A few months ago, Blaze author and private investigator Colleen Collins stopped by to give us a great workshop on lying. I asked her to come back and bestow a bit more of her vast knowledge. Colleen teaches a class on writing about private investigators, and today, she’s giving us another glimpse into her fascinating world!
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Your Cheatin’ Heart: Infidelity Investigations
“Never sleep with anyone whose troubles are worse than your own.” Lew Archer in Black Money by Ross Macdonald
This is the kind of work most people think PIs do. For some, it is. One PI says 85% of his clientele are people wanting to know if their spouse is cheating. At my investigations agency, maybe 15% of our business involves cheating spouses or domestic relations. We attribute this to how we’ve marketed ourselves (our work emphasis is legal investigations, meaning we work primarily with attorneys and legal communities). However, in the future, we’ll be taking out ads in phone books, at which time we’re expecting more infidelity inquiries to come in.
PI as Marriage Counselor
When an individual calls and says he/she suspects the spouse is cheating, my investigative partner and myself don’t immediately hop on the case. First, we’ll discuss the situation with the person in more detail, mostly to hear the person out. It’s difficult and painful to wonder if your loved one is unfaithful. It takes a lot of nerve to call a total stranger and discuss intimate details of your life. Sometimes the person cries. We don’t think this is the time to go to contract. We’ll always ask the person to think it over, maybe even try marriage counseling first, then call us back.
We want the person to be absolutely certain they want to put out the expense to know the truth. And maybe more important, to be certain they really want to know the truth.
The Cheating Checklist
Here’s a checklist of signs that someone may be cheating:
• He needs more privacy than usual.
• She’s starting exercising, losing weight.
• He suddenly has the need to work overtime or late.
• She had chunks of unaccounted-for time.
• He comes home smelling of alcohol or perfume.
• Unexplained credit card charges.
• Unexplained cell phone numbers (typically the philandering spouse will use his/her cell phone for calls to a lover, although there might be unexplained numbers on the house phone, too).
• Diseases.
• Unexplained email addresses or new email services being used by the suspected person.
The list could go on and on–you get the idea.
There are online sites that cater to the broken-hearted, selling everything from investigative services to semen-analysis products to software. Regarding the latter, evidence obtained by capturing snapshots of chat room conversations or email exchanges isn’t always admissible in court because it can violate privacy and eavesdropping statutes.
Catching the Cheater
When we accept an infidelity case, we request:
• Information about the suspected cheater’s habits, work schedule, days off, etc.
• Photographs of the suspected cheater (and the suspected girlfriend/boyfriend)
• Addresses and phone numbers (suspected cheater’s home, businesses, etc. as well as addresses/phone for suspected girlfriend/boyfriend)
• Any known routes suspected cheater takes on way to work, home, to exercise gym, etc.
• Vehicle descriptions, license plate numbers for suspected cheater (and suspected girlfriend/boyfriend)
• Contact information for client, preferred times to call, private numbers person can be reached at, preferred means of contact (work email, cell phone, etc.)
• Any other pertinent information
As with any other case, we then devise an investigative strategy. Sometimes the client will call and inform us if the suspected cheater has changed his/her work schedule, or is taking off for a surprise appointment, etc. We can’t always comply with last-minute schedule changes (which we’ve made clear to the client up front) but if time permits, we do.
Part of our contract is that we’ll provide reports on either a biweekly or monthly basis. However, we’ll work with the client on a different report scheme as long as it’s appropriate, workable, and legal. For example, we’ve had clients who like to call periodically and discuss the case. We don’t mind discussing the current progress on a case as long as the client remains professional and courteous. Sometimes a client might request an email update the morning after an evening surveillance, and we’re happy to comply.
The most difficult thing we’re ever had to do was tell a client that we had garnered photographic evidence that her husband was being unfaithful. It had been a lengthy investigation (several months) and the husband (who had a background in military investigations) had covered his tracks exceptionally well, so well we had a final discussion with the wife that we believed her suspicions were unfounded. We had scheduled one last surveillance, and she asked us to continue with it, and after that we’d terminate our investigative work.
It was during that very last surveillance that we saw, and photographed, his infidelity. The wife’s suspicions of his infidelity had been right on—he was involved with her best friend. We finished the surveillance, did a wrap-up meeting where we discussed how to present the evidence to the client, then made the call. The client immediately wanted to know if her husband and her girlfriend were still at the location where they’d been photographed (Note: a PI never tells a client, in real time, where her/his spouse is flagrante delicto—remember what happened in Texas when the cheated-on wife ran over her philandering husband three times in the hotel parking lot?). We explained to our client that the husband and girlfriend had already left the scene, but we had photographic evidence that we would provide. The client asked that we write up a report, with photos, and send to her private email address.
