Theo answered the phone and quietly placed it on speaker. Craig admitted that Bonnie had searched through Frances’s desk before the funeral and removed several folders containing what she believed were the only copies of the property papers. He insisted he had learned about it only that morning and wanted Delia warned before anything else happened. Theo listened without interruption before giving a calm reply. The deed transferring ownership had been properly recorded with the county years earlier. Removing papers from a desk could never erase a recorded title. Legally, the home still belonged to Delia alone, exactly as Frances had intended.

That afternoon Theo filed the required notices and arranged for deputies to supervise Delia’s return home. By evening, every lock Bonnie had changed had been replaced under the authority of the legal owner. As Delia prepared to leave the office, Theo noticed a sealed packet inside Frances’s legal file. “She instructed me to open this only if someone ever tried to take your home.”