One Hundred Years of Doyle

In this flashback episode a 100 years of Doyle family detecting endeavors are recounted. The episode starts at a family dinner in Sir John Henry Doyle's Monkstown Road home with both Sir John and Prime Minister Morris present. The mysterious death of one of Morris's domestic staff is the topic of conversation. After it becomes clear that the case is beyond the capability of the RNC, Sir John, a gentleman detective and cabinet minister, offers to give it a shot.

It doesn't take long for Sir John to crack the case and figure out that the cause of death was a hex placed on the girl's family many generations before. This experience with detecting sparks an interest in the field in Sir John's 15 year old son, Patrick.

Patrick Doyle, an accountant by trade, works for the Newfoundland Government, and eventually the Hollis-Walker Commission. Nor surprisingly, much of Patrick's detecting work has to do with uncovering instances of financial wrongdoing, of which there were many examples of in early 20th century Newfoundland.

Patrick's son, Cleophas Doyle, tired of his accountant father's stuffy ways, decides to rebel by becoming a Newfoundland Ranger. Young Cleophas soon makes a reputation for himself in the outports of the province as being the force's top bastardery investigator. At the time it was frequently suggested that young Cleophas and his associates "always get their father." This skill was particularly impressive and sought after in the pre-DNA analysis days.

After the Newfoudnland Rangers were disbanded and merged into the RCMP Cleophas decided to settle down and start a family.

Cleophas's first son, Malachy, soon began to display the family's long pronounced inclination towards detecting. Not only would Malachy always find his sibling's missing toys, but he also knew how to figure out who was stealing vegetables from his mother's garden.

When it came time for Malachy to find work he opted not to join the RCMP - the successor organization to the Newfoundland Rangers - and instead become a member of the world-renowned RNC. It didn't take long for Malachy's superiors to realize that he had a special detecting gift that they would be foolish to waste. Almost immediately Malachy was put on just about every high profile case in St. John's. And, as history will attest, he solved most of them.

When Malachy's son Jake was old enough he too began to display the family's proclivity towards detecting, though he occasionally used his skills for more self-interested ends - such as obscuring evidence of his own wrong-doings to make the detecting of others more difficult.

Much to everyone's surprise, Jake followed in his father's footsteps and joined the RNC (some suspect that it was just as a way of sticking it to Malachy) to put his genetically acquired detecting skills to good use. Though a bit of a rule-breaker, Jake proved to be just as adept as his forefathers at figuring out whodunit.

Then, of course, we move on to Tinny, the sixth generation of Doyle detectors. The verdict is still out on whether or not she has her grandmother Murphy's green thumb or the Doyle's detecting gift. Only time will reveal whether or not Tinny will fit into lineage of great Doyle detectors.