hoe Yeoh, 62, spent three years filming more than 1,000 patients, colleagues, friends and even children as young as three in intimate moments with tiny recording devices concealed in watches, pens and hearing aid boxes.

The world-renowned hearing specialist fed his obsession by using cameras hidden in lavatories at NHS and private hospitals across Britain, his offices, the bathrooms at his £750,000 detached home in Banstead, Surrey, and even trains as he travelled to appointments. But Yeoh was caught red-handed when one of the devices fell off a toilet at a Surrey hospital and a colleague found it. Police later seized tape which accidentally recorded him peering into a spycam as he tried to attach it in footage that would eventually seal his conviction.

Today Judge Warwick McKinnon at Croydon Crown Court condemned Yeoh's 'nefarious and despicable actions' as pictures of the high-tech devices he used in his perverted spying were released by police.

Sentencing him to the 'substantial' jail term of eight years in prison, of which he will serve five years before being released on licence, he said: 'The sheer scale, the gravity, the ingrained and compulsive behaviour demonstrated by the offences is significantly important. 'You are considered a high risk to the public.

'(Had you not been caught), I have no doubt that this prolific offending on a hitherto unprecedented scale would have continued.' One of Yeoh 's victims waved sarcastically as the shamed doctor was led from the court to begin the sentence.

Speaking outside court, police said Yeoh was 'one of the most prolific non-contact offenders ever investigated'.

Victims as young as three were discovered on a secret stash of 1,100 images and video files hidden in Yeoh's home in Garratts Lane, Banstead, following his arrest on April 14. The disgraced physician was bent double in the dock as he heard his fate, and there were gasps from the public gallery, which was packed with victims, including nurses and doctors, as the sentence was read out. Police discovered Yeoh had inadvertently filmed himself installing it and searches of his offices and home revealed he had amassed a collection of footage.

Investigators said it would take at least two years to examine the huge hoard of digital material on 17 computers, laptops, external hard-drives and memory sticks.

In a sinister twist, the doctor created compilations of his colleagues using the toilets and carefully labelled them with their names, actions and the date. He also edited together footage of him interviewing patients with intimate shots from the toilet, including in some cases images shot from multiple cameras. One of his closest colleagues was unwittingly filmed more than 300 times. Prosecutor Peter Clement said: 'This was a sophisticated, organised, planned and long-running campaign of voyeurism, the scale of which was vast.

'It was beyond anything previously encountered by the Metropolitan Police. His voyeurism targeted colleagues, friends, patients and patients' children, male and female. His intention was sinister, indecent and criminal.

'He grossly abused the very high degree of trust placed in him as a consultant physician as well as a friend and colleague.'

Yeoh worked as a consultant vestibular physician, specialising in hearing complaints such as tinnitus, vertigo and dizziness, after coming to Britain from Malaysia aged 25. He rose through the ranks to become an honorary senior lecturer, expert High Court witness and director of two companies. His two daughters attend Cambridge University and the family were known to neighbours as respected professionals and devout Christians.

But his career came crashing down when a camera was found in a communal toilet at the privately run St Anthony's Hospital, in Cheam, Surrey, on April 14. When police confronted Yeoh, he said: 'Will I go to jail? I was so stupid, don't tell my family. It's not serious – I can't go to jail.'They found 23 covert cameras, which were disguised as computer memory sticks, pens and watches, including three hidden in hearing aid boxes in his car.

A memory stick he was carrying on a lanyard around his neck when he was arrested carried a short film entitled: 'Cardiff train teenager.'

Computer experts found that Yeoh had used the cameras to film at medical facilities including the private Portland Hospital, in central London, St Helier Hospital and clinics in Exeter, Nottingham, Sutton, and Thames Ditton, Surrey.

Hours of footage was also captured on trains, including a girl, believed to be just three years old. Other victims included friends and colleagues who were invited to his home for social events. Police were able to identify only 32 victims, many of them staff at St Anthony's Hospital. There are at least a further 1,084 unknown victims. Yeoh gave detailed labels to the recordings, which included phrases such as 'sweet young teen' and 'thin young blonde, Exeter'. In mitigation, Yeoh's barrister said he was an obsessive 'collector' who recorded so much material he was unable to view it all.Yeoh admitted seven counts of voyeurism, six charges of making an indecent image of a child and one of possessing extreme pornography.

Yeoh, who spent much of the hearing weeping with his head bowed and his left hand splayed firmly across his face, showed no emotion as he was led into custody. Speaking outside court, Detective Constable Aaron Moon praised the victims for coming forward. He said: 'I would like to thank all the victims for their fortitude, I would also like to thank the many other hard-working and dedicated health professionals across the south east and around the country that have been affected by this case.

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'With images of people filmed in consultations and lavatories, his footage is truly appalling and abhorrent.

'It has had an enormous detrimental impact on everyone we have spoken to who has come into contact with him.

'It seems he has had no regard or respect for anyone he has come into contact with for many years.'

Mr Moon added: 'We believe he (Yeoh) is one of the most prolific non-contact offenders ever investigated by the Metropolitan Police or any other police force in the country.

'But now the lie he has led for many years has been exposed and he has been forced to answer for his actions.' The judge gave Yeoh limited credit for his guilty plea, but said he considered him a danger to the public.

Yeoh was given an eight-year term for six counts of making an indecent image of a child, of which five years would be served before being released on licence.

He was given 17-month jail sentences for five counts of voyeurism, nine-month terms for two further counts of a similar nature, and a nine-month sentence for possessing extreme pornography.

All sentences will be served concurrently, meaning he will spend five years in prison.

