Constable Crabtree is at a wrestling match with his sweetheart, Edna Brooks, and her son, Simon, who is a great fan. Afterwards, Crabtree waits with Simon at the dressing room door, collecting autographs, but Handsome Randolph Henderson, self-proclaimed greatest professional wrestler, fails to appear. On entering the dressing room, George and Simon discover Henderson dead on the floor of the otherwise empty room, just 45 minutes after the end of the bout.
To begin with, Constable Crabtree was convinced that Henderson died from a head slam that Crabtree saw his ring opponent, the Masked Mauler, mete out to him. However, Dr. Grace finds no head injury – instead, she finds that he died from an overdose of morphine by injection.
Meanwhile, Julia and the other suffragettes receive an offer of support from the temperance movement - provided of course they support that movement's views about liquor, Sabbath-keeping, etc. This may prove an impossible bargain to strike. Inspector Brackenreid is having a shave, and also apparently taking investment advice from his barber, who can guarantee a better rate of return on his life savings than the cookie jar on the kitchen shelf.
Based on what he has seen, Crabtree concentrates on investigating that 45 minute window after the fight, but the more he discovers about what professional wrestling matches entail, the more he finds his ideals about the sport are shattered: lots of wrestling moves are choreographed, while matches are often fixed. Every wrestler that George interviews turns out to have a secret. As a result, the promoter, Victor McAllister, is careful to prevent his employees from speaking to the police, lest they reveal more than they should about the showmanship of the sport, and how deadly enemies in the ring are often the best of friends out of it.
After an ear-lashing from his wife, Inspector Brackenreid returns to the barber's to reclaim his money, but a sign in the window brings him even more discomfort. Discomfort is also apparent when Dr Grace comes to Dr Ogden to Suggest that an association with the temperance movement is doing the suffragettes more harm than good.
The police's problem identifying the killer is that in young Simon Brooks, they have a witness, but the killer wore a mask. The obvious solution is that it was the Masked Marauder, a contestant whose real name is Humber, but as usual, Murdoch eschews the obvious, and arranges for Simon to see a masked Humber. Simon says the masked man he saw walked differently.
So, if the masked man wasn't the Masked Marauder, who was he, and why would he kill Handsome Randolph Henderson? Will the suffragettes part company with the temperance movement? Will Inspector Brackenreid ever see his money or his barber again? Did civilisation begin to crumble because of the final 13 seconds of the last episode?
The writers are to be congratulated for continuing to come up with fresh story lines after more than 100 episodes, and similarly the actors deserve congratulations for continuing to reveal the complexities of their characters and the relationships between them. The only thing I miss about the current run of stories is the enthusiasm for scientific advances that was such a hallmark of the earlier shows.
To begin with, Constable Crabtree was convinced that Henderson died from a head slam that Crabtree saw his ring opponent, the Masked Mauler, mete out to him. However, Dr. Grace finds no head injury – instead, she finds that he died from an overdose of morphine by injection.
Meanwhile, Julia and the other suffragettes receive an offer of support from the temperance movement - provided of course they support that movement's views about liquor, Sabbath-keeping, etc. This may prove an impossible bargain to strike. Inspector Brackenreid is having a shave, and also apparently taking investment advice from his barber, who can guarantee a better rate of return on his life savings than the cookie jar on the kitchen shelf.
Based on what he has seen, Crabtree concentrates on investigating that 45 minute window after the fight, but the more he discovers about what professional wrestling matches entail, the more he finds his ideals about the sport are shattered: lots of wrestling moves are choreographed, while matches are often fixed. Every wrestler that George interviews turns out to have a secret. As a result, the promoter, Victor McAllister, is careful to prevent his employees from speaking to the police, lest they reveal more than they should about the showmanship of the sport, and how deadly enemies in the ring are often the best of friends out of it.
After an ear-lashing from his wife, Inspector Brackenreid returns to the barber's to reclaim his money, but a sign in the window brings him even more discomfort. Discomfort is also apparent when Dr Grace comes to Dr Ogden to Suggest that an association with the temperance movement is doing the suffragettes more harm than good.
The police's problem identifying the killer is that in young Simon Brooks, they have a witness, but the killer wore a mask. The obvious solution is that it was the Masked Marauder, a contestant whose real name is Humber, but as usual, Murdoch eschews the obvious, and arranges for Simon to see a masked Humber. Simon says the masked man he saw walked differently.
So, if the masked man wasn't the Masked Marauder, who was he, and why would he kill Handsome Randolph Henderson? Will the suffragettes part company with the temperance movement? Will Inspector Brackenreid ever see his money or his barber again? Did civilisation begin to crumble because of the final 13 seconds of the last episode?
The writers are to be congratulated for continuing to come up with fresh story lines after more than 100 episodes, and similarly the actors deserve congratulations for continuing to reveal the complexities of their characters and the relationships between them. The only thing I miss about the current run of stories is the enthusiasm for scientific advances that was such a hallmark of the earlier shows.
