Proven Guilty

Proven Guilty

Proven Guilty
Author	Jim Butcher
Cover artist	Christian McGrath
Language	English
Series	The Dresden Files
Genre	Fantasy/Mystery
Publisher	Roc Hardcover
Publication date	May 2, 2006
Publication place	United States
Published in English	May 2, 2006
Media type	Hardcover
Pages	406
ISBN	045146155X
Preceded by	Dead Beat
Followed by	White Night

Proven Guilty is the 8th book in The Dresden Files, Jim Butcher's continuing series about wizard detective Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden. Proven Guilty had a release date of May 2, 2006.

Harry Dresden has spent years being watched and suspected by the White Council's Wardens. But now he is a Warden, and it sucks more than he thought... So when movie monsters start coming to life on his watch, it's officially up to him to put them back where they came from. Only this time, his client is the White Council, and his investigation cannot fail -- no matter who falls under suspicion, no matter the cost.

The cover art by illustrator Christian McGrath depicts Harry on a street corner with his glowing staff. On Butcher's website, the first 3 chapters may be previewed.

Plot summary

The story starts with Harry Dresden present at a meeting of the White Council, angrily watching the execution of a sixteen year old Cambodian boy, condemned as a warlock for repeatedly violating the Laws of Magic, of which he was unaware. Ebenezar McCoy asks Harry to help the White Council with something "off the record". McCoy asks Harry to search out why the Summer and Winter Courts of Faerie have not attacked the Red Court of vampires, and passes along a request from The Gatekeeper to search out the use of black magic in Chicago. Afterward, Harry is struck by a car on his way home and requires the assistance of Lt. Karrin Murphy. Murphy takes Harry to his apartment after a brief discussion of the accident. At his apartment, Harry calls up Fix, the Summer Knight, so they can arrange a meeting to talk with the Summer Court.

Harry heads down to his sub-basement to talk to Bob and check on his project: Little Chicago, a scale-model of Chicago Harry has built to assist his magic. As Harry is preparing a ritual to use Little Chicago, he is, interrupted by Molly Carpenter (eldest daughter of Michael Carpenter) apparently in police custody and in need of help. Harry heads to the police station, becoming aware that he is being tailed. After arriving he learns Molly wants him to bail out her boyfriend, Nelson. Harry learns that Nelson was arrested for an assault which he says he had not committed.

Upon taking Molly home, Harry is confronted by an angry Charity who turns her ire alternately between Harry (whom she despises as a continuing source of danger and instability to her family) and Molly (who continues to rebel against the strictures of her parents' Catholic upbringing). It is revealed to Harry that Molly has quit school and moved out of her parents' home, having even been arrested for drug possession. Michael Carpenter, devoted father, husband and Knight of the Cross, pleads with Harry to convince Charity and Molly to settle their differences so that their family can be whole again. Harry agrees, albeit reluctantly.

Molly leaves with Harry to SplatterCon!!!, a horror movie convention, where the assault happened. There he meets Rawlings, an off-duty cop who is moonlighting security for the con and guarding the crime scene. Harry uses his Sight in order to track down any clues to the attacker's identity. When he finishes, the power goes out all over the con. Rawlings and Harry move towards a movie threater that is being attacked by the Reaper, a monster from the movie, who has taken down three people and about to kill a fourth. Rawlings shoots the monster but it is unaffected and Harry finishes it off with magic. When everything is clear Molly comes up to them and realizes that one of her friends has been attacked, and at least one victim is dead. Detective Greene, head of Homicide, asks Harry what happened but doesn't believe Harry's story. Murphy saves him from Greene and takes him back home.

The next day Murphy takes Harry to the hospital where the victims were taken. He first visits Molly's friend and uses his Sight to look at her and notices that she has been psychically attacked. He also notices two holes at the sides of her head but can't explain what they are. He then visits Pell, Nelson's "victim", who tells them that he was attacked by Hammerhands (another horror movie monster). Harry realizes that the things that attacked the people are phobophages: beings that feed off fear.

