“A lien inquiry,” Douglas said, pinning the edge of the pink paper down with his thumb.

“Filed four days ago, on January sixteenth.

Somebody asked for a full title search on your home address.”

“Who started the search?” I asked.

“A commercial lending desk in downtown Columbus,” Douglas said.

“It goes along with an application for a second mortgage of one hundred eighty-five thousand dollars.”

The black figures ran across the registry line in sharp computer print.

My thumb tapped my index finger three times against my hip.