Frank jerked his arm away from his lawyer and turned his head toward the back exit.

“In addition,” Evelyn went on, laying Keith’s report beside the land abstract, “forensic examiner Keith Vance has submitted his sworn findings under rule forty-two.

The signature on the recorded deed shows three separate line breaks, which proves it was traced from an old tax receipt.”

Judge Harrison reached into his jacket pocket and took out a small magnifying lens.

He set Keith’s report flat next to the scanned signature page and brought the lens down to within two inches of the paper.

For two long minutes the only sound in Courtroom B was the ticking of the brass clock over the hallway door.