She touched the scar on Millie's cheek. "This woman has a fractured rib that is still healing. She has contusions on her arms consistent with being restrained. These are not the marks of a criminal. These are the marks of a victim.
The crowd shifted. People looked at their boots. The comfortable lies they had told themselves that Millie was trouble, that she was wild, were cracking under the weight of Clara's furious diagnosis. Judge Thaddius disappeared from the window. A moment later, the hotel doors opened and he walked out onto the steps.
Bring them here, the judge ordered. Sheriff Cable appeared from the side street, breathless and red-faced. Judge, this is a misunderstanding. These are dangerous fugitives. Bring them here, Sheriff.
The judge repeated, "Now. " They gathered on the wide stone steps of the hotel. The street was packed now. It was a courtroom without walls. Millie stood up. She shook off Clara's hand gently.
She stepped forward to face the judge. She was trembling, her dress muddy, her hair wild, but she did not look down. My name is Amaly Laru, she said. Her voice was thin, but it carried Silas Pritchard killed my godfather, Etienne. And when I refused to be his mistress, he destroyed my name so no one would believe me when I told the truth.
She looked at the crowd, meeting the eyes of the shopkeeper who had sneered at her. The women who had whispered, "I am not asking for your pity," she said. "I am asking you to look at what you allowed to happen. " The silence was absolute. Then a carriage clattered up the street. The door opened and Silas Pritchard stepped out.
He was a handsome man dressed in a fine wool coat with a silk cravat. He smiled, a smooth, practiced expression of confused amusement. "Judge Thaddius," Pritchard said, walking up the steps, "I must apologize for this spectacle. It seems my charity toward the Laroo family has been twisted by a disturbed young woman and her companion. " He gestured to Jonah with a dismissive wave. "This man is a drifter, judge, a predator who found a vulnerable girl alone in a cabin.
He has clearly manipulated her, filled her head with fantasies to extort money from me. It is a tragedy. Really? He looked at the crowd, his smile tightening. We should not be airing this filth in public.
Sheriff, arrest them. Prejudice was his shield. He offered the town a way out, a way to believe that the rich man was good and the poor man was bad. Jonah stepped forward. He reached into his coat.
The sheriff's hand went to his gun. Drop it. Jonah pulled out the metal tin. He pulled out the ledger. He did not speak to Pritchard.
He handed the ledger to the judge. Read the last entry. Jonah said. Pritchard's smile vanished. He recognized the book.