In the 1980s, there was no shortage of private investigators.  California alone seemed to have an endless supply.  Let’s start with the two brothers from San Diego.  The younger one was better dressed, usually in a coat and tie, clean-cut and originally drove a blue 1957 convertible and later a red American sports car with a custom Targa top conversion.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, he would be the type attracting all the women.  In real life, that success probably would have gone to the older brother with a wardrobe from the army-navy store and an old pick-up truck with faded red paint, but I digress.  Then there were the three guys and the robot who lived at the marina on a 54’ yacht.  They also had a speedboat, a 1960 Corvette and their own helicopter.  Last but not least, you could hire the British gentleman who had his own chauffeur-driven limousine and a 1930s classic speedster.  Private investigation must have paid very well in 1980s California.

In the early 2000s, a friend arranged a meeting for me with a private investigator he had recently hired.  I was so looking forward to finally meeting a real-life private eye.  I couldn’t stop thinking about the glamorous and intriguing cases of multi-million dollar jewelry heists, museum robberies and international corporate espionage this man must have worked.  I couldn’t wait to hear all the stories, and I also couldn’t wait to see his car.  I even began to wonder how I could become licensed and start my own P.I. firm.

At a small luncheonette in urban New Jersey, a few miles from the bridges and tunnels which lead into New York City, I met an older retired police detective who had started a one-member investigation agency as a second career.  We sat at a small table where I listened to stories of pending divorces and graphic detail of the social lives of cheating spouses.  There was no ocean-view office, no limousine and certainly no helicopter.  There was simply an older man with a police department pension making some extra money taking pictures of married men and women on dates with people they met at the gym. 

Another shattered myth of my 80s youth!