She asked Stott and her father to tell her everything, to hold back nothing.
She wanted to hear the worst.
Stott, therefore, started to review the whole affair from the beginning, explaining how her father in his capacity as Judge of the Supreme Court had to render decisions, several of which were adverse to the corporate interests of a number of rich men, and how since that time these powerful interests had used all their influence to get him put off the Bench.

He told her about the Transcontinental case and how the judge had got mysteriously tangled up in the Great Northern Mining Company, and of the scandalous newspaper rumours, followed by the news of the Congressional inquiry.

Then he told her about the panic in Wall Street, the sale of the house on Madison Avenue and the removal to Long Island.
"That is the situation," said Stott when he had finished.

"We are waiting now to see what the Senate will do.

We hope for the best.
It seems impossible that the Senate will condemn a man whose whole life is like an open book, but unfortunately the Senate is strongly Republican and the big interests are in complete control.
Unless support comes from some unexpected quarter we must be prepared for anything." Support from some unexpected quarter! Stott's closing words rang in Shirley's head.