He must also sign the Sex Offenders' Register upon release. Yesterday the court heard Yeoh had applied to be struck from the medical register. Outside court, victims said they were 'relieved' the ordeal was over.

In carrying out his well-organised campaign of making opportunistic images of both adults and children, Dr Yeoh abused his position of trust for his own sexual gratification.

Are we born to cheat?

While cheating spouses who get caught are never short of excuses, scientists may have just given them another one after research showed infidelity could be inherited.

Researchers from the University of Queensland found that 63 per cent of unfaithful behaviour in men and 40 per cent in women could be put down to genetic interference.

The team even identified a single gene in women, variations of which could make them more likely to cheat on a partner.

Scientists examined data from 7,300 twins aged 18 to 49, all of whom were in long-term relationships at the time.

Of that sample, 9.8 per cent of men and 6.4 per cent of women had been with two or more sexual partners in the 12 months before the survey.

The team compared data between identical twins, who share all their genetic material, and non-identical twins, whose genetic material differs, it was reported by the Sunday Telegraph.

Genetic modelling was then used to determine how much of the difference was down to genes. Dr Brendan Zietsch, from the university's school of psychology and leader of the study, said: 'Our research clearly shows that people's genetic make-up influences how likely they are to have sex with someone outside their main partnership.

'Isolating specific genes is more difficult because thousands of genes influence any behaviour and the effect of any individual gene is tiny. 'But we did find tentative evidence for a specific gene influencing infidelity in women.'

Finding out too late....

We found this story on the web this morning and wanted to share it with you. It's a pretty graphic account by a lady detailing the day she found her husband in bed with another women...

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Okay, this is very long, but I need to tell someone About this because I have no one to talk to, it could be pretty graphic too (sorry) I just made this account to talk to people, I made other accounts on other websites too

My husband and I have been married for 2 years now, he is 22 and I am 23, we have a 10 month old son

I was at work and he was home with the baby, I came home a little early from work and there as a car sitting outside the house, I thought nothing of it, just that it was a friend. Came inside, heard noises, I went upstairs quietly and just remember thinking "no way. This is not happening. I'm dreaming. This is a sick dream" I pushed the bedroom door open and he was in bed with some woman, she was holding onto his arms, and they were red and sweaty, it was really passionate sex (the kind he never has with me.) and I was standing in complete shock

It was unprotected too and he just looked at me and kept going and said "um hi." Then I ran downstairs and I heard him swear and come after, I was down in the kitchen crying and he came in naked, still aroused, I shouted "how did you do this to me?" And he grabbed me and just held me while I cried. Then SHE came down naked too and looked at me and said

"Your are SUCH a baby!" and I shouted "who are you??" She ignored me and said "he finds you boring in bed." Then she walked out, gets her clothes and gets in the car, I go after and shout "how could you sleep with my husband, she ignored me and drove off.

He told me she was 44 and a divorcee and that she had a son. I can't look at him all I see is her holding onto his arms and I almost vomit my guts up, it's like a gag reflex kicks in.

It's not the first time, he has now told me he slept with her twice at her house while they locked her 6 year old son in the living room so he wouldn't walk in on them!!!

My mother in law asked me if me and him had had sex one morning a few weeks ago I said no and she had a funny look on her face, now I know because she has now said she came over and he was upstairs smelling of sex and the bed was messy, he told her it was me and him, so it was obviously a LIE and she was in OUR marriage bed again.

It breaks me heart even more because he did it all while our son was next door in his cot. And now his friend JUST revealed that when he was away on a business trip, they went out to a club and some model tried to seduce him but he refused, she told him her hotel room incase he wanted to sleep with her. So basically, he WALKED to her hotel room, knocked on her door and slept with her. Then came home and acted lovey dovey to me.

Also, we were playing monopoly with his nephew and I said to him "you're such a cheat." And he looked at me and said "what do you mean" really fast. I just said that he was cheating on the game, then he laughed really hard and said "I am a dirty little cheat aren't I?" A voice inside me head went "hmmmmm" but I just thought "no my husband would never cheat on me ever!"

We have not talked about what has happened in ages, we just go about our life, sometime I cry and he just ignores me one, one night he asked if I wanted "to make love" I said ok, but the moment we started, SHE flashed in my mind and I saw her holding onto his arms while they had really passionate sex, he NEVER has that kind of sex with me, I started crying and he ignored me and just finished off.

Sorry for the long description! Had to let it out, I told my mum what he did, and she and dad is coming over to have a chat with him, I told him this and he looked like he had **** his pants. I know he is scared of my dad, VERY scared of him. He's been acting weird today and hardly talking because he knows he will get it from my dad tonight. Sorry I had to let this out, I have no one to talk to, only him but ever time I look at him I see them I'm bed together, on my side of the bed too!!!

Taken from http://www.netmums.com/coffeehouse/advice-support-40/families-relationships-50/1092376-i-caught-my-husband-cheating-all.html

How does a GPS tracker work?

By far the most effective tactical equipment we use (that is to say a machine rather than a man!) are GPS tracking devices. These clever little black boxes allow our Agents to take a step back during surveillance while still knowing exactly where a target is.

In terms of working an operation, this obviously makes the whole thing safer (as the team don't need to be right on the tail of a target) but also makes things considerably cheaper. Whereas historically a team would have to observe a client 24/7 to get a detailed picture of his or her movements, they can now work 'reactively' using the intelligence supplied by the tracker to decide what is and isn't worth looking at.

So how do these devices work?

