Millionaire Cowboy Heard Them Laugh at Widow’s Old Dress—His Next Move Silenced Everyone
Chapter 10
The next week, a letter arrived from Philadelphia.
The original county ledger had been found.
It was being held by a merchant who had inherited it from his father.
Silas prepared to leave immediately.
Margaret insisted on going.
“No.”
“I need to see the ledger.”
“It’s dangerous.”
“So is staying here.”
Silas looked at her.
She was right.
They traveled with four armed men.
The journey took several days.
At an inn along the road, they discovered Voss’s men had arrived before them.
Silas changed their route.
They reached Philadelphia at dawn.
The merchant produced the ledger.
Margaret turned the pages.
There it was.
Her husband’s name.
The legal purchase.
The original witnesses.
Everything.
But another page caught Silas’s eye.
It listed dozens of properties.
Many had been transferred illegally.
Some belonged to widows.
Some to families who had died.
Others to men who had disappeared.
Margaret whispered:
“This is bigger than my farm.”
Silas nodded.
“It’s the whole scheme.”
Then the merchant spoke.
“There is one more thing.”
He removed a sealed envelope.
“This was found inside the ledger.”
Silas opened it.
The handwriting was Thomas’s.
The final paragraph read:
If Edmund Voss is ever exposed, do not trust the men who claim they knew nothing.
One of them will be the first to offer you help.
Silas read the line twice.
Then he understood.
The person who had helped them obtain the ledger was standing in the next room.
Their own banker.
