Constable Crabtree is fascinated as he explores the exhibits on display from previous Arctic expeditions of Captain Joseph-Elzéar Bernier. Captain Bernier is planning a new expedition to the north with the intention of being the first to reach the north pole and to claim it for Canada. The captain's presentation begins well enough, though Murdoch, Dr Ogden and baby Roland missed the start, but it descends into disorder when a slide is shown that depicts a crew member who died on a previous expedition. Further slides are projected which carry an accusation that the Captain is a murderer. Understandably, the captain is furious, and believes that somebody is out to sabotage his expedition. Murdoch says that before trying to find out who might be trying to undermine the Captain he must first find out if the claims about him are true. To this, the Captain hurls a string of insults at Murdoch in French, finishing by calling him an idiot. In turn, Murdoch, in fluent French, replies that the sooner he cooperates with this particular idiot, the sooner he will be above suspicion. Now that they understand each other, the Captain offers Murdoch sight of the dead man's body, which is at a local funeral home.
The dead man, Arthur Pimblett, had been a valuable member of the crew, and one day, after the ship became trapped by ice, he had gone off walking on the ice thinking that he might discover some new species of animal. It was four days before Pimblett's body was found, and nobody knows what became of him. Once at the morgue, Dr Ogden quickly determines that Pimblett was strangled.
Swedish rivals of Captain Bernier, including Bjorn Nordenskjold, would be happy to see Bernier's fundraising efforts fail, as they are planning a polar expedition of their own. Nordenskjold loses no time gloating over the disorder at the exhibition.
Inspector Brackenreid asks the Captain to go over the circumstances of the man's disappearance, and the Captain repeats the story about him wandering off across the ice, this time adding that he had been found by an Inuit crew member called Nuniq. It had been the dead man's idea to bring the Inuit along.
The Captain claims that Pimblett went mad, believing that he was in Pacific waters, and rambling about Pacific salmon. Meanwhile, George takes Nuniq to a swanky restaurant, where Nuniq delights in sampling the food on people's plates, and quite beguiles some local young ladies. By the end of the evening, Nuniq carries George back to his lodgings, and as they continue talking, he tells George that Pimblett had been convinced he had seen Pacific salmon, and that he had written about it in his journal, but the journal had since disappeared. When the inspector questions the Captain about the journal, the Captain says that it was just a collection of pictures of fish, with a few dates that he couldn't make any sense of.
Back at the morgue, Dr Ogden has failed to find any brain abnormality that might explain Pimblett's behaviour, but examination of his bones shows a high concentration of lead, and white lead poisoning can result in symptoms that might be suggestive of madness.
Other crew members also confirm Pimblett's erratic behaviour , and even suggest that at one point he had tried to foment a mutiny, as his observations led him to believe the Captain was leading the crew dangerously off course.
So how is Murdoch going to get to the bottom of this very fishy business? What are the Swedes up to? How will Murdoch and Dr Ogden adjust to parenthood? What does Murdoch's intuition tell him about the part played by the Inuit?
This episode is full of historical interest, and does raise the question of why Canadians weren't the first to the North Pole
The dead man, Arthur Pimblett, had been a valuable member of the crew, and one day, after the ship became trapped by ice, he had gone off walking on the ice thinking that he might discover some new species of animal. It was four days before Pimblett's body was found, and nobody knows what became of him. Once at the morgue, Dr Ogden quickly determines that Pimblett was strangled.
Swedish rivals of Captain Bernier, including Bjorn Nordenskjold, would be happy to see Bernier's fundraising efforts fail, as they are planning a polar expedition of their own. Nordenskjold loses no time gloating over the disorder at the exhibition.
Inspector Brackenreid asks the Captain to go over the circumstances of the man's disappearance, and the Captain repeats the story about him wandering off across the ice, this time adding that he had been found by an Inuit crew member called Nuniq. It had been the dead man's idea to bring the Inuit along.
The Captain claims that Pimblett went mad, believing that he was in Pacific waters, and rambling about Pacific salmon. Meanwhile, George takes Nuniq to a swanky restaurant, where Nuniq delights in sampling the food on people's plates, and quite beguiles some local young ladies. By the end of the evening, Nuniq carries George back to his lodgings, and as they continue talking, he tells George that Pimblett had been convinced he had seen Pacific salmon, and that he had written about it in his journal, but the journal had since disappeared. When the inspector questions the Captain about the journal, the Captain says that it was just a collection of pictures of fish, with a few dates that he couldn't make any sense of.
Back at the morgue, Dr Ogden has failed to find any brain abnormality that might explain Pimblett's behaviour, but examination of his bones shows a high concentration of lead, and white lead poisoning can result in symptoms that might be suggestive of madness.
Other crew members also confirm Pimblett's erratic behaviour , and even suggest that at one point he had tried to foment a mutiny, as his observations led him to believe the Captain was leading the crew dangerously off course.
So how is Murdoch going to get to the bottom of this very fishy business? What are the Swedes up to? How will Murdoch and Dr Ogden adjust to parenthood? What does Murdoch's intuition tell him about the part played by the Inuit?
This episode is full of historical interest, and does raise the question of why Canadians weren't the first to the North Pole
