If it were true that Ryder controlled the Senate as he controlled everything else her father was doomed.

No, they must find some other way.
And long after the judge and Stott had left for the city Shirley sat alone on the porch engrossed in thought, taxing her brain to find some way out of the darkness.

And when presently her mother and aunt returned they found her still sitting there, silent and preoccupied.

If they only had those two letters, she thought.

They alone might save her father.