They had built a fortress of forged paper around the theft.

Julian’s confidence, in that moment, was not misplaced arrogance.

It was, in its way, an accurate reading of how these crimes usually end, and that is the most chilling part.

He was right that a great many people, seeing a registered deed and a notarized signature, would simply give up, would conclude that the paper was too strong to fight, would pay the debt or lose the house rather than take on the long, expensive, uncertain battle of proving a forgery in court.

He was right that the police, called to a scene like this, would very often see a property dispute and decline to make it a criminal matter.