The county clerk's office held the old land records.
If Edward had attempted to claim part of the ranch, there would be documents somewhere.
Samuel intended to find them.
The county clerk, a thin man named Arthur Bell, remembered Samuel from the cattle auctions and greeted him with a cautious smile.
“Looking for a deed?”
“An option agreement involving the eastern portion of the Whitaker ranch. It would have been filed between fourteen and six years ago.”
Arthur frowned.
“That is a narrow search.”
“It's an important one.”
Arthur disappeared into the records room.
Samuel waited beside the desk, studying the framed map of the county on the wall.
The eastern parcel was marked in pale green. A creek wound through it, separating the upper meadow from the lower pasture.
His father had always considered the water rights more valuable than the timber.
Edward had considered them an opportunity.
After twenty minutes, Arthur returned with a stack of papers.
“I found a reference to an option agreement, but the original filing was withdrawn.”
“By whom?”
“Edward Whitaker's attorney.”
“Was the withdrawal documented?”
Arthur nodded.
He opened a file and pointed to a signed statement.
The document stated that the option had been abandoned because the seller had not provided sufficient evidence of authority to transfer the property.
Samuel read the wording.
Then he noticed a second signature beneath the attorney's name.
Thomas Whitaker.
He stared at it.
“Why did my brother sign this?”
Arthur adjusted his spectacles.
“According to the note, he was acting as a witness to the withdrawal.”
Samuel read the note again.
It was dated two days before Edward's death.
Thomas had been involved in the land dispute long after the medical lie had been established.
Perhaps he had tried to correct the damage.
Perhaps he had been protecting himself.
Perhaps he had been helping Edward until the very end.
Samuel could not yet know.
“Is there anything else?”
Arthur hesitated.
“There was another document attached to the file. It was returned to the attorney because it was not properly executed.”
He removed a folded sheet from the back of the folder.
Samuel opened it.
The document was a proposed transfer of the eastern parcel to a timber company. It contained a description of the land, the proposed purchase price, and a signature attributed to Joseph Whitaker.
Samuel felt his hands go cold.
The signature looked almost exactly like his father's.
Almost.
But the final stroke of the surname was too long, and the capital W had been formed differently.
Samuel had watched his father sign thousands of documents. He knew his handwriting as well as he knew his own.