Harry hurries off to make his meeting with Fix, the Summer Knight, at McAnally's Pub. Fix brings along Lily, the Summer Lady. Harry wants to know why the Faerie Courts have not retaliated against the Red Court for their trespassing, and learns that Titania, the Summer Queen, has forbidden the rest of Summer from helping him because diverting forces to fight the vampires would weaken them against Winter. Since Mab has not decided to attack the Red Court, and Winter and Summer must move together, Summer can do nothing. Having no further info, Harry convinces Lily to call Maeve, the Winter Lady. After a bit of grandstanding and idle threats on Maeve's part, Harry convinces her to tell them why Mab has refused to retaliate against the Reds. Maeve informs them that Mab has forbidden it and that she fears that Mab might be succumbing to madness, which would be disastrous not only for Faerie, but for the mortal world as well.

Harry returns to the convention, and makes a kind of magical web so that he can at least detect when the monsters are going to appear again. Harry then sees someone walking down the hall and feels that there is something amiss about him. Murphy comes down and talks to him who says his name is Darby Crane. Harry feels tension from Crane. Then Crane's lawyer comes and tells them to leave him alone. Murphy and Harry leave for the room they got for the night when one of Molly's friend comes tell them that Greene is questioning her. Harry tells her to call two numbers while he goes and deals with Greene.

As Harry is going to deal with Greene he meets a reporter to help him out and asks her to wait for signal to act. When he gets there he sees that Greene is with Rick, Murphy's ex-husband, and both of them are frocefully questioning Molly, who by this point is in tears. Harry interferes, angering Greene. When things start to get out of hand, a reporter arrives and starts questioning Greene about what is happening, and why they're badgering a teenage girl. Harry then tells Molly to wait in the lobby for her mother.

Murphy and Harry go to his hotel room to get ready a spell to send the phages back at the summoner. He gives Murphy two candles that will notify when the phages are trying to come though. One candle is for Murphy and one is for Rawlings. Harry waits but gets a call from Nelson who is in a panic and Harry tells him to go St. Mary's Church. Molly knocks on his door and asks him to use his bathroom to clean up. A surprised Harry gets another knock from Charity who knocks out Harry when she sees Molly come out of the bathroom.

Then he feels the phages coming and has little time to act against them. He manages to send three phages to the summonor but misses one. Harry goes and fights that phage and manages to beat it up. Rawlings helps Harry to find the summoner but they are attacked by Crane's lawyer who runs over Mouse, Harry's dog, and knocks out Rawling and Harry.

Upon waking, Harry realizes that he is bound by magical manacles that don't let him use magic. He also notices that Rawlings is handcuffed to a pipe. Crane's lawyer is guarding them and he appears not to be completely human. Crane's tells him that he is trying to sell him; that the highest bider is Duke Ortega's widow from the Red Court. Harry manages to get out of the manacles with the help of Lasciel. He then frees Rawlings; both flee.

When they get outside they are being followed by Crane's lawyer who takes down Harry and Rawlings. Then Crane, about to kill Rawlings, is thwarted when Thomas (Harry's brother) comes from no where and shoots Crane's lawyer with a shotgun. Then he points his shotgun to Crane, who moves to surrender. Crane's lawyer survives the blast from the shotgun but is attacked by Mouse who knocks him out.

They find out that Crane is actually Madigal Raith, Thomas's cousin, who feeds off fear as well. They also find out that he isn't to blame from the attacks in the hotel. When they seem to get ready to leave they get attacked by a Scarecrow who has already killed Crane's lawyer. Harry, Thomas, and Mouse go fight him while Madigal runs away. The defenders, including Rawlings, manage to get in a van and run from the Scarecrow. The Scarecrow doesn't give up easily, so it takes a Harry a little spell work to shake him off. They get Rawlings to a hopital to care for his foot. Then they follow the trail to the summoner.

