It was a sweltering afternoon in late summer, the kind where the heat clung to everything like a second skin. Alex had been hired to clean Carl's spacious suburban home while the family was away—or so he thought. Carl, a tall, broad-shouldered executive in his mid-40s, had just wrapped up a grueling month of business trips and endless work hours. His wife was off on her own conference, leaving the house empty. Or at least...