Cyril Lister had come to live in Marshely six months earlier and declared himself to be a journalist in search of quiet, for the purpose of writing a novel. He appeared to be friendly enough, if reserved, so it seemed bizarre when Catain Huxham, an old sea dog, announced to his minister that he hated Lister. I want him dead, growled Huxham gruffly, drown dead an' buried. The declaration shocked the young minister. Little did he know, however, that he would soon become involved in a plot to murder the journalist.