The trail leads Harry to the Carpenter's home. They notice that the house has been attacked. Thomas and Harry split up to find anyone around. Thomas finds Daniel the oldest son in the treehouse who tells them that the rest of his family is in a panic room. Daniel has been beaten up and falls unconscious. Harry goes there and finds that Charity is there with all of her children. However, Molly was taken by the phages. Charity, Harry, Thomas and the kids all go to St. Mary's Church.

There meet with Father Forthill the priest of the church. Charity settles her kids while Harry goes on walk to the rest of the church to think. Harry realizes that he somehow sent the phages to Molly and feels guilty about it. Forthill finds him and tries to make him feel better about what has happened to him. Forthill tells him that Nelson seems to be suffering drug withdrawal. One of Charity's kids finds Harry and tell him that Daniel is awake. Daniel tells that the phages attack the house and that he and Molly tried to distract them from the rest of the kids. Harry looks at Daniel with his Sight so he can never forget what he did to that family. He looks at Nelson by accident and notices two small circles in his head. Then realizes what has happened. He goes to Charity and asks her about her magic.

Charity tells Harry about her being a witch, how she met Michael, and their present family history. The reason Molly and Charity have been fighting is because Charity gave up on her magic while Molly does not want to give up on it. Then they go to Harry's apartment to track Molly.

Harry then asks Charity to get something of Molly's so he can find her using Little Chicago. This is the first attempt to use the miniature city for Harry, and this it might be fatal. Lasciel is not going to let Harry die in the attempt to do this; she stalls him but fails. Little Chicago works but the tracking spell doesn't. Then Murphy comes to Harry's apartment and suggests using Charity's blood to track Molly. Harry realizes it goes to a gateway to the Nevernever, through one of the theaters in the convention.

When they get to the movie threater they meet up with Lily and Fix. They can't help Harry but Harry gives the debt that Lily owes him to Charity, someone who they can help. They go into the threater and have fight with a couple of phages. Lily opens the gateway to the Nevernever and it leads to Artic Tor: the capital of the Winter Court.

Lily tells Harry that she and Fix cannot go with Harry. She gives Harry a fire butterfly to protect them from the cold and to guide them. Harry, Murphy, Thomas, and Charity continue to the castle fortress and realize it has been attacked by someone using Hellfire. They keep moving until they are ambushed by an army of phages. Thomas and Murphy stall them while Charity and Harry keep searching for Molly.

They find her at the top of an ice garden. The Scarecrow is stopping them from taking her. Harry and Charity fight the Scarecrow who seems to be more powerful than a normal phage. They are almost beaten when Harry find out his weakness and uses the fire butterfly power to destroy the Scarecrow. When he threw the fire at the Scarecrow he also hit the Winter wellspring which upsets every being in the Winter Court. They run and they make it though the gate. Harry realizes they have been used by Lily to distract the beings of Winter.

They go back to the church and Molly decides give herself to the White Council. The meeting is set up and only four of the Senior Council can make it to the meeting, The Merlin, two Council members, and The Gatekeeper, which does not go well. Despite an impassioned argument, The Merlin votes to have Molly executed. Harry stalls them by telling them by declaring a point of order that the Gatekeeper has not voted. Which at that time the Gatekeeper opens the door and lets Listen-to-Winds, Eb McCoy, and Martha Liberty in, whom recently survived an attack by Outsiders. They also have Michael with them. They vote not to execute Molly on the condition that she becomes Harry's apprentice, similar to Harry's being taken in by McCoy after the murder of Justin Dumourne, and that both Harry and Molly be put under the Doom of Damocles. After being propositioned by Molly, who thinks that Harry also wants her as a lover, Harry makes Molly go live with her parents, swear to continue her schoolwork, and not slack in her apprenticeship. Molly complains, and Harry responds that if she cannot find the patience and dedication to abide by her own family, she'll never be able to learn magic.

