Charles visits grief-stricken Mr. Edwards in Chicago after his adopted son John Jr. dies in an apparent street accident. Working with Callahan, deputy editor of the newspaper John Jr. was working for, their inquiries rouse their suspicions over the circumstances of his death, and lead them to uncover political and business corruption which John Jr. was investigating. It becomes clear that John Jr. was murdered, and Charles and Edwards and Callahan bring the villains to justice.
A young street urchin will play a key role in uncovering the truth.
Tropes associated with this episode:
- Benevolent Boss: Callahan may seem gruff on the surface, but he greatly appreciates his workers, even paying for John's funeral services.
- Bittersweet Ending: John Jr.'s murderer is caught and dies, the report he was going to write is published exposing the corruption behind construction works in Chicago, but his death will still haunt his family, especially his father, whose alcoholism will worsen and destroy his family relationship.
- Bus Crash: The death of John Jr., who never appears in the story proper.
- Foreshadowing: Mr. Edwards is seen showing the first signs of coping with John Jr.'s death with alcohol in his first appearance.
- George Jetson Job Security: When Charles and Mr. Edwards meet John Jr.'s boss at the newspaper, Mr. Callahan, a paperboy hands Callahan an advance copy of the late edition, and Callahan, enraged at several typos in the copy, tells the bartender to inform his copy boy when he sees him next that he's fired, and storms off. The bartender assures the shocked Ingalls and Edwards that Callahan is actually quite a fine and decent man, and assures them that he "fires" said copy boy at least a couple of times a week.
- Intrepid Reporter: John Jr., who had been living the dream as a great newspaper reporter ... until a tragic set of circumstances.
- Karmic Death: The bouncer who killed John Jr. for investigating corruption in Chicago runs away from Charles, Isaiah and Callahan, only to fall into the construction pit in which John had been investigating and plummet to his death.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: An investigation reveals that John Jr. being killed by a streetcar was no accident.
- Papa Wolf: After Mr. Edwards spots John's pocket watch at a pawn shop, he breaks into the place and even the owner's protests and gun-toting doesn't slow him down from getting his way and learning just what really happened to his son.
- Street Urchin: The real hero of this episode, who helps identify the men that killed John Jr. and provide other crucial details. In the closing scene, the newspaper editor takes in the young boy, vowing to make him somebody great.
- Technology Marches On: This is a look at journalism and newspapering in the 1880s, showing just how far the industry had come in 100 years. Keeping in mind that, when this episode aired in 1981, 24-hour cable television news networks were still in their infancy, USA Today was still a year from its debut issue, and internet editions of newspapers were still things of the future.
