Thunderstruck

“Science seemed foremost on people’s minds; talks of X-rays, radiation, vaccines, and so forth infused dinner conversation. If such talk ever lagged, there was always the compelling subject of Germany, which by the day seemed to grow more pompous and bellicose.”

In 1910, Captain Kendall prepared himself for lengthy dinner conversations by devouring the latest media and paying attention to conversation trends. Chief among these were conversations about technology and innovation, war with Germany, which seemed imminent, and details regarding the North London Cellar Murder. Soon, Kendall would find Dr. Crippen and his secretary, Ethel Le Neve, disguised aboard his ship, the Montrose, and would use Marconi’s wireless to transmit news of their attempted escape to a public eager for every detail.

“He had stepped into the intersection of two wildly disparate stories, whose collision on his ship in this time, the end of the Edwardian era, would exert influence on the world for the century to come.”

Once Captain Kendall informs the world via wireless that the two most wanted fugitives on the planet are aboard his ship, he is propelled to the front of every news story about the attempted escape. The story of Marconi attempting to lend credit to his invention and the practical uses for it could never have achieved what the public’s fixation on escaping murderers did when Kendall used the wireless to keep the world updated about the murderers aboard his ship. The Western world seemed to be watching the criminals in real time, aware of the trap to capture them and eager for every detail wired as quickly as possible. Kendall’s use of the wireless solidified Marconi’s technology in the mainstream and made the capture of the murderer and his girlfriend possible.