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<p class= »MsoNormal » style= »MARGIN: 0in 0in 8pt »><span style= »mso-ansi-language: EN-US »><em>Murder at Goddenville</em> is based on a true missing-persons case that occurred in 1898. Rosamond Sheppard, from Goddenville, Newfoundland, a tiny settlement near the community of Spaniard’s Bay, went missing on November 11, 1898. The respected twenty-one-year-old woman was to be married Christmas that of that year. She walked to the town of Harbour Grace, a distance of about five miles, to buy material for her wedding dress and to purchase her bridal veil, but she never returned, and she stayed missing for several months. When a local man from a nearby hamlet, the Gullies, reported to the police that he found her body on April 27, 1899, he came under great suspicion. Consequently, for several generations afterwards, his family has suffered the burden of being wrongfully accused.<br /><br /></span><span style= »mso-ansi-language: EN-US »>This is a fictional account, although eerily similar to the true tale of Rosamond Sheppard, that takes the reader back to the days when her body was discovered and the investigation into her death unfolded.<br /><br /></span><span style= »mso-ansi-language: EN-US »>Constable Joseph Kent, a personally troubled police officer from the Newfoundland Constabulary, is challenged to solve the mystery of Rosamond’s death in the face of many obstacles, including his unsupportive sergeant and a wayward rookie colleague, Constable Esau Gosse.<br /><br /></span><span style= »mso-ansi-language: EN-US »>The twenty-one-year-old woman, a servant girl for the wealthy Spaniard’s Bay Donnelly family, looked forward to her wedding day on Christmas Eve, 1898, to begin her life with her betrothed, Isaac Gosse, at Goddenville. On November 11, she left her home early in the morning to walk to the nearby town of Harbour Grace, a distance of about five miles, where she intended to purchase enough material to make her wedding dress and buy her recently ordered bridal veil.<br /><br /></span><span style= »mso-ansi-language: EN-US »>It soon became apparent that something had gone amiss when Rosamond never showed up. Concerned family members and local folks hastily organized a search party that night. Despite hours of searching throughout the night, there was no trace of Rosamond to be found.<br /><br /></span><span style= »mso-ansi-language: EN-US »>Soon afterwards, more people joined the search, including folks from neighbouring communities along with members of the Newfoundland Constabulary. Days, weeks, and months went by. Despite the mammoth effort by dozens of people from all over the region, there was no sign of the missing woman. Soon, Rosamond’s disappearance became a story of interest as newspapers like the Evening Telegram and the Daily News covered her story from various angles. As with other mysteries, gossip and rumours soon began to fly about her disappearance and its possible causes.<br /><br /></span><span style= »mso-ansi-language: EN-US »>The year 1898 was only fourteen years after the Harbour Grace Affray, a tragic sectarian riot between Protestants and Catholics that left five people dead. Despite the passing years, feelings of ill will remained high between communities of different faiths in that area. One persistent rumour was that she had been attacked on her return home while walking through the Catholic quarter of Riverhead, Harbour Grace.<br /><br /></span><span style= »mso-ansi-language: EN-US »>On April 28, 1899, six months later, Martin Whalen, a young man from the tiny Catholic enclave called the Gullies, near Riverhead, reported to the police that he found Rosamond’s body. In light of Whalen’s previous dealings with the law, the local police grew suspicious of Martin Whalen himself.<span style= »mso-spacerun: yes »> </span>Despite a lack of evidence, having found no weapon, and without a known motive or even probable cause of death, Constable Kent was ordered, against his better judgment, to arrest Martin Whalen in connection to the murder of Rosamond Sheppard. This story follows Constable Kent’s investigation into her murder.</span></p></span></span>