Murdoch Mysteries

A carnival turns dour after a man falls to his death beside a vaudeville impresario. As Murdoch and Crabtree investigate, they meet Charlie Chaplin, a cocksure Englishman, who says the victim was an insult comic who tussled the previous night with performer Ed Ward. Ward claims Chaplin"s friend Stan Laurel was also miffed, but Murdoch begins to suspect the intended victim was actually Mr. Chaplin.

After learning from a colleague that his son Bobby drunkenly beat a classmate to death, Brackenreid goes silent, refusing help from Murdoch. Meanwhile, Murdoch and Julia fear neighbor Goldie Huckabee is plotting revenge for her husband"s murder by poisoning them with an elaborate meal. And Crabtree suspects Effie"s new secretary is actually Amelia, the woman who kidnapped him.

Terrence Meyers awakes Murdoch and Ogden to deliver an intercepted telegraph that seems to be from James Pendrick. At the station house, Pendrick"s assistant confirms she hasn"t seen him for weeks. The information shifts Murdoch into invention overdrive, while Brackenreid, Higgins, and Watts search the wharf. Then Ogden connects a badly beaten man pulled from the river to the missing entrepreneur.

After the electrocuted body of a man is found near the university, Murdoch and Brackenreid investigate researchers Arthur and Laura Kingston. Snidely referred to as "The Frankensteins" for their bizarre psychological studies, they deny any wrongdoing. Meanwhile, Julia is unsettled by her needy neighbor Goldie Huckabee, and Crabtree is suspicious of Dorothy, Effie"s new secretary.

William and Julia"s weekend at a remote inn starts inauspiciously when their unpleasant traveling companions squabble. Things take a turn for the worse when one of the travelers is stabbed. Back in Toronto, Crabtree and Higgins contend with the severed body of a woman buried in a community garden. Brackenreid puts Higgins in charge, but he appears more interested in solving a jigsaw puzzle.

After the suicide of disreputable woman, Murdoch suspects murder and nefarious dealings involving arranged marriages. In the shadow of the Virtue Ministry, two controversial courtships continue. Violet Hart finds Arthur Carmichael"s public displays of affection unnerving, while Watts is unnerved by public reaction to his liaison with Jack.

A series of riddles lure Murdoch and Ogden to an abandoned factory, where they find themselves trapped in a puzzle room. A short time later, Brackenreid and Crabtree are led to the site as well. The pairs are sequestered in individual rooms as a voice over an intercom proffers convoluted riddles. The associates find their safety and very lives threatened as they strive to solve them.

When the team are called to a murder at Newsomimico, the lakeside estate of Rupert Newsome, they"re stunned to learn he has created a sovereign nation. Sporting a crown and calling himself king, he"s distraught over the death of his friend, aristocrat Dickie Fetherstonhaugh. Julia is impressed by the bizarre undertaking, but Crabtree is unsettled at meeting Effie"s former husband.

While investigating a fire that destroyed a pawnshop, Murdoch discovers the proprietor was shot in the head and believes a stolen shipment of opium might have led to the murder. Nomi tries to enlist Brackenreid to find her missing friend, but after the inspector sees the man"s rap sheet, he"s dubious. Nomi does her own reconnaissance and things escalate quickly, threatening Brackenreid"s future.

After a woman"s body is found in a drum of lye, Murdoch fears his old lover Anna Fulford has been caught by a crime family. Angry with her husband, Ruth leaves Higgins for the Murdoch home, where her pregnant princess routine tests Julia"s patience. Hart regrets her impulsive elopement, and Watts pursues a young boy who shot at a group of men in Arthur"s restaurant, then fled.

Murdoch realizes that the boy who shot at the Blackhand crime boss is his son. Julia is stunned but eager to accept the boy out of love for William. Elsewhere, love takes a beating as Crabtree"s proposal to Effie is dashed, Watts braces for Jack"s marriage, and Higgins and Ruth remain separated. Family is the one thing holding Brackenreid together as he resists pressure to resign from his job.