ASK someone to name a fictional private detective and they’ll probably think of Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot and Philip Marlowe.
Their stories are often adventurous capers, and they’re usually characterised as brilliant but cynical anti-heroes able to unpick tightly webbed criminal plots.
Image Bank – GettyPrivate detectives are shadowy figures in film and literature[/caption]
AlamyBasil Rathbone in 1939’s The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes[/caption]
AlamyHumphrey Bogart as private detective Phillip Marlowe in 1946’s The Big Sleep, with Lauren Bacall[/caption]
HandoutDavid Suchet as Agatha Christie’s sleuth Hercule Poirot[/caption]
All while working outside of the cops and the felons – and dodging danger at every turn.
The archetype of the gumshoe – whether they’re in a trilby or a deerstalker – is well engrained into our psyches from hundreds of books, TV shows and films.
So much so that many people would assume they are not in fact a real thing today and maybe never were.
But that’s not the case. And away from the likes of Humphrey Bogart brooding in smoke-filled offices in San Francisco or Chicago, they do actually originate in Europe.
In 1833, Eugène François Vidocq founded the first known private detective agency in Paris.
Not too long after, similar agencies began popping up in London – and the profession is still going strong in the Big Smoke now.
The Sun was able to track down the elusive Tim Boyd, a senior detective for PDL (Private Detective London), an agency based in Mayfair – and he agreed to give an insight into his job.
The 45-year-old is a former civil servant and initially laughed off comparing himself to the hard-as-nails characters seen in old movies.
But then went on to describe a career of enthralling espionage, from covertly tailing subjects on the London Underground and the Eurostar to taking pictures of cheating spouses from blacked out cars.
Tim, originally from the North of England, was even once lured into a trap and found himself surrounded by a group of heavies trying to bundle him into a van.
He was able to use James Bond-like quick wit to fool them by pretending to have set off an alert, before making a mad dash into an Uber taxi.
“If they’re going to write a book on me one day…maybe that’s one of the stories,” he said bashfully.
He was quick to add: “But it wouldn’t be that interesting, overall, honestly.”
Tim began working for PDL 18 years ago, having also previously worked for other agencies.
“I always wanted to be a police officer, and I never quite made it because of the way my career went in the public sector,” he said.
“I always had an interest [in private detective work]… but I wouldn’t say I wanted to be one from being young.
“I had transferable skills to move into the private sector.”
Tim considers himself lucky to have come into the profession when he did – before modern technology took hold.
GettyTim Boyd would covertly tail subjects on the London Underground[/caption]
GettyHe also tracked subjects down on the Eurostar[/caption]
Google MapsTim worked for PDL, an agency based in Mayfair[/caption]
It meant his skills were grounded in old-fashioned principles he doesn’t necessarily believe are given to new PIs today.
Tim was afforded a grizzled mentor who was due to retire, but did his best to teach him everything he knew.
“He was a real old-school proper detective, who started his first agency in the 1970s,” Tim said.
“He didn’t really understand technology too much, but I just learned a lot from him… it was how to operate, but also how to be a people person and how to get information from people.
“I was in awe of him because he was just brilliant. I could see him walk into situations, and operate in a way where he got what he wanted.
“He would walk into a room and he could get everybody on side.
“People are the best source. You ask them one question they either don’t want to talk, or they really want to talk, and they’ll tell you a hell of a lot if you get them in the right moment.”
Tim added: “The business itself then was very different to the business that we run today.”
MARTIAL ARTS
His mentor – who he did not wish to name and who has since passed away – he teased was also “very big in martial arts”.
“He gave me a good grounding and set me off on my way,” Tim added.
But the most important lesson he learned from his mentor was “how to write a report”.
“That’s a skill that doesn’t always come through nowadays. He really knew how to write a report, and how to evidence.”
While Tim says the modern portrayal of PIs in films and TV is “very much in a way far from the truth”, he said there are similarities seen in the show Homeland.
“The level of surveillance that they did is the level that we work to,” he said.
Much of Tim’s job involves using databases to run background checks, including as part of due diligence for business deals or where corporate fraud is suspected.
They deal in civil cases, but have handed over information to the authorities in relation to crimes.
