Three things made this project possible. First, I was suddenly given access to the collection of newspaper clippings and articles gathered by the late Dorothy and Dr. Robert “Bob” Tuttle, who had long hoped to write about the Louis Wagner case, but never got the chance. Second, my agent Jake Elwell of Harold Ober Associates said, “Hey, why don’t you write a book about those murders on Smuttynose Island?” Third, I received financial encouragement from a wonderful group of sponsors including the Shoals Marine Lab on Appledore Island, the Star Island Corporation, the Isles of Shoals Steamship Company, the Isles of Shoals Historical and Research Association, and Portsmouth Harbor Cruises. It was primarily their support that allowed me to spend eighteen months digging into the facts and writing this book.
I would like to thank my expert readers of early drafts: Captain Sue Reynolds of the tour boat M/V Uncle Oscar; Thomas Hardiman, Keeper of the Portsmouth Athenaeum; attorney Thomas Watson; attorney John Perrault; David J. Murray of ClearEyePhoto.com; Isles of Shoals historian and Smuttynose Steward Ann Beattie; Professor C. Laurence Robertson; novelist Rodman Philbrick; former Portsmouth police chief Professor David “Lou” Ferland; Dan Chartrand of Water Street Books; Maryellen Burke of Discover Portsmouth; my editor, Nicole Frail; and my best friend and technology guru, William S. Roy; and Kathryn Cowdrey, for moral support during tough times.
My thanks as always to two local research teams including Nicole Cloutier, Mike Huxtable, and Richard E Winslow III of the Portsmouth Public Library, and to Carolyn, Robin, Ronan, James, Jim, Steve, and Courtney at the Portsmouth Athenaeum. I also received research assistance from Joyce Volk, Elizabeth Farish, Laurence Bussey, Jim Cerny, the Thomaston Historical Society, lighthouse expert Jeremy D’Entremont, playwright Carolyn Gage, Professor Nathan Hamilton, and from William David Barry at the Maine Historical Society, Wendy Pirsig at Old Berwick Historical Society, and Patricia Potter at the University of Southern Maine Library. A special tip of the hat to Maine lobsterman David Kaselauskas who piloted the chase boat as Dan O’Reilly proved how quickly one can row a wooden dory from Portsmouth to the Isles of Shoals. Thanks to Nate Hubbard and Marty Oberlander, the owners of Smuttynose Island, and to my fellow Smuttynose Stewards. And although I never met them, I am in debt to the Vesterheim Genealogical Center in Madison, Wisconsin, to Gloria Nielsen Echarte, and to Tormod Riise, who assisted Dot and Bob Tuttle in their genealogical studies. My thanks to all others who added support and encouragement or argued convincingly through thirty foggy years of pondering this case.