After a long career of adventures at sea, Captain Henry George Kendall at last commands the SS Montrose. Onboard is a wireless apparatus called the Marconi. Captain Kendall is aware of the ongoing manhunt for the North London Cellar Murderers. On the first day of the transatlantic voyage, Captain Kendall spots a father and son holding hands in an intimate fashion. He observes them closer, hoping to confirm his suspicions.

On June 4, 1894, Professor Oliver Lodge delivers a presentation on the contributions of Heinrich Hertz at the Royal Institution, demonstrating an electromagnetic wave’s conductive power. Lodge is a professor of physics and an ardent believer in theoretical over practical science. He is also a member of the Society for Psychical Research, established to review unexplained phenomena using the scientific lens. The discovery of electromagnetic waves suggests to Lodge that there may be scientific explanations for all manner of occurrences like ghosts, mediums, and speaking with the dead.

According to Erik Larson, Lodge’s fatal flaw is an inability to follow research to its conclusion. After the presentation on electromagnetic waves, Lodge abandons that line of research and turns to studying the occult.