Voices From Within (Book 2)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Twenty-Nine

News Spreads to Harrisburg

Mr. Willoughby, the Senator's aide, left Carlisle before sunrise on Thursday morning. Giles and Bentley the two carriage drivers of  Senator Randolph were more than ready to leave Carlisle after days of sitting around the carriage house.

The wind had died down from the two-day winter storm. The road was bare in spots where the wind had blown across, and other places had six inches finger drifts of snow. It made breaking the trail difficult, with a full day's ride to Harrisburg ahead of them

Mrs. Randolph needed to know how her husband and daughter were and Mr. Hillsborough, the senator's lawyer, was needed to sort out the troubles the Senator and his staff had gotten into in the small town of Carlisle, thought Mr. Willoughby as he sat in the carriage alone.

It was around three o'clock when he walked into the lawyer's office. Once the door closed, Mr. Willoughby told the entire story to the Mr. Hillsborough. The large chested man sat in his chair and listened with disbelief.

"How is Miss Randolph? Is she safe?"

"Yes, she is staying with the Thanturnam family."

"Does Mrs. Randolph know?"

"No, sir. I came straight to your office."

Then, Mr. Willoughby handed him the list of charges from Sheriff Davis, concerning the senator and his staff. Mr. Willoughby answered questions as Mr. Hillsborough questioned the charges.

"If Mr. Albright confessed to the kidnapping, I can't help him. Has he pressed charges on the man who assaulted him?"

"Young Mr. Thanturnam was able to extract the information of Miss Randolph's whereabouts, quite convincingly, I must say. It wasn't until Mr. Albright confessed to killing his German Shepherd that the man beat the hell out of him."

"I see Mr. Thanturnam filed charges for the murder of Ivan Polansky."

"Yes, but Mr. Albright sang like a canary and told the sheriff the senator killed the old man, but it was an accident. Mr. Polansky was protecting the German Shepherd, and the Senator hit him on the head with a fireplace poker. They panicked and left him for dead."

Then Mr. Willoughby explained the evidence that had been recovered. The lawyer knew the evidence was damning, and a judge and/or jury would find the senator guilty of second degree murder.

"What are these extortion charges by Mr. Berman?"

"Senator Randolph wrote Mr. Berman a government check which was returned to the bank with insufficient funds, making the check worthless. Also, Mr. Albright and Mr. Armstrong had threatened the man and his wife, burnt their hog shed until the man agreed to sell his property."

"Cattle rustling? Marvin has gone too far this time. I can no longer defend his actions. I have tried to keep him on the legal side of the law for too long, and he continues to cross the line of decency with his schemes," said the lawyer. "And Mr. Willoughby, I suggest you provide testimony to the senator's involvement to help lessen the charges that will be placed on the staff."

"About the staff. The senator hasn't paid us this week, and I have got a family to care for."

The large man left his chair with a grumble. He pulled out the senator's file and look at the list of staff members on the payroll.

"Let's see. Mr. Armstrong, Mr. Baldwin, and yourself, plus Mr. Albright, who is incarcerated, therefore, forfeiting his salary.Then there are the carriage drivers Giles Wellington and Bentley Franklin.