Murdoch Mysteries

Oh, I'm sorry. This seat is saved.

Terribly sorry.

Ladies and gentlemen,

welcome to the inaugural demonstration of

the Langston: a typewriter powered by electricity,

and created by that fine gentleman right there,

Mr Alexander Langston.

This demonstration will take the form of a competition.

Sorry I'm late, William. I had to deal with a strangulated hernia.

- Oh! - So, what have I missed?

Not much.

I did have to guard your seat with my life.

Oh! All of Toronto is here.

And who's the favourite?

Regrettably, Miss Louise Cherry.

- 85 words per minute. - Oh. Pity.

What about Paula Schumacher, that Canadian girl.

- Does she have a chance? - No, I don't think so.

Also, there is Miss Macy Bronson of Colorado. She's reached 79.

And George?

And Constable George Crabtree.

What is your top speed, Constable?

I'd rather not say, Mr Hewitt.

I don't want to intimidate the other competitors.

They don't look terribly frightened.

Let's hope that you have more of an impact on our city's criminals.

And we have Miss Louise Cherry,

a star columnist for the Toronto Telegram.

Tell us, Miss Cherry,

what is the fasted speed that you have achieved?

- 85 words per minute. - That is outstanding! You're sure now?

I know how you newspaper types

- are prone to exaggeration. - I'm not exaggerating.

Hm.

Mr Linwood, do you think you can give Miss Cherry

a run for her money?

I'll do my best, for my self and country.

Our first contestant: Miss Maisie Bronson.

Ready?

Go!

That is fast.

Her fingers are really flying.

Oh!

Oh, my.

Come on, Maisie!

And stop.

Mr Frobisher, the final score.

62 words completed with four mistakes. Final score is 54.

- Next up, Constable George Crabtree. - Ah!

Ready?

Go!

And stop!

51 words completed. 10 mistakes.

Total score is 31.

- Miss Louise Cherry. - Watch how it's done.

Miss Cherry.

Ready?

Go!

What's happening?

Oh.

I can't go on.

- My hand's cramped up. - Well.

No need to tally that score, Mr Frobisher.

How disappointing.

- My deepest regrets, Miss Cherry. - Mr Linwood.

Ready? Go!

That is fast!

30 seconds.

George! Unplug the typewriter!

No! You mustn't touch the body!

- Oh. - Excuse me!

He's dead, William.

Ivor and I trained at the * team speed-typists.

He was the undisputed champion.

Anything else?

He just turned 25.

And he had his whole life ahead of him.

What makes it worse is that

he always struggled with his health,

but he'd been doing so well recently.

What was his ailment, Miss Bronson?

He had rheumatic fever as a child.

It left him with a weak heart.

Sir, may I let the rest of the contestants go?

You have all of their particulars?

- Yes, of course. - Thank you.

An unfortunate accident indeed, sir.

Was it an accident?

- It seemed so strange. - I have yet to determine that.

Thank you, Miss Bronson.

The prize money was considerable, sir.

$100. I could've used it.

Not a lot of money for a man's life, George.

Excuse me, Detective? Edgar Leonard, Toronto Telegraph.

Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?

Mr Leonard, the detective is busy right now.

- If you came-- - No need, Mr Leonard.

I'll handle this from here on in.

I was assigned to report on this contest.

And I saw a man who was electrocuted.

You weren't the only one at risk, Miss Cherry.

Well, luckily you were spared, Constable.

You shouldn't write this. You're involved in the story.

Which is all the more reason that I should.

What are your initial thoughts, Detective?

I have no comment at this time.

- Constable Crabtree? - Go home, Miss Cherry.

Mr Langston?

You designed this machine. What went wrong?

It should have been in perfect working order.

- Well, it clearly wasn't. - Then it was tampered with.

- By whom? - A rival?

There's great competition among typewriter manufacturers.

Remington, Underwood, Royal:

they know my machine is going to change the world.

- I'll be needing to take a look at it. - Of course.

I'm as anxious as you are to get to the bottom of this.

Mr Langston, besides yourself, who else had access to the plans

- and schematics of the machine? - No one.

- This is my invention, solely. - So you built a faulty device.

- That thing could have killed me! - I did not!

I have tested this machine numerous times.

So, you know of no one who had the knowledge to tamper with it?

- Anyone could have tampered with it. - Anyone with a reason?

There may be one person.

His name is Alphonse Maloney.

He worked with me during the design of the machine.

Until we had a falling out.

Thank you. George, please

- see that the machine is delivered to my office. - Yes, sir.

I'll need it back.

It's evidence now, Mr Langston.

I've made no bones about my disagreement with Alexander Langston.

He gave me the shoe for no good reason.

Did you try to get retribution by tampering with his new typewriter?

If I was going to hurt Mr. Langston, I would hurt him,

not some innocent bystander.

Besides, I've given up my resentment a long time ago.

Well, if not you, then who?

Competition brings out the worst in people.

Always has.

Progress isn't always for the best, you know?

I wish Mr Langston no ill will.

But I do not wish him success.

Why is that?

The purity of writing is achieved by effort.

To electrify a typewriter changes it forever.

Can you imagine the same being done to an instrument like this?

It would be heresy.

William!

It's here!

Take a look.

Oh.

It looks quite good, doesn't it?

The first run is 500 copies.

- "500"?! - That's the standard.

Now, we just need to sell it.

I had imagined that's your job, isn't it?

We must all play our parts.

To that end, I have arranged a series of readings.

- The first one is tomorrow. - Oh!

And who will be doing these readings?

Why, you two. The authors.

- Are you sure? - Of course I'm sure.

You two are the star attraction:

a married couple solving heinous crimes.

If the newspapers had any sense,

they would be publishing a weekly serial of your adventures.

It would be a hit!

Well, if you think it would help sales--

I suppose we could come up with something interesting to say.

Let the company buy you lunch.

We can go over the details of the reading.

- It does look a handsome volume. - Indeed, it does.

- George? - Ah!

Sir, I'm sorry. I--

I see the new book has come out.

It has. It's very exciting.

I dare say.

If you'd like, I can arrange for you to receive an advance copy.

I think I'm familiar enough with the content, sir.

Of course.

Oh, George, find out all you can about the contestants, please.

Sir, they're just some typists trying for a little prize money.

On the surface.

But as I say in the book,

one must always dig deeper.

I don't ever recall you doing much digging, sir.

- What's that? - I'll look into that right away, sir.

Very good.

So, the Detective and the Doctor wrote a book.

So they say.

How'd they do that with all they have on their plate?

Hmm.

Well, I've heard it's very good.

You have? From who?

Well, if they wrote it, it must be.

Oh, Higgins, will you stop nattering? We have work to do.

- George! Henry. - Dr Ogden.

Shopping, I see.