But my father had died three years ago.

The date next to the signature said April 2 of this year.

I took out my phone and snapped a picture of the screen, then another of the microfilm reference number.

The librarian at the desk raised an eyebrow at the shutter sound, and I mouthed an apology.

“Who was it that filed this deed?” I asked her.

She squinted at the screen.

“It says here the notary witness was Patricia Whitcomb.”