Charlie’s Angels

In the new Charlie’s Angels film three glamorous, high heeled gumshoes jump out of planes, pilot speedboats and pose as geishas, belly dancers and racing drivers to foil a gang of kidnappers. The action packed antics of Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu and Drew Barrymore ara Hollywood fantasy, of course. Britain’s female private investigators spend their days serving summons or tracing missing persons.

They work for themselves instead of the disembodied voice of a millionaire boss called Charlie, and they are more likely to spend long hours on the telephone or in front of a computer, not trailing suspects through dark streets. But what Charlies’s Angels have in common is a talent for sleuthing.

According to Peter Heims of the Association of British Investigators, women make better private eyes than men, a fact reflected in the growing numbers of women entering the business. “They’re more observant, they go for the detail. They relate to the public better than male investigators and that can be very important when you’re trying to prise information out of people,” he says.

Elizabeth Carter, 18, is a trainee private eye who is undertaking a City and Guilds NVQ, course in investigation. She is learning skills such as how to question witnesses, plan surveillance operations and give evidence in court. “I didn’t set, out to become a private investigator I just fell into it,” she explains. She was on a legal secretarial course when she was sent to do work experience with an investigator in north London. “I loved the work,” says Carter. “It’s, not a glamorous life like you’d think, but every day is different.”

So far, Carter has served court documents, traced witnesses for personal injury cases, found the beneficiary of a will and completed one surveillance job. Her most satisfying case was tracing a client’s long lost daughter. “We found her in Canada and it turns out that our client has two grandchildren as well,” she says. “It was very emotional when we succeeded. It was lovely to help somebody put the final piece of the jigsaw in place.”

Carter’s boss, Sarah Martin of Sarah Martin Investigations, is a former actress who has been in the business for seven years and has been education and training chairman of the ABI. The ABI, set up in 1913 by former Scotland Yard detective Henry Smale has 460 members, of which 10 per cent are women. But the numbers are increasing and 40 per cent of entrants on a recent NVQ course were women. “There aren’t any particular qualifications you need to work as a private investigator but you need to have a basic knowledge of criminal and civil law,” says Martin.

“You need common sense, a logical mind, and a non-judgmental disposition.” The job has its risks. Somebody could go to jail, instigate divorce proceedings, lose their job or lose custody of their children because of what you find out,“ adds Martin. “We’re trained in self-defence but brains are more important than brawn. You can get yourself out of a dangerous situation much better by using your head and staying calm.” Elizabeth Carter is typical of the young women coming into the business, says Martin. “I took her with me on a job where we had to trace witnesses to a car accident which happened outside a pub. Elizabeth went straight into the crowded bar, stood on a table and asked for quiet. Then she made her appeal for witnesses. I was very impressed and she did find someone who remembered the accident.”

Former model Debbie Owen and her friend Angie Wollen do not dress to be noticed when they go out at night. They like to disappear into the crowds at bars or nightclubs because they are following errant husbands. That means dressing down in jeans and T shirts and little make-up. “When you are tailing someone the last thing you want to do is stand out, so you make yourself as inconspicuous as possible.” says Debbie. “If we’re following a man from a bar to a disco,” adds Angie, “We might change our hairstyle on the way or put on a pair of glasses or change our jackets. If is very quick and easy for women to disguise themselves, and the men never seem to guess. But it’s hard work,” she adds, “You can’t take your eye off your subject for a second.“

The pair, both in their thirties, set up AD Investigations after Owen hired a private eye to follow her former partner, whom she suspected was having an affair. She was so unimpressed by the Investigators efforts, and his £1,000 fee, that she set up her own agency, specialising in matrimomial cases. Both women have day jobs but work part time. A woman hired us because she thought her husband was having an affair recalls Wollen. “I followed him and found out he had set up home with another woman in a different town. They were living in a thatched cottage that was for sale. I asked if I could view the property. Then I said my husband was away in Saudi Arabia and could I videotape some of the rooms. I filmed the guy watching EastEnders.”

In some cases, they install listening devices on telephones to prove a husband is being unfaithful. “If our client wants to record conversations on her own home phone, then that’s entirely legal to do so,” says Owen. Both seem not to care about the intrusive nature of their work.

Would be private eyes can take a two-day foundation course, covering criminal and civil law. Candidates will not be taught how to hang out of helicopters or do the famous Charlie’s. Angels slow motion hair toss, but, they will learn how to handle themselves on the mean streets of Britain. “It’s a career I’d recommend to any woman,” says Elizabeth Carter. “It’s actually a lot of fun.”

This article has been reproduced from the Evening Standard, 2001.

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Peter Heims
Sarah Martin