We’ve since talked to this client and learned that after being confronted with the evidence, he admitted to the affair, and they are now in marriage counseling. This was a happy ending. More often, a client’s next call to us is requesting a recommendation for a good divorce lawyer.
Think about how to use infidelity investigations with your fictional PI. It could be a comic subplot if a subordinate PI broke the cardinal rule and called a client while an investigation was in process. Or maybe, as we’ve all seen in movies before, a seemingly distraught client hires a PI to watch his/her spouse, when the real reason for the investigation is something darker.
Thank you to the Plot Monkeys for letting me guest blog today! If any of you are writing a PI story/character, or are interested in learning more why your favorite TV PI does the things he/she does, let me know in a post. At the end of the day, your name will be tossed into a virtual hat and one of you will be picked for a free class tuition to Writing PIs in Novels.
I’ll leave you with a link that itemizes 60 favorite PI research links compiled by Tamara Thompson (who co-authors PI Buzz).
By all reports, Julie Leto was a sweet child once, somewhat shy, preferring to play quietly in her room making up stories. However, being raised with three brothers in a loud, primarily Italian household did have its influences and Julie discovered her inner tough girl. That’s probably why most of her heroines kick serious butt. Writing sassy heroines has worked out, as she’s sold nearly thirty books to three publishers featuring strong, confident women. Julie lives in Florida with her husband, daughter, spoiled dachshund, enormous guinea pig and a wide range of relatives all within driving distance.
ANOTHER WILD WEDDING NIGHT
Hard to Hold
Love Me If You Dare
Wild For Him
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YOU ROCK, Coco! Thanks for coming back and giving us this
information. Wow.
mastree:
Happy Holidays!
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Luckily, I’ve been married for 30 years and we are very content with each other!! I found your insight into infidelity and the whole PI experience very informative!! THANKS for sharing!!
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Thanks Colleen for all the great information. This is just the tip of the iceberg in what I’m going to need for my RS but it’s a great start.
I’d love to take your class. It sounds like a must take for anyone writing in that genre. Really in any genre where either H/H is not sure about the other one.
Thanks again, and I’d love to be a part of the class. :)
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Hi Miss Collins, thanks for the great info. I took your PI class a few months ago and ladies, it really rocks!
Take care all and have a great Saturday,
Cher
mastree:
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Good morning, everyone! Thank you, Plot Monkeys, for the return invitation.
As I mentioned in the article, some PIs market themselves with an emphasis on infidelity investigations, even using an “alarmist” PR approach (just to read their website you’d think your significant other is cheating!).
At my investigations agency, we handle a handful of infidelity cases (mostly because the emphasis of our work is legal investigations, specializing in criminal investigations). Saying that, sometimes infidelity investigations can be dangerous because the parties involved are spring-loaded with emotional baggage. Patrol officers will tell you that the most dangerous calls they receive involve domestic violence and domestic disputes.
Thanks for letting me know who’s interested in taking the class! Your names are being tossed into my virtual hat. Also, at the end of the day, I’ll be picking several names to win an autographed copy of IT’S A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS (a Christmas anthology where each story [by Jasmine Cressell, Kathleen Long, and yours truly] is based on a Christmas film classic). I chose Miracle on 34th Street, and titled my story Miracle on Bannock Street. In case you’re wondering, the protagonist is a PI
Big surprise there.
I’ll check in throughout the day, so post any questions you might have, too, about private investigations. My PI partner and myself will be happy to answer them.
Have a great Saturday! Colleen/coco
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Hi Colleen. Thanks so much for being here again. The information you’ve given is great! I’m going to print it out to save. I’m definitely interested in learning more and taking your class. I’ve got an idea for a story where my heroine is a PI, and I know nothing about the field. When is your next class?
BTW, I’d printed out your last discussion here and used some of the mannersisms regarding lying in my current WIP. Thanks!
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What a fascinating topic, Colleen! Thanks!
mastree:
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Thanks for the information, Colleen. This was fascinating. My mom was a PI in the Magnum PI era, but all of her investigations were for insurance fraud. I remember her doing LOTS of paper work.
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Wow Coco! Fantastic information, thank you SO much!!
Happy December everyone!
mastree:
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Hi again!
Cher, nice to “see” you again.
