Americans are fascinated with fictional private investigators (PIs) from Jim Rockford to Veronica Mars -- and don't forget Magnum and Monk. But for actual PIs like Duane Williams '81, who owns and operates D&T Associates, working in the real world can be far less fast-paced and glamorous than what appears on TV.

"You'd see Jim Rockford get a call from a client, then jump into his Camaro and speed away to the case, but that's not how it is ... no, no, no," says Williams. As a private investigator, he sits down with the client, interviews them and then tells them about his retainer fees and charges, which depend on each individual's situation or case. "Sometimes I will spend two hours with a client at Starbucks and not get hired," he says.

There are numerous tasks that don't involve chase scenes either -- paperwork, background checks and maybe even some "dumpster diving," which Williams says is the professional term for looking through the trash for documentation. All this occurs long before any surveillance.

Not only is the work less glamorous, sometimes so are the clients. Because of that, Williams does background checks when he sees a red flag. Williams met with a potential client who wanted to locate an old girlfriend. After the interview, he asked for the man's full name, address, phone and Social Security number and said he would be back in touch. Turns out the man had been charged with beating his former girlfriend -- not a case Williams would take.

There are many misconceptions about PIs. First of all they don't always work with police officers to solve murder cases like Rockford or Monk. In fact, most don't do that at all unless they used to work for the police department, says Williams. You can work a cold case, but you won't get reimbursed or maybe even any credit for it. "As soon as you find a lead on a cold case," he says, "the cops take over and you are done."

Murder isn't on the top of the list for real PIs, but infidelity and missing person reports are a big part of the business. Williams doesn't do many run-of-the-mill divorce cases. "That's maybe 5 percent of my work," he says. Instead, he focuses on asset location and missing persons, which can be exciting and rewarding.

Surveillance is an important aspect of the job and there are standard tools of the trade -- cameras, recorders, laptop, rubber gloves and binoculars. Williams keeps these in the back of his inconspicuous Geo Tracker with its windows tinted to shade him from the hot Florida sun, but also to keep from being observed while conducting surveillances.

"Once you are in that car you cannot leave until you get the information, so you need to have your cameras, your food and maybe even an emergency box." There is no leaving the car, even when nature calls. "You can't miss your money shot while working surveillance," he says. "The only time you may break off surveillance is if the ‘target' becomes suspicious of your presence."

Investigators aren't the only ones tailing a lead however. According to Williams, women get followed an average of three times a month without even knowing it. "How often do you ever look out of your passenger-side mirror?" he asks. "That's the side I trail people on when traveling on a multi-lane highway."

He picks up these facts at conferences he attends with various professional groups. Living in Florida for the past two years, Williams was recently selected to serve on the board of directors of the Florida Association of Private Investigators as the West Area director. He also remains a member of the Military Intelligence Corps Association (MICA), an organization he joined while working as an Army counterintelligence (CI) officer.

Williams began his career in the military, serving eight years in the Navy before applying to college on the GI Bill. He started at Norfolk State University but transferred to William and Mary, where he really wanted to attend school. Active in ROTC, he worked as a store detective at Kmart, and eventually applied for his private investigator's license. At the College he was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity and was a walk-on for the football team.

When his ROTC instructor found out Williams had his PI license, he recommended that Williams enlist in military intelligence. He ended up serving another 18 years as an intelligence officer in the Army, where he met his wife, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Deborah L. Williams. After his military service, the family returned to Illinois and Williams earned a master's degree in business and organizational security management from Webster University in St. Louis, Mo. He and his wife now reside in Lithia, Fla. Their daughter, Tonya Williams '96, works in Yokosuka, Japan.

Some of the intelligence training that Williams received in the military has practical applications. For people concerned about identity theft or other personal safety issues, he has this advice: "Never buy a straight shredder. We would put those pieces of paper together in less than 20 minutes in the military." He recommends that people purchase crosscut shredders for their personal documents because "there is no telling who is snooping through your trash."

Williams loves his work. "I do this because I want to, not because I have to." Although he gets a great deal of satisfaction when a case is solved, there are some situations that can be awkward: "Let's just say sometimes you catch people in compromising situations when you're doing domestics." And that, unlike most of his cases, is something you might see on TV.