Young Sherlock (2026) s01e04 Episode Script

Mr Holmes…
Mother?
Stand back from the door.
Sherlock, you're in trouble, darling?
Oh.
What a good idea.
Sit down.
"The man with the bird's claw."
- Did you say those words to anyone else?
- No.
You didn't tell anyone
apart from me and Mycroft?
I tried to tell you.
He's coming back for me.
Who's he?
They're listening.
The whirring.
Always the whirring.
I-I couldn't understand
why you wouldn't believe me.
Can you hear it now?
I do.
I hear it.
Sherlock.
What in God's name…
Oh, what fun.
What is it?
Some sort of listening device.
You were right, Mother.
Someone has been recording you.
Open the door!
Time to leave.
Open up!
- Mr Holmes!
- Wait.
Sherlock.
Shall we take the floor?
Now, I never was very good at this.
You did try to teach me.
- You always had two left feet.
- Still do.
- One, two, three. One, two, three.
- One, two, three.
One, two, three. One, two, three.
Look at me, Mother. Just us.
You, me, and the music.
See how you like it.
I think he liked it.
Are we making an escape?
Yes.
Stop! Thief!
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 ♪
Get out of here!
You've got an appointment, Princess.
Two bushels.
What?
Your weight. Just approximate.
For the drop.
Because if the rope's too short,
then your neck won't snap,
and then you'll be left slowly choking.
It's a rather undignified way
to shuffle off this mortal coil,
wouldn't you agree?
Eight stone, I'd guess. 7'10" drop.
Did you know that the first account
of execution by hanging
is in Homer's Odyssey?
No, I did not know that, sir. Fascinating.
Is this supposed to intimidate me?
No, it's supposed to kill you.
I know about British justice.
You're not allowed to play
both judge and executioner.
Cheerio.
In five…
- In four…
- Are you counting down?
Why are you killing my scientists?
- In three…
- Handler!
I work through a handler.
And he works for?
Not my place to ask.
Only my place to light the fuse
and walk away.
In two…
I receive instructions.
I'm a hired gun, that is all.
Then you're of no further use to me.
In one.
What the hell are you doing?
I think you'll find
I don't answer to you, Mycroft.
We don't torture prisoners, sir.
There are rules. Protocol.
This woman is trying to destroy me,
and I will have my satisfaction.
And you have every right, sir.
Every right.
But consider this, if you would.
You're out of favour
with the Foreign Secretary, are you not?
Do you really wish to alienate him further
by not consulting with him
on such a delicate matter as this?
May I remind you, she is our only link
to whoever
is killing your scientists, sir.
I was merely endeavouring
to loosen her lips.
But we are Englishmen.
- Has to mean something.
- And in a changing world,
how much do you think you're going
to achieve with your Queensbury rules
and your absurd sense of fair play, hmm?
Loosen the ropes.
Alas, poor Yorick.
I knew him, Horatio.
I'm afraid there's going
to have to be some changes around here.
I'm needed abroad on an expedition.
Mycroft, I have arranged
a government clerkship for you in London.
Thank you, Father.
Sherlock…
I know you're not going to want
to hear this, but…
Your mother and I think it's best
if you went to boarding school.
I don't want to leave.
Be strong, my boy.
Mother?
We're here.
Hmm.
Oh, you brought me home.
You're safe now.
Yes, let's get you sat down
- and I'll light you a fire.
- Hello.
- Oh! Who's that?
- No, no, Mother, Mother.
This is James. James Moriarty.
He's a friend of mine.
- Hello.
- Oh, I'm so glad, darling.
Sherlock never had any friends.
- Oh, really?
- Mmm.
Well, it's a pleasure to meet you,
Mrs Holmes.
Darling, can you hear that music?
Oh, that sound.
That's you!
Bea?
Oh, Beatrice!
Oh, my darling.
Bea!
You're so beautiful.
Come find me.
Why are you running away from me?
Bea! Where are you running off to?
I want to crown you.
I want to crown you. Come!
Come find me, Mummy.
Beatrice!
Bea?
Beatrice?
Perhaps…
Perhaps we should sit down
for a moment, Mother.
All right, let's-- let's take a seat.
She is absolutely exhausted.
Will you light a fire?
She needs warmth, rest and food.
Yes, Sherlock,
where is your father in all of this?
This shouldn't all be on your shoulders.
He's in Vienna. He's a busy man.
It's all right.
I'm here and I'm dealing with this.
What, by breaking her out of the asylum?
They were recording her in there, James.
They were listening
to every single word she said.
I had no choice.
And Shou'an knew about it.
There's a man with a bird's claw.
He's coming back for me.
How did she know?
Sherlock!
Mother!
Mother!
Mother!
No, no, no. No, no, no, darling.
I have to find her.
- She's sinking. She's sinking.
- She's not here, Mother.
- She's sinking! She's sinking!
- She's not! No, she's not! She's gone!
Beatrice!
I need to save her!
Beatrice!
Come on, Mother.
Well done.
Right, let's get you warm and dry.
Stop right there. You are not taking her…
Master Holmes!
Crowle.
- I do apologise.
- I heard the commotion.
- Yes.
- Mrs Holmes.
Mr Crowle, it's so delightful to see you.
You, too, Mrs Holmes.
We weren't expecting you.
Or we would've had the house ready.
Tell me, does Dr Maltby
still live in the village?
- He does, yes.
- Would you fetch him, please?
- How is Mrs Crowle?
- Oh, she's well, thank you.
Right away, please, Crowle.
I rather need his help.
Of course.
For your head.
More trouble than she's worth.
Electric shock has clearly
fried your faculties, Philpot.
No Cordelia Holmes, no money.
And I rather like money.
Do you follow?
Find her.
And quickly.
As you wish…
sir.
