In 1908 the Potter Hotel dominated the oceanfront along Santa Barbara's West Beach. Thirty-six acres of lush gardens and pathways surrounded the luxurious six-story hotel with more than four hundred magnificent guest rooms. April of that year saw the arrival of the Great White Fleet as it stopped in various seaports around the globe, sent on a mission of good-will by President Theodore Roosevelt. How fortunate for the tiny town to be selected as one of the stopping points. It was a time for celebration. A time for community. A time for murder...