Basically put, they use a SIM card (as found in mobile phones) to send GPS data over the phone networks to a central server. We (and our clients) can then access this server via a webpage to see exactly where the device is using a password unique to that target and their case. They are accurate to around 10 feet anywhere on the planet and never sleep, thus never missing a potential lead!

The devices themselves are about the size of your palm and are attached to the target vehicle using two very strong magnets (and no, we haven't ever had one fall off!) They are completely self contained with a battery that can offer up to six months of tracking from a single charge. Attaching them to the car takes just a few seconds and tracking commences immediately.

Logging onto the tracking console (shown below) our clients can sit back and watch the vehicle move around in live time and get an updated location at intervals from 5 seconds to 6 hours. We can highlight potential danger areas (mistresses house?) and the tracker will text us automatically to tell us when the target goes there. We can also put the tracker to sleep or change the settings remotely to make sure that the tracking data we get is as accurate and relevant as is possible.

Basically put, if you are cheating on your partner, these devices are your worst nightmare but if you are one of our clients, they might just give you the answers that have eluded you for so long. Priced from just £250 per week for the 1st week and £125 for each subsequent week after that, finding out the truth was never so easy!

When did this become acceptable?

When did having an affair become a socially acceptable, even promoted activity in our society? Recently, through an operation, we had the misfortune of having to subscribe to a website that gave married people an environment in which to meet others for infidelity. There was no glossing over what people were there for - in fact their website tagline is 'Life is short. Have an affair' and if their figures are to be believed, there are just shy of 30,000,000 people in the world that agree with them.

Looking through the profiles (who are mainly desperate looking men trying to regain some of their lost youth while fighting a receeding hairline and ever increasing waistline, or 40 something pouting women chasing their secondary school skin glow in vain) it is sad to see how many people value their marriages so little. No one attempts to hide the fact that they are married (there is a category on the site for singles to meet singles) and in fact, many refer to their marriages in their profile bio's. They say they still love their partners but the flame has gone.

So what happened to the days when affairs 'just happened', the result of drunken office parties or a chance meeting with an old flame? When did our society decide that it was OK to just wake up one morning, get the kids ready for school, kiss your wife goodbye and then log on to meet some random desperado for a quick tryst in a Tesco's car park?

Surely, none of us are stupid enough to believe that marriages are all sunshine and fireworks, but when did it become OK to just stop trying to regain the love you once had for your partner and instead immediately start looking elsewhere for fun?

If i could, i would tell the members of these websites to grow-up. Once you get married and have children, its not all about you any more (see this post) and there is more at stake than a quick pump to your under inflated ego.

You took a vowel when you said 'I do'.

Either have the guts to leave your family and go it alone (if that's what you really want to do) or toughen up, go home, delete your online cheating profile and focus on making it better with your partner. The other option is that your partner gets suspicious, calls us, we monitor EVERYTHING you do on your PC, phone and tablet and you get busted.

How to pick the right Private Investigator

We have been in this business for many years, and during that time we have seen companies come and companies go. Some leave little or no trace, others make a small impact and then just vanish into the ether when their owners find the work a little too taxing.

During our day to day operations, we come across these companies regularly. They mystery shop us almost weekly to find what we are offering that they aren't (its amazing how many follow our consultation procedures almost word for word!) how much we charge and what we're doing right that they aren't.

Surfing the web, its almost impossible to decide who to avoid and who to talk to based on websites alone (even the most shambolic company can have an impressive web presence) and it also now seems to be the norm for 'middle men' to promote themselves as your local PI, even when they are based hundreds of miles away and simply farm your job out to whoever is available.

One example of this can be seen by doing a simple search for our area. The words Private Investigator Milton Keynes when typed into Google should give you results for, well, private investigators in Milton Keynes right?! Wrong! The first two companies to appear in the list are these dreaded middle men, farming out your jobs to local agencies you haven't heard of and charging you twice as much for the privilege. Try it, click here and have a look

So, how do you know who to call and who to choose? Here's a quick checklist to help:

Does their web address contain which ever city you happen to type in? i.e http://p************r-milton-keynes.co.uk/? Chances are this is a middle man registering domain names country wide to try and corner the market. You will pay well over the odds and wont actually know who is running your operation

Do they answer the phone with their company name?
No? That's because they are answering calls from all over the country from many different websites and cant risk letting you find out. Try asking them who they are when they answer - they wont tell you!

Do they answer the phone at all?
Are they there when they say they are or are they simply running a part time business and working full time during the day

Are they considerably more expensive or cheaper than other companies you have phoned? It is generally accepted that surveillance costs around £45 to £55 per hour, give or take a little either way. If a company are charging something hugely different to this - why?

Do they bad mouth other companies you say you have spoken to?

This is unprofessional in any industry and should give you a good idea of the sort of people you are speaking to

Are they a cash only (or bank transfer) Agency?
A modern professional company should have the facility to accept your payment by debit or credit card, and that payment should go into a corporate bank account. If someone insists you pay by cash or bank transfer, move on.

Do they take time to find out what your problem is?
If you phone up a PI Agency and ask how much and investigation will cost, a good agency wont be able to tell you. That is because a good agency will take time to find out what you need and tailor a solution to you. If they don't take the time to get to know your situation, how can they possibly expect to be able to help you?

Are they friendly, courteous and professional on the phone?
This is really a bit of a no brainer - in which ever industry you are spending money, you should be treated with respect and courtesy. If the call starts out badly and the Agent is rude or short with you on the phone, would you really trust them to look after you? (You might think this is a bit of a given, but we recently spoke to a competitor who almost shouted at one of our clients on the phone when he asked for a quote...Test them out: you can find them on Google in the first 5 companies to appear here!)

