Shop's gadgets equip pro and amateur spies

Looking to do a little spying on that good-for-nothing spouse of yours? How about a global positioning system that attaches to a car and reports the driver's every move? Or maybe you want to keep an eye on the nanny.

There's always the camera in a lamp, or a teddy bear or a clock radio.

Or just living out some James Bond fantasy? There's the Zippo-like cigarette lighter that snaps photos, or the sword masquerading as a cane, or the $1,000 night vision goggles for the hardcore fanatic.

"We get customers from eight to 80," said David Currier, owner of Reno's Scotland Yard Ltd.

- the Reno store known as the spy shop.

Eight? Well, there's also pepper gum, the world's worst tasting toothpicks and sour peanuts.

"We get a lot of girls who want to see what the boyfriend is doing, and boys who want to know what girlfriend is up to," says Currier.

He says the store also attracts parents hoping to monitor their teenagers, homeowners looking to protect their property and most of the area's 30 or so private investigators, of which Currier is one.

Currier still works occasionally as a PI, for Mike Gach & Associates, but the shop, which he bought two and a half years ago, takes up most of his time.

Before that, Currier worked for 10 years as police officer in Fernley, where he lives.

He's also owned a martial arts school, and holds a third degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

Last month Currier moved Scotland Yard from Wells Avenue to a building he bought on South Virginia Street near Vassar Street.

Now it's next door to Hippie's Bead Shop, a small grocer and an attorney's office.

"And there's 2,350 square feet upstairs," for lease, he says.

The shop sells everything from sunglasses that provide a view behind you to high-tech listening devices that enable the wearer to hear conversations 200 yards away.

There's also bullet-proof vests and gas masks.

"We sold a lot of those right after 9/11," said Currier, pointing to a pair of rubber headgear that looks as if they were used at the battle of Verdun in World War I.

Books with titles such as "Advanced Fugitive: Running, Hiding, Surviving and Thriving Forever," and "Good-bye April 15th," are mixed in among the gadgetry.

And shoppers come in with ideas for new products.

"A customer last week said 'Have you heard about a laser listening device?'" said Currier.

He hadn't, but he did some research on the Internet and found it - for $40,000.

The shop's web site - www.thespyshop.

com has brought in customers from all over, although Currier says the majority are still local buyers.

He said he gets the occasional oddball who thinks the shop is not quite aboveboard.

"This is still under investigation so I can't say too much, but I had one guy come in who wanted to sell me the blueprints to a government building," said Currier.

Everything the shop carries, said Currier, is legal, although someone could use some products for illegal purposes, such as the car-tracking, GPS device that is illegal if placed on any but the owner's automobile.

Currier says he tries to weed out the potential lawbreakers and send them out the door empty-handed.

Most, though, try to get by him.

"I'm a former cop, though," said Currier.

"You can't lie to me."