Mara told me to write down the conversation while it was fresh and not call him back.

Later that day she received an email from Grafton offering to dismiss the case if I signed over a narrow strip of land near the road for an unspecified access easement.

The strip ran along the eastern edge of Walter’s property.

I knew it: a patch of rocky pasture with a stand of birch trees.

It looked worthless on its own.

Mara obtained a survey and recent planning submissions.