The affluent and influential young man who recently replaced one of the rowers for the 1896 Olympic rowing team is found drowned in the river.

Detective Murdoch and many others attend a special showing of a film that will also include sound. The man behind the scheme is James Pendrick and his main competitor, Thomas Edison, is also present for the showing. The film includes a scene where a shot is fired but when the lights come up, one of the patrons, Pendrick's principal investor, has been shot in the head. Thanks to an observation by Dr. Ogden, Murdoch concludes that the shot was intended for Pendrick himself. Pendrick decides to make a film about the cases of Detective Murdoch but in one scene, the actor playing Murdoch is shot by a real bullet. In the original script a character called constable Tom, played by Pendrick, was to be shot again seeming to confirm that Pendrick is the main target. With the investigation ongoing, movie making is proving to be a distraction.