‘I’m a private investigator – unlikely household item proved husband was cheating’

In a revelation no one could have predicted, a bathroom item managed to expose a husband’s affair. But Paul Jones, a private investigator, explains how small clues can reveal partners in the act

For most people, finding out their partner is cheating doesn’t usually start with a dodgy text or snooping through a phone – it starts with a shift in behaviour. Maybe they’re staying out later, suddenly putting in more effort, or picking up new habits. That’s when the gut feeling kicks in.

But Paul Jones, a private investigator at ARF Investigators, revealed a surprising household item that once proved infidelity – and it’s not what you’d expect.

“Quite often we won’t catch our partner in the act so to speak, it often comes in small clues such as spending more time at work, picking up a new hobby or taking more pride in their appearance, but one thing many of us may miss is for every action we take, often data is being tracked,” he said.

In this case, the data came from a toothbrush. Paul worked with a client who became suspicious of her husband after noticing unusual times he’d brush his teeth. She had installed a smart electric toothbrush app to help encourage their kids to brush properly but the app also tracked every session for the whole family.

“Over time, the client noticed their partner’s brushing history was being logged at odd times, times when they were supposedly at work,” Paul explained. At first, it didn’t seem like much, brushing late in the morning on Fridays didn’t raise immediate red flags.

But the pattern was clear. Every week, same time. Same question: how could he be brushing his teeth at home if he was meant to be at work?

“The client couldn’t work out why the app was showing that the husband was brushing his teeth later in the morning on a Friday when he should have been in work,” Paul said. The truth is he hadn’t worked Fridays in three months.

“And in that time he had started an affair with a work colleague and used to have her over the family home on a Friday when the wife and kids were out of the house,” he added. We tend to think cheating is exposed through texts or emails, but smart devices like toothbrushes, voice assistants and more can quietly hold the truth.

“The data doesn’t lie,” Paul adds. “It’s timestamped, often location-based, and emotionless. When a device says someone brushed their teeth at 10:48 am when they were supposed to start work at 9 am that’s very hard to explain away.”

While snooping through phones isn’t recommended, Paul, who has over a decade of experience uncovering infidelity, says if something feels off, don’t just check the obvious. “The tiniest digital clues can become the key to revealing the full picture, even in something as innocent as a toothbrush,” he added.