An uncooperative witness impedes Murdoch's investigation into a pawnbroker's murder, and Brackenreid faces resistance while looking into the prison death of an old army buddy.
Tropes:
- Big Damn Hero: Murdoch arrives in time to save Julia and his witness, Louise Butler.
- Chimney Entry: This is how the criminals sneak into and out of the prison. Brackenreid finds a secret door in the prison library that leads into the chimney shaft.
- Death Equals Redemption: Reginald Pullen was stripped of his Victoria Cross for his petty crimes and drunken brawls. In the final scene of the episode, Murdoch tells Brackenreid that the Prince of Wales has publicly said that any man who gets the Cross should be able to keep it even if he's to be hanged. The episode ends with Brackenreid writing His Highness a letter to request that Reginald's Cross be reinstated for his efforts to alert Brackenreid about the criminal conspiracy in the prison.
- Hidden in Plain Sight: The criminals sneak out of prison at night to commit robberies and murders and return to prison during the day. Murdoch notes that the jail is certainly the last place the Constabulary would look for criminals on the loose.
- Leave No Witnesses: Louise just happened to be in the pawnshop when MacGinnis was killed. She tried to flee, but the murderers caught and stabbed her. She only survived thanks to them assuming she was dead and not bothering to finish the job.
- The Mole: Hobson was behind the murders all along, as well as being involved in several previously-unresolved bank robberies.
- No Honor Among Thieves: Nathan Turnbow, the leader of the gang that's sneaking out of jail at night to commit robberies and murders, identifies Hobson as his co-conspirator after Murdoch arrests him. When the Constabulary search Hobson's home, they find loot from multiple unsolved robberies. Turnbow's already guilty of multiple successful and attempted murders, and with his testimony and the evidence against Hobson they'll both see the noose.
- Taking You with Me: Nathan Turnbow has nothing left to lose when Murdoch apprehends him, so he tells the Constabulary all about Hobson's involvement in their robberies and murders, and where the police can find the evidence proving Hobson's involvement. Turnbow's going to the gallows, and Hobson's going with him.
- Two Lines, No Waiting: The murder of pawnbroker Samuel MacGinnis is investigated by Murdoch while Brackenreid's old war friend and Victoria Cross recipient Reginald Pullen, now locked behind bars, mysteriously dies strangled in his cell. Inmate Richard Walker, locked in solitary confinement, is also found dead in his cell later.
- Working the Same Case: The murders are later revealed to be facets of the same case.
- The Villain Knows Where You Live: The criminals are able to enter and exit the jail at will because a prison guard left their cells unlocked at night. When Murdoch and Brackenreid confront him, the guard says that the criminals happened to know his home address and said they would pay wife and kids a "visit" if he didn't obey them.
- Who Murdered the Asshole: MacGinnis was a sleaze bag who would pawn desperate people's valuables for less than they were worth, leaving no shortage of people who wanted him dead.
