John Picard emerged from behind the giant sandstone walls, and the assembled throng took note. It was time for the owner of Hanna Estate Services to perform the ceremony of the numbers.
At that time, 8 a.m. Saturday, more than a hundred had signed the clipboard to order themselves for entry into the estate sale at historic Stonecroft Manor.
But at 4 a.m., there was just one: John Stem…