Entertaining radio feature by Radio Bielefeld about the detective profession. With Patrick Kurtz of Kurtz Detective Agency Bielefeld, after a conversation with Timo Teichler. Below: transcript + audio.

"Sherlock Holmes in Bielefeld"

Host: "You’re like a real little inspector to me. A typical Tatort watcher: 'I know who did it after five minutes!' The way you sit here in the studio looking out the window and watching people ..."

Timo Teichler: “Well, as a kid I really loved playing detective and, as you said, I love crime stories and spying along."

Host: "I can see you sitting in a café, newspaper in front of your face with two holes cut out. We wanted to find out how the pros do it. And I was surprised that we actually have pros — that is, private detectives — right here in Bielefeld. Among them the thirty-year-old Patrick Kurtz. In Bielefeld, he averages two cases a month. They’re usually about: Is my partner cheating on me? Is someone calling in sick who really isn’t? Or: Is something being stolen in the company?"

How private detectives work

Patrick Kurtz: “A detective’s daily routine is very seat-focused. You have to bring a lot of patience and stamina. If you have to stare at a door for 17 hours straight without anyone ever coming out, that’s quite a test.”

Timo Teichler: “Basic equipment includes a car, a phone, a good camera — sometimes disguised as a watch or glasses — and you also can’t go without this:”

Patrick Kurtz: “If you have long stationary observations, you have to come up with something to do with the urine that eventually builds up. I definitely wouldn’t recommend drinking from Punica bottles, because they’re very well suited for that purpose.”

Timo Teichler: “Above all, it’s important not to get caught while spying. Helpful for that: a change of clothes.”

Patrick Kurtz: “Glasses, hats are always good, especially a different jacket. If you wear a completely different jacket, that already makes a huge difference. I even went so far once as to put on a mask. A really realistic-looking mask — not up close, of course, but from a distance of 10 to 15 meters you can’t tell it’s a mask. I basically turned myself into an old man.”

Of clients and methods

Timo Teichler: “Old man, young woman, celebrities, former national football players — Patrick’s clients are very diverse. A classic, of course, is a case of infidelity. Keyword: hotel room.”

Patrick Kurtz: “We don’t put our ear to the door, but if the moaning inside the room is loud enough, that’s obviously a clue we can hear and that goes into our report.”

Timo Teichler: “And some reports deal with theft in companies.”

Patrick Kurtz: “Then we’re planted inside and make contact with employees, integrate ourselves into the team, to find out who the black sheep is among the staff.”

Host: “And what he’s found out about those black sheep — you can hear all that this afternoon with us, or right now at radiobielefeld.de.”

Case report: Infidelity surveillance in the Netherlands

Female host: “In movies, they sit in shabby offices, there’s fog on the floor from all the cigarette smoke, and when they head out, it’s with dark sunglasses and hats pulled low. That’s at least my movie image of a detective.

But they do exist in real life. Here in our city, for example, Patrick Kurtz works as a detective — and far beyond city limits. And a classic assignment: the wife hires Patrick to prove the husband’s infidelity.”

An unusually close encounter with the target person

Patrick Kurtz: “The surveillance went all the way to the Netherlands, where he was basically on vacation with his intern. It was a mix of a vacation with his intern and meetings with clients. During that trip, he felt extremely safe.

We had a hotel room directly above his and often sat at the same tables with him in the restaurant, saw him around the city because, of course, we were following him — and he even walked right past us again. We handled it very casually, because we knew under our cover story — we’re tourists on holiday at the same hotel — it was completely inconspicuous. It went so far that he actually recognized us, we greeted him — quite openly — he greeted us back, and we got all the information we needed from him.

Greeting the target person is definitely unusual. The target has to feel very secure that they’re not being watched. And of course, you also have to be fairly skillful as an investigator to make that possible. But sometimes it is possible to make direct contact with the target person and in that way obtain the evidence you need.”

Cheated on by her husband – and thrilled about it!

Patrick Kurtz: “The woman’s reaction was very interesting: she was absolutely delighted that we proved his infidelity. Normally our clients are rather shocked when that comes out — that their partner is cheating. In this case, not at all. She was thrilled that she could throw the evidence in his face.”

Female host: “Detective happy, client happy, job done, bad luck for the husband. Patrick has also spied on celebrities. How that went down, you’ll hear later this afternoon right here with me. Radio Bielefeld — always in tune with the city, every day, all day long.”

Infidelity case of Kurtz Detective Agency involving a celebrity target

Female host: “Patrick Kurtz is 30 years old, from Bielefeld, and works as a detective. I always picture them with big sunglasses, a raised collar, and a hat pulled down low — and there’s actually something to that, as Patrick told us. Patrick is hired, for example, to prove a husband’s infidelity or to find out who’s stealing from the company. And yes, celebrities have also been among his clients.”

Patrick Kurtz: “A tricky story, because the person involved was what I’d call a B-list celebrity. Not someone everyone knows, but many do — and anyone would recognize his face. We were supposed to follow him, and the job came from another B-list celebrity of roughly the same level of fame.”

Celebrity visits Thai brothel

Patrick Kurtz: “At first, nothing much happened. He was at some TV studios, and we followed him. Then he eventually went into a private residence and didn’t come out for quite a while. While the investigator was sitting outside watching the house to see when he’d leave, he checked online whether that address might be linked to prostitution. And sure enough — it was a Thai brothel.

Here’s how it went: the woman who had probably serviced him stuck her head out the door, looked left and right, checking whether anyone was on the street who might recognize him. And when the coast seemed clear — she didn’t know the investigator was sitting in a car nearby — he came running out and took off. That was exactly what the client wanted to know — on behalf of the wife.”

Curious web of people

Patrick Kurtz: “In the end, it turned out that the wife of this B-list celebrity had hired the other B-list celebrity to hire us to follow her husband. So when I see him on TV now, I can’t help but think my own thoughts.”

Female host: “Oh dear, oh dear. Wild stories that Bielefeld detective Patrick Kurtz has already experienced — and keeps experiencing. Of course, not all of them here in town; he works far beyond the city limits. You can find all the info about Patrick and his cases at radiobielefeld.de.”

Kurtz Detective Agency Bielefeld | Germany

Queen Plaza

Herforder Straße 69

D-33602 Bielefeld

Tel.: +49 521 2567 0055

E-Mail: kontakt@kurtz-detektei-bielefeld.de

Web: https://www.kurtz-detektei-bielefeld.de/en

Google: https://g.page/kurtz-detektei-bielefeld