“The top end of it is corporate stuff – industrial espionage. It could be people who were working for competitors, setting up when they’re under contract, IP infringements,” he said.
“One we’re working on at the moment is trying to gather intelligence for a company that has a product, which they’ve got the intellectual property rights, and somebody keeps copying it.
“That can be quite tricky, quite dangerous territory – you’re potentially getting into serious and organised crime.
“Aspects with the criminal stuff we stay away from because we are purely civil.”
I’m a private investigator for cheats… we follow them on flights & use drones, here’s the affair that’s hardest to prove
AFTER years working with law enforcement special operations and the military, one man decided to use his investigative skills to help catch cheaters.
John Olsen is now a private investigator who has helped countless people expose their partner’s affairs.
The 36-year-old began working with the security and investigations firm Salient Strategic two years ago.
The New York based specialist spoke exclusively to Fabulous about what this specialist work entails.
“My team and I specialise in three things: Covert surveillance, criminal defence, and discreet crisis management investigations,” John explains.
The investigative expert detailed how catching cheaters became a popular line of work for his team.
“Infidelity, by its very nature, requires a high level of discretion and surveillance tradecraft, so it’s a natural extension of the services we already offer,” he says.
“You could say we didn’t choose infidelity— infidelity chose us.”
According to John, context is key when it comes to investigating potential cheaters.
“It’s important to get a better understanding of the circumstances,” he says.
“We’re going to want to know what is going on, and how they came to become suspicious.
“We’ve built our brand around discretion and confidentiality, and our clients know they can trust us.
“Once we understand the totality of the circumstances, we can move forward with the investigation.”
And those investigations often involve “creative and unexpected” techniques.
“Brilliance in the basics is key,” John explains.
“If my training and experiences have taught me anything, it is that we always need to be innovating.”
He shared how “run of the mill surveillance” such as sitting in a car on a stakeout “is getting old fast.”
“People have access to all the TV shows and know what to look for, so we always need to be two steps ahead,” the investigator says.
“Our clients come to us because we are known for utilising ingenious strategies to get the results they need.”
While the company still “sits on targets for long hours” they have incorporated some other out-of-the-box measures to catch cheaters.
“We’ve had situations where we placed an investigator on a flight sitting behind the subject, we’ve used drones, we’ve followed subjects on hikes,” John recalls.
He highlighted the importance of discretion from the outset when it comes to tailing people.
“If some PI is going to get caught on the first day because they lack imagination or didn’t have the skill set to de-risk a plan, all the hours you’re paying them for will be worthless,” John points out.
“Unfortunately, this is often what people get when they try to save a buck, or use a friend instead.
“As a boutique firm, we take a limited amount of work at any given time so that we can provide a great deal of focus on our clients’ needs.
“When we take a case, we go all-in.”
And while confidentiality agreements prevent John from speaking too much about his cases, he says he’s “seen it all.”
“Without giving away private information, I’d say that the most shocking cases are cases where family is involved, or where the subject is so brazen in their dirty deeds,” he explains.
“Affairs with familiar people are some of the hardest to prove, because the subject often has a valid reason to be around them.”
He revealed that these affairs are often the ones that go unnoticed by partners.
“Many people have this exact thing going on right under their noses, and discount it because they know the person in question,” John says.
“It is for this reason we approach every investigation with a healthy suspicion for anyone the subject comes into contact with on a daily basis.”
Out in the field, PDL use OP vehicles that are “specifically built” – often converted people carriers with blacked out windows and filled with tech – and an operative could be remaining covert inside them for days or weeks.
They are hired to trail or track down people for all sorts of reasons, including corporate investigations.
But also matrimonial cases, where wealthy people suspect their spouses are cheating and want it proven with photo and video evidence.
That could be because it would help divorce proceedings where money or child custody is involved.
But sometimes it’s just for peace of mind.
“You could be outside a restaurant or a hotel just waiting to get evidence of people coming out,” he explained.
In such situations, a PI is looking for a “money shot”, showing someone cheating with a lover.
“You might follow them for a weekend, or days and watch them going shopping or out for meals, to the cinema.
“It’s all very uninteresting but you’re waiting for that one moment where they meet someone… you want to get them holding hands, kissing… that’s the moment you’ve got to get if they’re deemed to be having an affair.”
