The Private Detective was hired by Mary Cole to locate her son Jude Appleton after he left Weatherfield in disgrace in October 2018, eventually draining the joint bank account he had with estranged wife Angie. The detective had been in touch with Mary by text one day in January 2019 and they'd arranged a meeting at 3 Coronation Street. The detective told Mary that he'd tracked Jude's social media account to an internet cafe in Blackpool and was certain he was also staying at a B&B in the area - although he commented that Jude had a habit of moving around a lot. Having decided to go to Blackpool immediately, the detective issued Mary with his report, which contained address details of the B&B, along with an expensive bill for his work. Mary however, told him that the work was worth every penny.