Inspector Brackenreid looks very pleased as he introduces his nephew, Constable Charlie Brackenreid, to the officers of Police Station 4. The Inspector asks his colleagues to give his nephew no special treatment, but then immediately tells Constable Higgins to vacate his desk so Charlie will have somewhere to work from. In the same way, when Murdoch asks Constable Crabtree to go with him in response to the finding of a body, the Inspector stands Crabtree down, so that Charlie can accompany the Detective. Eager to get Charlie involved, Detective Murdoch asks Charlie to make his observations when they reach the scene. They are astute, as far as they go.
When Dr Grace arrives, she is taken aback to discover that she recognises the woman who has died. Indeed, she and her friend Lilian Moss were guests at a party the previous evening hosted by the victim, where they shared a brief conversation.
Taking Constable Brackenreid, Murdoch visits the place the party was held, and discovers that the victim was Diana White, who rented the room from time to time. Following up a lead to Miss White's home address, the Detective and Constable find it a place of paradox, a lowly dwelling in an upscale area, packed with luxury goods. Miss Moss calls in at the morgue to tell Dr Grace that she had mistakenly taken someone else's coat when she left the party, and later discovered that the coat contained secret pockets, which were filled with jewels.
Murdoch decides to try to find out where the jewels might have come from, and he finds a jeweller who recognises some of the pieces. He tells Murdoch they were stolen some days earlier, but that he didn't report the crime, fearing that the bad publicity might harm his business more than the value of the pieces. However, the jeweller points out that not all the pieces Murdoch showed him were originally his. Other Jewellers' shops had also been targeted.
The Inspector divides Toronto's Jewellery Quarter between himself, Murdoch and Constables Crabtree and Brackenreid. Thus, George Crabtree is on hand to witness a woman stealing jewels in one shop to which he has been sent, but she switches her box containing the stolen jewels with another woman in the shop, a move which Crabtree fails to spot, resulting in George apprehending a woman with an empty box, while her partner escapes aboard a horse-omnibus with the jewels.
Crabtree arrests the woman he caught, whose name is Alice Henshaw, and Murdoch questions her about Diana White. This is the first she has heard about Diana's death; all she knows is that Diana was due to meet a man after the party. Murdoch suggests to Inspector Brackenreid that the gang may consist entirely of women, but the Inspector dismisses the idea, only for Constable Brackenreid to speak of a London female gang called the 40 elephants, which has been operating for over 100 years.
The Inspector theorises that Diana White may have been the leader of the gang, who may have been killed by another gang member in a bid to take over the gang. In that scenario, there would be a new leader trying to assert herself, so perhaps the thing to do would be to apply some pressure to known fences in order to get the next lead. This he does, visiting one Eddie Crawford, but it doesn't go as well as hoped, So he invites Dr Grace and Lillian Moss to visit the next party under cover, and to return the coat containing the stolen jewels to see what happens.
So, will the plan succeed, with the Doctor and Lillian gleaning more information about the gang, or will the women end up like Diana White? Will Inspector Brackenreid continue to be blind to the effects that his nepotism is having on the officers of Police Station 4? This episode includes many twists and turns in the plot as well as more than its fair share of surprises. Action-packed is the only way to describe it.
As to the scene that occupies the final 13 seconds of the episode, it is clear to me that this main character has been severely undermined by those with whom she works, she has faced death threats which could turn out to be very real from those she has helped to put behind bars, she has alienated the only male character who was really growing to love her, plus this particular character's back story is full of such episodes. In this moment when she is so very vulnerable, she seeks out human company from a member of her own gender: what choices does she have? Some people are so quick to rush to judgment now, in the 21st century. How much worse would it have been in 1902? We do not yet know what price this character will have to pay for those 13 seconds. Perhaps the best thing to do is to wait and see.
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