BREAK-IN

The intruder scanned the hard drive for Wes Connors’s client’s files. They were grouped together in a folder in Microsoft Word. Each client had a profile, including their address, phone number and why they had sought out the services of a private investigator. Most were local clients but a handful were from out of state. Attached to the client profile was an accounting sheet with detailed expense reports, billable hours and dates. The intruder switched his approach when he saw that Connors kept exact dates on when he worked for each client. He searched the client files for any customers with August 2005 dates. The search produced three names. He perused each of the files and sent them to the printer. Then he closed each file, shut down the computer and shifted his attention to the filing cabinets.

They were locked but it took him seconds to pick the lock and slide them open, one drawer at a time. He flipped through the files, looking for hard copy on the three clients Wes Connors had been working for during August. He found a single file for each client. Receipts were neatly filed in the folders and when he opened the third one he knew he’d hit pay dirt. Gordon Buchanan’s file had a Visa receipt for an electronic ticket to Richmond dated August 31, just five days prior. And Connors had been in Richmond, poking into something that had ruffled some big feathers. The man replaced the files exactly as he had found them and quietly left the office, locking it behind him.

When he was on the street, two blocks away at his car, he made a phone call from his cell. “I think I’ve found what you want,” he said.