How long have they been in business?
This can be a tricky area as all companies were new once. That said, do you really want to be their test case or would you rather work with a company that have already proved themselves?

Are they happy to come and see you?
No? Hmmmmm......

Are you given the name and direct dial number of the lead Agent looking after your case?
How will you know who to contact with vital information while your case is running? If you cant even get a name of someone to speak to, how can they look after you?

Can you find details of their company on the web, other than their website?
A good Private Investigator will have strong links to the community and will have had their work featured in the press over the years. Take a look at Black Cat in the news here and see how many people we have helped!

Of course, the most powerful tool in your box is your instinct. If something seems wrong with an Agency - move on. If you feel you are being sold to or that the person simply sees you as a number - move on.

Or, simply call any of the team at Black Cat Investigations and we can show you how its done!

It's not just you anymore...

Among the hours of dross piped through the TV into our homes each night, every now and then we see something that makes us think. Last night was one of those occasions.

Flicking through the channels, I came across a documentary following the lives of children going through the education system in East London. Much of the show was focused around the inane banter, successes and failures of our next generation, but one child stood out. Struggling in mainstream classes, the child had already been excluded from one school for bad behaviour before arriving at our shows destination.

The crew followed him over the weeks as he swore at and fought with teachers, disrupted lessons and the work of those around him and went from stand-off to stand-off as the school days went on. For long periods, he was absent from school altogether with his mother unable to get him to attend. The head teacher worked tirelessly with the boy himself and his parents to get him back on track - but it was all in vain. Following a week of absence and then a refusal to leave a class when asked by a teacher after yet another incident of bad behaviour, the decision was made to remove him from the school and try and get him enrolled in a local college that specialised in helping children with special needs.

I am pretty sure you have a mental image by now of what this child looked, spoke and acted like. But you would be wrong. This child was well presented, well spoken and generally well liked by his peers and in fact the teachers (when he behaved!). He was passionate about poetry and showed real flair when presenting Shakespeare to his classmates. He was intelligent and able to apply himself yet, frequently, he flew off the handle and completely broke down.

Take a moment to think about what affliction would cause his behaviour. ADHD, Asperger's, depression, bullying....What's your diagnosis?

This child was suffering from Divorce. He talked opening about the separation of his parents on Christmas day and about how his father leaving had affected him. He talked about how his mother cries and sometimes struggles to cope. His older and younger sisters also attended the school and the program showed them comforting each other during breaks. He talked about how angry he gets when he thought about how his parents have ruined their lives after 20 years of marriage. He told the camera crew that sometimes its all he could think about...

Before their breakup, this child was just another normal student.

When you have a family, you make a commitment to them that you will provide them with a stable home-life. That you will show them what a loving relationship is and that you will help them day to day to be the best people they can be. A divorce destroys that.

Of course, there are cases where parents separate and the children sail through the breakup with few problems. Then there are the cases, like this one, where a separation has such a massive effect on a child that they self destruct, get thrown out of their school and end up in a special needs college. That special needs college may not offer the same opportunities that a mainstream school does and a child's very attendance there will taint their future. Employers may see the education history on a CV years later a decline jobs based on it. Universities may (and many do) exclude children who come from special needs schools.

The child who's parent split up when he was just 12, may just feel the ripples of that every day of their lives.

Think about it.

Not without risks!

Whilst we take every care not to get caught doing what we do, sometimes your fate seems to rest in the lap of the gods. Yes, we have a procedure for every type of job, a mental check list if you will, that we use in the field, but every now and then you are dealt a curve ball that leaves you a little breathless to say the least...

The road was busy. This is a major UK city after all and thus nothing ever truly stops. Cars were parked on either side but all seemed locked down for the night, ready to serve their owners a few hours from now during the morning commute to offices, factories and shop across the city. Pedestrian traffic was zero save for a few late night stragglers waiting for buses some 50 yards from me. Darkness would serve as a good cloak from their eyes and thus with a last scan across the residential windows around me, I made my way towards my target vehicle, GPS tracker and mini torch in hand.

Approaching the vehicle, I checked over my shoulder once more and, coast clear, hit the ground and rolled under the rear bumper. Just 2 or 3 seconds passed before the device was attached and 2 or 3 seconds after that, I was back on my feet walking back towards my vehicle.

Job done. About 30 feet from the target vehicle I turned back (old habits - I like to make sure that no-one is running over to the vehicle having seen me do my plant) and I see the indicators blink, the locks activated by a remote keyfob. I step back from the road to take cover of nearby bushes and hold my breath while I watch the target approach his vehicle, convinced he has seen me make the drop and come out to investigate. Instead, he simply walks to the drivers door, climbs in and drives off.

I breathe a sigh of relief and thank my lucky stars that I wasn't held up 20 seconds by traffic lights on my way there, as I am not sure what excuse I would use for a target tripping over my legs while I was under his car....

(Incidentally, you might wonder where the target was going at such a late hour. Lets just say that just taking into account just our part in this operation - which not including travelling time was about 7 seconds - this has now become our shortest case ever...)

Have you got what it takes?

As I'm sure you can imagine, we are frequently approached by people looking to start a career as a private investigator and thus thought I would take a moment to detail what qualities I think the role demands.

By far the most common aspect of our job is watching people. Many people think that surveillance is something that anyone can do, but this couldn't be further from the truth. Leave behind your perception of the traditional private investigator, standing in the shadows with his hat pulled down over his eyes hiding behind a newspaper and instead replace that with a perfectly normal looking person sitting in a car on the side of the road for hours and hours on end.

