Mahmoud al-Mabhouh Assassination: The New York City Connection

On Tuesday, Feb. 23, a sturdy and completely bald Israeli named Yuval Tal was in Las Vegas' Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, where the nightly entertainment includes the Chippendales and Penn & Teller.

Mr. Tal, behind a microphone in a blazer and open-collar shirt, was one of five international visionaries, as the brochure for the 2010 Prepaid Expo called them, who had been gathered together for an afternoon panel talk on the state of prepaid cards around the world. The conference, with a keynote address a day earlier from Bill Clinton, who got a standing ovation for a speech titled "Embracing Our Common Humanity," cost $1,795 per person.

Two days later, Mr. Tal would be at the center of one of the globe's juiciest international intrigues.

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