She laid it flat on a wooden reading stand and turned the thick yellowed pages with slow, practiced fingers.

“Here’s the county property tax ledger for December 2012,” Clara said, pointing to a column of handwritten black ink entries stamped with red county seals.

“The payment for parcel 412 cleared on the fifteenth.”

“Who paid it?” I asked.

“It didn’t come from a personal check,” Clara said.

“The ledger shows an official escrow transfer from a city trust account.”

“Whose trust account?” I asked.