Surveillance is all about patience - watching the same spot hour after hour for the 20 seconds of action that you need to gather your intel. You can't abandon your position through fear of losing this intel which means the only refreshments you have are those that you bought with you and toilet breaks are non-existent.

Imagine sitting in that same spot for hour after hour only to walk away with nothing (your target often won't perform as you would wish) Only to come back the following day and repeat the same exercise all over again - at what point would you lose your patience?

Most people that contact us don't get interviewed as we can see from their CV for the job just isn't for them, but for those that do, a practical interview awaits them. They will receive a briefing document via email with a fictitious case for them to work. The target will be one of our existing agents and the brief will be simple - follow the agent from point A to point B and record their movements.

Around one in 10 people that attempt this fail for the simple reason that they don't have the patience to do the job. They fail by blowing their cover by getting too close, by losing the target altogether or even in one case following entirely the wrong target for a whole day before contacting us to see if he got the job! (This chap, by the way, wholeheartedly argued that he was in fact brilliant at surveillance. When we bought up the small point that he had actually followed the wrong person for the day, he insisted that this was just a minor detail and argued that the surveillance that he had done had been spot on, wrong person or not!)

Contrary to popular belief, being a good Private investigator isn't all about incredible gadgets, high-speed pursuits through the streets or clandestine meetings at abandoned train stations. It is about being able to remain in the same place for a long period of time yet remaining invisible. It is about blending in to your surroundings and making yourself just another passer-by and it is about being able to pre-empt what a target might do to ensure you don't miss that vital bit of Intel.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to put you off coming into the field but before you do, why not test yourself... Go and park in your nearest Sainsburys car park and covertly note every fourth person to leave the store. Do this for five hours and let us know how you got on.

You never know, if you have a good list you might just end up working with us...

The great moral question...

In all the years that I have been doing what i do, there have been very few occasions when i have questioned the morality of my role. I believe that i provide a service that helps people to open up to their partners and discuss their relationships free of the lies that affairs create. Most people, after the initial shock of discovery, relish the chance to rid themselves of the guilt that has burdened them and seize the opportunity to make right the things they perceived were wrong in their relationships.

However, there is one case (also famous for being the shortest case in our history at just 24 minutes start to finish!) that stands out in my mind as being the closest i have come to questioning whether what i do is right.

The client call came through at around 1130hrs. The job was a simple one; follow his wife during her lunch break to ease his suspicions about her relationship with her boss. He was insistent that his suspicions would be unfounded and laughed at the idea of even proceeding, but still, he had a nagging doubt that he couldn't put aside and thus we took the details and agreed to feedback following the operation.

Leaving the office, we all believed that this would simply be another hour or two of fruitless surveillance whereupon we could put the clients fears to rest, but this wasn't to be the case. Shortly after arriving at the targets workplace, she appeared alone and was observed walking across the car park. She paused by a 4x4 vehicle and was soon joined by a man who had left the office a minute or two after her. They both climbed into the vehicle, her in the passenger seat and set off, soon blending into the lunchtime traffic. After a few minutes of mobile surveillance, the targets pulled into an area of woodland and shut off the engine. We parked 100 yards or so further down the road and doubled back to scope out an observation point from which we could gather photos.

From our position, we could clearly see and document that target and her associate (who was later confirmed to be her boss) had climbed into the rear of the vehicle and were engaged in sexual activity. At this point, we contacted the client to confirm whether or not he wanted us to break cover to get more a detailed image from inside the car - the target and her associate had dropped down below the window line and thus more detailed pictures would mean standing immediately next to the car shooting in and down. He confirmed that yes, he wanted close up faces and actions documented and thus the order was given to break cover.

We moved quickly back to our vehicle and repositioned it immediately adjacent to the target car. The target and her associate obviously spotted us jumping out but were unable to respond fast enough to our cameras at the windows and thus, our job was done. We got into our car and sped off back to the office leaving them in little doubt that they had just been caught red handed.

The preparation of the report and the download of the images took around 30 minutes and after a quick lunch, we were on our way to the client house to present our findings. He was devastated and told us that he would confront and then leave his wife upon her return. As we left, we met a lady coming in with two happy children in tow. As i passed them on the drive, i thought back to the report i had just handed their father, the report that presented their mothers betrayal, the report that heralded the breakdown of their family unit.

At that point, i wondered whether or not we had done the right thing. Would the affair have just fizzled out in time with no harm done, would it have just been a passing phase that left no-one any the wiser?

On the way back to the office, i called the client and told him that he should give himself time to digest the information before confronting his wife. We talked for around 20 minutes and concluded with him agreeing to stay with his father for a day or two to think things through.

As it transpired, after this period of reflection the client agreed to attend counselling sessions with his wife. As a result, they stayed together, worked through their problems and i am told that they are now as strong as ever. The family stayed together.

Most couples dont separate on the mere suspicion of an affair, most need irrefutable proof and irrefutable proof is what we provided during that day in the woods. So the question that i find myself asking is this: Had the couple of split up based on our evidence for an affair that, like most, may have died out in time without anyone ever knowing about it, would we have been partly to blame for the breakdown of that family...?

'Amazing' Phone Tracking Software

Everyday, we receive phone calls from people enquiring about our range of mobile phone forensic services. This is prompted by an advert they have seen on a TV channel or website which promises to track your partner via their mobile phone for as little as £3.50. This in mind, i would like to take this opportunity to sum up these products in a few words:

Pointless, worthless, ironic (see below) and just plain rubbish.

