The next morning, Margaret returned with a building inspector and a contractor instead of touching the wall herself. Behind the loose bricks beside the fireplace, they found a narrow metal box wrapped in oilcloth. It did not contain stacks of cash. It contained something Dean Mercer needed almost as badly: the original 1924 property survey, several recorded easement documents, and a handwritten ledger belonging to Silas Wren. The papers showed that Parcel 17-B included a narrow access strip running behind the adjoining lots—the exact route Mercer Development planned to use for utilities and vehicle access to its proposed project. Buying the surrounding properties had never been enough. Dean needed Margaret’s parcel too.
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