When Professor Jericho's reel-to-reel tape recorder first appears, the reels are spinning in opposite directions, which is not how they usually work. One might think that it's just an odd tape recorder, but in a later scene, the reels are spinning in the same direction.
Eustacius Jericho sets his reel-to-reel tape machine running by pressing play. If he has any hope of actually taping what occurs with Claire, however, he should have simultaneously depressed the large red record button - otherwise the tape is just playing.