A private investigator has shared some of his wildest cases he’s covered – including cheating husbands, double lives and how he tracked down earrings worth £120,000.
Mike Jennings was a soldier and hot air balloon pilot before he launched Cotswold Private Investigations.
One of the 57-year-old’s most explosive cases began when a wealthy couple returned home from a short break to find two diamond earrings, worth £65,000 each, missing.
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The couple’s housekeeper and gardener were the main suspects.
Mike staged an elaborate sting worthy of a crime thriller where he posed as an insurance company to recover them.
“It was a real head-scratcher,” Mike, from Bristol, told What’s the Jam.
“The earrings weren’t insured.
“The couple lived on an exclusive and gated private estate with 24-hour security guards manning the entry points as well as roaming patrols of the estate.
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“We had to eliminate the simplest explanation, which was the earrings had simply been misplaced or had dropped down the back of a piece of furniture.
“I assembled the full team, even pulled in a chap from the village who was a keen amateur metal detectorist – and we descended upon the house for a full house search.
“I asked the clients to mention within earshot of all their staff that the earrings were insured and that the insurance company would be searching the house before [they were to be paid].
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“I sent off my team to physically search the house and to actually make sure the earnings weren’t genuinely lost down the back the sofa.
“Then I was left alone with the suspects.
“I hinted that I didn’t believe the claim was genuine and that my company were very reluctant to pay out.
“I said that anyone with information leading to the earrings being recovered would receive a reward.
“We waited but not for long.
“I received a call from the housekeeper asking me to go to her house.
“I was expecting some kind of whiny apology and the return of the earrings.
“What I did in fact get was the housekeeper telling me what horrible people her clients were, how much they argued and drank all day.
“She said she thought they’d hidden the earrings to make a claim.
“Then she told me to go back to the house as she knew where her employers had hidden them so we did.
“And bang, in a drawer, there were two diamond earrings glinting up at me.
“What the housekeeper didn’t know was that we’d installed cameras so we checked them and there she was placing them inside.”
The couple immediately fired the housekeeper.
Mike added: “You have to be mindful that there are genuine human stories playing out that involve deep emotions on both sides.
“Nonetheless, you have to remember who your client is and that you are ultimately representing their interests.
“I hope we handled it as respectfully as possible and avoided any unnecessary embarrassment or upset.”
While the diamond case was dramatic, Mike says some of the most shocking probes involve seemingly ordinary family men leading entirely separate lives.
In a clip shared on social media, he said: “Once, I had a job where a lady said she thought her husband may be up to something.
“This had been going on or over a year.
“He’d come home from working at a car showroom and she’d cook him dinner and at eight o’clock, he’d say ‘I’m off.’
“She never knew where he went.
“She didn’t know how to contact him and he never had his phone switched on.
“We followed him.
“Long story short, about five miles up the road, he had another house, another wife and a small baby.
“To get evidence, we used a pen camera, knocked on the door and said we were carrying out a survey.
“The lady came to the door and said she was his wife.”
Untangling such mysteries has not always been Mike’s modus operandi.
Mike first served in the Royal Green Jackets and after leaving the army, he trained as a hot air balloon pilot.
For nearly two decades he flew all over the world, spending a large chunk of his career piloting 16-man balloons over Kenya’s Maasai Mara.
But after marrying his wife, Lynn, he decided to settle back in the UK and launch his detective business.
Mike said: “The Green Jackets placed a special emphasis on thinking independently and encouraged their soldiers to be innovative and think outside the box.
“We operated independently, without direct control and I think that background cemented in me a determination never to have a normal job.
“A private investigator or PI has exactly the same powers as any private citizen, so the ability to think differently and approach each task within an investigation is a key skill in getting the job done and achieving the client’s aims.”
Mike says a day in the life of a detective is different to what we see in films – and mainly involves replying to emails.
He added: “In general, most of my fellow Ps I know are far better-looking and much better dancers than the PIs you see on TV.
“Also, unlike our TV and movie counterparts, we tend to be fairly serious and professional individuals, who try to avoid the serious character flaws like gambling or alcohol addiction that so seem to beset our fictional incarnations.
“I’m normally based in the office, I reply to enquiry emails or potential client emails who are still asking questions and deciding whether to instruct us or not.
“It’s a big thing to come to the decision to engage a private investigator.
“Most people would never have experienced this before or even contemplated ever having to do so.
“Their knowledge or experience of a private detective would be confined to the TV screens or cheaper paperback novels.
“Once I’ve answered any emails along with whichever team member is lead on a particular case, we will review and plan the next phase of an investigation.
“I will also assist and oversee whatever agents are currently out in the field on a task, possibly with advice or by helping them to make a decision on a course of action.
“I like the problem-solving element to the job.
“I really enjoy helping people who come to you often in despair and not knowing what to do or who to turn to and I like the independence working for yourself offers.
“I also like the excitement that often comes with this job.”
Mike is writing a book, So You Want To Be A Private Investigator?, and he also runs the UK Private Investigator Training Academy.
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