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(C) 2003-2004 Career Education Corporation Online Education Group

Arson Scenario Details John Durham is a successful but demanding real estate developer who recently was able to convince local authority to rezone land scheduled to be the site of a major commercial center to residential property. The investors behind the commercial center were very upset by this and unsuccessfully sued Mr. Durham. Besides the investors, local environmentalists, who opposed any development of the area, also unsuccessfully sued to stop Mr. Durham’s project. Finally, Mr. Durham is a difficult employer to work for. He is obsessive and a perfectionist, and does not tolerate disagreement. Not a month goes by that he does not fire an employee: office managers, construction foremen, even individual construction workers he catches not working. As homes began to be built (as many as twenty at a time spread out over a five square mile area) in the new development, a serial arsonist has begun to target Mr. Durham’s project. A total of four homes (worth over $250,000 each, if they were completed) in the new development have been burned to the ground. The arsonist’s method is very simple: he (or she) uses lighter fluid as an accelerant to ignite building materials left at the individual construction sites. The fires have all been set at between 2:00 to 4:00 AM and so far no one has been hurt since the houses were unoccupied. The city has increased patrols in the area but so far has not even seen the arsonist. Mr. Durham’s insurance company has cancelled his coverage for the remainder of the development, meaning that any more losses will have to be paid for out of his own funds.