Detective Storytelling: The Pretext in Daily Detective Work | Kurtz Detective Agency Münster

Private detectives, such as those at the Kurtz Detective Agency Münster, are confronted daily with the task of “spinning legends” to their targets or other individuals they interact with during assignments. A detective would, of course, never—or almost never—admit to conducting surveillance. Instead, they present an invented, credible story about their presence at a certain location or for asking particular questions. This ensures that the target remains unaware of the observation.

Selfie of a Detective with the Target – Concealed with a Legend

Sick at the Gym?

Example: The private and corporate detectives of the Kurtz Detective Agency Münster were tasked with observing an employee of a medium-sized company and documenting behaviour in cases of suspected labour law violations. The employee, Franz Greven, had already called in sick four times within two months but was occasionally spotted at the gym despite being officially unfit for work. Mr Günther Bocholt, his employer, suspected that Mr Greven, a bodybuilder, was training or even competing in fitness contests during his supposed sick leave. As he could not prove this himself, he commissioned our Münster detectives to observe the suspicious employee.

“Sweet Talk” – Flattery Usually Works

On the first day of observation our commercial detective from the Kurtz Detective Agency Münster travelled to Mr Greven’s home. He did not have to wait long: Mr Greven left with his gym bag and cycled to the familiar fitness centre. That he would train there was to be expected, but our investigator could not simply barge into the studio and take photographs of the target. To avoid arousing suspicion, the detective entered the studio, paid the day fee for the free-weight area and began training within sight of Mr Greven. The latter was already lifting considerable weights and did not appear at all infirm. However, to obtain a photograph of Mr Greven in the gym the detective needed a plausible pretext, because phones and smartphones—devices that would have allowed inconspicuous snapshots—were prohibited by the operator (house rules).

 

After half an hour the investigator approached Mr Greven, started a casual conversation about his training and asked whether it was possible that he might once have seen him at a bodybuilding competition in Osnabrück. Flattered, Mr Greven readily agreed and was happy to take a “selfie” with the detective, so the latter could show his friends he had met a local celebrity. The investigator said he would fetch his small digital camera from the car and be back in a moment. When the Münster detective later left the studio he was in possession—thanks to a simple story and a well-chosen approach—of two selfies, a posed photograph and even a short video of the weightlifter at work. Such material will typically leave little doubt for a judge that sick-note fraud occurred.

Everything starts with a good story

As in the case described, it is often easy for the detectives of the commercial unit to go about their business inconspicuously and undetected—sometimes using far more elaborate legends and carefully prepared backstories. These more complex legends become necessary in complicated commercial investigations, for example when embedding detectives within a company to investigate thefts or alleged false clock-ins (working-time fraud).

Case study: Theft of production materials

In a large metal-processing firm stock checks repeatedly revealed that valuable metal parts disappeared on their way from delivery to production. The loss per delivery had appeared small, so the total shrinkage only became apparent at the annual accounting: more than 180 deliveries had been incomplete, the loss running into the mid five-figure range.

Embedding a detective in the affected company

After internal measures failed, management concluded that only the engagement of a commercial detective could resolve the matter. Together with the management, the detectives devised a strategy: one of the investigators would be integrated as an allegedly new colleague in production. His real role was to remain concealed from the workforce, since it was unclear who in production or the goods-in area might be involved. The detective therefore spent two weeks learning the operation to gain an overview of the production site. Once induction was complete he was, at management’s instruction (and with their consent), transferred to the goods-in area to check each incoming consignment for the production line and determine whether shortages already occurred at supplier level. One week later another shortage occurred in production and our detective from the Münster knew the culprit had to be sought in the goods-in department.

Caught in the act

At the receiving department, two recently hired shift workers and a secretary loyal for over ten years in accounting, Luise Lengerich, were employed. The corporate detective of the Kurtz Detective Agency Münster established friendly contact with all three employees, although at first he only suspected the two new recruits. However, he had noticed that Luise Lengerich always left the room during breaks to make calls on her private mobile phone; furthermore, she had repeatedly been seen privately with an employee from production. Through his good contacts with other members of staff, the detective discovered that Ms Lengerich was always the last to leave the production facility in the evenings. One evening, he therefore allowed her to believe that he was going home, but in fact remained hidden in the now darkened production area within earshot and sight of Luise Lengerich.

 

As the private investigator had suspected, Ms Lengerich met there with the employee from production, signalling to him to follow her to the ladies’ lavatory in the receiving area. Shortly afterwards, both returned with boxes full of metal parts and loaded them into a vehicle parked outside the receiving department. Our detective from the Kurtz Detective Agency Münster thus became a direct witness to the theft and the loading of the stolen goods, documenting both from a safe distance with a camera. The long-standing employee had become so angered by a denied pay rise that she decided, together with her lover, to steal several metal parts from each delivery and resell them. They would certainly have continued their scheme for longer had they not overdone the quantities and thereby attracted attention. Ms Lengerich and her lover were summarily dismissed and reached an agreement with the affected company to pay compensation in instalments.

The Detective – A Better Storyteller?

Of course, a detective’s work consists of far more than legend-building, yet it is playing an increasingly significant and unexpected role – even in smaller private assignments. While many people expect a detective to track clues with a magnifying glass and a deerstalker hat, or, like some television “hero”, to pursue armed criminals wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying a pistol, the methods of real detectives such as those of the Kurtz Detective Agency Münster are far more versatile and considerably closer to real life.

All names and locations have been altered to fully protect clients and targets.

 

Author: Maya Grünschloß, PhD

 

Kurtz Investigations Münster

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D-48155 Münster

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