Chapter 18 - The Prosecutor Who Was Bought
Henry Vale disappeared before investigators reached his office.
His younger brother Peter, one of Gault’s hired men, refused to speak.
Gault remained jailed temporarily, but his attorneys attacked the case.
Bell’s corruption.
Vale’s corruption.
Reeve’s corruption.
The defense argued the entire investigation was poisoned.
Clara Hastings arrived from San Francisco three days later.
Forty-four.
Gray traveling dress.
No patience.
She entered the Florence courthouse carrying two cases of documents.
“Which one is Caden Roark?”
Caden raised a hand.
She looked at the fading scar beneath his shirt.
“You are harder to kill than the reports suggested.”
“Nice to meet you too.”
Hastings worked for a joint federal land and Justice Department inquiry.
More importantly, she carried something nobody in Arizona expected.
A certified copy of Caleb Roark’s original affidavit.
Caden stared at his father’s signature.
Backward-slanting R.
Authentic.
“Where?”
“Washington.”
“How?”
“Misfiled under a territorial survey number.”
Bell closed his eyes.
“Three years.”
Hastings nodded.
“A clerk found it after the Gault investigation was reopened.”
Caden read.
His father admitted wrongdoing.
Named Gault.
Named Bell.
Named Harlan Voss.
Named several officials.
Named Silas’s later involvement.
Cleared Caden of knowing participation.
Then one paragraph hit both brothers.
I taught Silas that obedience was loyalty and Caden that departure was betrayal. I harmed both sons by making my approval more important than their judgment.
Silas sat down.
Caden could not speak.
Mara read the line over his shoulder.
“Your father knew.”
“Yes.”
“Late.”
“Yes.”
“But knew.”
Caden nodded.
Hastings continued.
“Caleb also mailed a schedule of original records.”
“Arroyo Seco station.”
“Yes.”
“We recovered them.”
“Then the federal case survives Vale?”
“If chain of custody holds.”
Bell said, “It will.”
Hastings gave him a hard look.
“You are under investigation too.”
“I know.”
“Do not mistake cooperation for immunity.”
“I don’t.”
Caden appreciated that.
No hero treatment.
No easy redemption.
Hastings questioned everyone separately for two days.
Caden learned how much everyone had hidden.
Miles had altered bookkeeping entries to conceal some families’ debts after realizing Gault was using them to seize property.
Illegal.
Compassionate.
Still illegal.
Mae had copied Gault’s master ledger for years but only acted when Gault threatened the Roark ranch.
Self-interest before courage.
Silas had warned some settlers privately while publicly helping Gault.
Bell had spent years gathering evidence partly because he feared prosecution.
Mara had withheld Nantan’s papers from government officials because she believed any office tied to Bell might destroy them.
Everyone had motives mixed with fear.
Hastings seemed pleased.
“People with perfect stories are usually lying.”
Caden smiled.
“That should be on a courthouse.”
She did not smile back.
The strongest new evidence came from Gault’s bank records.
Hastings had obtained partial copies in San Francisco.
Payments to Vale.
Reeve.
Surveyors.
Cutter.
Mercer.
Pike.
Peter Vale.
But one account was missing.
Miles recognized the abbreviation.
P.C.B.
“Prescott Commercial Bank.”
Hastings looked at him.
“Certain?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Gault used it for money he did not want in Tucson.”
“How much?”
“Could be tens of thousands.”
If they found it, the account could connect Gault directly to the hired men and Reeve.
But bank records required legal process.
Hastings obtained an order.
Before it could be served, Miles vanished.
His boarding room was torn apart.
Blood on the stairs.
No body.
Caden saw the scene.
His stomach tightened.
Bell crouched beside the blood.
“Not enough for fatal wound.”
“Hoping?”
“Judging.”
Mara examined the window.
“Two men.”
“How?”
“Boot marks.”
Silas found a broken red beard hair caught on wood.
Cutter.
Caden’s hand moved toward his revolver.
Mara noticed.
“No hunting alone.”
“I wasn’t—”
“Yes.”
Hastings entered carrying a note found downstairs.
GAULT PAYS TEN THOUSAND OR DANNER DIES.
Bell frowned.
“Gault is in custody.”
Silas understood.
“Cutter knows about hidden money.”
Hastings nodded.
“And Miles knows where.”
Caden looked toward the street.
For the first time, Cutter was not working for Gault.
He was working against him.
The conspiracy was eating itself.
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That made Cutter unpredictable.
And Miles Danner was somewhere in the middle of it.
