Young Sherlock
Season 1 – Episode 1
Episode title: The Case of the Missing Scrolls
Original release date: March 4, 2026
Starring: Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Dónal Finn, Zine Tseng, Joseph Fiennes, Natascha McElhone, Max Irons, Colin Firth
Opening theme: “Days Are Forgotten” by Kasabian
Episode plot: A childhood flashback shows young Sherlock Holmes failing to watch his sister Beatrice, who disappears. In the present, Sherlock is released from prison after a sentence for pickpocketing. His brother Mycroft secures him a position at Oxford’s Candlin College as a scout (servant), not a student. There he meets Princess Shou’an of China, who has brought priceless fifth-century BC scrolls of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, and befriends student James Moriarty. When the scrolls are stolen, Sherlock is the prime suspect. The Princess allows him to investigate. He determines the break-in was staged from the inside and that the scrolls never left the building – a cabinet was moved through hidden medieval passageways and rigged with a bomb timed to explode during a gala next door. Sherlock evacuates the gala moments before the detonation. The scrolls are recovered, but Professor Thompson is found murdered and Sherlock is arrested on suspicion.
* * *
Transcript
Note for Students & Writers: This transcript is archived here for educational purposes, critical analysis, and screenwriting study. All rights belong to the original creators.
[cell door rattles, slams]
[insects chirping]
[birds squawking]
[“The Rocky Road to Dublin” playing]
[child] Daddy, Sherlock won’t play with me.
[Sherlock] Get up, you idiot.
[Sherlock] Play with her.
[parent] Bea? Bea!
Where is she?
Cordelia? Beatrice!
Beatrice!
[parent 2] Help your mother!
Find her!
[music continues]
[Cordelia screams]
Find her!
[breathes shakily]
[music ends]
[sighs]
[“I’m a Man” playing]
[people chattering]
[music continues]
[prisoners clamouring]
I don’t know why you’re getting so agitated.
I just said you have a rather large cranium.
[grunts]
Mr Holmes.
You’ll have to be quicker than that, Barney.
[groaning]
Saw that one coming a mile off.
[jingles]
You need to hide your intent more, Barney.
[groaning continues]
Break it up. Break it up!
[pants] Is that you, brother dear?
‘Tis, brother dear.
[warder] Put him down, Barney. Easy.
[sighs]
[music ends]
Nice of you to pop by.
Holiday is over. Follow me, Sherlock.
[pants]
Really, I meant no offence, Barney.
Captain. Bob. Mr Dickie.
Sherlock, your brother couldn’t get us out, could he?
[Sherlock] Mycroft, you heard the question.
I have one card to play, Sherlock. It’s either you or him.
Two years will fly by, Mr Dickie.
What exactly landed you in prison this time?
Reading.
Reading doesn’t get you arrested. So, what did?
Oliver Twist.
[laughs]
I rather took a shine to the Artful Dodger.
I’m so sorry, sir.
A pickpocket by trade.
I thought to myself, “I wonder if I could do that?”
Allow me, sir.
This fell out of your pocket.
The problem is, extracting a gentlemen’s wallet isn’t as challenging as returning it.
Thief!
No, no.
[whistle blows]
Why would you be returning the wallet with its contents intact?
It’s the extraction that is the attraction.
[laughs]
That explains the first three months but you were sent down for six.
I am considering transportation to Australia.
I’m afraid that won’t be possible, Your Honour.
[murmuring]
Excuse me?
1857. The Penal Servitude Act.
According to precedent, a court is either bound by the decisions of the court above it or the decisions of a court of equivalent standing thus, in this case making it conspicuously impossible to send a man to Australia–
Two months for contempt.
Oh!
As you could be in breach of the Act.
Three months.
And in an ironic turn of fate, could subsequently find yourself stood in this very dock.
[laughs]
Six months!
I find it astonishing that the judge didn’t see your point of view.
My point exactly.
You could have got me out sooner.
[“Days Are Forgotten” playing]
♪ Hey, son I’m looking forwards ♪
♪ You’re aiming backwards Of this I’m sure ♪
♪ Have you had enough? Are you feeling rough? ♪
♪ Does your skull hurt? Well, if it’s war ♪
♪ I’m waiting ♪
♪ Right here now I’m waiting ♪
♪ For someone or something ♪
♪ To take me To take me over ♪
♪ Days ♪
♪ Days are forgotten ♪
♪ Now it’s all over ♪
♪ You’ve simply forgotten How to disappear ♪
[music ends]
Ah.
