For twenty-five years, an elusive thief has been burglarizing estates along the East Coast of the United States. Michael Savage was seventeen when he made the decision to become a career criminal in order to satisfy a desire for material possessions. Now retired after a lifetime of crime, and living in obscurity in the historical town of Lexington, Massachusetts, his world is about to come apart. Fresh out of the FBI training academy, Katherine Anderson has been given the assignment to solve this decades-old mystery on orders of the Director of the FBI, who has a personal vendetta against the thief. With the help of Senior FBI Archivist, Mary Morgan, Kate painstakingly seeks out each clue that will eventually lead her to uncover his identity. In her quest to bring him to justice, she finds herself in a clash of wills with one of America's most wanted criminals. During the investigation, her life will change forever. She will learn that being a successful thief is only one of the attributes of the man they call the Leopard. Caught in this web of deception is Elizabeth Moreartti, the thief's first love, reunited with him after two decades by a chance encounter.