Murdoch is demonstrating his new Induction Balance Machine to Constable Higgins, who seems frightened by the way it lights up electric lamps,, as does Constable Crabtree, who finds his Police whistle attracted by it when he comes to tell Murdoch there has been a murder at the Palace Hotel. When Murdoch arrives at the scene, there are two men in the hotel room. One is the dead man, Reginald Mayfair, who has a stab wound in the chest and a big cut on his arm, the other is his friend, Winston Churchill, whose hands have blood on them. There is also a bloodstained sword in the room. Churchill has no memory of the previous night, due to the amount he drank.
Churchill has known Mayfair since the two of them were soldiers together in the Sudan. After leaving the army, Mayfair had emigrated to Canada. Churchill can only recall drinking in the hotel with Mayfair, and then going on to Mayfair's club, the Albany. He says he has never seen the sword before. Crabtree interrupts the interview to inform Murdoch that Churchill's finger marks have been found on the sword. Dr Grace tells Murdoch that a sword killed Mayfair between 1:30 and 2:00 last night, while a facial bruise suggests he was in a fist fight an hour earlier.
Back at Police Station 4, Churchill's Egyptian valet, Mr Ahmadi, has arrived with a change of clothes. Ahmadi tells Murdoch he can trust Churchill's every word, and he was with Churchill until the Albany, where Churchill dismissed him for the night at 9:00pm. Crabtree reports that people in rooms neighbouring Churchill's heard a commotion in his room around 1:45am, and a witness saw a negro man leaving Churchill's room around 2:00am. Ahmadi tells Murdoch that Churchill's boot-boy, Jim Carver, is a negro. Carver admits to being there around 2:30am to polish Churchill's boots, but didn't see or hear anything amiss.
Churchill himself joins the investigation, endeavouring to retrace his steps. At the Albany Club, Churchill made a great impression, especially when the old soldiers there were reminiscing about their time in Sudan, and were celebrating the desecration of the Mahdi's body as retaliation for what the Dervishes had done to the British. Churchill thundered against the action, saying it not only degraded Reginald, who had beheaded the Mahdi's corpse, but behaviour like that degraded the whole of the British Empire. Club members admit that it was a shaming they deserved, even Reginald was moved by it. A newspaper story leads to Churchill's next stop on his Toronto odyssey: Mrs Gertrude Miller's Temperance party, where he behaved very rudely.
Dr Ogden arrives at Police Station 4 with news that she and Darcy have an appointment with a judge the following day, regarding the annulment of their marriage. She then recognises Mr Churchill from the previous evening; they were both in the same club, having an enjoyable time, but when they left, Gertrude Miller's husband punched Reginald Mayfair, believing him to be Churchill, in response to his insulting behaviour earlier.
A trip to Murphy's Tavern reveals another stop in the odyssey. After a drink, Churchill and Mayfair were chased out of the pub, and then taken into protective custody at 12:45am by Constable Jackson, who kept them in the cells until the bars closed.
After this, they found a speakeasy to carry on drinking, and indeed arguing over what happened in Sudan, according to the bartender, who demands the return of the swords Churchill took. He tells Murdoch that Churchill ended up challenging Mayfair to a duel, and stole two swords displayed in the speakeasy which had belonged to the bartender's grandfather. The bartender's assistant, Al, confirms all of this.
Dr Ogden arrives at Police Station 4, bringing the bad news that the judge would not grant her the annulment, because she could not lie about the marriage not having been consummated. Even so, Darcy would agree to a divorce. Of course, that puts Murdoch in a difficult position, as the Catholic Church would not sanction him marrying a divorcée. She leaves Murdoch to sort things out with God, while she takes care of legal matters.
So, can Detective Murdoch discover what happened in the time between leaving the speakeasy and the alarm being raised about the killing? Did Churchill and Mayfair really fight a duel to the death with swords? Will Winston Churchill face the noose? (Look away from your history books now, if you don't want to know the result!) Can Murdoch reconcile his beliefs with his desires?