Tim said instructing a private detective agency “is not for everybody” due to the cost involved – and if the client has nothing more than a hunch it can see a PI waste lots of time and money for weeks and get nowhere.
“Generally, you’re looking at people who are high net worth individuals,” Tim said.
My wife hired a private detective and caught me in bed with a stripper… I was addicted to naked women, admits Prem icon
By Jim Sheridan
PREM bad boy Andy van der Meyde admits he lies awake at night thinking what could have been – after off-field scandals ended his career aged just 31.
The ex-Everton midfielder saw his marriage fall apart after a private investigator found him in bed with a stripper.
Van Der Meyde battled depression, drink, drugs and sex addiction during his 12-year career.
He arrived at Goodison Park from Inter Milan in 2005 for a fee of £2million.
The now 45-year-old struggled for game time on Merseyside, despite arriving with a strong reputation.
Van Der Meyde had been compared to Portuguese wing wizard Luis Figo during his breakthrough years at Ajax.
But away from the field, the Dutchman was living the life of a playboy footballer to the extreme.
Van Der Meyde admitted in 2012 that he “had a strong longing for naked women.”
It led him down a dark path – and would ultimately cost him his marriage to wife Diane.
Recalling an incident in 2006, the Dutchman told SunSport: “I bought a Ferrari and the first stop was the Newz Bar, a popular place in Liverpool.
“After a couple of hours of drinking alcohol, I drove to the nearest strip club.
“Getting drunk in a strip club in the middle of Liverpool was not very smart. But I had a strong longing for naked women.
“I saw a brunette and I wanted to have sex with her. But after I’d had sex with [the stripper] Lisa once I was addicted. She was wild, crazy and horny.”
Van Der Meyde’s destructive streak led him to play away regularly, prompting wife Diane into drastic measures.
He later revealed: “I said to my ex-wife that I wanted to go to a hotel because I was injured at the time and I needed some rest.
“But that was not the case – I was just cheating on her.
“A private detective had videos and photos of me and my new girlfriend and then my wife rang me and said ‘How’s your new girlfriend?’
“I was still denying it then.”
Van Der Meyde’s off-field issues began in Milan, before his big-money move to the Premier League in 2005.
He told the BBC: “I went out and drank and I wasn’t thinking about football.
“I was depressed, I wasn’t playing anymore. I was also checking the odds and betting frequently.”
In August 2007, Everton fined the Dutchman £50,000 after he failed to turn up to training.
Van Der Meyde developed an addiction to prescription drugs as he struggled to cope with his daughter becoming seriously ill.
He continued: “Because of the constant fighting with Lisa, the illness of my daughter and the bt at the club I developed sleeping problems.
“I was going through lots of bottles of wine and Bacardi and because I never got tired I started taking sleeping pills to get my night’s rest.
“Soon I couldn’t sleep without popping a pill — I was addicted. The pills were pretty heavy, the kind you only get with a doctor’s prescription.
“So I stole them from the office of the club doctor and no one noticed – for more than two years I stole those pills.”
The Dutch ace would be frozen out on Merseyside for the next year, before returning to Holland for unsuccessful spells with PSV Eindhoven and WKE.
Van Der Meyde hung up his boots in 2012 at the age of just 31.
He linked up with boyhood club Ajax to get his coaching badges, but has admitted he threw away his talent on the field.
In recent years, the forgotten Prem star has carved out a career as a YouTuber and even has his own clothing line.
But he can’t help but wonder what might have been, adding: “I was an idiot and sometimes I lie in bed and think about it, ‘Wow man, come on Andy you were a good player’.
“At one moment I was second behind Luis Figo as the best winger in Europe and sometimes I think I wasted it.
“That is a lesson and now I want to help other players and help them not make the same mistakes I did.”
“If they suspect their partner’s cheating, and they want to get a divorce.”
Previously, a client may need to prove a partner is having an affair in order to end the marriage, but the rise of no fault divorces means that’s no longer needed.
“Where it comes into play is where you’ve got several million pounds worth of assets,” said Tim.
“It tends to be high end – our office is based in Mayfair. That’s our catchment area – Mayfair Belgravia.
