The Missing

"The Missing"
Season	10
Episode	12
Airdate	January 23, 2017
Writer	Maureen Jennings
Director	Renuka Jeyapalan
Previous	A Murdog Mystery
Next	Mr. Murdoch's Neighbourhood

"The Missing" is the twelfth episode of the tenth season and the one hundred forty-fourth of the Murdoch Mysteries series. It first aired on January 23, 2017.

Summary

Twenty years after a child was kidnapped, Murdoch investigates the identity of a man now claiming to be the wealthy heir.

The kidnapped Adam Gordon was in the care of his grandmother who provided the $500 ransom, but the money was never collected and the boy was never found. Thus, it has long been suspected that the boy had been killed, until now.

Over the years, reports kept trickling in: one person even claimed they'd seen the boy in South Africa. The frequency of the reports rose each time Mrs. Gordon placed her annual advertisement with people looking to get their hands on their share of the reward money. Crabtree observes that "We're not always the most noble of species, are we, sir?" Murdoch agrees but adds, "A fact that keeps you and me employed."

Meanwhile, Detective Watts and Constable Jackson continue their search for the missing women.

No sooner has the likely grandson returned than the buried remains of a young boy are discovered, followed by the decomposed body of Irving Moses, a squatter who had stayed on the land near where the dead boy was found. A shooting accident on the day of "Adam Gordon's" welcome-home party leads to revelations that Murdoch uses to solve the kidnapping and Moses' murder and to reveal the identity of the buried child.

Character Revelations

• Both Detective Watts and Constable Jackson reveal a past tragedy which strengthens their partnership and their resolve to find the missing women.
• George confesses to Murdoch, "I have to admit, as an orphan, I was somewhat tempted to respond to them [advertisements] myself. I mean, I had a fine upbringing, but the thought of not only being reunited with a loving family, but being made lord of a manor, having servants waiting on you hand and foot..."

Continuity

• George Crabtree struggles with the biggest mystery of all: his love life. Higgins tells him to talk to Nina.
• Detective Watts, teaming with Jackson, continues his investigation into the missing women case, started in A Murdog Mystery with the single clue: "a tall blonde woman in her middle years."
• Crabtree is off to the woods for a good-old-fashioned dig yet again, uncovering human bones and a child's skull.
• As in Jagged Little Pill, Miss James is on a mission– to identify the poor lad and her persistence pays off and helps Murdoch with Gordon case.
• George and Nina are still apart. Since he is indeed "unencumbered" as reported to be by Miss Cherry, he takes up her invitation to have a cup of tea (off-camera) by the end of the episode.

Historical References

• This episode takes place in Toronto 1904.
• Necropolis Cemetery is a historic cemetery in Toronto, located on the west side of the Don Valley near Riverdale Farm. Opened in 1850 to replace "Strangers' Burying Ground" (or Potter's Field), the cemetery is the resting place for many prominent individuals.
• Before Alec Jeffrey's eureka moment in 1984, when genetic variations in DNA could identify individuals, crime investigations were deductions and guesswork; hereditary mechanism were based mostly on logic and speculation as in Dr. Ogden's comparing physical features of the Gordon family.

Trivia

• MM Fans know Maureen Jennings created Detective William Murdoch and his world, and she concocted this episode.
• Twist after twist, it is not until 20 minutes into the episode the first death is discovered, then followed by a second attempt.
• Modern human genetics is traced to the beginning of the 20th Century to just two key individuals: Austrian physician Karl Landsteiner who in 1900 discovered the ABO blood group system (ep.702), the first example of a variable human characteristic that is inherited according to the simple rules of Mendel, and English physician Sir Archibald Garrod with the first example of a human inherited disease which similarly showed Mendelian inheritance in 1902.
• This is the seventh episode in Season 10 in which Thomas Craig (Thomas Brackenreid) does not appear.

Errors

• After digging, Constable George Crabtree's shirt is pristine.
• The skull of the child has adult teeth

Cast

Main Cast

Yannick Bisson as Detective William Murdoch
Hélène Joy as Dr. Julia Ogden
Thomas Craig as Inspector Thomas Brackenreid
Jonny Harris as Constable George Crabtree

Recurring Cast

Lachlan Murdoch as Constable Henry Higgins
Mouna Traoré as Rebecca James
Kristian Bruun as Constable Jackson
Bea Santos as Louise Cherry
Daniel Maslany as Detective Watts

Guest Cast

Deborah Grover as Adelia Gordon
Jeff Geddis as Jonah Foster
Gordon Hecht as Albert Slaight
Rohan Mead as Adam Gordon
Jane Sowerby as Edna Bergman
Danny Waugh as Breydon O'Donnell
Jonathan Robbins as Norman Bruce
Anton Chevrier as Young Adam Gordon
Christopher Calvelli as Young Jonah Foster

Gallery

Annual Gordon Advertisement

The Gordons

Murdoch questions Mrs. Gordon

With the Reporter Louise Cherry

Team Watts and Jackson

Posting the missing person's notice

Taking a pretzel break

The missing woman's husband finds Watts and Jackson at The Tipsy Ferret

Missing Woman

Questioning Breydon O'Donnell at the Train Station

Irving Moses is found

Miss James helps Murdoch at the blackboard.

Finding the vital evidence

Young Jonah and Adam