Allow me to explain: There is no legal way that you can get access to your partners mobile phone information. Whether you want copies of texts, transcripts of calls or their current location, this sort of information obtained in anyway other than with the mobile phone holders permission, is a massive breach of both privacy and data protection laws. That is not to say it cant be done, simply that there is no legal way to do it. So how, i hear you ask, can the company who have such prestigious products under their belt as the Crazy Frog ringtone, make this monumentos leap into state of the art mobile forensics? Quite simple really....

This is how it works: In between adverts for ridiculous ringtones costing just £3.50 (then £5 per week thereafter until you decifer the cancellation terms) you see a claim for an amazing mobile phone app that allows you to track your partner (same payment terms as above) via their mobile phone signals alone.

You text them the code from the TV, they text you back asking for the number you want to track (this is the simplified version) you text it to them and hey presto! You start receiving details about the targets location.

Great hey? Only there is a flaw. Remember that none of this is legal from earlier? Unless of course they tell the target that they are doing it....Thats right - At the same time that you receive tracking data, so does the target in the form of a text message telling them that 'telephone number 0785816**** is tracking their phone. Cheating partner catcher PRO - bought to you by Jam****'.

So in short, this software is about as covert as sending your partner a card accusing them of sleeping with your boss. If you want to go down the forensic route, please dont choose a supplier that can also offer you The World Series Pool Championships as a phone game at the same time.....

Irrefutable proof

People come to us from all walks of life - Rich, poor, young and old, from every corner of the country and they all seek the same the thing: Truth. Black Cat Investigations prides itself on having the skills and the technology to be able to offer our clients irrefutable proof of wrong doing in every form.

Occasionally though, even we have to bow our heads in admiration and acknowledge the power of Karma to deliver the goods on someone that epitomises the word ‘cheater’ on every possible level.

With your permission I will save your blushes and offer only an overview of something that happened recently that offers a lesson to everyone tempted to cheat on their partner...

The rush and the thrill of a ‘liaison’ in a public place has the power to stoke the flames of even the weakest fire. A sun dappled park, the enveloping shadows of a nightclub corner, even the alley of an urban residential estate illuminated by the moon. Or, in this case, the toilet of a major London Railway Station.

Risky? Of course. Romantic? not really. Safe? in a cubicle, to an extent...unless of course, midway during the act you happen to hit the redial button on the cellphone in your back pocket and proceed to broadcast the whole event to your wife.

Like i say, sometimes Karma delivers before we even have a chance to leave the office...

I know I shouldnt say this, but.....

The more I see the Private Investigation industry being dissected on television, the more I despair of the way so called industry professionals portray the business. Demonstrating eqiupment that in 1983 would have been outdated, airing viewpoints and industry tips from people who are generally accepted within the circles of professional PI’s to be just about the worst example of our business and tales of women who, once cheated on, decide to set up their own Agency all add to the argument that our industry needs to be regulated, and quickly.

Black Cat Investigations pride ourselves on offering a service that is second to none and make endless investments in both the training of our field staff and the equipment they use. This in mind, to see someone touting what is arguably the worst GPS tracking device on the market (£150 from eBay) as the lastest in investigative technology and broadcasting to the nation that by simply tying her hair in a ponytail she is able to become a different person (?!) infuriates us beyond all belief.

In reality, you can have an office full of cheap tat - glasses with hidden cameras in them, GPS tracking devices that only last three days at the most, watches that record sound (albeit only about an hour of sound) and clocks that monitor rooms - but none of this equates to what we believe to be the foundation of a good Private Investigation Agency: The Team.

(And for the record, our GPS Tracking devices cost us around £2500 and will track a vehicle for about 6 weeks!)

Merry Christmas Mr Jones

One cannot walk the streets of any urban neighbourhood at this time of year without sunglasses to block out the glare emanating from houses wishing to shout their approval of the festive period.

Multitudes of blue, red, green and white lights seem to adorn every house, and the Jones'* tree is so big this year that the fairy adored by all (but yet strangely thrown into a box at the back of the loft for the other 11 months) is now horizontal as the top branch bends at a 90 degree angle to accommodate the stippled artexing of the lounge ceiling.

Through a window a father sits with his sons to watch the latest instalment of James Bond, while mothers and daughters curse that fact that their turkey this year is 26.3% bigger than their Aga. (Worked out on Fathers new calculator)

Suddenly, father jumps up from his chair as his mobile vibrates on the table among the discarded wrapping paper still creating a fire hazard from that morning. Grabbing the device, he moves with practised silence into the downstairs loo, phone in hand to wish his other family a merry Christmas.

You see, this festive picture has two very distinct layers - Layer one is what we have just shared, but layer two is situated 45 miles away in another town. Not dissimilar in make-up, layer two contains a tree, a turkey, a son and a mother and all the festivity one could hope for. The only difference? When layer one contains a father, layer two doesn't, and vice versa.

One man living two lives, and, as they say, never the twain shall meet. Unless of course, the wife from layer one phones us the week previous to this to find out why her husband is away six months of the year and can only share every other Christmas with her and their family.

This case was closed almost a year ago, but as i walk the streets again and see the same familiar lights super-glued to houses i do wonder where Mr Jones* is spending Christmas this year and cant help but ask myself "Will that 8 foot tree fit in a bedsit?"

The Black Cat Investigations Team would like to wish all of our clients, past, present and future, a merry and peaceful Christmas...

*As usual, this is as assumed name!

