Seven months had passed since the title company transferred eighty-five thousand dollars from my home sale into Mark’s main bank account.

That was two hundred and thirteen days of waiting for a co-ownership deed that had never arrived.

“What’s the address for that public database?” I asked, pulling a ballpoint pen from my purse.

Martha took a clean yellow napkin from the chrome dispenser on the counter and wrote out eight words in precise cursive.

“It’s free to search,” Martha said, sliding the napkin across the Formica to my side of the table.

“You just type in the parcel number or the owner’s last name.”