You have to give yourself some time to get into this one, but what a bang-up ending, merging two most unlikely story lines, and the way it all changed the world as we now know it.
The first storyline is that of Guglielmo Marconi, whose version of the “wireless” eventually surpassed all other versions being developed at the same time. He’s a young Italian socialite, barely out of school, with no scientific education whatsoever, but he has experimented with electronic devices, and hits upon a way of communicating via Morse code by sending strong electronic impulses out into the atmosphere. Being an all-or-nothing kind of guy, his main goal is to send signals across the Atlantic Ocean. He gathers some backing, but runs into difficulties from the start. Success in short range transmission is not reliable, and transmission only works, when it works, at night. He has no idea why. But he is monomaniacal about it, building massive receiving stations in Nova Scotia, where they keep getting toppled by winds and ice storms, and more or less ignoring his personal life, abandoning wives and children along the way.
Second story line? There’s this sweet tempered doctor of homeopathic medicine, Hawley Crippen. His wife is an over the top theatrical wanna-be, with absolutely no talent, but he supports her even when she is flagrantly unfaithful. She takes off, comes back, and who can even keep track of her? So at one point, she apparently flounces off to Canada, or California, who even knows, and as per her acquaintances there, whoever they might be, dies suddenly. Maybe. In the meantime, the good doctor hooks up with a sweet young thing, and she moves in. Seems the ex-missus let a whole lot of personal possessions behind, and what is that god-awful smell in the basement? Well not to worry, she and the doctor are off to Canada. But then a body is discovered, in a most deplorable condition (Jack the Ripper could have picked up some tricks from this guy) and Scotland Yard is on it. Unfortunately when they get to the docks, Crippen’s ship set off about half a day before. But there now is the magical tool for communication across oceans. Crippen’s captain soon knows, and is told to jolly him along and don’t let him suspect. The inspector hops a slightly faster ship, and the chase is on. Amazingly enough, all this is reported in the papers, and for the next four days or so, the world is avidly following. There are only two people who are out of the loop. But since all communication is strictly ship -to-ship, who’s going to tell them?