Auditors on the trail of $1.04 million at the heart of the active civil case involving former Warren County Circuit Clerk Shelly Ashley-Palmertree could be zeroing in on a four-bedroom house near the arc of a circular cul-de-sac in Canton.

Street-level maps online show 114 Fairchild Cove in the Bradshaw Ridge subdivision to be modest compared to mini-mansions that surround it. The address surfaced in something much bigger than the brown double-doors that lead to the living room — documents presented to Warren County supervisors by the Office of the State Auditor in May showed the ousted ex-clerk had declared residence there for the purposes of sending at least one of her two school-age daughters to school in Madison County. That and a lease-purchase agreement between she and the residence’s owners convinced the county board to declare the clerk’s office vacant and appoint a replacement.

With Palmertree, 44, headed to jail for five years for embezzling $12,000 from her office’s holding accounts, seizing the house might become central to collecting questioned funds at the heart of the case in Hinds County Chancery Court.

State Auditor Stacey Pickering told reporters following a closed session with the county board Monday the clerk “had bonds, personal property, retirement and other assets” that might be taken by the state and repaid to the county, provided both entities get a favorable ruling out of Chancellor Dewayne Thomas. The drawn-out legal affair began in March 2013 when Palmertree sued Pickering and the county over a list of demand letters issued to her for five years worth of questionable financial activity. Pickering countersued a month later and involved CNA Surety, the company that had bonded Palmertree. The worldwide insurer has retained its own lawyer in the matter and has essentially resisted any liability to the county.

When asked how the insurer’s doggedness to minimize its own exposure and Palmertree’s sentencing earlier in the day in the separate criminal case could affect the civil case, Pickering showed a glint in his eye and referred to the 40-minute session with supervisors, who closed the meeting citing the active litigation.

“We’re in negotiations on that right now,” Pickering said.

At issue in the civil case is whether Palmertree owes $671,751.75 in excessive salary and questionable subcontractor payments to her father and predecessor in office, Larry Ashley, between 2006 and 2011. Interest and investigative costs push that to $1.04 million, according to Pickering. The Attorney General’s Office, which prosecuted the criminal case and is pursuing the money in the civil case on behalf of Pickering, and county supervisors have asked the court to amend the case to include another $156,500 to the tab, which covers questioned payments of the same type during 2012. Thomas has not ruled on the motion, filed in June.

Arguments in that case are expected to pick up again in January after two rounds of testimony and mediation since last December have failed to produce a judgment from Thomas.

The $12,000 at issue in the criminal case is to be paid back as restitution to the county, but won’t count toward any successful civil verdict for Pickering and county supervisors. As a result, county officials they won’t be able to collect the money if they win the civil case.

The four-bedroom house investigators told supervisors in May they staked out is still listed for sale for $229,900, according to hotpads.com, a real estate listing website. An agent shown with the listing said Monday the dwelling is still on the market, but is under contract. A black Lexus SUV mentioned by investigators in May when Palmertree’s office was vacated could be another target of collection.

Palmertree reports to Sheriff Martin Pace Oct. 15, whereby she is to start her sentence in a facility to be determined by the Mississippi Department of Corrections.

Palmertree’s successor, interim clerk Greg Peltz, faces four opponents in a special election Nov. 4 alongside other races on the ballot that day. The opposition includes former school board member Jan Hyland Daigre, former Vicksburg police officer Robert Donohue, Department of Human Services supervisor A. Sharonda Taylor and Warren County Democratic Executive Committee chair John Shorter.