Free Maritime Murder by Steve Vernon

find some work that will keep me far from the deep of the ocean.”
    Kempton nodded thoughtfully. “I’ve got some work that needs doing,” he said. “Not more than a day’s worth, but I can pay a little and feed you a meal as well.”
    It was at Kempton’s house that Peter Wheeler met the entire family—Isaac’s wife, Mary Ann, his son, Ernest, and two daughters: Susan, and little four-year-old Annie.
    â€œI’ve got two other daughters,” Isaac said. “Bertha is away at school in Halifax, and Jessie Amelia, my oldest child, married and moved out some time ago.”
    Little Annie smiled shyly at the strange young man whom her father had brought home. She thought he looked a little funny—so short and squatty, with cheeks like an overstuffed squirrel. She giggled at this funny-looking man.
    Peter Wheeler, in return, reached out one dirt-stained finger and touched little Annie playfully and gently between the eyes.

Peter and Tillie
    Isaac Kempton decided to introduce Peter Wheeler to Tillie Comeau. Tillie had four children of her own: Herbert, Walter, Hattie, and Elizabeth. As far as anyone in Bear River knew, Tillie had never had herself a husband.
    â€œI’ve never really seen the need for having a husband of my own,” Tillie often told anyone who dared to ask. “I have four children already. With so many mouths to feed, why should I marry another?”
    Tillie took pity on the hungry fifteen-year-old Wheeler. She fed him a plateful of ham and eggs. Peter Wheeler, in turn, paid for the meal by chopping firewood.
    â€œYou need work,” Tillie said. “Why don’t you just go back to your ship?”
    â€œI’m scared of the sea, Miss Comeau,” Peter confessed. “I keep thinking about how deep it is. I keep thinking about how very long of a drop it is to the bottom. I can’t ever go back to the ship. Would you know if there was any sort of work available in town?”
    Tillie thought about his question. “Jobs are scarce,” she said. “This is a small town. What needs doing mostly gets done by those who already know how.”
    Peter Wheeler was clearly crestfallen. Tillie Comeau didn’t have the heart to turn him away.
    â€œI’ll tell you what,” she said. “You can stay here at my place if you go to school and help with the chores. You’ll find some work with the neighbours, and I promise to keep you fed and give you a roof over your young head.”
    Four years later, Peter Wheeler returned to the sea. He would sail from spring to fall, and stay with Tillie through the long winter. He never really lost his fear of the sea, but he adapted to this transient lifestyle. If there was any trace of a romance between the two of them, he and Tillie kept the matter discreet. So far as anyone knew the short stocky Scotsman had no real romantic inclinations toward anyone.
    By the age of twenty-six, Peter Wheeler had become a Bear River fixture. He was thought to be a stout seaman and a good, hard worker, and built himself quite a reputation as a handyman. One of Peter’s nightly tasks was to deliver milk to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Kempton and their youngest, fifteen-year-old Annie. Which was where the trouble all began.

Setting the Stage for Murder
    Peter Wheeler had had his eye on Annie Kempton for a very long time, even when she was a young child growing up. He played with her and looked after her whenever he had the opportunity. And at fifteen years of age, she began to blossom into womanhood.
    â€œWhy, she’s as young as I was when I ran away to sea,” Peter would think to himself. “And I like the way she smiles at me.”
    The Kemptons and Tillie Comeau were close friends. They had been so for a very long time. So when Mrs. Kempton’s sister came down ill in Saint John, New Brunswick, Tillie just naturally offered to help.
    â€œGo ahead,” Tillie told Mr.