There it is. I knew there was a face underneath that nest of crows.
So, how was the food?
The chef was often a little heavy with the weevils in the gruel but the claret was excellent. You should try it sometime.
Guess I’m quite happy where I am. Respectable job in the civil service.
Respectable or conventional?
Secure.
Predictable?
Influential.
Tedious.
Reliable, consistent, stable and responsible.
You should try it sometime.
And on that note, prepare yourself. I come bearing a gift.
Apprehensive.
I’ve secured you a place at Oxford.
Arguably the greatest university in the world.
You have, brother dear?
I have, brother dear.
Well, I’m surprised. Grateful.
Aw.
I’ve always been rather fascinated by a life dedicated to the pursuit of learning.
And I’ll be there on government business. So, I’ll be able to keep an eye on you.
Make sure your hair is brushed, your teeth are clean, shoes are shiny.
When do we go?
Imminently.
I’m touched. Moved.
Get dressed.
We’re going to pay our respects to Mummy.
Mr Holmes. We’ve moved your mother to a bigger room.
[lock clicks]
Sherlock.
Hello, Mother. Please don’t stand.
My darling.
[door closes]
Were the three months hard, my darling?
It was quite an education, really.
Oof. Does that hurt?
Oh. Only when I laugh.
Father wrote to me. He’s in Vienna. Sounds well.
They’re listening to me.
A whirring.
All the time.
They can hear everything I say.
And there’s a man with a bird claw.
And he’s coming back for me.
I’m sorry I haven’t been able to visit much recently, Mother.
It’s not your fault.
But I’m in Oxford now. I’ll be close by.
And I can visit much more often.
You have to promise me something.
Anything.
You must stay out of trouble.
Understood. I will. No more trouble.
I won’t lose you too.
[bell chimes]
University College was founded in 1249, making it the oldest college in Oxford.
I did try to get you into there.
I tried Balliol College too, in 1263. And Merton, 1264.
Sadly, none of the founding colleges would take you. So–
I suppose I’ll have to put up with the clumsy modernity of 1458 then?
Now, I got your foot in the door.
Time to start taking advantage of your advantage.
There’s something you’re not telling me, isn’t there?
You’ll thank me for it. One day.
Ah, Smudger.
Mr Holmes.
Sherlock Holmes?
That’ll be me, sir.
This is yours, sir.
Mmm, come on.
Mycroft.
Yes?
Why is the head porter proffering an apron?
You’re a smart boy. Work it out.
I’m to be a porter, not a student?
Oh, no. You’ve got to work your way up to be a porter.
You’re a scout.
I’m a scout?
And a scout does?
Whatever I tell him to do.
I’m here to serve and not to learn?
Oh, no, no. You’ll learn, all right.
Come along, son. The shitters aren’t gonna clean themselves, are they?
Mycroft?
Bon appétit, hmm?
Mycroft.
[Smudger clears throat]
The shitters, sir?
[horse whinnies]
[fingers snap]
Hyah!
Mr Chen and I appreciate your government sending you to escort us from London to Oxford, but it wasn’t necessary.
Princess, I can assure you the honour is all mine.
My government values our relationship with China very highly.
We wouldn’t want anything to go wrong.
[horse whinnies]
Is that why you’ve arranged an armed escort?
[bandit] Hyah!
[grunts]
[grunts]
[grunts]
[carriage driver] Hyah! Hyah!
[bandit] Whoa! Whoa!
[carriage door opens]
Are we all having a lovely day?
[gun clicks]
I said, “Are we all having a lovely day?”
Yes, yes.
[bandit] Good.
I won’t hold you up for long.
I’m just here for the scrolls.
Thank you, darling.
What about her?
What about her? Our job is to take the scrolls.
She’s a princess. Think of the ransom.
You’re coming with us, Princess.
No!
[grunts]
[horse whinnies]
Let’s go.
