I took out the county land records deed drawn up twelve years earlier, right after Arthur died.

The heavy gold-embossed county seal was stamped squarely in the lower left corner of the thick cream paper.

I unfolded the second page and read the legal description, line by line, under the yellow light.

The document said in plain words that the title was conveyed to Leah Miller, her heirs and assigns forever, in fee simple.

The county recorder’s stamp on the back page showed the official filing date as October 14, 2012.

My father, Richard Miller, wasn’t named anywhere on the title record.