The origin of the conflict here go back to around 1871. There was a shipping company involving two people named Farraday, the older Jonathan and the younger cousin Thomas. While in the vicinity of the Malay states, one Farraday saved the son of a Malay king and great wealth was bestowed. There was supposed to be a Farraday partnership, but Thomas died and Jonathan ended up with the benefits. Flashforward to the 1960s, and the descendants of Jonathan (Ben and Edward) are running things and those related to Thomas (Evelyn and Carter) are not. There have been past disputes about the partnership issue, one involving Phil Andrews (boyfriend of Evelyn). Phil wrote a magazine article favoring the Thomas clan claim, which turned out to based on fake documents. Phil was fired. Now there is a Malay medal from 1871 supposedly depicting the Farraday who saved the king's son. Most of the episode revolves around the stealing of the medal. Perry's involvement stemmed from his role in a Farraday trust, but he comes to represent Phil who is charged with murdering Ben. (The initial contact of Evelyn with Perry concerned possible smuggling.) In analyzing the plot, one must remember that many Masons turn on blackmail.
The viewer has many characters to keep track of and they are all scheming. (...) As to implausibilities, all the Farradays knew of the relevance of the medal since 1871, but it took till the 1960s to take action? How did a third party end up with the medal? Of the "medal as proof" idea, the Farraday depicted has a moustache, as did Thomas, but otherwise depicts an older man (Thomas died young) looking more like Jonathan. An amalgam of the two? (...) Of Perry's mention of Coopman's newsletter on Malay medals and the inscribed deathwatch beetle, one woders if this was real or merely a ploy to force the killer's hand? Expert Trevelian did not ackowledge having read such information but did state Coopman was an expert. (...) This was a hearing not a trial, and Berger got testy when Perry seemed to be prolonging matters. The judge noted the court is not interested in personalities.
Review of The Case of the Captain's Coins
