The Northbrook land was fourteen acres of pine and ledge out on the western point, past the old lighthouse, where the Grant family had built a summer cottage in 1934 and where nobody had lived since Ellis's grandmother died. I had seen it once, from a distance, on a drive with Ellis in our first spring. He had told me the family would never sell it. He had said it the way people say things that are also a threat.
On Monday morning I went to the town assessor's office and asked for the parcel records. The clerk was a young woman with a nose ring who had no idea who I was and no reason to protect anyone.
Grant Real Estate owned the land, according to the records. Assessed value, 6.2 million. Last assessed 2019. And there, in the deed history from 2016, was a name I recognized: Northbrook T
