Det. Murdoch investigates the murder of Richard Dawkins who was beaten to death at the dinner table by two masked men just as he was about to make an important announcement to his business associates. Since nothing was stolen Murdoch's new boss, Inspector Hamish Slorach, calls the killing an assassination. Dawkins was rumored to be selling his chandlery business. The harbor master says Dawkins was anything but a saint and the police should look to the seedier side for a solution to his death. Const. Jackson is badly beaten by two thugs which seems to confirm Murdoch's suspicion that the men who beat Inspector Brackenreid are the same ones who killed Dawkins. When they find a dead woman on the shore, Dr. Grace determines she was clubbed to death the night before the attack on Dawkins and was manacled before she died. Meanwhile, suffragettes recruit Julia to their movement and she is joined by Emily Grace. Receiving little support politically, they decide to hold a protest march. They are all soon in jail.

The police continue their search for Mick and Tim O'Shea but Inspector Brackenreid is also out on his own looking for them. Murdoch finds someone who confirms that the O'Sheas killed Richard Dawkins but the man also suggests that the O'Sheas aren't working alone. Mrs. Cecily McKinnon, the harbor master, says she knows nothing of extortion on the docks but when pressed, points the finger at one of the merchants, Lionel Jeffries. When the O'Sheas are found dead, shot through the head, Brackenreid becomes the number one suspect. Meanwhile, the ladies who participated in the suffragette protest - including Drs. Ogden and Grace - are still in jail. In court, they find that Leslie Garland is one of the Crown attorneys prosecuting them. They get a bit of a boost when Clara Brett Martin, the first woman lawyer so recognized in the British Empire, offers to represent them.

Detective Murdoch investigates the death of a man found dead on a park bench. Dr. Grace initially determines that he was stabbed in the abdomen but subsequently concludes he was actually suffocated. He also has dried blood on his index finger and three pages from a Mark Twain novel on him. When he returns to the station Murdoch meets Owen Hume who reports that his employer, lawyer Randolph Sampson, has been missing for two days and subsequently identifies him as the man in the park. Meanwhile, Constable Crabtree investigates the disappearance of a corpse, that of Prof. Andrew Richardson, from the medical school. His brain was the object of a medical study by Dr.Dempsy who is researching the brains of highly intelligent people. When it turns out that Sampson and Richardson are the same person Murdoch learns that he's dealing with a group of admirers who wanted to see him in action so to speak. Julia continues her suffrage activities and lawyer Clara Brett Martin confirms that it's possible for a woman to run for elected office.

Detective Murdoch investigates the apparent murder of an inventor who is found sitting in a chair he invented. That chair was meant to provide a mild electrical current as a rejuvenation technique but Dr. Grace is certain that he was in fact electrocuted. He had a young woman with him the night he died but the investigation leads him to inventor Thomas Edison and the main suspect - his son Thomas Edison Jr. Meanwhile, the mayor tells Inspector Brackenreid to speak to Murdoch about Julia's plans to run in the upcoming election - fully expecting he will exercise his authority as her husband. Murdoch makes it clear to everyone that he has no intention of interfering and will support Julia in her campaign.

While investigating a mysterious death in Markham, Det. Murdoch discovers a hidden ornate and booby-trapped laden building that could contain the Holy Grail.

George Crabtree investigates a suspicious death in the world of entertainment wrestling.

Julia and her colleagues are going to vote for a female candidate as a gesture for women's suffrage; meanwhile, Murdoch investigates the death of a man who may be one of Terrence Meyer's minions.