This is a fascinating episode, based on real historical events in Africa, and also on Winston's well-known love for the bottle, and his habit, when drunk, of being very rude to anyone who criticised him. Once again, the mystery is not solved until the very end, but every scrap of information relevant to the killing is used to build up the picture. It's good fun to watch, and as for the relationship between Murdoch and Dr Ogden, whichever way it goes, it will bring pain.
Churchill has known Mayfair since the two of them were soldiers together in the Sudan. After leaving the army, Mayfair had emigrated to Canada. Churchill can only recall drinking in the hotel with Mayfair, and then going on to Mayfair's club, the Albany. He says he has never seen the sword before. Crabtree interrupts the interview to inform Murdoch that Churchill's finger marks have been found on the sword. Dr Grace tells Murdoch that a sword killed Mayfair between 1:30 and 2:00 last night, while a facial bruise suggests he was in a fist fight an hour earlier.
Back at Police Station 4, Churchill's Egyptian valet, Mr Ahmadi, has arrived with a change of clothes. Ahmadi tells Murdoch he can trust Churchill's every word, and he was with Churchill until the Albany, where Churchill dismissed him for the night at 9:00pm. Crabtree reports that people in rooms neighbouring Churchill's heard a commotion in his room around 1:45am, and a witness saw a negro man leaving Churchill's room around 2:00am. Ahmadi tells Murdoch that Churchill's boot-boy, Jim Carver, is a negro. Carver admits to being there around 2:30am to polish Churchill's boots, but didn't see or hear anything amiss.
Churchill himself joins the investigation, endeavouring to retrace his steps. At the Albany Club, Churchill made a great impression, especially when the old soldiers there were reminiscing about their time in Sudan, and were celebrating the desecration of the Mahdi's body as retaliation for what the Dervishes had done to the British. Churchill thundered against the action, saying it not only degraded Reginald, who had beheaded the Mahdi's corpse, but behaviour like that degraded the whole of the British Empire. Club members admit that it was a shaming they deserved, even Reginald was moved by it. A newspaper story leads to Churchill's next stop on his Toronto odyssey: Mrs Gertrude Miller's Temperance party, where he behaved very rudely.
Dr Ogden arrives at Police Station 4 with news that she and Darcy have an appointment with a judge the following day, regarding the annulment of their marriage. She then recognises Mr Churchill from the previous evening; they were both in the same club, having an enjoyable time, but when they left, Gertrude Miller's husband punched Reginald Mayfair, believing him to be Churchill, in response to his insulting behaviour earlier.
A trip to Murphy's Tavern reveals another stop in the odyssey. After a drink, Churchill and Mayfair were chased out of the pub, and then taken into protective custody at 12:45am by Constable Jackson, who kept them in the cells until the bars closed.
After this, they found a speakeasy to carry on drinking, and indeed arguing over what happened in Sudan, according to the bartender, who demands the return of the swords Churchill took. He tells Murdoch that Churchill ended up challenging Mayfair to a duel, and stole two swords displayed in the speakeasy which had belonged to the bartender's grandfather. The bartender's assistant, Al, confirms all of this.
Dr Ogden arrives at Police Station 4, bringing the bad news that the judge would not grant her the annulment, because she could not lie about the marriage not having been consummated. Even so, Darcy would agree to a divorce. Of course, that puts Murdoch in a difficult position, as the Catholic Church would not sanction him marrying a divorcée. She leaves Murdoch to sort things out with God, while she takes care of legal matters.
So, can Detective Murdoch discover what happened in the time between leaving the speakeasy and the alarm being raised about the killing? Did Churchill and Mayfair really fight a duel to the death with swords? Will Winston Churchill face the noose? (Look away from your history books now, if you don't want to know the result!) Can Murdoch reconcile his beliefs with his desires?
This is a fascinating episode, based on real historical events in Africa, and also on Winston's well-known love for the bottle, and his habit, when drunk, of being very rude to anyone who criticised him. Once again, the mystery is not solved until the very end, but every scrap of information relevant to the killing is used to build up the picture. It's good fun to watch, and as for the relationship between Murdoch and Dr Ogden, whichever way it goes, it will bring pain.