“That stamp number expired in February.

The commission had already been closed.”

I twisted my wedding ring around my thumb and forced myself to stop.

“So the deed was witnessed using a dead stamp.”

“Witnessed, dated, and recorded in the county books.” He jotted a number in the corner of the pad and turned it toward me.

“Four thousand dollars for the retainer.

I need the certified copy from the recorder before Friday.”

I wrote the check out of my own savings and tore it off slowly.