[grunts]
[exciting music playing]
[grunts]
[grunting]
[screams]
[whinnies]
[both grunt]
[gun clicking]
[grunting]
[thuds]
[screams]
[grunting continues]
[yells]
[music ends]
Princess?
[Roberts] More tea, scout!
[Sherlock] Right away, Professor.
What are you doing with those?
Tidying, sir. I do apologise, Professor Thompson.
No good ever comes poking your nose into business that does not concern you.
I apologise, sir.
Did you write this?
Yes, I did.
Recently published. Rather well received, if I may say so.
May I?
Yes, of course.
A scout interested in mathematics?
My father always instilled in me the love for reading. Taught me to be curious.
Ah, curiosity.
The greatest virtue.
But not if you’re a cat.
[both laugh]
Would you mind if I borrowed this?
Um, not at all, um…
Sherlock Holmes, sir.
Sherlock? It’s an unusual name.
[door opens]
[door closes]
[Smudger] This is for the Chinese princess.
Just arrived.
Old Court, room 2B.
At your service, Mr Smudger.
Good lad.
[haunting music playing]
[knocks]
Scout. [groans]
Your luggage, ma’am.
Please, place it on the desk.
[in Mandarin] You want me to clear it?
I can do it myself.
How does a college porter end up speaking Mandarin from the Gansu province?
I worked in Whitechapel for a shoemaker.
He was from Dunhuang.
Your pronunciation… is terrible.
But just about intelligible.
[in English] The shoemaker had a dependency.
Do you mean he was a drunk?
That was his poison of choice, yes.
Which explained your slurred delivery.
Your Highness.
[glass clinking]
[announcer] Pray, silence for Sir Bucephalus Hodge.
While visiting my, uh, not inconsiderable business interests in this glorious empire of ours, it struck me that it was time to give back.
So, it is, uh, with great delight that I announce this term the opening of my new science building.
A brilliant addition to this glittering university.
Now, scholars. On your feet.
[chairs shuffle]
I present to you my Hodge scholars.
[applause]
Take a good look.
These students will be generals, prime ministers, leaders who will guide our world into the 20th century.
Enjoy learning. Enjoy your youth. Welcome!
[liquid sloshes]
I came up in ’23.
Itchy feet, though. Didn’t stay long.
And may I say, sir, no one has had a greater impact on expanding the British Empire than you.
[in cockney accent] Everything to your satisfaction, sirs?
Yes, uh, thank you. Thank you.
Oh.
You quite sure?
Yes, fine. Thank you.
Nothing else I can get you? I am, of course, at your service.
At your beck and call, as you well know, sir.
I said I’m fine, thank you.
You know this young man?
Yes he does, sir. Very well, sir.
How so?
I’m his lowly brother, sir.
What? Brother? No.
Is this true, Mycroft?
Uh, it’s not a very interesting story, sir.
But is it true?
Yes, indeed, he is my brother.
So how did he end up serving here?
Redemption, sir.
From what?
Prison. Her Majesty’s pleasure.
How could you say this wasn’t interesting, Mycroft?
Do carry on, young man.
Well, my magnanimous brother here took pity on the black sheep of the family, for which I am eternally grateful.
More wine, your lordship?
So, tell me… [stammers] …you have the same parents?
Yes we do, sir.
Although, sadly, we only really get to see each other at, uh, family funerals, court hearings, the like.
Sir, today…
Oh, that’s quite enough.
…is your special day.
Your scholars are an inspiration to us all.
So, um, tell me, young man… [stammers]
…what was your crime?
Larceny. Thieving. Theft. Petty theft.
Although those days are well and truly behind me, spiritually and permanently.
There we are. Reformed.
Was a taker, now a giver. Reborn to serve, sir.
Thank you, I’m sure we can take care of ourselves from now on, brother dearest.
Very well, sirs.
I’m so sorry, sir.
Oh, no need to apologise, Mycroft.
Your brother’s the most interesting thing about you.
[Thompson] One should assume here that x is greater than y, and define the powers of x and y using a holomorphic branch of log, defined on an open disk of radius centred at x.
Y.
[murmuring]
Why? Why, because that is how it works.
An open disk of radius centred at y, not x, Professor Thompson, sir.
My apologies.
Y.
Who so generously thought to correct me?
Ah, Mr Holmes the scout. I see you’ve read my book.
