Lifting the lid on lives

When Alan Eadie retired as a senior officer, he still wanted to use his police skills in his second career.

He explains: “I gained experience in many policing areas. The fact that I was a fully trained crime analyst at one point in my career, and solved complex cases as a Fraud Squad detective in another, ensured that the actual executry research was a comfortable transition. My colleagues have similar diverse policing skills.”

However Eadie still finds that the best training of all was as a beat officer: the ability to speak to people, listen and get the best from them. He explains further: “In our work, we are out interviewing people all the time. If we can’t find someone by conventional means, we carry out door-to-door enquiries. Also, every street has a nosy neighbour, our perfect source.”

Family secrets

In one case, the executrix stated to the instructing solicitors that she was one of six beneficiaries to her late father’s estate. She had become estranged from a sister, whose whereabouts were unknown. Eadie was instructed to trace the missing sister. He relates: “I interviewed the executrix in person. Her body language however was really tense – she appeared evasive and I was convinced that she was hiding something.”

Some basic enquiries revealed that the missing sister might live nearby, therefore Eadie and his colleagues carried out local door-to-door enquiries, talked to shopkeepers, and even the postman. The missing sister was found within a matter of hours, only a few streets away from the executrix’s address. An interview with her however revealed that there was yet another, deceased sibling, the mother of four surviving children. Her identity had never been disclosed by the executrix.

Eadie comments: “Based on all the facts gathered, our investigation concluded that she deliberately withheld information about these family members. I have fortunately never dealt with such deceit, before or since.”

Hidden past

Another example of the “police” approach to tracing is the case of an American born man, based in Nairn, who had taken British citizenship. He worked in the oil industry abroad, where he died intestate with no known family. Friends employed a firm of solicitors to conclude the estate, and they, in turn, instructed Eadie.

It was apparent that the deceased was someone who wanted a new beginning when he came to Scotland. His friends knew nothing about his past life in America. Eadie recalls: “We needed to dig deeper. Fortunately one colleague is a retired police search specialist. We went together to Nairn.”

The deceased was between addresses at the time of his death, so all of his belongings were stored in a large old air-raid shelter in grounds belonging to a friend. On a cold wet winter’s day, Eadie and his colleague searched every inch of that building.

Hours later they emerged with just a small piece of paper with a woman’s name and an American address on it. Further research showed this to be a deceased cousin. However, it was the breakthrough that led to a large, complex investigation. Later, after much research, four half-siblings were traced, spread across the United States.

“These beneficiaries would never have been found if we hadn’t carried out that search,” says Eadie.

He concludes: “We are a locally based firm, not a branch office, using fully trained former police personnel. With a high percentage rate of solving, clients are pleased with our results, but at the end of the day it’s all down to the training, really.”