RIP Claudia

A strong member of a team can be defined by the way they work with others, the way they go beyond the call of duty for a client and the way they push the bounderies to see through a smokescreen to the actual flames shrouded beneath.

Not always the most outspoken, the most noticed nor the most involved, they are never the less a vital link in the chain without whom the entire machine would eventually seize and grind to a halt.

Thus, to lose a member of the team, one who has been with us from the start and one who has immortalised our philosophy of Honesty, Integrity and Quality is a blow that leaves one questioning the higher powers as to why she should be taken from us during the prime of her life.

I speak of Claudia, who at just a few years old was recently lost, falling foul of the heat given by the exhaust of a Jaguar XJ6. A finer GPS tracking device we couldnt have asked for and thus this blog entry is dedicated to her and the bush she now lies in, somewhere off the A1 in London.
RIP CLAUDIA

(And Sophie, Beryl and Crystal - The other bugs we have lost to battery failure, mechanical faults and speed humps respectively!)

Trust

Trust is an important part of any client - supplier relatioship, perhaps more so in our industry than any other due to the sensitive nature of the intelligence we handle.

We pride ourselves on completing our client objectives quickly and effectively, exceeding their expectations and delivering a service that we feel truly represents our ethos of Honesty, Integrity and Quality.

But let's be realistic: we are as human as you and are not immune to delays. It is at this stage that we rely on the trust of our clients: trust in us as Agents and trust in Black Cat as an agency. If this trust begins to slip, one can soon begin to feel isolated as a client and 'left out in the cold' with regard to what we have offered.

Recently, a case came in to the office that was almost entirely intelligence based. What this effectively means is that the huge majority of the work involved was to take place behind a desk rather than in the field behind the lens of a camera.

In cases of this nature, one cannot always rely on the information required by the client coming forth on a specific date as the information we can obtain is from sources outside of our control, who, as do we, have their own deadlines to meet away from the work they do for us.

It is at this time that the groundwork we put in to all of our cases, the total commitment we have to all of our clients and the reputation we have worked hard to build in our industry comes into play. If you can trust us to do what we say we will do, we will always deliver. If you cant, we are not the agency for you.

Sent from my BlackBerry 8800 ® wireless device.

A note from Agent A's wife

When I met my husband, who I think you all know as Agent A I had no idea what he did for a living. To be honest, I thought he was in sales and this guise continued for about nine months into our relationship before I discovered the truth. In a way, I suppose I knew subconciously that he wasn’t being entirely truthfull with me about his life but ironically, there were more occasions where I suspected him of cheating rather than spying!

Because of this, I have no problem with what he currently does with Black Cat Investigations, In a way, I feel prouder of him now than I ever did before as I honestly believe that what the Agency does is incredibly noble. Having been cheated on before in a previous relationship, I know that if I had had the means to employ him or one of the team to find out the truth for me, I would have done. As a prospective ‘cheatee’ (!) the worst part for me was the not knowing. The going to work and not being able to concentrate, the watching of TV shows with my partner that touched on infidelity and both sitting there in silence with an atmosphere like blamanch! If, at the time, someone had offered to take all of that away and replace it with answers I would have jumped at the chance.

What of the late nights and periods away from home? To be honest, it doesn’t make that much difference to the quality of our relationship. Agent A is here more often during the day now than he ever was before and whilst we have no concept of a weekend as he works many of them, we simply have our two day break at some other point midweek (which is great for shopping as everyone else is at work!)

Anyway, the real rewards come after he has worked a night Operation as I can wake him up in the morning and present my pitch to him for those new birkenstocks I simply must have…normally, he is too tired to argue and by the time he realises what I have bought, the receipt has magically vanished….

What can we say?!

Black Cat Investigations deal with facts. We let the evidence we collect speak for itself rather than giving a personal opinion of what we think of a situation. This way, our clients are never misled by what they could misconstrue from us and we can remain distant enough from an Operation so as not to offer what could be a biased result (everyone is innocent until proven guilty remember?!)

That said, sometimes we encounter a situation whereupon our client is being so abused by his or her spouse that it is simply impossible not to take a view on what he or she really ought to do. Changing the names, places and specific details of the case, I would like to share on such Operation with you….

Over two years ago, a client came to us fearing that her husband may be cheating on her. Working over 14 hours per day, the onus was on her to cover the bills for the marital home as her husband claimed he was unable to work and thus, unable to contribute. Coming home each day, she would find that all four beds in their property appeared to have been used although it was just her and her husband residing there. After leaving this anomaly unaswered for over six months, she finally contacted us to shed some light on her suspicions.

The Black Cat team went into the property with her while her husband was out for the day and set up some covert audio visual recording devices in prime locations around the home: Lightswitches, plug sockets, clocks, lampshades even the old television in the master bedroom with the intention of finding out what was happening in her home while she worked.

All of the devices installed worked on a wireless frequency meaning that provided we were within 300 feet of the property, we would be able to monitor actvity from a van we had parked up around the corner. So, the following day, the surveillance begun. Two of us sat in the back of the van out of sight of the property, monitoring all sound and video coming from the installed devices.

It wasn’t long before the first of four visitors that day entered the house, only as we watched the scene unfold before us it became apparent that these people werent visiting him, they were working from the house.

Unbelievably, it transpired as we compiled a dosier of movements over the next three days that the husband was in fact ‘renting’ rooms out to local prostitutes while his wife worked during the day and early evening. They in turn were allowing clients to visit them throughout the day. The husbands payment for this arrangement? Lets just say he was paid ‘in kind’ and not in cash.

