The man turned around, pushing his wire-rimmed glasses up his nose.

“Are you Victoria Sterling?”

“I’m Avery Sterling,” I said.

“This is private property.”

“I’m an independent property appraiser contracted by Ridgefield National Bank,” he said, unclipping a pen from his jacket.

“We’re completing the final visual site assessment for the pending default file.”

“The bank sent someone to photograph the house?” I asked.

“We’ve been trying to do this assessment for five straight days,” the appraiser said, pointing his pen at the stone gatepost.