“She told me Walter lost his energy in his last years,” I said.

“She said he handed management of the estate over to her.”

“Victoria believed what Walter let her believe,” Vance said quietly.

He took a second folder out of the fireproof box.

This one was bound in blue buckram, with a gold seal from the Fairfax County Land Records Office fixed to the corner.

“Look at the recording date on page one,” he said.

I leaned over the mahogany desk and checked the stamped red ink.