Mr Ian Worthington, President of the Canadian Bank, is due to host a party to celebrate his engagement to Cassie Chadwick, but when the butler, Mr Beard, goes to call for him, he has vanished, and the safe, normally hidden, is on view, though closed. The only information the butler can offer Murdoch is that before disappearing, Worthington made two telephone calls, both rather heated. A man arrives at the Worthington residence, demanding to see Worthington. He is Andrew Carnegie, the philanthropist, who tells Murdoch he spoke with Worthington only changed couple of hours previously, when Worthington told him of his intention to marry Carnegie's daughter, but she is only four years old. He has no knowledge of Cassie Chadwick. Murdoch asks the butler to open the safe, but it contains plenty of money and Worthington's passport.
Meanwhile, Dr Ogden is mulling over the threat from James Gillies, who fled the train taking him to be executed, and decides to make Murdoch think she is out of town for a while.
According to Constable Crabtree, people have reluctantly told him the rumour is that Cassie Chadwick was Carnegie's illegitimate child, a basket case, like himself (!) but nobody offered any other information. Outside the house, Murdoch notes some footprints, leading to a set of cart tracks. Perhaps that is how Worthington was spirited away.
Interviewing the Canadian Bank's loan officer, Murdoch discovers that Cassie Chadwick has borrowed a considerable sum from the bank, offering for collateral a promissory note signed by Andrew Carnegie. Constable Crabtree tells Murdoch that Cassie Chadwick is an alias used by a confidence trickster with a long list of crimes behind her, in both Ontario and the US. Later, both Crabtree and Higgins claim to be hot on her trail, but in two different places, and with two different descriptions, young and aloof or middle-aged and friendly. Into the middle of the conversation walks a middle-aged woman, who says she is Cassie Chadwick.
Mrs Chadwick admits to her life of crime, but says that after serving jail time she is now reformed and happily married to a doctor who is giving her a life better than she could have dreamed of. She has come to complain to the Police that someone is impersonating her and giving her a bad name with her criminal activities. Inspector Brackenreid promises Mrs Chadwick that Police Station 4 will put all its energy into catching the impostor. Mrs Chadwick in turn offers to help if she can, after all, sometimes it takes a con to catch a con. Actually, with Crabtree on the case, Murdoch is soon on the trail of the impostor, who turns out to be Eva Pearce, the woman from Eaton's department store who got away, in Murdoch's view, with conspiracy to murder.
When challenged about calling herself Cassie Chadwick, Miss Pearce turns the tables on Murdoch, asking why the Constabulary hasn't devoted it's energy to finding her missing fiancé. Murdoch is not moved. He says he knows she has been masquerading as the illegitimate daughter of Andrew Carnegie and that she has borrowed against a forged note bearing his signature. Eva Pearce responds that she ignores evil rumours about her, and she knows nothing of the promissory note, and that most painful of all, the last time she spoke to him, he telephoned her to call off the engagement, and now he has disappeared.
Back at the Worthington residence, Murdoch discovers that the cart tracks he saw earlier were from the cart belonging to the photographer hired to record the engagement, who admits that Mr Worthington asked him for a ride to Russell Creek Road, where his family owns a picnic site. Visiting the site, Murdoch discovers evidence of a picnic for two, the burnt remains of a document bearing Andrew Carnegie's signature, and finally Mr Worthington's body, in a lake.
Inspector Brackenreid devises a plan to catch Eva Pearce. Using the real Cassie Chadwick to play the role of Worthington's sister, and Higgins to play the part of an attorney, he hopes to ensnared Miss Pearce by dangling in front of her the prospect of inheriting half a million dollars either now, if Mr Worthington's remains should come to light, or in seven years' time if not, at which point he can be declared dead for legal purposes. The scheme also calls for Dr Grace to play the part of one of Worthington's old flames, Mademoiselle Deneuve, which she does with gusto, and when Leslie Garland walks into the middle of the playacting, she decides that the only way to rescue the situation is to engage in a passionate kiss, much to Crabtree's disgust. Crabtree decides he cannot take Dr Grace's paying attention to Leslie Garland any longer, and finishes things with her. As the Police play out the final part of the sting, which involves Mlle Deneuve being shot in the course of being arrested for the murder, Dr Grace adds real blood to the scene.
