Death Watch

Deathwatch by Robb White (1972).

As a persuasive business man, Madec had sufficient connections to make the necessary arrangements to receive a rare bighorn hunting permit.  Madec liked to be referred to as a successful hunter.  To make certain he came home from his hunt with a prize, Madec hires a guide, Ben, a desert wise idealistic 22-year-old college student, to lead him to the bighorn.

After 3 days of scouring the jagged mountain cliffs for bighorn, Madec accidentally shoots an old prospector.  Madec wants Ben to hush-hush the incident, being that Madec had his reputation to protect, businesses to manage and he didn’t care for the inconvenience of an investigation or jail. The honest thing to do, Ben proclaimed, was to report the shot as “an accident.”   But, Madec had other ideas!! Ben stubbornly refused to comply with Madec’s version. Madec gave Ben an ultimatum, Madec could kill Ben then and there, or, in the spirit of the hunt, Ben could make an escape!   The adrenalin rushes as Ben scrambles barefoot across the scorching desert without water, food or clothes to the nearest road 45 miles away. To make matters worse, Madec assures Ben that he would be watching Ben’s every move, through the high powered scope on his rifle.

Barely escaping the death grip of the desert and the bullets from Madec’s rifle, Ben limps back to town.  Upon his return, Ben's story sounds farfetched.  Even though Ben discredits Madec by pointing out the loopholes in Madec’s story, no one believes Ben.  In the end, the final proof that Madec's story had to be a lie came from Dr. Saunders, the local doctor, who produces the sling shot that Madec had “tossed” before the trial.  After the sling shot was introduced into evidence, no one at the small town hearing believed Madec's high powered lawyers. The investigation was reopened, and the new evidence proves that Ben is not-guilty. When given the opportunity to charge Madec with aggravated assault, Ben replies “……"