Millionaire Cowboy Heard Them Laugh at Widow’s Old Dress—His Next Move Silenced Everyone
Chapter 4
The next day, Silas rode to the county courthouse.
Margaret stayed behind with Daniel.
Silas had spent years avoiding political disputes.
He paid his taxes.
He kept his cattle.
He settled disagreements quietly.
He had no interest in becoming a hero.
But as soon as he entered the records office, he understood why Voss was confident.
Three ledgers were missing.
The clerk claimed they had been damaged by water.
Silas knew that was a lie.
The room smelled of dust and ink.
He examined the shelves.
“Where are the land transfers from 1768 to 1774?”
The clerk shrugged.
“Some were lost.”
“All of them?”
“Most.”
Silas looked at him.
“That’s remarkable.”
The clerk avoided his eyes.
Silas placed a coin on the desk.
The clerk stared at it.
Then another coin.
Still nothing.
Silas took them back.
“I don’t pay men to tell me lies.”
He turned to leave.
The clerk whispered.
“Wait.”
Silas stopped.
The clerk closed the door.
“You shouldn’t be asking about those records.”
“Why?”
“Because everyone who has asked before you regretted it.”
Silas stared at him.
“Who?”
The clerk’s lips trembled.
“Thomas Hale.”
Silas’s expression hardened.
“What happened to him?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re lying.”
The clerk swallowed.
“He found something.”
“What?”
“A list.”
“What list?”
“Names.”
“Whose names?”
The clerk looked toward the window.
“Men who sold land twice.”
Silas understood.
Fraud.
Not just Margaret’s farm.
Perhaps dozens of farms.
Maybe hundreds.
The clerk whispered one more thing.
“Thomas Hale was going to expose them.”
Silas leaned closer.
“Who stopped him?”
The clerk said nothing.
Silas did not need an answer.
He already knew.
Edmund Voss.