Robin, our next class starts Dec 3 (through Dec 27). For anyone who wants to read more about it: http://www.writingprivateinvestigators.com
Mary Beth, how cool your mom was a PI in the ’70s & ’80s!
My business partner and I thought we’d post a question (and our answer) re: infidelity investigations to encourage any of you who might like to ask questions but have been shy.
QUESTION: When does surveillance become stalking?
ANSWER: When the person doing the surveillance intrudes onto land or into property that is solely owned by another. Also, surveillance becomes stalking when the target can plainly see the investigator, and the investigator makes him/herself so obvious (and obvious at what they’re doing) that the investigator appears threatening. Also, if the investigator makes a threatening gesture or uses words that promise harm, that definitely crosses the line from surveillance to stalking and the target has legal recourse in both civil and criminal courts.
We’re heading out to serve a subpoena, but we’ll check if anyone has any other questions when we get back!
Colleen
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Welcome Colleen.
I have a question. How much of a PI’s work is done via computer and how much still involves nosing around and asking questions? And when you are asking questions can you legally misrepresent yourself?
Thanks.
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Colleen,
I have a question have you ever actually spoke with the people/person you are doing surveilance on? And if so, do you tell them who you are or do you use an alias? Like pretending to be someone in a bar who the person could pick up?
Thanks,
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Coco, what a great workshop! And awesome questions, too! Thanks so much for coming by today!
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Hi Darlene,
Thanks for your questions! Below are our answers:
>>How much of a PI’s work is done via computer and how much still involves nosing around and asking questions?>And when you are asking questions can you legally misrepresent yourself?
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Hi Darlene,
Thanks for your questions! Below are our answers:
Q: How much of a PI’s work is done via computer and how much still involves nosing around and asking questions?
A: We thought about this, and decided approximately 65% of our work is done at the computer, 35% in the field, which can include nosing around, interviewing witnesses, visiting lawyers’ offices, meeting with clients, on-site investigations where we take photographs or measure a scene of a crime or an accident, etc.
Q: And when you are asking questions can you legally misrepresent yourself?
A: Depends on 1) who you’re asking questions of, and 2) who you’re misrepresenting yourself as. Regarding the former, investigators are required to disclose who they work for when they are speaking to witnesses for the opposition. Regarding the latter, it’s illegal to impersonate a police officer, doctor, or lawyer. In our state, a PI recently impersonated an officer (in the course of serving a lawsuit)–because the subjects decided to drop criminal charges, the PI was ultimately only subjected to a civil lawsuit.
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Hi Vicki,
Thanks for your questions!
Q: I have a question have you ever actually spoke with the people/person you are doing surveilance on? And if so, do you tell them who you are or do you use an alias? Like pretending to be someone in a bar who the person could pick up?
A: Well, we’ve been “burned” before by the people/person on whom we’re doing a surveillance, and it’s pretty much ended the case. I say “burned” because although we didn’t actually speak with them, they sure caught us surveilling them. No, we didn’t talk to them mostly because we weren’t that close.
But if we were in a bar, for example, surveilling someone and they started talking to us, we’d use a pretext (another identity) and maybe we’d learn something we need for the case in the course of the conversation. I once got “caught” by a neighbor who was watching me watching another house. The elderly gentleman walked right up to the car window and said, “Are you an investigator? I’ve been watching you for the last few hours and you seem to be scoping out this neighborhood.” So I lied. Said I was house-hunting, was worried about traffic as I had 4 kids who loved to get crazy on their bikes. We got into a lengthy discussion about the neighborhood, in the course of which I learned exactly what I needed to know about a certain neighbor.
Lengthy answer, but hopefully it answered your question.
I really enjoyed hanging with all of you today! Thank you, Plot Monkeys, too, for the warm welcome!
We’re putting names into our virtual hat…next we’ll announce who won a free class and who won free books!
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For the free class tuition…Robin!
For an autographed copy of IT’S A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS/MIRACLE ON BANNOCK STREET…Laurie G!
Robin and Laurie, please send an email to cocowrites2@gmail.com, and let me know your full names (Laurie, please also forward your mailing address).
Everyone, have a wonderful holiday season! Colleen
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Thank you SO much!!
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wtg ladies
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Happy Holidays!! THANK YOU!! I love holiday themed books!!
I’m sorry this is late I’m having trouble with my dial up…keeps kicking me off while sending comments and e-mails. My favorite phone number was discontinued in November!!
I’ll keep trying with the e-mail so far it hasn’t gone through.