“I need you to follow my husband and tell me what he’s doing” said the lady on the phone.
“Ok” said Kit. “Do you suspect he’s cheating on you?”
“I just want you to keep an eye on him, and let me know regularly what he’s doing. And most importantly, tell me straight away if he starts to head home early from work.”
This wasn’t a strange request. Many people had contacted Kit asking him to follow their spouse. Some are absolutely certain they’re cheating, some only have the slightest suspicion that they want checked out. Either way, they all want some sort of peace of mind.
All Kit Bradley stories are adapted from real P.I. cases, to show you the many ways a private investigator can help. Some details have been changed to protect privacy.
Kit started his surveillance and agreed to text the client every half hour. This was a bit of a strange request, most clients just want to know when something suspicious happens. Not a running update every half hour. She was very light on detail too.
The husband got into his late model BMW and drove to his office nearby. An easy tail for Kit, who managed to park nearby, hidden by some trees and with a clear view straight through to the man’s corner office.
Kit settled into potentially a long and boring day of watching. But he could never switch off. Surveillance is often a few hours of absolutely nothing, and then 30 seconds of action. Miss that action, and you’ve missed the entire case.
Coffees, meetings, lots of phone calls. The man was clearly dedicated to his job. Kit wondered where the wife’s suspicions lay. But she hadn’t given Kit much to go on.
He almost felt bad for the client. She was spending a lot of money and so far there was not much to be seen. On the flip side, maybe there wasn’t any unfaithfulness on his part.
Lunchtime came round. Kit dug into his supply of sandwiches and healthy muesli bars. People think stakeouts are all coffee and pastries. Those are some of the worst things you can have. Kit preferred water and sandwiches.
His regular texts to the client were almost embarrassingly short. ‘At desk for last half hour, no visitors’, or ‘phone call for 15min then walk to kitchen for coffee, talked to male colleague for 7min’.
At 3pm the client rang Kit. “Thanks for the updates. That’s all I’ll need, come by the house and I’ll write you a cheque straight away.”
Kit was relieved, it hadn’t been the most exciting of days. And he wanted to question the client further, to see if he could help narrow down her suspicions.
As Kit pulled into her driveway a young, athletic male was just walking out the front door. Kit’s client was right behind him, and he turned and gave her a quick parting kiss.
And then it dawned on Kit. Instead of the client wanting to see if her husband was having an affair, she was using Kit to make sure hers wasn’t discovered.
Kit said nothing as she strolled over and handed him a cheque. Before he drove away, he made a note in his contact list against her name saying ‘DO NOT TAKE FURTHER CASES’.
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