“I’ve never had two cases the same but you know, for a matrimonial, in a month you could easily spend upwards of £10,000 on a surveillance observation.
“Corporate stuff you could easily spend that in a week. It all really depends on what the situation is – but what we can guarantee is proper structured high end surveillance.”
Earlier this year, PDL was hired to tail a subject who was flying into the country from overseas at short notice.
Tim explained: “We got a phone call from a client at 10 in the evening, based outside the UK. They said, I know my partner’s flying to London, or pretty confident they are, from this island in Europe.
“And I’m pretty sure he’s having an affair. I need you to basically pick him up when he lands.”
You’ve got to think you’re seeing this person for the first time, they are coming out of the gate through arrivals, and you’ve got three or four photos of them, and a description of what they roughly look like. From that, you’ve got to pick them up and then you’ve got to stay with them. Losing them is not an option. You’ve got to improvise a lot.
Tim Boyd
However, they had no idea which airport they were landing at or which flight they would be on.
“And that’s where we started,” said Tim.
“We had to work within a nine-hour period to establish it – bearing in mind you’ve got five airports to cover.”
They didn’t have aviation flight records at their disposal or necessarily any fancy technology – instead they used local detectives on the island, as well as “various other methods” and two hours before the subject arrived they had a team waiting at the correct inbound airport.
They then followed the subject back to central London and kept tabs on them for a whole weekend.
“It’s probably one of the recent jobs I’m most proud of because the odds were massively against us,” said Tim. “Within six hours we managed to put the operation together.”
He explained: “Picking them up from an airport is very tricky with all security in place.
“You’ve got to think you’re seeing this person for the first time, they are coming out of the gate through arrivals, and you’ve got three or four photos of them, and a description of what they roughly look like.
“From that, you’ve got to pick them up and then you’ve got to stay with them. Losing them is not an option. You’ve got to improvise a lot.”
After tailing the subject back to a city hotel they had to then “hold down the location”.
“We decide, do we get a room in the hotel – on the same floor?” said Tim.
They were eventually able to establish the person was “actually up to no good” after “keeping constant surveillance”.
He said remaining covert, for example in a static vehicle for hours or days, “is a discipline”.
“There’s not much exciting about being inside a vehicle for 12 hours in June in central London, and nothing’s happening.
“Imagine if you can’t move for six hours, there’s certain things that you need to do in that car that are not that glamorous.”
NETFLIX
Tim said he’s come across plenty of people who did it badly, including sat inside the OP with a laptop open watching Netflix.
“The cabin’s all lit up, and they’re not thinking, they’re chuckling away to themselves laughing at whatever they’re watching. That’s not being covert, and you’re not watching the subject.
“The best people I’ve seen might have a podcast on and be listening to something while they’re still watching.
“Then you’ve got something to keep your mind occupied as well.”
Tim said it’s best to stay away from the stereotype of a white van when doing such covert jobs.
A people carrier is good or the smallest they’ve used is a small FIAT van, unmanned but “kitted out with a remote aspect” camera.
“The key is to make it not look like a surveillance vehicle,” he said.
Tim has horror stories of people being confronted by subjects whilst running a covert job in a vehicle.
“It’s a bit of an art and a science in terms of how long you stay there, you don’t use the same van every day – you swap them out and move them about, and there’s little techniques you do, because one little thing gets you exposed.”
He said it’s actually much easier to run such operations in central London, including around Kensington or Mayfair.
“You’ve got your own private security around, but your neighbors are not neighbors who are all watching what’s going on.
“People are very busy in their own lives, and where you’ll find you struggle is you’ll go to certain sites, maybe, like a local authority estate, for example, where lots of people are watching. Those are the areas you get caught out.”
Tim doesn’t tend to specialise in such covert observation jobs himself, but he said he’s always got his passport on hand and a bag packed in case he has to jump on a train or head to the airport to go abroad.
PDL works with contacts and other agencies across Europe and beyond and so suddenly leaving the UK at the drop of a hat isn’t necessarily an everyday occurrence.
“There’s things you’ve got to really do face-to-face, and sometimes, even if you’re asking one question, and you want to see the reaction, you want to see the body language,” he explained.
