The search for CCTV footage was massive. The sheer volume of video meant the police would be overwhelmed, but it was perfect for my analytical team. We didn't look for the shooter; we looked for the victim's routine being broken.
After getting the company's info, we checked the CCTV footage near his office. It confirmed he was indeed involved in a critical resource plan—a project serious enough to warrant his secretive employment. The security footage showed he rarely came in, but the last recorded entry was the day before his death.
We confirmed that the off-camera CCTV footage inside the building from that day had been deliberately tainted—a professional job to cover up events inside.
I ordered my team to check the building's entry/exit logs and, more importantly, the parking lot footage. The truth often hides in the transitions.
The parking lot footage was clear. It showed the victim arguing fiercely with his CEO or another higher-up. The conversation was intense, lasting several minutes. The victim then got into his car and drove straight to his home.
A quick search of the victim's house found nothing unusual—no main object of interest. He hadn't hidden the key there.
We had a clear corporate dispute, but the motive remained money.
The true breakthrough came from a neighbor's low-angle CCTV footage from the next morning. The victim was seen leaving his home, parking near the main road, and carrying his suitcase.
One of my sharpest junior analysts spotted the detail and brought the paused screen to me. "Analyst, look at his stomach area. He's carrying something small."
The footage clearly showed a small bulge or pouch beneath his shirt, right where the four shots had clustered. It was exactly what was missing when his body was found. The cash was the decoy; the pouch was the target.
Suspicion confirmed: something sensitive was stolen, and it was the real reason he was killed.
The junior team detective, energized by the find, immediately traced the victim's movements on the day of his death. I instructed them to go beyond the parking lot and trace his ultimate plan: buses, trains, and possible flights and destinations.
The investigation took one and a half days of frantic work, but the result was clear: the victim was headed to the airport, planning to fly to Singapore to hide.
With this leverage, we located a contact close to the victim and brought him in for questioning. He quickly broke. He confirmed the victim was carrying a very important key.
"It wasn't his company's key," the man admitted, terrified. "But one that could destroy the company if mishandled. It was incredibly sensitive—he knew that possessing it made him a target."
The victim hadn't been selling the key; he was running away with it, using it as his own life insurance.
The case was no longer a murder; it was an international corporate extraction.