Inspector Brackenreid (Thomas Craig) asks Murdoch (Yannick Bisson) to investigate the aftermath of a rooming house fire on the poor side of town in Sins of the Father.
George Crabtree (Jonny Harris) and William Murdoch arrive at the scene of the fire just as a body is being removed. They search it for clues and find a key and a metal cigarette case. Inside the case are cigarettes and a tinplate photo of a man and a boy.
“Oh my God,” Murdoch says, clearly shaken.
“You know these people? Crabtree asks.
“That’s me,” Murdoch replies. “This man is my father.”
George finds out Harry Murdoch had moved into the rooming house only recently and asks William why he would still be wearing his overcoat if he’s just sitting at home drinking.
“When you’re intent on drinking, I don’t suppose you pay much mind to removing your overcoat,” William replies.
Julia (Hélène Joy) arrives at Station House No. 4 and tells William she’s sorry about his father and asks him how he is. He assures her he is OK.
Later, George and William search Harry’s room and find another overcoat in the closet and flyers for a religious institution. They realize the key they found doesn’t fit his door and that it wasn’t his father’s room at all.
Foul Play Involved
George begins to believe there may have been some foul play involved in Harry Murdoch’s death.
William interviews the rooming house landlord and asks about the man who was renting the room. He finds out it was an older man with graying hair, named Nelson.
George traces the key to a rooming house on Queen Street, which is where Harry had been living.
As Murdoch goes through his father’s belongings, a woman arrives at the room, looking for Harry. She says they used to be close. “He was such a kind soul.”
She introduces herself as Susan Kelly (Sara Botsford) and tells William she remembers him.
At the morgue, Miss Hart (Shanice Banton) tells William his father did not die because of the fire, he had been strangled.
Brackenreid tells Murdoch “it would be more than understandable if you wanted to sit this one out,” but Murdoch says he wants to continue his investigation.
Kelly shows up at the station house with another friend of his father’s, Leonard Vasser (Peter MacNeill). He says he’d shared a drink with Harry just the day before, which was only hours before his death.
Awkward Lunch
Julia arrives and invites Kelly and Vasser out to lunch with them. The pair share their memories of Harry and William is not amused. He gets up from the table, leaving Julia sitting with Kelly and Vasser.
Meanwhile, Brackenreid and Crabtree head to a house on Markham Street, where an older man with gray hair had tried to commit a burglary. In a hidden compartment in a grandfather clock, George discovers an envelope with $500 worth of Dominion Bank notes inside.
They believe the money had been hidden there for many years. George traces the serial numbers on the bills and finds out that the money had been reported to the police.
A wealthy couple’s son had been kidnapped in 1870 and they paid a $2,000 ransom but their son was never returned to them. A portion of the ransom money had been hidden inside the clock.
William remembers being at the house on Markham Street and believes his father had been involved in the kidnapping.
Brackenreid tells Murdoch he needs to forgive his father.
“A man who turns his back on his family can’t simply return on a whim and expect to find forgiveness conveniently waiting for him,” Murdoch says, implying the inspector is doing the same thing to his family.
Brackenreid tells him to get out of his office.
Sins Of The Father
Crabtree and Murdoch trace Nelson to a church. He says he’s glad to see them and that he’s “ready to confess.”
He tells Crabtree and Murdoch that he and Harry had kidnapped an infant in 1870 but didn’t trust each other and left the baby alone in a crib with a blanket. When they returned, the infant had died.
“I don’t believe I once saw him drunk before that day,” Nelson says. He tells them he is responsible for the death of the child but not for the death of Harry Murdoch. So who is?
Tragic Decision?
Meanwhile, at the University of Toronto’s School of Medicine, Julia advises a young woman against getting a breast reduction. The woman says she has considered it at length.
“I’ve had to endure the curse of a large bosom since I was in school.” Mural Darling tells Julia.
She decides to go through with it, despite Julia’s objections.
Julia tells Dr. Forbes (James McGowan) that she is not going to do the surgery, because, despite the procedure being considered safe, there is still some risk to the patient. He tells her that since she can’t handle it, he’ll perform the surgery himself.
Post-surgery, all seems well, until Nurse Sullivan (Stephanie Belding) notes that Darling has a fever and is going into septic shock. But does she survive?
Sins Of The Father includes another excellent performance from Yannick Bisson, in a season that has been nothing short of outstanding so far.
Murdoch Mysteries airs Monday nights at 8 p.m. on CBC. You can watch Season 12, episode 14 here. And don’t forget to check out Greg David’s interview with Yannick Bisson.