ShowtimeTim said TV series Homeland has similarities to his job[/caption]
GettyTim said the money shot is crucial[/caption]
Tim went on to describe times where he’s been trailing subjects and they’ve got onto the Eurostar and he’s had to be following quickly behind.
Keeping tabs on a subject in that scenario could mean staying very close by, but generally he said it’s a case of sitting tight – maybe even in a different carriage and then keeping eyes on them as the train comes to a stop.
He would also be communicating with local teams in Paris, for example, who would be able to help keep on the subject’s tail once they’re back on foot.
“Busy public transport is a tricky place to pick people up, but sometimes you don’t have time, and you’ve got to improvise, and you’ve got to be prepared all the time,” Tim said.
“You’ve got to have cash in your pocket. I might need to get a cab, and I’ve been caught in Paris a few times where cabs don’t take card payments.
“You’ve got to be ready for every situation, and be prepared, because whatever the client tells you – what they think is going to happen, isn’t always going to happen.”
He said: “Tubes are a good one in London. I don’t always necessarily get on the same carriage, as long as I can see their carriage and I can see when they’re getting off, then I generally get out of the way.
“The less you’re seen the longer you’ve got in terms of remaining undercover. The closer you get, you’re going to get blown. They call us operatives but you’ve got to be an operator.”
One of Tim’s closest calls came early in his career during a particularly busy period, when he wasn’t thinking and broke procedure.
He received a phone call and the person said they couldn’t come to the office – which is a crucial point for keeping PIs safe.
Foolishly, Tim agreed to meet them as he was only about 20 minutes away from where they were.
“I basically walked into this situation where I was surrounded by three people, and they’re asking which company we are and they were trying to push me into a car,” he said.
You can’t learn this job in a classroom, you really can’t. It’s a very particular skillset. There’s a saying in the industry, ‘you’re only as good as your last job’.
Tim Boyd
“I just thought on my feet very quickly and pulled something out of my pocket, and pretended it was an alarm trigger.
“It wasn’t, but I just made it look like it was.
“I said I’d just sent an alert off to my location, and they kind of backed off a little bit. I was thinking ‘what do I do?’
“I ran over the road and stood in a petrol station because you’ve got lots of CCTV. I ordered an Uber, and then got out of there.”
Tim said: “That was a lesson learned for me, because you have a procedure or a way of doing things for a reason.
“Sometimes you have to deviate from it but it reinforces the reason why it’s there.”
Tim has also worked with not just wealthy clients, but also well-known celebrities.
“These are names you wouldn’t have any trouble recognising. But where there’s money, there’s people, there’s problems. Those things go hand-in-hand,” he said.
One particular type of job, not necessarily restricted to famous people, which PDL has seen a rise in business is wealthy individuals wanting background checks run on people they are interested in romantically.
“They have a lot to offer and a lot to put at risk, and it’s doing investigations into potential partners,” he explained.
He said there is plenty of danger meeting people in hotel bars, for example, particularly in areas like Mayfair, where “professionals” operate.
“They target very wealthy individuals to try to extract money out of them. It sounds like something out of a movie but it’s real.
“These people are very good that I’ve seen, and they can get a million in a year out of someone quite easily, without them even realising what they’re doing.
“It’s not saying that that’s what the celebrities come to us for.
“It’s just that where you’ve got money and wealth and power, you’ve got trouble.”
Tim said he only goes out drinking in private members clubs that he’s got through contacts.
“They’re not glamorous but I know that they’re very safe and secure.
“I wouldn’t go for a drink in a hotel in Mayfair now because you’re going to get targeted.
“You’re there paying a thousand pounds a night for a suite and it’s a given, really.”
5 career paths where partners are likely to cheat, it’s bad news if they work in medicine
By Leanne Hall
Private investigator, Aaron Bond from Bond Rees Investigations has investigated over 15,000 cheating partner investigations, and found five jobs that came up on top for cheaters.
People cheat in relationships for a wide range of reasons such as commitment issues, different sexual desires and a need for variety.
But have you ever considered that your partner’s job could be a reason why they cheat?
Aaron revealed the top five professions that cheat and why they do it.