Murphy tells Harry that she has lost SI and is demoted to Sergeant. At Harry's apartment Ebenezer McCoy tells them that there has to be traitor within the Senior Council. Harry also thinks the same; Dresden and McCoy refer to this new power as the "Black Council".

Plot points introduced

• Lasciel: Harry continues to negotiate with Lasciel (the Fallen who inhabits the coin he touched in Death Masks). She aids him in one combat by creating an illusion overlaying a darkened room. She tries, and fails, to prevent him from a spell she believes would be suicidal. Harry tells Michael about Lasciel.
• Queen Mab: Harry goes into Arctis Tor, the heart of Winter to rescue Molly Carpenter. There are some suspicions that Mab may be insane. He still owes Mab two favors.
• The War: Due to Harry's efforts, the White Council is successful in defending against a Red attack on the Venatori Umbrorum in Oregon. The Reds counterattacked at Captain Luccio's boot camp for new warders. It remains evident that there is a traitor among the White Council but his or her identity is still unknown. Harry and Ebenezar list as suspects Capt. Luccio, Morgan, Injun Joe, the Merlin, and Ancient Mai.
• The Council: Harry outmaneuvers the Merlin and becomes responsible for Molly Carpenter under the Doom of Damocles.

Characters

Characters that return are in bold, major characters are Italic.

• Harry Dresden: Professional wizard and main character of the book
• 'Bob': A intelligent air spirit who lives inside a skull in Dresden's sub-basement laboratory, formerly owned by the infamous necromancer Kemmler
• Thomas: Harry's half-brother, White Court vampire. During this book he moves out of Harry's house, but his source of income is unclear.
• Molly Carptenter: Michael Carpenter's daughter, a young wizard
• Charity Carpenter: Michael's wife and Molly's mother. A skilled arms/armor smith and melee combatant. Has distrusted Harry since her introduction because his appearance often means that Michael will be in danger.

Minor Appearances

• Michel Carpenter: a Knight of the Sword, bearer of Amoracchius (King Arthur's sword)
• Fix: The Summer Knight
• Fr. Forthill: priest of St. Mary of the Angels church.
• Lasciel: One of the Fallen. Harry touched a coin and made contact with her in Death Masks
• Lily: The Summer Lady
• Mac: owner of McAnally's tavern
• Mister: Dresden's 30+ pound house cat
• Mouse: Harry's dog, described as part wolly mammoth (introduced in Blood Rites). More clearly established as more than a mere canine.
• Donald Morgan: Commander of the Wardens, second in command to Captain Luccio. Generally Harry's nemesis, but here agreeing with Harry about Molly's fate.
• Lieutenant Karrin Murphy: Director of Special Investigations. She is busted to Detective Sgt. because she was away from an investigation for a day helping Harry.
• Rawlins: Police officer (introduced in Dead Beat) who sees Harry in action, helps, and later becomes an SI detective

New Characters

• Darby Crane: Horror movie producer and also Madrigal Raith, a White Court vampire who feeds on fear
• Lucius Glau: Crane's lawyer and a jann (child of a djinn and a mortal).
• Detective Sgt. Greene: Homicide detective assigned to investigate one of Harry's cases, a skeptic about magic.
• Nelson: young drug addict who Molly ensorcells to be afraid of narcotics to help him end his addiction
• Rosanna: young (and pregnant) drug addict who Molly ensorcells to be afraid of narcotics so that her addiction won't harm her baby.
• Lydia Stern: New reporter for the Midwestern Arcane

Proven Guilty in Other Media

Proven Guilty will be available as an audiobook from 30th of April 2009

Continuity Errors

After the Carpenter's van was crushed by the phages sent after Molly, the raid group uses it and the equipment in it in preparation for attacking Arctis Tor.

External links

The first three chapters of the book may be found on the author's official site.

Link to Audiobook Penguin USA