Chapter 3 - The Surveyor Has Been Here Before
I waited until Wade and Lorraine left.
The survey truck did not.
A man in an orange vest stood near the gate studying a tablet.
I walked down the gravel road.
“Can I help you?”
He introduced himself as Evan Price.
Licensed surveyor.
Hired by Mercer Family Holdings.
“When?”
He hesitated.
“Originally?”
That word stopped me.
“Yes.”
“About five weeks ago.”
Garrett had been alive five weeks ago.
I kept my voice neutral.
“Who hired you?”
“Wade Mercer.”
“What were you asked to survey?”
Evan looked uncomfortable.
“The eastern forty acres and access corridor.”
“Did my husband know?”
“I assumed he did.”
“Did you speak to him?”
“No.”
That answer mattered.
Evan explained that Wade provided an old parcel map claiming the eastern
section remained part of a family trust.
But the county GIS records did not match the map cleanly.
So Evan requested title documents.
Wade told him updated papers were coming.
They never did.
“Were you here three days ago?”
“No.”
“Anyone from your company?”
“No.”
The red-clay tire tracks behind my shed belonged to someone else.
Before leaving, Evan gave me his business card.
Then he said:
“Mrs. Mercer, I probably shouldn’t speculate.”
“Then don’t.”
He nodded.
“But you should pull the 2018 boundary survey.”
My heart thudded.
“Why?”
“Because the monument locations I found don’t match the map Mr. Mercer
gave me.”
I thanked him.
May you like
Back inside, I opened Garrett’s filing cabinet.
The 2018 survey was gone.