Lawyer Up
The first profession that is likely to cheat on their partner is lawyers and others in the legal sector.
Aaron says: “Over the years we have investigated many cases involving a suspected cheating partner in a legal field.
“Lawyers are often seen as successful people with money and can find themselves attracting a lot of attention from the opposite sex.”
The private investigator says the temptation for being desired can be too much and lead to them cheating.
“We find that lawyers can be excellent liars and have both been convincing to us and their partners even when we have had rock solid evidence proving their infidelity,” he added.
Fly Away
Next on the lit was flight attendants and pilots – which makes sense as they spend a considerable amount of time away from home.
Aaron adds: “Pilots and cabin crew are often well-maintained and good-looking people, they can find themselves far away from home daily and for some that temptation can be too much.”
“Being away from home can make some people homesick and they can look for comfort elsewhere.
“Being so far away from home also means that there is very little chance of them being caught.”
Higher Calling
We all know that working in an office meas you spend lots of time with your co-workers – leading to workplace flings and blossoming romances.
“Looking at internal data, the number of cheating partner cases that have involved call centre workers is alarming.”
“People who work in call centres and other office environments often work long hours and are in close proximity to their colleagues so it’s easy to see why relationships can form.
“Add in shift work and some call centre workers may see their colleagues more than their partners,” says Aaron.
Make Your Own Way
Entrepreneurs are often leading exciting lives – from making tough business calls to travelling the world making new connections.
And this high-flying, stressful lifestyle can give them ample reason to cheat says Aaron.
“Entrepreneurs plan their business with meticulous detail, so it’s only natural that things are on their terms when it comes to relationships too. Entrepreneurs often travel for business and that gives them ample chance to cheat.”
“We have investigated many cases where an entrepreneur has had multiple partners in different countries.”
DOC KNOWS BEST
They work long hours, have irregular sleep patterns and stressful experiences on the job – leading many of them to seek comfort in their colleagues.
The private investigator revealed people in the medical field were the biggest cheaters out of all of them.
He explains: “You may think that doctors are the worst offenders because some of them may have a god complex that can lead to an increase in self-confidence, but in our experience, it can be anyone from a porter on the ward to a nurse practitioner.”
“We’ve worked on a case where a nurse was supposedly working night shifts, only for them to have taken time off from work and she was spending the nights with a colleague in a local hotel, while her partner and children were back at home.”
He said: “That’s what wealthy clients need help with. They might meet someone, and they think something doesn’t feel quite right. It’s all a bit too good to be true.
“It’s all moving very fast. I want to know about this person. But, then you can only get what you can get from a background check, there’s not a wealth of information on a database.”
Tim said, because the industry is unregulated, it is fairly straightforward to set up an agency – but most quickly fall by the wayside.
“You see some companies started by people with no experience running around trying to kind of have a stab at it.
“It happens now with the internet. You don’t need a licence. Literally, you can build a website and say ‘I’m a private detective’, and start getting adwords.
“Put it on Google Places. It’s very easy to get Google Reviews. You can easily wake up one morning and get yourself set up and away you go.
“But I’ve been around for a long time doing this, and there’s not many people who stick around doing it – it’s very short lived.
“I see lots of people that set up in January, as an example, and by the end of the year they’ve gone back to doing what they were doing before. They just can’t do it.”
Tim said people will often apply for jobs at PDL having done an online course and they are turned away.
His firm generally only works with people with a background in certain civil service roles, the police or the forces.
“They’ve had that training. And they’ve got the experience because we need them to hit the ground running as soon as they start,” he said.
“You can’t learn this job in a classroom, you really can’t. It’s a very particular skillset. There’s a saying in the industry, ‘you’re only as good as your last job’.”
Making a meal of an assignment can quickly see a client ditch the agency entirely and go elsewhere.
PDL itself has picked up such cases, when money has already been wasted elsewhere.
And because of the high costs involved, customers often come through word of mouth rather than through search engines, so results are key.
But for the most part there is a pride in seeing a job through properly for Tim.
He said: “I really do enjoy it, I love getting the result. If you ever come to the office we’ve got thank you cards all over the place.
“I’ve had things that have been sent from clients in America that money can’t buy as thank yous for helping people.”
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