Manuscript for article by Iowa Walsh

March 3, 1987

Interview with Charlie Rourke

Today I sat down with chief fisherman Charlie Rourke on his lunch break to talk to him about Ivan Murtin. Readers may remember that Rourke previously refused to speak with me on the subject. Luckily, my new source, Mike McGraw, one of Rourke’s employees, was able to convince him to reconsider.

Purportedly, Rourke knows Ivan better than anyone else on the Cove. The two were hardly friends, but they worked together for years, making him the closest thing Rourke has (or had) to a friend.

Ivan Murtin is 64, and, to the best of Rourke’s memory, he’s been working at the Creeping Cove fishery for his entire adult life, almost 10 years more than Rourke himself.

Almost every week night Ivan could be found at the Bugzapper, a local bar. He usually drank alone and did not engage with even his fellow fisherman. He lived alone on the outskirts of town and scarcely commuted into the city for anything other than work.

According to one of his coworkers, Ivan maintained a friendship with Constance Wick, the Cove’s current mayor, but Rourke claims otherwise. According to Rourke, the two were in the same graduating class (let it be known that Ms. Wick does not look 64), but they were no more friends than he and Ivan were, i.e., not.

Unfortunately, that was all I was able to squeeze out of Rourke before he decided his lunch break was over. While I’m grateful Mike was able to convince him to speak to me at all, it’s clear to me that he still has no real interest in aiding my investigation, whether because he thinks it should be left up to the police, just doesn’t care about Ivan, or some other ulterior motive remains to be seen.

I rue my poor judgment in not bringing a tape recorder with me to Creeping Cove. I can’t help but feel I could have spent more time wringing Rourke for information if I hadn’t been busy furiously taking notes (something you’d think I’d be better at by now). Oh well, c’est la vie, I suppose. Until next time, Westport, I’ve been Iowa Walsh.