Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 14, 1995 TAG: 9502140108
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CHICAGO LENGTH: Medium
On the day lovers are tradition-bound to show their devotion, private investigators are kept busy with requests from people trying to find out if their spouses are spending Valentine's Day in somebody else's arms.
``Three businesses make money off Valentine's Day - retail stores, the flower industry and detectives,'' said Miami private detective Carlos Armenio Fernandez. ``To us, this is like Christmas.''
The first clues may turn up months before Valentine's Day - unusual phone calls, plans for an out-of-town trip, the purchase of an intimate gift the spouse never receives.
But it's the Valentine's Day rendezvous itself - whether it's a romantic dinner or a hotel-room tryst - that offers the chance to catch the unfaithful partner in the act.
Jim, a 27-year-old Chicago man, became suspicious of his wife a month before Valentine's Day last year when he found a receipt for a $700 man's watch. Problem was, he never got the watch.
When he offered to spend Valentine's night with his wife rather than work his overnight shift, she insisted that he work, saying she'd stay home and watch television.
Jim hired a private detective, who caught Jim's wife on videotape attending a play, having dinner with one of the actors and spending most of Valentine's night at the actor's home. The couple later divorced.
``I think I knew, but ... I needed proof,'' said Jim, who asked that his last name not be used. ``It just put my mind at ease.''
Rebecca, a 28-year-old Miami woman, became suspicious just before last Valentine's Day when her husband started buying clothes and getting bills for calls to unfamiliar numbers. Then her husband said he would be out of town on business on Valentine's Day.
He didn't leave town at all; a detective agency caught him on videotape snuggling with a younger woman as they entered a hotel room.
``I was even thinking of inviting the whole family, having them watch the video,'' Rebecca said. She filed for divorce instead.
Some clients want to tag along with the private investigator to catch their cheating mate in the act, but that's discouraged. Larry Mayer, president of Lawrence Investigations in Wilmette, Ill., said he checks his clients for weapons.
One woman insisted on confronting her fiance at a hotel near an airport, where he'd met a girlfriend who flew in from out of town, Mayer said.
``She knocked on the door, pretending to be room service. He opened the door, and she handed him two dead roses,'' Mayer said.
Another woman accompanied Mayer to find her husband in a compromising position with his mistress. She gave her husband a big kiss, wished him a Happy Valentine's Day and handed him a small package, which he opened to reveal ``one giant, dirty rat,'' Mayer recalled.
Fernandez said he doesn't feel like he's ruining relationships on Valentine's Day - or on any day, for that matter.
``Nobody likes to be deceived,'' he said. ``I feel like I'm helping them out.''
And if any of these detectives' mates gets suspicious, they should relax. Tuesday will be a long, hard day on the job.
``I'll be in my car with my video camera, cellular phone, tape recorder and computer database, juggling 12 cases,'' Fernandez said.
by CNB