Toronto 's exclusive Empire Club is hosting a guest speaker, and Inspector Brackenreid has gone along with his wife Margaret. She fervently hopes that her husband will be granted membership in a few days' time, as she sees the Empire Club as the gateway to High Society. The important thing about membership of the Empire Club is that members should be seen to uphold the values of the British Empire. In light of this, it is remarkably strange that the invited speaker should be Samuel L Clemens, otherwise known as the notorious anti-imperialist, Mark Twain. A great commotion breaks out at the Empire Club when he is announced, and someone shoots at him, killing a nearby drinks glass.
Some senior members of the Empire Club hint to inspector Brackenreid that it would be good if Mark Twain were to leave Toronto, so Brackenreid puts this proposal to Murdoch. Meanwhile Dr Ogden has found out about Mark Twain's precarious financial position and has suggested that he could undertake a series of paid lectures for the women's suffrage movement.
Murdoch compiles a long list of suspects, many of whom have lost money taking Mark Twain's advice. He allocates the task of interviewing these people to Constables Higgins and Crabtree. Now that Higgins is a Constable First Class, he lords it over Crabtree, who has been demoted to Constable Third Class. The most immediate result of this is that the work is not done to the standard it would have been done before, and Higgins doesn't miss an opportunity to accept the credit which is due to George for work that he did.
Mark Twain is to speak on behalf of the women's movement, but members of the Empire Club gather in the street outside the hall to try to prevent the audience assembling. Inspector Brackenreid arrives to break up the demonstration so that the lecture may proceed. During the lecture, Mark Twain invites his assistant Benson up on stage, but Benson is shot at Mark Twain's side.
So, who is trying to kill Mark Twain? Or is someone else the intended target? If so, who? Will Margaret Brackenreid gain access to High Society? How far will Constable Crabtree permit Constable Higgins to go before doing something to get back at him?
This has the feeling of a transitional episode, moving things forward to a new point of equilibrium before launching out on something special.
Some senior members of the Empire Club hint to inspector Brackenreid that it would be good if Mark Twain were to leave Toronto, so Brackenreid puts this proposal to Murdoch. Meanwhile Dr Ogden has found out about Mark Twain's precarious financial position and has suggested that he could undertake a series of paid lectures for the women's suffrage movement.
Murdoch compiles a long list of suspects, many of whom have lost money taking Mark Twain's advice. He allocates the task of interviewing these people to Constables Higgins and Crabtree. Now that Higgins is a Constable First Class, he lords it over Crabtree, who has been demoted to Constable Third Class. The most immediate result of this is that the work is not done to the standard it would have been done before, and Higgins doesn't miss an opportunity to accept the credit which is due to George for work that he did.
Mark Twain is to speak on behalf of the women's movement, but members of the Empire Club gather in the street outside the hall to try to prevent the audience assembling. Inspector Brackenreid arrives to break up the demonstration so that the lecture may proceed. During the lecture, Mark Twain invites his assistant Benson up on stage, but Benson is shot at Mark Twain's side.
So, who is trying to kill Mark Twain? Or is someone else the intended target? If so, who? Will Margaret Brackenreid gain access to High Society? How far will Constable Crabtree permit Constable Higgins to go before doing something to get back at him?
This has the feeling of a transitional episode, moving things forward to a new point of equilibrium before launching out on something special.