Murdoch Mysteries

I'm Detective William Murdoch, Toronto Constabulary.

Joshua Jones.

You said your son saw the incident?

He said he saw something.

I'm not sure if it's real or not.

He's not right in the head.

What's your name, son?

He doesn't talk much. Except for nonsense.

Tell me what you saw.

I saw the angel of death.

On horseback.

He ran the man through.

With a lance.

Now, Ezekiel...

You saw an angel on horseback?

He had wings.

That's why I knew he was an angel.

What did I tell you?

-It's nothing but nonsense. -It's the truth.

Higgins, make a move.

There you go.

- What are you doing? - Making a move.

Yes, but a knight doesn't move like that, Higgins.

I've told you a million times.

Two spaces in any direction and one left or right,

or one space in any direction and two left or right.

Honestly, does this go in one ear and come out the other?

Fine. But that's stupid.

Well, that's the rules.

Morning, gentlemen.

- Ah, the art of war. Do you play, sir?

I did, but I was never very good.

Really, sir? A man of your intelligence?

Plenty bright enough, Crabtree. Just too bloody impatient.

Now get to work, the pair of you.

Does that mean we can stop playing, then?

Sure.

Checkmate.

Well, the boy may have spoken nonsense in the past,

but this is the truth.

The victim was run through with a lance.

MURDOCH Mm-hmm.

I would think this to be a first, even for you two.

I think you might be right.

Perhaps this may help.

These were in his jacket pocket.

What are they?

I don't know. I haven't looked through them.

Looks to be Russian.

So a Russian man

was killed by a winged angel of death in a field in Markham?

So it would seem.

And there was one more thing.

This was found in the folds of his clothes.

Thank you.

You've certainly been drinking a lot of that.

It just eases my stomach.

Mm.

Just move one of those little fellows.

Yeah, perfect. Thank you, Higgins.

- Detective Watts. - Yes.

Given your facility with language,

I was hoping you might assist me with this.

- Of course. - That must be some sort of code.

- Well, it's Russian. Russian?

You can tell by the Cyrillic alphabet.

Of course you can.

They appear to be travel documents.

A Russian man, aged 37.

His name is Dimitri Gorkhov.

- Say again? - Dimitri Gorkhov.

You know who this man is, George?

Do I, sir? He's the 10th-best chess player in the world.

At least according to current rankings.

What would he be doing in Toronto?

Well, he must be here for the tournament, of course.

Sir, the very best in the world are all assembling

for a grand exhibition right here in the city.

It won't affect world rankings,

but it's expected to be a harbinger

of what's to come at the world championships later in...

Thank you, George.

- We should go. - Not so fast, Crabtree.

An event of this magnitude

should be attended by a ranking officer.

- Sir? - Well, all these foreigners.

There may be a need for British diplomacy.

Grab your coat and hat, Murdoch.

Thank you.

All right, Constable, back to the game.

Russians.

Excuse me, sir. Toronto Constabulary.

What can I do for you?

Do you know a man named Dimitri Gorkhov?

Yes. Where is he?

Drunk again, I'll bet.

I apologize.

He's dead. He was found murdered yesterday.

Oh.

I see.

This is not good news.

No.

Do you know who might want to do this to him?

Someone who is desperate to win the tournament.

How was he killed?

A witness reports he was killed by a knight on horseback.

Do you know what this is?

I have no idea.

You'd be well advised to tell us the truth.

I said I have no idea.

I'll tell you when we're finished.

- Unhand me. - Sir.

No need to cause an international incident.

That bugger knows something.

I would tend to agree.

But I'll wager someone else here does as well.

British diplomacy, sir.

Excuse me. Toronto Constabulary.

Yes?

Would you happen to know what this is?

I have never seen it before.

Oh, I see. You're cheating on me.

Very disappointed, George.

- Miss Bloom, you play? - My father taught me.

Miss Bloom is by far the finest player I've ever encountered.

Chess is one of our pastimes.

I didn't think he cared to share it with others.

Let's see you wiggle out of that, George.

Not one person said a bloody word.

One of them is involved.

You think one of those chess players

is also a knight in shining armor?

That's nothing but a young boy's imagination.

I'm not so sure about that, sir.

Regardless, I'd wager that someone at that tournament

knows something about this.

We need a man on the inside.

No.

No? - No!

Sir, I wouldn't stand a chance. These are masters.

- I'm a hobbyist at best. - What about Miss Bloom?

It's not exactly that sort of mission, Watts.

Sir.

Miss Bloom is a very good player.

She is, but the tournament doesn't allow women.

Which is a shame.

I honestly think she would give any of them

a run for their money.

Perhaps she can play them.

Sir?

She's a -- She's a woman. She can't.

She may be able to.

With some slight modifications...

Yes.

Right, then. We'll leave you to it.

Would you care to walk with me?

What about the detective?

He's working late.

If you don't mind, there are a few things

I'd like to finish up first.

Of course not.

I have to say, you've been doing an excellent job

since you started here.

Thank you.

Night.

Four stitches, William.

It always surprises me

how you find newer and newer ways to die.

Well, at least I haven't found one that's successful yet.

We have a child coming, William. You need to be more careful.

I was simply trying to walk home.

Imagine my surprise when the report of a bleeding vagrant

in an alleyway turned out to be you.

What happened?

I was attacked by a knight in armor.

- With wings? - With wings.

You're bloody lucky.

I don't think luck had much to do with it, sir.

If he intended to kill me,

he certainly could have accomplished that.

He was after that crest.

Which narrows down the field quite a bit.

The only people who knew I was in possession of that pin

were attendees at the tournament.

All the more reason to get Crabtree into that game.

That's my intention.

Careful. It's very delicate.

Right.

Now, Miss Bloom has agreed to this?

Yes, sir. She's quite excited about it, in fact.

Especially now, what with Mr. Gorkhov being slain,

and Master Troubetskoy taking the reins.

Troubetskoy?

Yes, sir. He was a master before his retirement.

The Russians brought him this time

simply to be an advisor to Mr. Gorkhov,

but since his untimely death,

Master Troubetskoy is returning to the fray.

It's an honor to play against him, really.

Miss Bloom has studied his game for years.