I did, Professor Thompson.
Which is more than I can say for some of my students.
[murmuring]
[bell chimes]
Saved by the bell.
Homework.
Find me all the solutions of this quintic.
You’re having trouble finding the solutions?
Don’t worry about that.
You just have to get yourself some new numbers.
These solutions, they’re not real. They’re imaginary.
That means even if you can’t see the target, you can still shoot for it.
So you’re a mathematician now.
A porter, a waiter, a candlestick maker, and a kleptomaniac.
Was a taker, now a giver.
Does Hodge’s pocket watch keep good time?
They say that it’s the unconscious desire of every thief to be caught.
That it’s the fear of incarceration that gives freedom its currency.
The fundamental fault of man is to think the enemy is external, not internal.
Prison is in here, not out there.
[laughing]
Look at you with your Art of War.
James Moriarty.
Sherlock Holmes.
[James] It’s a long line.
And I’m not a great one for waiting.
Waiting for what?
[James] We’re going to a party.
We’re not quite dressed for this. Are you even invited?
[in posh accent] I don’t think you need to worry about that.
You just follow my lead.
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. May I see your invitations, please?
Sirs, madams, please stand tight to the wall to keep the path clear for the other students.
This is marvellous. Uh, I won’t be a moment.
Wonderful dress, madam.
Excuse me. Excuse me.
[normal] Leave this with me.
Sir. You have a dramatic split in the back of your jacket.
Two Sazeracs. [chuckles] There you go.
Thank you.
My pleasure.
Excuse me, sir. You cannot take that.
You’re absolutely right, sir.
But I can borrow it, and I shall return it to its cradle un moment.
Now, look to this day, for it is life.
[glasses clink]
You’re the scout.
Indeed.
How did you get in here?
I invited him.
And who invited you?
No one. And yet, here I am. [chuckles]
If I wish to socialise with a cleaner, I’d have a party in the servants’ quarters.
So if you wouldn’t mind, I’d ask you to leave.
He might be a cleaner, but he’s a very clever cleaner.
Oh, such fun. At last we have characters at one of your parties, Peregrine.
I have an idea.
You outsmart the scout, and he’ll leave without further protest.
You take a good, long look at him, and you tell us what you can glean.
And then he’ll do the same to you.
And then I’ll be the judge of who wins.
[sighs] Very well.
Show me your hand.
Interesting signet ring.
I notice an absence of any type of ring.
And no callouses.
He’s clearly not intimately acquainted with anything approaching hard labour.
So not just a servant, a lazy one too.
Had you not considered that he wears gloves? So what else?
Oh, that’s it? Well, you had a promising start, but you’d no follow through.
What you made was an observation, not a deduction.
No callouses, so how does he find himself in this position?
Well, I’d say he got into a spot of bother along the way.
He got kicked out of school, so he brought shame upon his parents, and then his father made him take this position to teach him a lesson.
Not quite.
Brother.
A high achiever. Am I correct?
Spot on.
Oh. Wasn’t so hard, was it?
[Sherlock] My turn.
Your signet ring? The crest?
Your ancestor was the Count of Boulogne.
Fought at the Battle of Hastings.
He was 5’2″ and he had a face like a cow’s udder, but he fought like a titan.
So, ugly, yes, but magnificent nonetheless.
Now, as is consistent with custom, a man knows he must wear his signet ring facing inward to represent content, not outward to represent form.
Inward for noble lion, outward for tabby cat.
Tell me. Which direction does your ring point?
Oh, Peregrine, that must hurt.
Not as much as this is going to hurt.
[guests clamouring]
[“Neat Neat Neat” playing]
[both grunting]
[glass shatters]
Your Ladyship.
Until next time.
I look forward to that.
Whiskey.
[Sherlock] Yes, of course.
Hey!
[song continues]
♪ A distant man can’t sympathise He can’t uphold his distant laws ♪
♪ Due to form on that today ♪
[laughs]
♪ I got a feeling then I hear this call ♪
♪ I said, neat, neat, neat She can’t afford no cannon ♪
♪ Neat, neat, neat She can’t afford no gun at all ♪
♪ Neat, neat, neat She can’t afford no cannon ♪
[laughing]
[sighs]
[song ends]
At least you can run ’cause you definitely can’t fight.
