Thoughts on “Honeytrapping”
About three years ago, a writer for the East Bay Express did an article on Butler & Associates called “The Honeytrappers.” I was trying to find it today (which I did–here it is, if you’re curious) and happened to come across a new article published just yesterday in the UK. According to the article, there are now businesses in Britain where you can hire someone specifically for the purpose of tempting a cheating spouse.
Well, it sounded like a good idea at the time….
So much for L.A. Heard from the big boss today that they’re finally kicking that reality show into gear, so it looks like within a week or two I’ll be headed back up to the Bay Area. I’ve swung back and forth between L.A. so many times over the past nine months that I’m getting I-5 vertigo. Fortunately, my PI training has taught me to prepare for anything–especially those things I’m completely unprepared for.
Back in Black–or silver, or beige, or maybe a nice charcoal gray….
In case anyone out there has been missing me for the past few months (though I’d say at least 80% of my readers have probably seen me during this time and know why I haven’t been posting)–I’ve been busy. A PI’s life is never dull. Well…no, I guess that’s not true. Sometimes–around hour 6, say, of an 8-hour surveillance when you’re posted in front of the house of a subject you came to believe 3 hours ago is probably not even home–a PI’s life can get very dull indeed. But we don’t talk about that.
I Need More Hunches
One of the most satisfying aspects of my job as a private investigator is acting on a hunch that turns out to be correct. It doesn’t happen often–actually, I usually end up forgetting about my hunches until after I’ve already screwed up and then remember what I’d thought of doing differently–but this past weekend I got lucky. Let it be noted.
Rethinking baby belly as a disguise…
Remember waaaaaaayyy back three or four days ago when I said I wanted to get a fake pregnant belly? Well, circumstances have conspired to make me change my mind.
Paging Airport Security…
The perfect cover
To See Or Not Be Seen?
There’s a certain neighborhood in the East Bay area where the streets are wide and smooth, soft black as if they were washed and dried every day by hand in the faint light of dawn. The truth is they’re actually pummeled by entire fleets of leaf blowers at around 11a.m., then scraped clean with plastic rakes, then blasted with extreme pressure jets until every last speck of misplaced asphalt is running downhill in little rivers in the rain gutters.
I hate bug detectors…
Yesterday a client came in concerned that her partner may have bugged her cell phone, her laptop, and her car. She wanted us to check it out. Chris took care of the computer and the phone, and because I’ve done several bug sweeps and helped him install some tracking devices (witness the last couple of posts), I got tasked with doing the initial check on the car.
“Mission Accomplished”…It Sounds So Sweet
It seems to be a rare moment in a private investigator’s life when everything actually works out. When you manage to locate the subject, stay on him all day without losing him, without getting burned, have your camera ready and raised at the right moment to get the money shot, and capture a clear image that proves whatever your client wants to know. It’s even rarer, I’d say, that you manage to do this before your time on surveillance is up and get to go home early.
Trouble with Tracking Devices
Today I woke up to an alarm at 5AM-and another alarm at 5:05…one at 5:07…one at 5:10…Finally Denise got up saying something about how she’d tossed and turned all night and hoped she hadn’t kept me awake. I staggered into the hotel bathroom to make coffee.
