SHE was suspicious her husband was cheating on her with a younger woman — horrible for her to imagine when they had been together for so long.
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What made matters worse was that all three involved lived under the same roof — in a care home.
The 74-year-old called in a private investigator to spy on her 80-year-old husband who she believed was being unfaithful with a 64-year-old resident.
It was one of the more unusual cases for private detectives from The Castle Group, which has carried out thousands of investigations over the last 20 years.
“In all the time I have been doing this, I had never come across anything quite like it,” explains Jim Ferguson, the company’s managing director.
“It happened three or four years ago and the couple had been married a very long time and were now in the care home and he decided he was going to have an affair after just turning 80. It shocked me that someone of that age was looking to spice up their life and get involved in extra-marital activities.
“The chap involved looked very fresh and was in good shape and that probably counted for a lot because the other woman was just a young ‘chick’ in comparison.”
The private detective did prove her husband was being unfaithful.
“But I think he came to his senses when he was confronted with it by his wife who thanked me profusely for helping to save their marriage,” says Mr Ferguson.
“He realised he had been a bit stupid and fallen for a younger woman and they patched things up and chalked it up to experience. It might have been to do with their age, realising life is too short.”
He believes changes in society are contributing to more infidelity in Inverness and the blurring of moral boundaries.
But the temptation to have a bit on the side is not a new phenomenon.
Starting out at a detective agency in Glasgow in the early 1990s, investigations, surveillance, fraud inquiries and stake-outs formed most of Mr Ferguson’s traineeship before going into partnership with his boss, Alf Goldberg, at Castle Security in 1992, buying him out five years later.
Often armed with little more than a camera, he has found himself in precarious situations where he has been chased by the person being investigated, for instance while staking out a remote caravan. Or, as in a case in Aberdeen, where he was pursued by a rottweiler.
He has never been hit, but he has been the target of a few thrown objects.
Other situations have left him searching for excuses — for example when he caught an Inverness client’s wife in a hotel bath with the husband’s best friend.
He apologised for walking into the “wrong” room, but it was conclusive evidence which tore the family apart.
“Our client was distraught, even though he had suspected it for some time,” Mr Ferguson recalls. “It made it worse because it was his closest friend involved and when I broke the news to him, he was absolutely devastated.
“When he came to the hotel I had to calm him down and remind him he had young children and that what happened to him was wrong but not to put himself in the wrong by doing anything he might regret by going ballistic. I was stunned when he realised he knew the guy.”
Mr Ferguson knows that when he is called it may be as a last resort with the client’s trust in their partner almost lost. But not all cases end in tears.
Take the man suspected of having an affair by his wife after 29 years of marriage. She had been cheated on in a previous marriage and spotted the tell tale signs.
“She was convinced her husband was up to no good. She had caught him hanging up the phone rather suddenly when she came into the room, he had been working some unusual hours, she noticed him acting strangely and had a feeling everyone else knew what she didn’t.
“After about five days of surveillance I was pleased to tell her it was really quite innocent and all the covert phone calls and whispered conversations were little more than planning their 30th wedding anniversary trip to Australia to visit grandchildren which was supposed to be a surprise.
“It was a huge relief for her but her husband never knew or realised he had been investigated, which is a good thing because if somebody feels they are not being trusted and are being investigated, that in itself could cause a real problem.”
Although no longer at the coal-face, Mr Ferguson, whose company is better known for its security work such as responding to alarms and employee vetting at its base in Dalcross Industrial Estate, is expanding Castle Investigations by bringing on board former senior police officers Garry Sutherland and Bruce Duncan, who will be the tactical heads of all investigations — not just infidelity, but also business-related enquiries.
“I’m sad to say that more than 95 per cent of the time if someone thinks their other half is straying they are usually right,” Mr Ferguson comments.
“We are not here to make moral judgements, but we firmly believe that everyone has a right to peace of mind.”
Some evidence has been used by clients in divorce proceedings, while others have helped confront a situation.
Born and bred in Inverness, 44-year-old Mr Ferguson recommends good communication and a strong sense of humour as the basis for a happy marriage after being with his wife Jodie for 21 years.
“It’s not black and white and I have known many people who have strayed and then regretted it and it doesn’t do good to preach too much because we are all human beings and none of us are outwith temptation.
“We have all had it laid on the line, as it were, but we have to realise there are always consequences for our actions and the grass isn’t always greener.”
