Death Penalty

OUTSTANDING PRAISE FOR
WILLIAM J. COUGHLIN AND HIS NOVELS

DEATH PENALTY

“A superb book, rich in the elements that make for a wonderful read.
Death Penalty
is the best of [Coughlin's] novels. . .a remarkable legacy . . . the most enjoyable book I've read all year.”

—
The Detroit News

“Bravo! Coughlin brilliantly captures the corruption of the legal system by human error and greed. Thought-provoking and timely.”

—
Library Journal

“A wily, likeable tale.”

—
Time

“Coughlin delivers another thoughtful, brisk-paced and fully satisfying legal mystery.”

—
Publishers Weekly

“Readers who enjoyed Scott Turow's
Presumed Innocent
are likely to enjoy this fast-paced novel. Will not fail to please connoisseurs of legal fiction.”

—
American Bar Association Journal

PROOF OF INTENT

“A solid legal thriller that will delight the late Coughlin's fans who've wondered what happened to Charley and what's still happening in picturesque Pickeral Point. Long may the franchise wave!”

—Amazon.com

“Walter Sorrells is bringing new life to the Charley Sloan series that was successful in the eighties and nineties.”

—
I Love a Mystery
newsletter

“Sorrells takes one of the more endearing fictional lawyers from the 1980s and early 1990s, the late Coughlin's Charley Sloan, and puts him back in court with the same clever, bombastic style that Coughlin perfected in a string of successful Sloan novels.”

—
Publishers Weekly

“Mr. Sorrells has done an excellent job of staying true to the character . . . the courtroom scenes particularly are a study of excellence.”

—
Harriet's Book Reviews

SHADOW OF A DOUBT

“Coughlin's spellbinding grasp of the courtroom held me on the edge of my seat until the last page.”

—William J. Caunitz

“Lucid, emotionally demanding. The courtroom action soars and plummets its way to the most unexpected denouement since
Witness for the Prosecution.”

—
Publishers Weekly

“A legal must-read.”

—
The Detroit News

IN THE PRESENCE OF ENEMIES

“A taut legal thriller. . .Coughlin knows his stuff.”

—
Playboy

“Satisfying and right on target. . .Among Coughlin's best.”

—
Detroit News

“Taut drama and great courtroom action. . .fans will love it.”

—
Library Journal

“Coughlin keeps you burning the midnight oil to the very end.”

—
Kirkus Reviews

“A convincing legal thriller.”

—
Publishers Weekly

THE JUDGMENT

“Vintage Coughlin. Sharp, tight, and full of suspense.”

—Scott Turow

“William Coughlin, with the engraver's finest awl, has created another legal thriller filled with the aching human frailties that are hidden in all of us. Masterfully, he intersects his characters into one thunderous conflict after another until Charley Sloan, the lawyer with the threadbare heart, is the last man standing. If you don't have enough time to finish
The Judgment
, don't start it.”

—Paul Lindsay, author of
Freedom to Kill

“Finely wrought characterizations and a practiced novelist's respect for the way in which unanticipated tragedy can bring on moments of quiet insight.”

—
Kirkus Reviews

THE STALKING MAN

“All the pieces come together in a chilling climax to this tightly knit shocker.”

—
Publishers Weekly

“Horrifying. . .intense. This is one to keep you sitting up straight.”

—
Chicago Tribune

“Good storytelling. . .jackhammer drive. . .the climax is gripping.”

—
The Detroit

ALSO BY
WILLIAM J. COUGHLIN

Shadow of a Doubt
The Judgment
The Heart of Justice
In the Presence of Enemies
Death Penalty
Her Honor
Her Father's Daughter
The Twelve Apostles
No More Dreams
Day of Wrath
The Stalking Man
The Grinding Mill
The Destruction Committee
The Dividend Was Death
The Widow Wondered Why

This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogues are products of the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

DEATH PENALTY

Copyright © 1992 by Ruth Coughlin.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information address St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

ISBN: 0-312-93357-6
EAN: 80312-93357-9

Printed in the United States of America

Harper Collins
Publishers
hardcover edition published in 1992
Harper Paperbacks edition / September 1993
St. Martin's Paperbacks edition / November 2004

St. Martin's Paperbacks are published by St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For Ruth Bridget

Sometimes I like my clients, sometimes I don't. I try to convince myself that I do an adequate job either way. But sometimes I wonder. I wasn't fond of Miles Stewart, M.D., whom I had just defended in the Wayne County Circuit Court. We were in a courtroom located high up in the towering City-County Building, a governmental sky-scraper overlooking the sports-minded City of Detroit. Detroiters love all sports, especially contact sports, like mayhem. Here mayhem has been raised to a contest of Olympic proportions. Mayhem is a sport where scorekeeping is easy. Corpses, number of stitches, or artful location of bullet wounds count for points, but you truly win only if you survive. Lately, in Detroit, there had been a lot of losers.

Stewart, who had been reading a medical journal, put it down and walked to where I was sitting. His steps echoed in the nearly empty courtroom.

“They've been out a very long time,” he said. “I presume that's a good sign.”

“You never really know,” I replied. “Juries tend to take murder cases somewhat seriously. Even in Detroit. It's been a long trial, and this is only the second day of deliberations. But common wisdom does say that the longer a jury is out the better it is for the defendant.”

“I have a difficult time thinking of myself that way, as the defendant.”

I studied him for a moment, wondering if at last he might be exhibiting some sign of human vulnerability. He had maintained an icy cool throughout the trial, almost a detachment. Although I had kept him off the witness stand, I knew the jurors had watched him. They had eyes. They had seen the obvious arrogance.

Dr. Stewart was tall, well over six feet, and athletically lean. He was almost sixty, but looked forty. His silky ginger hair, groomed as carefully as a television anchorman's, held no trace of gray. His alabaster skin was smooth and unwrinkled. His features would have been pleasant if it weren't for his eyes. They were two little green stones, cold and without emotion. He seldom blinked. The total effect suggested a reptilian quality.

“Do you still think I'll be convicted?” He smiled, but as usual the expression was more imperious than friendly.

“We'll see. Maybe we'll get lucky. You never know.”

“And if not, if we're not lucky, what happens then?”

“It's all been arranged, Doctor. This is a front-page case, so there will be quite a fuss no matter which way it goes. Should the jury come back with a verdict of guilty, you'll be taken into custody, handcuffs and all, chiefly for the benefit of the photographers. The court officers will hold you in an office behind the courtroom for an hour and then you'll be released. The judge has agreed to continue bail.”

“Does this sort of thing happen often?”

“What?”

“Where both sides come together like this to orchestrate a theatrical charade for the benefit of the great unwashed.” The words held the suggestion of a sneer. His reptilian eyes watched for a reaction. “Or is this how the legal system really works?”