[groans] Yes, well, I’ve always been more of a thinker than a fighter.
Upstairs for thinking,
downstairs for dancing.
[chuckles]
You might want to re-strategize that philosophy.
The two aren’t mutually exclusive.
Why do you think an emperor employs a general?
The hand of mercy means nothing without the hand of judgement.
Slap needs a tickle, tickle needs a slap.
There’s an art to fighting.
There’s an art to war.
These belonged to the father of Princess Shou’an.
The Art of War.
Part of the original scrolls. Fifth century BC.
“In order to know your enemy, you must become your enemy.”
My father had a copy of this.
Didn’t do him much good, though.
I’d say it’s worth a pound or two.
Let’s steal it.
Or better still, you’re the expert. You steal it.
I don’t think that’s a very good idea.
Oh, that’s a shame.
You could do a lot with the money.
Could do more with my freedom.
[clattering]
[Smudger] Tell me it wasn’t you.
What wasn’t me, sir?
The police are on their way.
Not quite sure I’m following.
The robbery last night. The library. You had keys.
The scrolls have been stolen, and you was the last one seen going in.
Oh, I hope for your sake it wasn’t you, my boy.
Excuse me, Mr Smudger.
[door opens]
Just for clarity’s sake, we didn’t take those scrolls last night, did we?
No, we didn’t.
[door closes]
Hodge thinks we did. He was just in here.
What did he say?
He took my scholarship.
Oh, dear.
Yeah, so without that, I can’t stay here.
Lucky you.
Gets better.
Go on. I can hardly wait.
Well, you’ll be going back to prison.
Lucky me!
I’m going to find my brother.
Get dressed. Meet me in the library.
[door closes]
Mycroft.
Stay out of trouble. One simple request.
Is there any point protesting my innocence?
Sherlock Holmes.
What is that? You need my help, don’t you?
No.
[constable] Sherlock Holmes, I am arresting you in suspicion of theft.
Uh, you won’t need those.
Sir, stop. I am a constable.
Yes, the clue is in the uniform.
Constable Lestrade of Oxford City Police Force.
And I am Mycroft Holmes of Her Majesty’s Foreign Office.
I’m in Oxford to assist Sir Bucephalus Hodge with the opening of his new science building.
Surely this is more detective’s work?
I thought I’d make initial enquiries. Early worm catches the bird.
Could be in trouble here.
I’m trying to prevent you professional embarrassment of being reprimanded by your chief officer, who happens to be my bridge partner and is, as you know, a stickler for due process.
Yes, sir. Quite.
Thank you, sir.
Good man.
Sir. Come on.
I need you to get me into the library.
[Mycroft] You got ten minutes. Don’t embarrass me again.
You know what we’re looking for?
Not really, no.
I thank you for keeping me updated, but I would like to see the crime scene for myself.
A hole in the window. Wonder what that’s for?
You should be a detective.
Hard to escape my powers of observation.
What are these powers of observation telling you now?
There has been, wait for it, a break-in.
Astounding.
How did you develop these skills of penetrating deduction?
We’ve been gifted a couple of paw prints.
There’s a hook there, who’s missing his guest.
Think I’ve clocked the guest.
Your ten minutes are up.
Mycroft, would you mind telling me why your brother, the prime suspect, is standing at the scene of the crime?
I think it only fair he has a chance to defend himself, sir.
No, he doesn’t. Not here. He has a chance to defend himself in a court of law.
Constables, remove him.
Right away, sir.
Do you know each other?
Never seen him before, sir.
Leave him.
[in Mandarin] Did you do it?
Of course not.
What is his theory, that I broke in through the window?
I believe so.
Why would I do that if I had a key?
[in English] Mycroft, what the bloody hell is going on? This brother of yours.
Yes sir.
One minute he’s a redeemed felon, then he’s servant, then he’s a felon again, and now apparently he’s a linguist.
Again, it’s not a very interesting story, sir.
The thief was here at six minutes past 10:00.
How can you possibly know that?
Because when he climbed down from the window, he knocked this off.
The clue is in the clock.
And you didn’t notice this, Constable?
I can help you find your father’s scrolls.
There’s a very good reason why you can help find them. You stole them.
