“Why is Dean in such a hurry to wrap up the probate by December 12?” I asked.

Vance didn’t answer right away.

He took a rectangular rubber stamp out of his coat pocket and pressed it into an ink pad sitting next to the ledger book.

“Because six years is the legal limit on probate claims,” Vance said.

“Once December 12 goes by, state law bars any living relative from challenging the property transfer.”

He lined the wooden handle up over the papers and brought it down hard.

Vance pressed a red audit flag onto the photocopied deed.