Margaret looked at the row of documents. Each one represented a family. She knew some of those names. "The Hendersons," she said. "They left two winters ago. Told everyone it was Jim's health."
"Jim Henderson did not leave because of his health," Hart said flatly. "He left because Mercer claimed he owed $400 on a freight account, and Jim couldn't prove otherwise. The records had been adjusted."
The silence in the kitchen was the kind that has weight to it.
"How did Mercer keep this from becoming known?" Nathan asked.
"Isolation," Hart said. "He made sure each family believed their situation was unique and personal. They were ashamed of the debt, so they didn't talk about it. He also made it quietly understood that anyone who made trouble for him publicly would find their own credit and supply lines affected." He looked at Margaret. "Which is what happened to you."
"He cut me off from the town," she said. "I thought it was just spite because I wouldn't negotiate."
"It wasn't spite. It was containment. You were talking to people. You were asking questions. You were the only one of his targets who went looking through the ledgers instead of just trying to find cash to pay him off." Hart's sharp eyes settled on her with something that might have been approval. "That's why he escalated to public humiliation. He needed to isolate you completely before you found out there were others."
The realization moved through her like cold water. She had thought she was one woman fighting one corrupt man over one piece of land. She was standing at the center of something that had been destroying families in this valley for six years, and the only reason it was visible now was because she had refused to be quiet about it.
"The expedited review hearing," she said. "Eight days from now."
"That's our first problem," Hart said. "And yes, it's a serious one. If the judge grants expedited review before we can file our counter-documentation, Mercer gets the land under the appearance of legal process, and it becomes much harder to challenge afterward." He began sorting through his papers with practiced speed. "But I filed a motion to intervene this morning from Laramie, on the grounds that the debt in question is part of a broader pattern of documented fraud. The motion delays the hearing by at least ten days, pending the judge's review."
Margaret felt something loosen slightly in her chest. "That's enough time."