This is not proper procedure.
Sir, I represent the law. I will do the investigation.
And they’re my father’s scrolls.
Need I remind you, sir, how much of your trade with China relies on my father’s goodwill.
We are running late for your appointment with the dean, sir.
Indeed.
Uh, perhaps we should give the princess a chance to conduct this investigation as she sees fit.
I must protest.
Oh, really? Must you?
Thank you, Constable, we’ll take it from here.
According to Lestrade, the thief scaled down the side of the building and into a boat.
Lestrade told me there’s a river in the woods where the thief rowed from Candlin College.
The thief rowed out from Candlin College, then got out here with the scrolls.
And then?
Disappeared.
Disappeared?
[Lestrade] We have no idea where they went, sir.
Footprints?
[Sherlock] Only one set of tracks, only one thief.
Headed off this way.
Footprints end here.
Thief got into a carriage.
Aye, aye.
Looks like one of them wheels was a little drunk.
[Sherlock] And a drunk wheel would need to sober up.
Oh, hello. A coaching inn?
Where one might get a wheel fixed.
I wanted to ask. Were you trying to impress me?
Impress you?
At the Maths lecture.
Y.
When you corrected Professor Thompson.
Y.
The professor’s calculations were incorrect. That was all.
Disappointing.
Well, frankly, I don’t know what you see in him.
I mean, yes, he is some way handsome in a sort of obvious, clumsy kind of way, but if you were ever looking for something a bit more niche, a bit more bespoke, more mysterious, well–
Where might the princess find a man like that?
[chuckles]
As stimulating as this is, chaps, I need to return to my carriage.
Why?
The gala opening.
Hodge’s new science building. I promised him I would be there.
Thank you. For your help.
Your Royal Highness.
A welcomed oasis in the parched deserts of this rural wasteland.
[violin plays]
What can I do for you, gentlemen?
Two whiskeys, my good lady, and whatever you’d like for your fine self.
Thank you.
[James] Aye now, I’m getting this. Your money’s no good here.
I’ll get the drinks, you get the tip.
“And out of his pocket, he pulled the sovereigns bright…”
“…and the landlady’s eyes opened wide with delight.” [sniffs]
Excuse me. Our carriage is in need of a bit of repair.
Is the wheelwright around, and might we have a word with him?
He’s down at the village, but he’ll be back shortly.
We can wait.
Are we playing the game of getting another, or are we playing follow the fiddler?
Well… [sighs] …I’ll take care of the former if you take care of the latter.
It is your round.
[intriguing music playing]
[grunts]
[fiddle player groans]
[both grunting]
Hey, Sherlock!
[grunts]
[groans, pants]
[panting] He has the scrolls. He’s got the scrolls.
When are you going to stop blocking people’s fists with your nose?
It wasn’t his fists. It was his forehead.
Yes.
When you’re engaged in combat, it actually helps to throw a punch from time to time.
[Sherlock] He pulled his punch.
What is this place?
Ah, you’re here too.
Welcome to my over active imagination.
Why pull your punch?
He can hear you?
Yes.
But he can’t answer you?
No.
Those are the rules I didn’t make them.
Now he’s paused.
Yes.
Waiting for something. What’s he waiting for?
He’s waiting for me to come out.
[James] Hey, Sherlock!
[grunts]
Ah, lovely tackle.
Why wait for you to come out?
Why don’t you ask him?
You can put them canons down.
Now, I don’t know if whether I should split your swede or smash your caps?
What do you reckon?
Hmm. Decisions, decisions.
Why don’t you ask my chum?
Oh, I think the swede.
[grunts]
Ah, that’s interesting. Not exactly brimming with scrolls.
I smell a rat?
What if he pulled his punch because he wanted to lure us away?
Well, then someone doesn’t want us in Oxford.
It’s not even the same tube.
[Sherlock] We’ve been gifted a couple of paw prints.
[James] How did you develop these skills of penetrating deduction?
There are hand prints on either side of the window.
So he couldn’t have been holding the scrolls.
What happens if he has them strapped to his back?
No, that’s too big a cork for too small a bottle.
So he hands them to an accomplice?
Only one set of tracks. Only one thief.
So he leaves them on the inside ledge and he reaches back for them?
