They were finishing the last of the morning coffee as Wheeler spoke up “There are property records I want to research, where do I have to go to get access?”
“What sort of records do you want?” Alice responded. She must be the one that runs the family books, Wheeler mused. “The only county office here in town is the Land Commissioner. They have copies of all the documents from the Recorder’s office.”
“As long as that includes the deeds, liens and loans, that is where I will have to start” he said with a resolve to take on a paper mountain if he had to.
“What is in the records that you want to know about?” Alice said, a bit confused by the whole conversation.
“If I knew that, I wouldn’t have to go searching now would I?” Wheeler chuckled as he delivered his plans in a passable imitation of Oliver Hardy. He left both Bob and Alice with blank stares and said “See you later” as he walked outside.
Wheeler found the office in town just where Bob said it would be and he arrived at 8:30 to give the staff time to get through their first coffee and settle down. He wanted to be as discreet and innocuous in his research as he could be.
“Good morning” Wheeler said to the young man with short sleeves and striped tie. “Could you show me the records north of town on route 35, please?”
The young man handed him a huge, thick book that had property records for the whole area surrounding the Keefer property. The fellow at the counter showed mild curiosity but made no comment.
There were title documents, property tax records, ownership documents and everything recorded concerning each property that went back more than 100 years. Fortunately for Wheeler each page had the property plot designator and his familiarity with parts manuals helped him scan pages in a blur. He was in his research zone where no sound or sense could break in, he could focus to the exclusion of everything except the task at hand. When he found the latest document concerning the Carter property and started reading more deliberately, he was able to pick up fine details that might be relevant later.