Compelling Evidence

A short-lived affair with his boss's wife, Talia, costs defense attorney Paul Madriani his wife and his job, but he gets a second chance when Talia, accused of her husband's murder, asks Paul to defend her. Reprint.

PRAISE FOR THE NOVELS OF

STEVE MARTINI

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THE JUDGE

“A TENSE AND GRITTY COURTROOM DRAMA.”

—San Francisco Chronicle

“RIVETING … SUSPENSEFUL … Legal thrillers don’t get much better than this.”

—Publishers Weekly

UNDUE INFLUENCE

“THE COURTROOM NOVEL OF THE YEAR … virtually nonstop courtroom pyrotechnics … a dazzling climax.”

—Kirkus Reviews

“A COMPLEX, RIVETING TALE and nitty-gritty courtroom drama.”

—Entertainment Weekly

“THE ACTION BUILDS TO A ROUSING CLIMAX through a brilliant series of trial scenes with several surprises.”

—Publishers Weekly

“FILLED WITH SURPRISES AND TWISTS … supremely readable.”

—Library Journal

“A FULL-SPEED-AHEAD READ.”

—Seattle Post-Intelligencer

“FANS OF COURTROOM DRAMA will love Martini’s protagonist … and this complex tale of intrigue and murder.”

—USA Today

COMPELLING EVIDENCE

“SUPERB … truly on a level with Presumed Innocent.”

—F. Lee Bailey

“PACKS A WALLOP!’

—Publishers Weekly

“BY FAR THE BEST of the genre that I’ve ever seen … Absolutely thrilling.”

—Clifford Irving

“ALL THAT A COURTROOM DRAMA SHOULD BE … seamless, suspenseful.”

—New York Daily News

“ENGROSSING!’

—Entertainment Weekly

“ONE OF THE BEST COURTROOM DRAMAS this reviewer has seen in years.”

—The Sacramento Bee

PRIME WITNESS

“RIVETING, YOU-ARE-THERE IMMEDIACY … ingenious … nail-biting … fascinating … first-rate … Prime is indeed the word for this involving read!”

—Publishers Weekly

“THE TRIAL BEGINS and Martini rolls up his sleeves to do what he does best … packs a satisfying punch.”

—Kirkus Reviews

THE SIMEON CHAMBER

“CHILLING … PROVOCATIVE … STUNNING.”

—Publishers Weekly

“A FINE FOOT-TO-THE-FLOOR THRILLER!’

—New York Daily News

“INTRIGUING TWISTS AND TURNS.”

—The Orlando Sentinel

“THRILLING … a winner … Martini demonstrates a confident hand and deft control of literary suspense … excellent, top-quality adventure.”

—The Sacramento Bee

Titles by Steve Martini

THE LIST

THE JUDGE

UNDUE INFLUENCE

PRIME WITNESS

COMPELLING EVIDENCE

THE SIMEON CHAMBER

Compelling
Evidence

Steve Martini

If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as ‘unsold and destroyed’ to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this ‘stripped book.

This is a work of fiction. The characters and events described in this book are imaginary, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

To Leah, whose love and inspiration guided the writing of this book

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

In the writing of this work, I received the assistance and encouragement of many, without whose support it would never have been possible. I owe much thanks and deep gratitude first to my wife, Leah, who during the long months of writing was ever at my side, listening with a critical ear and reading with a deft eye the story that became this novel.

To Marc Berg, a former prosecutor and skilled defense attorney in Auburn, California, for his keen lawyer’s eye and insight into the dynamics of criminal law.

To Robert E. Garbutt and Ken Mack, criminalists with the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Crime Lab, for their incisive advice and expertise in the labyrinth that is criminal forensics.

To Sergeant Kent Armbright, warden’s administrative assistant, San Quentin State Prison, for a chilling and up-close glimpse of the state’s death house, and his perceptive insights into the uncertain and confined cosmos of daily life in an overcrowded and understaffed prison.

To Providence, for the good fortune of placing me with a publisher of the quality and repute of Putnam.

To Phyllis Grann, my publisher, for her enthusiastic support and unflagging optimism.

To George Coleman, my editor, and one of the inveterate ‘rainmakers’ of the publishing world, for his encouragement during difficult times.

To John Hawkins, my agent, whose skill in negotiations and adroit sense of business guided me through perilous waters on repeated occasions.

To Jeff Marschner, a former California prosecutor, supervisor, and coworker as a state attorney, for his advice and encouragement.

To the state attorneys and staff in the legal office of the California Department of Consumer Affairs, for their interest and support in the progress of this story.

To Rita Martini, Betty Arnold, Keith and Jo Arnold, and Dave Krizman, for their critical eye and unvarnished honesty in the early reading of manuscripts.

To all of these and to others whom I may have omitted to mention here, I owe grateful thanks for advice and insights that have allowed me to craft a work of seeming truth. For any failings that a reader may find in this regard, I am solely responsible.

This is the first of punishments, that no guilty man is acquitted if judged by himself.

—JUVENAL, ROMAN POET

AND SATIRIST                

CHAPTER

1

FROM somewhere behind the scenes the lights in the chamber are turned on.

Dreyers nudges me. ‘Looks like the $64,000 Challenge,” he says. This is low, directed to me, but others hear it. A little comic relief. There’s a titter of laughter from behind us, up on the risers. Johnston and the other guard don’t laugh.

Dreyers whispers, lower now, under his breath, to me only. “Pretty soon they’ll pop the question.”

I look at him.

“For $64,000—how long can you hold your breath?’ He gives me a little sideways wink. I can hear some giggling on the other side of Dreyers. Another cop, one of his buddies.

Bad taste, I think. But as I study the scene, he’s right. Now this room with its cupola-like top, lit on the inside like some Macy’s store window, does not resemble anything so much as one of the glittering, cheesy booths from a sixties TV quiz show.

A lone guard enters the room through a door on the other side of the chamber. Muffled cries, intonations of a desperate low moan are clearly audible as the door is closed.

Now each calculated procedure is a step closer to death for the man waiting on the other side of that door. In quick, measured movements the guard lowers two sets of green venetian blinds, covering windows on the other side of the chamber. These will mask the execution team as they open the valves and throw the lever to release the lethal gas.

Then I see them, the size of two softballs. Granules of sodium cyanide, like fine baking powder, a pound each, have been tied and molded into a round form. They are held in two pieces of cheesecloth and fastened to a device over the vat under each chair. These deadly chemical...