Tracks of a Thief — Joseph James

The man known as Clark Durbin worked for the Comstock National Bank as a consultant in computer programming for over a year. Durbin was described as approximately 65 years old, had a full head of gray hair and a full beard that was also gray. He was approximately six foot tall and was overweight. He had a cheerful demeanor and sparkling blue eyes-the type of individual one was inclined to instinctively trust. This was of course a disguise. He was actually 48 years old, five foot eleven inches tall, weighed 170 pounds, had brown hair, brown eyes, was clean shaven, and his name was not Mark Durbin. After the fraudulent transfer of fifty million dollars to a numbered account in Zurich, Durbin disappeared, leaving no tracks.

Jeremiah Jones, a private investigator with a reputation for finding people who don't want to be found, was contracted by the bank to recover the money and find the thief. The thief's ability to make himself seemingly invisible challenged Jeremiah's tracking skills. Tracking is done in the mind as much or more than by following physical or electronic tracks, which in this case were few. After some misdirection, false trails, and bad assumptions, Jeremiah, at a considerable personal risk, successfully located the money and returned it to the bank. However, identifying the thief proved to be even more challenging.