We waited until night to breach the penthouse, all curved glass with sweeping views of the water and city. Real estate in Vancouver was so crazy that I was convinced we were all suffering from Stockholm Syndrome, nodding our heads about what a good deal a shoebox ground floor suite with no view running upwards of half a million dollars was nowadays.

The tower was outfitted with a state of the art security system involving audio, video, a manned desk in the lobby, and regular sweeps ...