Learn Turkish: Borçlu izini kaybettirmiş olmalı. - The debtor must have covered his tracks.

Adding the causative -tir changes "to lose" into "to cause to lose." The idiom izini kaybettirmek literally means "to cause others to lose his track." In English, we translate this intentional action as "to cover his tracks" or "to disappear."

How does -miş olmalı work together here?

This structure is used for strong deductions about the past. While -meli on its own expresses obligation ("he must do it"), combining the past suffix -miş with olmalı ("must be") translates to "must have done." Therefore, kaybettirmiş olmalı means "must have covered."

Can we break down the suffixes on izini?

Absolutely. The root is iz (track or trace). First, we add the third-person possessive -i to get izi (his track). Because it is the definite direct object of the verb, we must also add the accusative case suffix -i. Turkish requires the buffer letter -n- between a possessive suffix and a case marker, giving us izini.

Would the sentence make sense if we just used izini kaybetmiş olmalı without the causative suffix?

It would make grammatical sense but change the meaning completely. Without the causative, izini kaybetmiş olmalı implies that the debtor accidentally lost his own way or lost track of a trail himself. The causative is essential here to show he deliberately hid his trail from others.