Chapter 15 - The Trial of Thomas Hail
The courthouse could not hold everyone.
People stood outside the windows to hear the testimony.
Edwin acted as special prosecutor.
The judge was one of the names listed in the ledger.
Miriam objected before the first witness spoke.
The judge threatened to remove her.
Edwin presented the ledger as proof that Elias and Thomas stole land while blaming Silas Vale.
Thomas’s name appeared beside several payments.
The signatures looked exact.
Thomas said they were forged.
The judge called him a grieving liar.
Dr. Pike testified that both Annie and James died during childbirth.
He reversed his confession.
Clara stared at him from the gallery.
Pike would not meet her eyes.
Jacob was brought in as a witness against Thomas.
Edwin expected him to deny the Hail connection.
Instead Jacob placed Annie’s birthday letters on the table.
He described the hidden room, Ruth’s adoption agreement, and the photograph.
Edwin asked whether Jacob considered Thomas his father.
Jacob looked at Thomas.
“No.”
The courtroom murmured.
Thomas lowered his eyes.
Jacob continued.
“But whether I forgive him is irrelevant.”
“He did not abandon me.”
“You stole me from him.”
Edwin’s control slipped for the first time.
He accused Jacob of murdering Ruth.
Miriam produced the red clay from Edwin’s boots and matched it to the mine road.
Edwin said he owned the mine and had every right to visit.
Then Clara called Mrs. Doyle.
She testified about Elias’s payments to poisoned families.
One by one, others stood in the crowd and confirmed the same story.
The judge ordered them removed.
Pete locked the courthouse doors from the inside.
“No one leaves until the truth does,” he said.
Edwin demanded Sheriff Doyle arrest him.
Doyle drew his pistol.
But he pointed it at Edwin.
“My mother told me what your father did,” he said.
Edwin smiled.
“And you think confession saves you?”
A shot rang out.
Doyle collapsed.
Dr. Pike held a smoking revolver.
He looked at Thomas.
“I lied once to save my daughters.”
He turned the gun toward Edwin.
“I will not lie again to save myself.”
Before Pike could testify, the courthouse windows shattered.
Armed men surrounded the building.
Edwin leaned close to Thomas.
“The trial is over.”
May you like
“Now Millfield burns.”