So, will the sting work? Will the Police finally catch Eva Pearce, or will she slip from their grasp once more? Will Dr Grace run into the arms of Leslie Garland, or will she try again with Constable Crabtree? How long will it be before James Gillies plays his hand?
This episode will cast a long shadow over the characters, that's for sure.
Meanwhile, Dr Ogden is mulling over the threat from James Gillies, who fled the train taking him to be executed, and decides to make Murdoch think she is out of town for a while.
According to Constable Crabtree, people have reluctantly told him the rumour is that Cassie Chadwick was Carnegie's illegitimate child, a basket case, like himself (!) but nobody offered any other information. Outside the house, Murdoch notes some footprints, leading to a set of cart tracks. Perhaps that is how Worthington was spirited away.
Interviewing the Canadian Bank's loan officer, Murdoch discovers that Cassie Chadwick has borrowed a considerable sum from the bank, offering for collateral a promissory note signed by Andrew Carnegie. Constable Crabtree tells Murdoch that Cassie Chadwick is an alias used by a confidence trickster with a long list of crimes behind her, in both Ontario and the US. Later, both Crabtree and Higgins claim to be hot on her trail, but in two different places, and with two different descriptions, young and aloof or middle-aged and friendly. Into the middle of the conversation walks a middle-aged woman, who says she is Cassie Chadwick.
Mrs Chadwick admits to her life of crime, but says that after serving jail time she is now reformed and happily married to a doctor who is giving her a life better than she could have dreamed of. She has come to complain to the Police that someone is impersonating her and giving her a bad name with her criminal activities. Inspector Brackenreid promises Mrs Chadwick that Police Station 4 will put all its energy into catching the impostor. Mrs Chadwick in turn offers to help if she can, after all, sometimes it takes a con to catch a con. Actually, with Crabtree on the case, Murdoch is soon on the trail of the impostor, who turns out to be Eva Pearce, the woman from Eaton's department store who got away, in Murdoch's view, with conspiracy to murder.
When challenged about calling herself Cassie Chadwick, Miss Pearce turns the tables on Murdoch, asking why the Constabulary hasn't devoted it's energy to finding her missing fiancé. Murdoch is not moved. He says he knows she has been masquerading as the illegitimate daughter of Andrew Carnegie and that she has borrowed against a forged note bearing his signature. Eva Pearce responds that she ignores evil rumours about her, and she knows nothing of the promissory note, and that most painful of all, the last time she spoke to him, he telephoned her to call off the engagement, and now he has disappeared.
Back at the Worthington residence, Murdoch discovers that the cart tracks he saw earlier were from the cart belonging to the photographer hired to record the engagement, who admits that Mr Worthington asked him for a ride to Russell Creek Road, where his family owns a picnic site. Visiting the site, Murdoch discovers evidence of a picnic for two, the burnt remains of a document bearing Andrew Carnegie's signature, and finally Mr Worthington's body, in a lake.
Inspector Brackenreid devises a plan to catch Eva Pearce. Using the real Cassie Chadwick to play the role of Worthington's sister, and Higgins to play the part of an attorney, he hopes to ensnared Miss Pearce by dangling in front of her the prospect of inheriting half a million dollars either now, if Mr Worthington's remains should come to light, or in seven years' time if not, at which point he can be declared dead for legal purposes. The scheme also calls for Dr Grace to play the part of one of Worthington's old flames, Mademoiselle Deneuve, which she does with gusto, and when Leslie Garland walks into the middle of the playacting, she decides that the only way to rescue the situation is to engage in a passionate kiss, much to Crabtree's disgust. Crabtree decides he cannot take Dr Grace's paying attention to Leslie Garland any longer, and finishes things with her. As the Police play out the final part of the sting, which involves Mlle Deneuve being shot in the course of being arrested for the murder, Dr Grace adds real blood to the scene.
So, will the sting work? Will the Police finally catch Eva Pearce, or will she slip from their grasp once more? Will Dr Grace run into the arms of Leslie Garland, or will she try again with Constable Crabtree? How long will it be before James Gillies plays his hand?
This episode will cast a long shadow over the characters, that's for sure.
