User Reviews

Pretty good episode with lots of suspects.

Lots of things going on. Murdoch and Dr. Ogden's relationship becomes deeper. We get to see them try absinthe, tho their interactions were shown and not heard. Murdoch knows the Madame from a previous case. It seems like the viewers are supposed to know about it. But it wasn't in a previous episode? I guess it was in one of the early Murdoch movies with a different actor playing Murdoch. I never saw those.

The ending seemed a little rushed tho. Almost like they ran out of time and had to quickly get in the catch-em of the killer and the motivations. The killer apparently just openly capitulated their guilt without any objection. No initial confrontation was shown.

But I think the biggest letdown was not letting Brackenreid be there during the confession. I don't want to give away, but given that Brackenreid dealt with this person the most in the episode, and really disliked the person, especially given the person's agenda and moral superiority, he definitely deserved to be there.

No doubt he would have made one of his funny quips, not to mention get a lot of satisfaction out of who it turned out the killer was. 9/10.

A cab pulls up outside the Weston Music Academy, and a smartly dressed man goes inside, where there is loud and energetic piano music playing and plenty of well-to-do men enjoying the company of young women. Suddenly, a fire bomb is thrown through a window, starting a blaze in the building. People hurriedly leave, while the manager of the establishment checks to see all her women are accounted for. One of them, Cora Devereaux, has not come out, so Ettie Weston goes looking for her, and discovers her dead on a bed, having been garroted.

When Murdoch arrives, it is clear that he and Ettie Weston know each other. She tells him about Cora, who had been with her for about six months, since arriving from Montreal, where there had been some trouble with a customer who had been violent towards her. When Murdoch asks if there has been any similar trouble in Toronto, Ettie says Cora was very popular with the customers. In fact only one customer, a local painter called Arthur Webster, had been any bother, through becoming a bit obsessed with her, which usually spells trouble. In fact she had thrown Mr Webster out a couple of hours before the fire.

Webster seems heartbroken to be told that Cora is dead, and even more taken aback when Murdoch asks if he uses turpentine, which naturally he does, to clean his brushes. Webster had been saddened when Cora let it be known that her feelings were for someone else, Judge Mitchell Wilson, who flatly denies any involvement with Cora or the Weston Music Academy. Meanwhile, Levi Beecher of the Temperance League calls on Inspector Brackenreid to demand that the Music Academy be shut down, only for the Inspector to firmly assure him the Police know their job and are doing it.

At the morgue, Dr Ogden tells Murdoch that the dead woman had taken an anise-based drink shortly before death, to which Murdoch replies that he had seen absinthe at her bedside. Dr Ogden, having noted the familiarity between Ettie and Murdoch, asks how they know each other, and Murdoch explains they had met on a previous case where a prostitute had been killed. Dr Ogden tells Murdoch that there were no defensive wounds, but Cora did have wounds from possibly having been whipped, though these seemed too extreme to have been from playing out a fantasy sex game.

Paul Wilson, son of the judge comes to visit Murdoch. He had earlier overheard his father claiming to have been at home the previous evening, but he knew that was not true, as the judge had recently started staying out to all hours. Worse than that, after his father came in the previous evening, Paul had discovered bloodstained clothing at the back of his closet.

Murdoch brings the judge in for questioning, and eventually he admits seeing Cora at the Academy. They were drinking and then he passed out. When he awoke, he found Cora dead, and himself covered in blood, but cannot explain what happened.

Murdoch questions Ettie once more. She says that when she went back into Cora's room, he found the judge there, holding Cora and crying. She saw to it that he was taken home, being sure that he hadn't killed her. When Murdoch asks if any of Cora's Toronto clients liked using whips, she says only Webster. Sure enough, when Murdoch searches Webster's apartment, he finds whips. Webster explains that it was Cora who used the whips on him. Moreover, he knew of the judge's interest in Cora and was sure it was good and wholesome. However, the judge's son was much more difficult to deal with, and had accused Cora of just being interested in the judge's money, once he found out that his father was planning to marry her.

Murdoch is summoned to Webster's studio, where the artist has been discovered hanged, having painted "forgive me Cora" across one of his many portraits of her. Dr Ogden confirms the post-mortem results are consistent with suicide, which troubles Murdoch somewhat. However, out of the blue, Murdoch invites Dr Ogden out for dinner, and she accepts.

So, what splendid establishment will Murdoch be taking Dr Ogden to? Is the judge really in the clear? Did Webster really kill himself, or was it staged? Is there any connection with past events in Montreal, where Cora Devereaux had survived a garrote attack? Is Paul, the judge's son, really keen to see his father exonerated, or is he playing a different game?

This episode is notable for the way the relationship between Dr Ogden and Detective Murdoch progresses. And the mys is a bit more shallow, to accommodate that