George Wilson slid his access card through the reader and entered the office. He walked past the rows of empty workstations and stopped at the desk of his assistant, Donna Blake. It was 6:30 in the morning and no one else had yet arrived. As was his routine, he asked for his messages and continued toward his office. Instead of entering his normal, tidy work area, he stumbled into a chaotic one where Mr. Wilson’s desk and chair were shoved up against the far wall with papers all over the floor. The safe was blown open and all its contents were missing; at least that’s the way George described it to me, Mike Murphy, the lead detective on the case.

When I first arrived at the office suite, I phoned George’s assistant, Donna Blake, to gain access. There was a card reader at the main entrance that prevented unwanted visitors; a turnstile allowed only one person to enter with each card swipe. After her corporate office had remotely disabled the security system, Ms. Blake met me at the door and escorted me back to Mr. Wilson’s office.