Beryl Markham was a 20th Century female adventurer and one of the first pilots to fly solo and non-stop across the Atlantic (she did it from east to west against prevailing winds). Markham also knew how to turn a phrase. “The way to find a needle in a haystack,” she once said, “is to sit down.”

When it comes to conducting corruption investigations, we would do well to heed her advice—as a warning.