Wouldn’t put him down as a gymnast.
Here’s another possibility: what if they never left?
What if the scrolls are still in the library?
That’s one hypothesis.
You have a better one?
In the unlikely event that you are right…
Why make it look like there was a theft… if there was no theft?
That’s the question.
You ever use one of these?
Indeed I have.
The devil do they think they’re doing?
[clattering]
[both chuckle]
[vicar] Get back here!
There is a special place in hell for penny farthing thieves!
[chuckles]
We’re pedalling there as fast as we can.
Hold on, this doesn’t make sense.
The lead is cracked. Stress fracture.
It’s not been pushed from the outside in…
It’s been pushed from the inside out.
And then back in again, to make it look like it was pushed in from the outside.
Well, this wasn’t a break in, but it’s been made to look like it was a break in.
Is that where my statue’s going to go?
[Mycroft] I believe so, sir.
Ah. I feel it needs to be… um…
Bigger?
Bigger, Mycroft. Yes, bigger.
Just higher than all those kings and queens and saints and whatnot.
Hmm. Princess, so generous of you to find time for my humble little shindig.
The pleasure is mine.
So the scrolls should be in here somewhere.
There’s a thousand places to hide them.
Yes, that does provide a challenge.
[applause]
Well, maybe you were wrong.
I was wrong?
Yes.
About the scrolls being here, that was all you.
[chair scrapes]
Remind me, what was your theory?
You can’t rush genius.
No, you take your time. It’s not you who’s going back to prison.
Well, maybe if you were a more accomplished pickpocket, then you wouldn’t be going there in the first place. Would you?
We’ve been looking for a something.
When we should’ve been looking for a someone. Walker.
Who?
Walker the porter.
The porter who tidies the room.
He suffers from chronic scrupulosity.
Every night he walks around and makes sure everything in here is in order, everything is straight.
Not just straight, as an arrow straight.
Cushion. He hasn’t been here since the crime.
So, something or someone is not straight.
John Donne.
He’s been to the pub.
He’s had a drink.
A drink or two.
He could have another.
He should go home…
But he doesn’t know when to stop.
[grunts]
That’s beginner’s luck.
Our secret lies in confusing the enemy so he cannot fathom our true intent.
What if it was a diversion?
The library is the busiest room in college.
Even at night, porters check on the place every 30 minutes.
The thief makes it seem as though the scrolls were stolen to ensure the library is sealed off as a crime scene.
He then squirrels himself away in here and waits for all to be quiet and clear.
He needs to be undisturbed. He needs time.
Time? Time for what?
This is the case that held the scrolls. Our whiskey has made its mark.
Now, before the scrolls were stolen, this case sat atop a cabinet.
The cabinet which is now missing. Why was it taken and what was inside it?
Let’s focus on the how and that will give us the what and the why.
Now, how does a cabinet disappear when the police are at the only door?
Through the walls. In its original incarnation 400 years ago, before this was a library, what was this room?
A medieval banqueting hall.
So there would’ve been five corridors.
One for the Norman aristocracy.
Two for the masses.
And two for the servants coming in and out from the kitchen.
All bricked up and panelled over.
Rat-ata-tat.
[smacks]
Rat-ata-tat.
[squeaks]
[grunts]
Cat follows rat?
Cat follows rat.
Well, we’ve found our cabinet.
Now we know how it got here, shall we address the what?
Door number one, we have some kind of mechanical activator.
Door number two…
[ticking]
[Sherlock grunts]
The mechanism, it’s activating. Door number three…
A timing device.
Door number four… Hazard a guess?
[both] Oh, dear.
Well, now we know the what.
So, what’s the why?
[applause]
Nothing has such power to broaden the mind as the ability to investigate.
[muffled] To investigate is to wonder.
Hodge’s gala.
Do you know how to defuse one of these?
No. Do you?
Can we move it?
[James] I wouldn’t.
Solution?
[James] Well, we’ve only got 90 seconds according to that clock.
This building will be a cathedral to science.
The stone and mortar that surround us…
[muffled] …a cathedral to science.
[normal] I must now make mention of our brilliant mathematician, Professor Charles Thompson for his invaluable contribution.
[muffled] Lords…
[normal] …Ladies and Gentlemen, I invite you to charge your glasses.
