Constable Crabtree has been headhunted by Police Station 3 to be their detective. It is an equally momentous day for the suffragettes as well, because it is election day. People are queuing at the polling station, except for Detective Murdoch, who took the precaution of voting at an advance poll. The first person to vote is one Plantagenet McCarthy, and shortly afterwards he is discovered by Detective-to-be Crabtree and Inspector Brackenreid, lying dead in the street. McCarthy was disguised by a fake moustache.
There is controversy at the polling station when it is discovered that the suffragette candidate, Margaret Haile, has been left off the ballot paper, even though her nomination was valid. The police arrive, on the trail of Plantagenet McCarthy, and learn he voted with a friend, Alexander Cuddy. Murdoch easily finds the dead man's apartment but it is booby-trapped with knock-out gas. When Murdoch comes round, he is looking at Government agent Terrence Meyers who tells him McCarthy was working for him shadowing a German spy who is trying to infiltrate Canada's arms industry. Soon a likely looking man, calling himself John Smith, but who speaks perfect German is apprehended. Cuddy is also apprehended. It transpires that he and McCarthy were "pluggers", which is to say people hired to impersonate other voters in order to steal their votes.
The suffragettes form a human chain to prevent voting because the Returning Officer refuses to suspend the election. Murdoch soon discovers that Meyers has been lying to him, leaving Murdoch to investigate the possibility that the killer came from inside the polling station. Constable Crabtree sees his prospects somewhat brighter and proposes to Edna. Clara Brett Martin arrives at the polling station with an injunction to stop what she contends is illegal voting. Meyers concedes that McCarthy was a fictitious character invented by him to flush out the German spy, and the fact that a plugger stole that identity was singularly unfortunate for him, because the German spy or a close associate must have heard the name and seen the advantage in eliminating him.
So will Murdoch find the killer? Will Meyers find the spy? Will Crabtree get the girl? Will the suffragettes see any progress wit their cause?
This is another inventive storyline, laced with red herrings and men who are not who they say they are. There is progress, too, in long-term story arcs. All in all a lovely episode.
There is controversy at the polling station when it is discovered that the suffragette candidate, Margaret Haile, has been left off the ballot paper, even though her nomination was valid. The police arrive, on the trail of Plantagenet McCarthy, and learn he voted with a friend, Alexander Cuddy. Murdoch easily finds the dead man's apartment but it is booby-trapped with knock-out gas. When Murdoch comes round, he is looking at Government agent Terrence Meyers who tells him McCarthy was working for him shadowing a German spy who is trying to infiltrate Canada's arms industry. Soon a likely looking man, calling himself John Smith, but who speaks perfect German is apprehended. Cuddy is also apprehended. It transpires that he and McCarthy were "pluggers", which is to say people hired to impersonate other voters in order to steal their votes.
The suffragettes form a human chain to prevent voting because the Returning Officer refuses to suspend the election. Murdoch soon discovers that Meyers has been lying to him, leaving Murdoch to investigate the possibility that the killer came from inside the polling station. Constable Crabtree sees his prospects somewhat brighter and proposes to Edna. Clara Brett Martin arrives at the polling station with an injunction to stop what she contends is illegal voting. Meyers concedes that McCarthy was a fictitious character invented by him to flush out the German spy, and the fact that a plugger stole that identity was singularly unfortunate for him, because the German spy or a close associate must have heard the name and seen the advantage in eliminating him.
So will Murdoch find the killer? Will Meyers find the spy? Will Crabtree get the girl? Will the suffragettes see any progress wit their cause?
This is another inventive storyline, laced with red herrings and men who are not who they say they are. There is progress, too, in long-term story arcs. All in all a lovely episode.
