Political corruption, abortion, and dead body discovered inside a trunk at Hudson depot.The summer of 1871 in New York City is hot and humid. The city is gripped by two seemingly separate events. The first is the discovery of a beautiful young woman’s body stuffed inside a trunk at the Hudson railway depot. The second involves Victor Fowler, grand sachem of Tammany Hall, and the “Boss” of what is popularly referred to as “The Ring.” This is a small clique that includes Governor “Dandy” Archibald Krupp, Fowler’s man at the state assembly in Albany; Mayor Thomas “The Prince” Emery, an opportunist of the worst variety; “Slimy” Bob James, the cunning and sly city comptroller; and Isaac “The Wizard” Harrison, the City Chamberlain, who is possibly the most treacherous of the “Ring Rascals.