So, if we go back to the idea of not taking a view on a situtation, you can see how and why we broke the golden rule on this occasion as every now and then, we come across people who are going so far beyond simple infidelity that it becomes a joy to hand over the evidence to a client and know that she is going to finally kick him into touch.

If only we had left one camera in the house to watch the look on his face as she played the DVD that evening…..

In the words of a cheater....

Black Cat Investigations do not seek to destroy relationships and nor do we consider what we do a contributory facture to the breakdown of such. On the contrary, we believe that if used correctly, our services can help couples to look into what has caused one party to commit infidelity and start to repair the damage that such actions cause, after all, if we can force the truth out on the table people know what they are dealing with and can take steps accordingly.

Being in this business as long as we have, we have come to realise that infidelity isnt the cause of a bad marriage or relationship, but is just another symptom of such and thus, if it is just another symptom, isnt this something that can be treated?

In order to look into this further, we need to look at it from the point of view of someone who has cheated and try to identify what led them to do it in the first place. Tania* came to us after we have captured her husband Tony* on film having an affair with a co-worked. Tania knew that her marriage was at crisis point when she phoned us, though wanted to know why Tony chose to cheat on her rather than trying to talk to her about it so that they could get things back on track. Offering to mediate this discussion, both parties came into the Black Cat offices. This is what Tony had to say:

“Tania and I had been having problems for the last couple of years. When we met in 2001, we were both in great jobs earning good money and could pretty much do whatever we wanted to do. We had two holidays a year, ate out two or three evenings a week and had a great circle of friends around us that we socialised with on a regular basis. In 2005, our first child arrived, and while on the surface things looked great, it was hard as we had to put the holidays on hold and eating out or getting drunk together became a thing of the past.

James* was great, don’t get me wrong. He slept through the night after the first couple of months and compared to some of our friends who also had kids, we were having it reasonbaly easy. But in terms of spending time alone with Tania…zero. There wasn’t a set day that I can put my finger on when things changed, but over time, we became more like brother and sister than husband and wife and everyday could be broken down into a list of chores that needed to be done. Washing, cooking, cleaning, ironing. Me and Tania were effectivley put on the back burners while life continued around us.

I met Angela* for the first time about a year or so after James was born when she came to work at the office. She wasn’t working for me when she first arrived but we immediately hit it off and started to time our visits to the Kitchen so that we could meet for a chat throughout the day.

Early in 2006, we had a work conference in Stratford-upon-avon* which meant that I would be staying away from home for two nights. I felt guilty leaving Tania to look after james on her own but was also really excited about the prospect of spending more time with Angela. Don’t get me wrong, nothing had happened by this point but the connection between us in the office was obvious. Our little kitchen meetings had become a 6 times a day occurance and we fired emails back and forth to each other pretty much all day long, each time getting more and more flirty until it became apparent that she was as interested in me as I had become in her. I packed my nicest clothes (clothes that I hadnt worn for maybe six months or so!) and I guess that by this time, I had already decided that something was going to happen while we were away.

Its worth mentioning that at this point, while I was planning what I was going to do, or at least try and do, I still loved Tania as much as when we first met and I still do. But something was different with Angela: The fire was there, that old spark that Tania and I used to have that had somehow become covered up by nappies and bath time. Anyway, I went on the course and low and behold, something did happen. The affair lasted for a year and a half until the Black Cat agents found us and there isnt now a day that goes by that I don’t regret what happened. After we were caught, I realised that Angela wasn’t something new and exciting at all, but was simply everything that Tania was when we first met. They even look a little alike. She reminded me of Tania in the days before James and before our life became a routine. Don’t get me worng, I am not trying to make excuses for what happened as there are none, I guess I just saw a chance to go back in time for a while and took it.

Getting caught and almost losing everything that I truly love has forced home how good I have got it with my family. Tania is my best friend and this affair has taught me that no matter how hard things get, I have my best friend right here with me that I can talk it over with”

Tony is typical of the people that we meet in our business. A lack of communication between him and his partner, toghether with a dramatic change in lifestyle, led him to seek the excitement he used to have with someone else, so it would appear that the key driving factor in what went wrong in this case was communication.

Tony and Tania apparently never talked about how they felt about their changing lifestyles and the risk here is that if you don’t talk to you partner, someone else will.

So this case illustrates that infidelity is just a symtom and not a cause as Tony and Tania are still together, but what can you do to treat the cause of the problem before these ‘symtpoms’ appear? Tony and Tania suggest the following:

Communicate with each other about how you are feeling. If you feel trapped, tell your partner because chances are they do too and it is always better to be trapped with someone else!
Remember why you got together with your partner in the first place and focus on that during hard times
Accept that all relationships hit bad patches. These might last a week, a month or even a year but you will come through it and if you come through it together, you will be stronger than ever
Make time for each other. If you cant afford to go out like you used to, cook dinner together after the children have gone to bed and eat in the dining room rather than in front of the TV
Decide at the start of the week what you want to watch on TV and only turn it on for those shows. Spend the other times talking or simply sit together reading books
Accept that both of you will find other people attractive, and don’t be afriad to notice people. There will always be people who catch your eye, it is simply how you deal with it that makes the difference
Tell each other one nice thing every day. I.e, you look nice today or I love you
Text each other during the day or send emails just to say hi
If you can, get a friend or relative to babysit once a week or once a month and make this night your special going out night
Look through old photos together of when you first met, it will remind you why you fell in love in the first place!
Laugh about each others flaws!

Tony and Tania are still together and are trying to work things out after his affair, and we would like to thank them both for allowing us the chance to publish their story. It is their wish that other couples can learn from this.