Murdoch Mysteries Trivia Quiz

Answer: Nikola Tesla

The contract for powering Toronto's street lamps is up for renewal, and the proponents of direct current power are staging a demonstration to show the dangers of alternating current, popularized by Tesla. Is Alice Howard the victim of political intrigue, or sabotage, or was there a more personal motive driving the guilty person to murder?

Answer: Insect pupae

The delay in the hatching of the June bug pupae establish Percy Pollack's time of death some five days earlier than initially thought, as the victim had been kept in an ice house before being delivered in a trunk to the Toronto Constabulary. Now Murdoch must discover who stands to gain the most from Pollack's "prolonged life".

The glass ceiling referred to in the episode's title is not related to the mystery being solved. In this episode Murdoch interviews with Chief Constable Stockton for a position as inspector at another station house. Stockton refuses to promote Murdoch because he, Murdoch, is Catholic. "Glass ceiling" is a term used to describe a person's inability to advance, despite merit, due to the prejudice of another person (an invisible barrier, of sorts).

Answer: Queen Victoria's birthday

As Murdoch and Constable Crabtree investigate the crime scene, fireworks can be heard outside and Crabtree asks Murdoch how old the queen is turning this year. Murdoch later proves that the clerk would have heard the gunshot had he been at his post, indicating that Fannie Robinson, who had been discovered with the body, must have arrived at the scene after the murder took place. But if Robinson's slighted wife didn't kill him, who did?

Queen Victoria was born on May 24th, 1819. Following her death in 1901, Canada's parliament enacted Victoria Day as a statutory holiday to honour the Mother of Confederation. It is celebrated today in Canada on the last Monday in May before the 25th.

Dominion Day commemorated the formation of the Dominion of Canada on July 1st, 1867. It was celebrated in Canada until 1982 when its name was changed officially to Canada Day by an Act of Parliament. Sir Mackenzie Bowell was Canada's fifth prime minister, serving from December 1894 until April 1896. His birthday was December 27th.

Answer: Arthur Conan Doyle

Arthur Conan Doyle (knighted later than the setting of this episode, in 1902) is visiting Toronto to give a lecture on spirituality. At the séance, the medium, Sarah Pensell, channels the spirit of a young woman who had been murdered and buried in a shallow grave.

Investigating, Murdoch and Doyle find the body of Mrs. Winston exactly where Pensell describes it to be. Who could have wanted this young woman dead, and if Miss Pensell is the charlatan that Murdoch believes her to be--how does she know where the body was to be found?

Answer: Eunice

During the autopsy Dr. Ogden discovers evidence which indicates that Wendell Merrick was homosexual. Murdoch hastens to identify Merrick's lover, thinking that the death must have resulted from jealousy over Merrick's impending marriage to Eunice McGinty.

The pieces, however, don't seem to fit, and when Merrick's lover is later discovered dead by his own hand, Murdoch begins to suspect that there may have been a plot to murder Wendell Merrick that is far more elaborate.

Answer: His pocket watch

The sequence of events leading up to the discovery of John Delaney's body and the times at which they occur are instrumental in the solving of the case. In this Murdoch is greatly assisted by Phillip Delaney, who, while simple, has an extraordinary memory for time: he is able to tell Murdoch the exact times that his father and each of the key suspects had exited the public house. Phillip is very shy when Murdoch first questions him, but warms up to the detective after Murdoch admires Phillip's pocket watch and then shows him his own, which had been a gift from his late fiancée, Liza.

Answer: The Scottish Play ("Macbeth")

The desiccated remains of Virgil Smart make an unbilled appearance in Act 5, Scene 1 of Shakespeare's "Macbeth", during Lady Macbeth's famous "Out, damned spot" monologue. The Toronto Constabulary are baffled, however, as Smart had passed away several years earlier, in 1892, and had been buried by his widow. Murdoch now finds himself faced with two mysteries: Who killed Virgil Smart, and who had been buried in his place?

The incorrect answers were all written and produced in the late 1940s: "A Streetcar Named Desire" (Tennessee Williams, 1947), "Death of a Salesman" (Arthur Miller, 1949) and "Detective Story" (Sidney Kingsley, 1949).

Answer: Rowing

Murdoch and Dr. Ogden quickly determine that Horace Briggs is being framed for Hartley's murder: the blood on the oar discovered in Briggs' possession is still wet, though it has been some time since the assault, and the wood does not match the sliver taken from one of the victim's wounds.

But if Horace Briggs is innocent, who else had motive to kill Richard Hartley, and how is it that Hartley, a superb swimmer, is found drowned in the lake?

Answer: Mycroft

Rod's son, Harcourt Grimsby, does not appear to be altogether sane, and often it is his dummy, Mycroft, who answers Murdoch's questions during the interrogations.

Interestingly, Arthur Conan Doyle makes another appearance in this episode. Doyle's famous literary sleuth, Sherlock Holmes, has an older brother named Mycroft who was introduced in "The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter" in 1893.

Of the incorrect answers, Jeff Dunham is a famous modern-day ventriloquist and comedian, and Walter is one of his dummies.

Answer: Watermelons

From the attacker's short stature, and the odd prints found in the stables as though the shoes were several sizes too big to fit the wearer, Murdoch believes that Rookwood was killed by one of Toronto's many street children. Murdoch and Brackenreid confront a band of such children found loitering near the factory, and after being led a merry chase are left with nothing more than a sketch of the boys' ringleader. Rookwood's adopted daughter, Eva, recognizes the boy in the sketch as her brother Charlie, from whom she was separated shortly after their arrival in Canada. Eva tells Detective Murdoch Charlie could not have murdered Howard Rookwood, but all the evidence seems to suggest that he was at the scene of the crime.