Death Penalty by William J. Coughlin Read Free Book Online

the blower first. I didn’t even get a chance to shout a warning. The damn thing blew up like the Fourth of July. Those old boats, they have a way of building up those gasoline fumes. It was a goddamn good thing the dock there was empty or they would have blown up everything within fifty feet.”
    â€œWere they killed?” I asked.
    Herb shook his head. “No way. God looks after drunks, otherwise you and I wouldn’t even be here, would we?”
    He finished the can, then, like a member of the Pistons, shot it into a far wastebasket. “The woman ended up about fifty feet out in the river. He landed in the water between two docks. They both looked like toasted marshmallows, although the doctors tell me the burns aren’t serious. The fucking boat no longer exists, just toothpicks mostly.”
    Herb sighed. “They were talking about suing me as the ambulance was taking them away.” He looked at me with those cloudy yellow eyes. “Can they?”
    â€œAnybody who has the filing fee can sue anyone else,” I said. “The question is, can they collect?”
    â€œCan they?”
    â€œAnybody besides you see him start the motor without hitting the blower?”
    He nodded. “Old Snodgrass. That guy is here more than I am. He sands that hull of his so much it’s paper thin. It’s his hobby. I think he really hates having to put the boat in the water. He just likes working on it. He says he saw it, same as me.”
    â€œYou didn’t give them gas, or service them in any way?”
    â€œJust let them tie up.”
    â€œDid you think they were so drunk they couldn’t handle a boat?”
    â€œNo. They had been drinking, that was obvious. But they seemed okay as far as running a car or a boat. At least, they did to me.”
    â€œHow about the people up at O’Hara’s?”
    â€œI called them. They say they looked all right. Of course, they would anyway. They don’t want to get sued either. Why?”
    â€œThe only way they can collect is to show you had some kind of duty toward them and neglected it, or you didsomething you shouldn’t have, something that caused the explosion.”
    â€œHe caused the explosion. Even a baboon knows enough to run the blower and disperse the gas fumes before hitting the ignition.”
    â€œThen, if everything is as you say, you have nothing to worry about.”
    â€œDo you think I’d lie?”
    â€œHey, we all color things to put a good light on ourselves. I do, Herb. You do. Lawyers know that, so we take everything with a grain of salt.”
    â€œNo wonder everybody hates you fuckers.”
    â€œYeah. But everybody loves us when they need us.”
    â€œThis guy is really pissed off. I think he’ll end up suing, even if he can’t win. You ever own a boat, Charley?”
    I smiled. “I owned a lot of things before I drank them away. A Rolls, even my own airplane. But never a boat. Why?”
    â€œIt’s different. It becomes like a religion with some people, the center of their lives. Like dope, I suppose.”
    â€œOr like booze?”
    He nodded. “Yeah, like that. They can’t think of anything else. I think the Wexler, even if he didn’t take good care of it, might have been like that to this guy. His whole damn world blew up on him. It doesn’t matter that it was his fault or that he was lucky to come out of it with a few hairs burned off, or that his wife will look like a walnut for a couple of weeks. The beautiful handcrafted Wexler is gone. He’s going to raise some hell.”
    â€œLet him. You have nothing to worry about.”
    â€œWe’ll see. Women, boats, no matter what, if you love something enough it makes you crazy.”
    I finished my soda and flipped the can. Only I missed. I walked over and stuffed it into the wastebasket.
    â€œYou going?”
    â€œI’ve got things to do.”
    â€œOkay. You owe me