[wall thudding]
[thuds]
[thudding]
Holmes, what the devil are you doing in my chimney?
Sorry to bother you, sir. Uh, a rather pressing issue.
I hope it is for your sake. What is it?
A bomb.
What do you mean a bomb?
A bomb is an incendiary device–
[stammers] I know what a bloody bomb is, Holmes, what does that got to do with interrupting my speech and destroying my chimney?
Proximity, sir. It’s likely to go off in the next 30 seconds, killing anyone within the blast radius, which I would assume is likely to be pretty much this whole room, sir.
I see. Well, that does seem to be a sound reason.
For God’s sake, would you stop being so English? There’s a bomb!
[all clamouring]
[attendee] A bomb!
[explosion]
[clattering]
[grunting]
[both panting]
[coughing]
Whoever’s behind this, I’m going to string them up, cut them down while they’re still alive, disembowel them and burn their entrails before their eyes.
Entrails. Very good, sir.
[bell chiming]
[haunting music playing]
[James humming]
[liquid pours]
[glasses clink]
So what exactly are we celebrating? We haven’t solved anything.
We don’t know who planted the bomb. Or why.
[fire crackling]
And that is not our concern.
That’s not our concern?
We set out to find the scrolls. We found them.
I’m not losing my scholarship and you’re not going to prison.
So I think that’s worth raising a glass to.
[swallows]
Why aren’t you drinking?
Not thirsty.
[knocks on door]
Come in.
Oh. Another survivor?
Yes, but I can’t pretend I’m not shaken. Please sit.
Can I have one of those?
Yes, of course.
Please come in. Close the door.
[door closes]
[sighs]
Well, at least someone’s thirsty.
I wanted to thank you, Sherlock, for finding my father’s scrolls.
Well, don’t mind me, I’m just an Ashkenazi side dish.
Besides, I have a previous arrangement.
Do you?
[chuckles] You’re much more than chopped liver my friend, you must stay, you’re the main course.
No. No, no, no, no.
So… Romeo. Juliet. Goodnight, goodnight.
Parting is such sweet sorrow that I should say goodnight…
’cause I’m off to the pub.
[door closes]
[James exclaims]
Now, how should I reward you?
Oh, no, that’s not necessary.
At least let me top you up.
Thank you.
Your companion, James Moriarty, is quite brilliant.
[liquid pours]
But not as brilliant as you.
[glass taps]
Here’s to your extraordinary future.
[glasses clink]
[Shou’an swallows]
[Sherlock swallows]
You missed a bit.
Why don’t you sit down over there and I’ll clean you up?
[footsteps shuffling]
I’m not quite sure this is all, uh…
I insist.
[eerie music playing]
[person] Tick… tock.
[Beatrice] Come play with me, Sherlock.
Play with her.
[Cordelia] Sherlock, why don’t you play with your sister? Go on.
Get up you idiot.
[music continues]
[Sherlock] Play with her.
[Cordelia] Bea?
Where is she?
[parent 2] Cordelia?
Beatrice!
[young Mycroft] Beatrice!
Bea! Beatrice!
Oh, my God!
[Sherlock] Your fault.
[knocking]
[officer 1] Open up!
[Lestrade speaks indistinctly]
[knocking]
[officer 1] Police! Open up!
[officer 2] That’s him. Get him on his feet, lads.
[Lestrade] Sherlock Holmes.
I’m arresting you for the murder of Professor Charles Thompson.
[officer 2] Take him away.
[“Don’t Forget Who You Are” playing]
♪ I’ll shine so hard I’ll stand up high ♪
♪ These foolish ways I know my place ♪
♪ My time is now My time is now ♪
♪ Although we’re tongue-tied And breathless ♪
♪ We won’t let our worries Dictate who we are ♪
♪ Throw out the old doubts We won’t let our worries ♪
♪ Dictate who we are ♪
♪ La-la-la La-la-la-la-la-la ♪
♪ Don’t forget who you are ♪
♪ Darling Close your eyes and wish for more ♪
♪ Away in our dreams ♪
♪ Till we’re ready for more ♪
♪ When we’re tongue-tied and breathless ♪
♪ We won’t let our worries Dictate who we are ♪
