Steve Martini - The Simeon Chamber

THE SIMEON CHAMBEr by STEVE MARTINi Copyright 1988

by Steven Paul Martini, Inc.

BOOK JACKET INFORMATION iii THE SIMEON CHAMBEr

Chilling Provocative

Stunning. _Publishers Weekly Dont miss these bestselling legal thrillers by STEVE MARTINi PRIME WITNESs

RIVETING, YOU-ARE-THERE IMMEDIACY FIRST-RATE! Publishers Weekly Compelling Evidence

TRIAL WARFARE GOOD SUSPENSE TIGHTLY WRAPPED. John Grisham Steve Martini, a former trial attorney, has worked as a journalist and capital correspondent in the California State House in Sacramento. He has been engaged in both public and private practice of law, most recently as a state attorney in Sacramento. Martini lives on the West Coast. His bestselling novels include Compelling Evidence and Prime Witness.

THE SIMEON CHAMBER CAPTURES THE IMAGINATION A TANGLED WEB INVOLVING MILLIONS OF DOLLARS, FAKE IDENTITIES, AND MURDER STARTLING [AND] SKILLFUL! UPi John Grisham, bestselling author of The Firm, called Steve Martini one of the top three masters of legal suspense. In The Simeon Chamber, Martini delivers the unpredictable twists and turns that keep readers spellbound

THE SIMEON CHAMBER v

Lawyer Sam Bogardus thought it was a routine adoption case. His client believed her natural father had died years ago in a bizarre accident. But now, she has received a message that her father is still alive. The message is attached to four pages of an ancient journal that could be the key to a hidden fortune. And Sams investigation leads to a loved ones murder

What he uncovers is more shocking than greed or revenge. Its a web of conspiracy that spans four centuries

And its enough to make a lawyer take the law into his own hands.

KEEPS THE READER ENGROSSED A STUNNING FINALE!Publishers Weekly A FINE FOOT-TO-THE-FLOOr THRILLER! New York Daily News PHENOMENAL PRAISE FOr THE SIMEON CHAMBEr BY STEVE MARTINi

Intriguing chilling a fast read! Publishers Weekly The last payoff should knock some socks off!

New York Daily News

The reader is easily coaxed into turning page after page as events unfold to reveal several startling conclusions.UPi An impressive debut novel by a real-life attorney a startling revelation and climax that reverberate long after The Simeon Chamber is finished._Mystery News Thrilling a winner Martini demonstrates a confident hand and deft control of literary suspense a continuous chain of leads and puzzles that should keep any mystery thriller fan interested excellent, top-quality adventure.Sacramento Bee vii

Intriguing twists and turns!Orlando Sentinel A good yarn lively compelling. _Wichita Falls TimesstRecord News

Everything spirals to an exciting and very satisfying conclusion. There is even a delicious little twist on the final twist!Smyth County News (VA.)

Rousing!_Kirkus Reviews MORE PRAISE FOr STEVE MARTINi AND HIS BESTSELLING NOVELs

Martini writes with the agile, episodic style of a lawyer quick on his feet John Grisham, bestselling author of The Firm and The Client We unquestionably have a new literary lion in the fictional crime genre.Vincent Bugliosi The author reveals how the law really works. San Francisco Chronicle

Sheer storytelling professionalism!

Los Angeles Times PRIME WITNESs

Steve Martinis powerful novel of an attorneys desperate attempt to convict a serial murderer

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 COMPELLING EVIDENCE ix

The electrifying courtroom thriller that made Steve Martini a bestselling authorthe story of a lawyer defending his ex-lover for the murder of her husband

Not only do I write legal suspense, I thoroughly enjoy reading it The best debut, in my opinion, is Compelling Evidence by Steve Martini.John Grisham Superb truly on a level with Presumed Innocent. F. Lee Bailey A wonderfully crafted and clever courtroom thriller. Vincent Bugliosi What a trial! Absolutely thrilling. Clifford Irving A taut, tense tale that I simply could not put down. Dominick Dunne The trial excitement is pitched high packs a wallop! Publishers Weekly Riveting and compelling.Detroit Legal News Compelling Evidence will leave you dazzled. Edward Stewart

Thoroughly entertaining.Melvin Belli All that a courtroom drama should be

seamless, suspenseful New York Daily News Jove Books by Steve Martini xi COMPELLING EVIDENCe PRIME WITNESs THE SIMEON CHAMBEr This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of either the author or publisher. xiii __To the fathers, Ernie and Murray, in whose unqualified love I found the embers of inspiration.

AUTHORs NOTe

This novel is a work of fiction, as noted on page xii. There is no Simeon Chamber, no Committee of Acquisition. While a naval blimp did crash on a street in Daly City near San Francisco in August 1942, and while its crew has never been found, Raymond Slade, James Spencer, George Johnson and Louis Davies are the offspring of the authors imagination and bear no relationship to members of the actual crew or their families. While William Randolph Hearst is known to have been a consummate collector of art, there is no evidence that he ever defrauded or dealt knowingly or unknowingly in black market art. Francis Drake did sail the Pacific off of what is today San Francisco, and in the summer of 1579 he and his crew made camp for thirty-six days at a site the location of which is a matter of scientific and historic speculation. It is true that he called this place Nova Albion. It is also known that Drake maintained a detailed journal of his voyage around the world. That journal has never been xv

found and is presumed lost to history. ACKNOWLEDGMENTs

In writing this book I received the assistance and encouragement of many without whose support it would not have been possible. I am indebted to Murray Arnold, Keith Arnold and Dennis Higgins, who supplied the cornerstone of all creative endeavorshonest criticism. To Dr. Robert Anthony, M.D., Ph.D., Forensic Pathologist with the Sacramento County Coroners Office, I owe thanks for collaboration in the commission of an accurate fictional homicide. I would like to thank Sally L. Scott, Regional Interpretive Specialist, and Rita Nunes, Special Assistant to the Regional Director, California Department of Parks and Recreation, Hearst Castle, for their assistance in providing information and access to the Hearst San Simeon Historical Monument. I thank Victoria Blyth Hill, Senior Paper Conservator, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, for information in the preservation and identification of documentary artifacts. To the staff of the California State Library at Sacramento I owe thanks for assistance in locating xvii valuable research and resource materials.

To Donald I. Fine, George Wieser, and George Coleman I am indebted for their good grace, support and sponsorship of a first literary venture.

I thank my aunt Vivian Benedetti and my mother Rita Martini whose stories of the fated Ghost Blimp fixed firmly in my childs mind the lore of mystery and the seed of this story.

I owe unending gratitude to my wife Leah and my mother-in-law Betty for their tireless and selfless editing and encouragement.

And finally, but not least, I thank my 14-month-old daughter Meggie, whose sparkling eyes and infectious smile provided the ultimate discipline and resolve to finish this manuscript. SPM Auburn, California March, 1988 PROLOGUe APRIL 17, 1906 MARIN COUNTY, CALIFORNIa A slight smile spread between hollow cheeks under haunted gray eyes as Earl Huber considered the fact that he owed his good fortune to a cockroach. Hed named her Beauty, for shed never been bested in the nightly races that Huber presided over for amusement in his solitary cell.