Razor talons.
Sharp as knives.
So vivid.
Sweetheart, there is nothing you can do.
He is coming back for me,
the man with the bird's claw.
Who is it you're talking about,
Mrs Holmes?
Right, stand back, please.
Let's, um, not crowd the patient.
Ah!
Hello, Cordelia.
Can't tell you how pleased I am to see
you again, even in such circumstances.
But don't you worry.
We're going to get you right as rain.
Do you know what she was prescribed
at the asylum?
Alkaloids, I believe.
Ah, right, yes. Well, she's obviously
suffering from withdrawals.
Perhaps I can give you something else,
something to clear the fog a little.
It's all right, Mother.
He's not like the others.
- He's here to help you.
- Right, Cordelia.
I want you to take two of these
with some water, please.
Here we go.
Down the hatch.
Your mother's in trouble, Sherlock.
She'll get better.
Yes, I believe that she will,
but that's not what I'm referring to.
Shou'an knows about those recordings.
Now, we don't know
whether she's responsible for them,
but either way, this does connect
your mother to the murders in Oxford.
So how can we say that she's safe here?
We can't.
"The man with the bird's claw."
You have no idea what she means?
My mind is blank.
Well, then maybe it's not a person, hmm?
Bird's claw, it's a phrase,
or a place, or a thing.
Perhaps it's some sort of crest.
The bird's claw.
Good. Good. So whose crest?
Someone at the asylum?
Or someone at Oxford.
Sherlock?
I've got nothing.
Perhaps I was wrong.
Words I never thought I'd hear you say.
No, perhaps I was wrong about the crest.
Perhaps it's some other sort of symbol.
The answer to many of life's problems
lie at the bottom of a glass.
The best thing in nature ♪
For drowning your sorrows ♪
For raising your joy ♪
And God knows I wonder ♪
If lightning and thunder ♪
Were made from the plunder ♪
Of whiskey, me boys ♪
I've seen it somewhere.
Where have I seen it?
Bird claw.
It's Professor Malik.
Well, go on.
- Professor Malik has a cane.
- Yes.
- And his cane…
- Yes?
…has a bird's claw.
All right.
Bravo!
So if I am correct, if it is Malik,
what's his business with my mother?
What's his why? What's his incentive?
Well, Shou'an knows about
those recordings.
So perhaps she can answer that.
So perhaps you need to ask her.
I took the liberty of rustling
a little something up, Master Holmes.
I thought you'd be hungry
after the night you've had.
Yes, thank you, Mrs Crowle.
That's very, very thoughtful.
But we need to pop into town
for a few hours,
so I'll need you to look after my mother.
She'll want for nothing, Master Holmes.
There's ammunition in my father's study.
Don't let anyone into this house.
Understood.
And if you need to send word,
you can reach us at Oxford police station.
James?
A man can't think on an empty stomach.
- Thank you, Mrs Crowle.
- You're welcome.
Thank you, Mrs Crowle.
Stolen?
Borrowed.
Hmm. Lovely.
From the asylum.
Ah, I'm starting to appreciate
your thieving ways, Sherlock.
Get on!
It's a far cry from a pocket watch.
Would you stop creeping up on me?
Well?
What is it?
You did what?
She is at home and she is safe.
Mrs Crowle is looking after her.
They were recording her, Mycroft.
I don't know what you expected me to do.
How about not breaking her out
of the asylum, for starters?
How about going one single day
without breaking the law?
Sounds a very disappointing life.
I can't imagine
what Father's going to say.
I would imagine he'd be pleased
at one of us showing some initiative.
We should wire him.
He could sort this out.
Are you quite well, hmm?
Have you fallen down
and bumped your head on something hard?
Professor Malik was at the asylum.
He must have been the one recording her.
Mother gave me a description.
Of him?
Of his cane.
The man with the bird's claw.
- You were there, Mycroft.
- Sherlock, she rambles.
There's always an outside chance
she's gonna accidentally say
something half plausible.
- Apis mellifera.
- No, no, no, no.
The honeybees. Yes, Mycroft.
The honeybees.
- Yes, I know about the honeybees.
- I don't.
When we were little, we had a hive.
Apis mellifera.
I watched the bees and I told Mycroft
that I'd seen them dancing.
And you called me foolish.
"Witless" was the word I used.
I then went
and checked with Father--
And he said that
honeybees do a little circling dance
- to communicate with each other.
- It's called the tarantella.
And you called me a half-wit.
"Witless" was the word he used.
Well, I wasn't witless,
because I was right.
Glad to see you're not holding on
to a grudge there, Sherlock.
This is the honeybees
all over again, Mycroft.
Just because something appears
to be random, it doesn't mean that it is.
Mother said that they were
listening to her, and they were.
She's mentioned the man
with the bird's claw.
Professor Malik has a cane
with a bird's claw.
Yes, but it's not exactly
case closed, is it?
Tell me…
where is Professor Malik now?
Well, we are not exactly sure.
He seems to have vanished
after last night's events.
Why would he vanish?
If Shou'an is in a cell,
if the threat is gone…
then why would he vanish?
Yeah.
Ten minutes with Shou'an.
No.
Nine minutes.
- Sherlock!
- Mr Patton!
- What are you in for this time?
- I'm just visiting today.
Remember, prison is in here.
He's very, uh…
I don't know, Mycroft, what's the word?
Bothersome.
Vexatious.
Unbearable.
I could empty the dictionary.
Oh, no, no, no.
I was thinking he's very… intense.
Hmm.
How was he like, as a small boy?
Well, growing up in the same house was…
Yes, I can only imagine.
No, actually, I can't.
- Tell me.
- Put it this way.
I took a job in the Foreign Office
in pursuit of an easier life.
Wars, famine, that sort of thing.
I wondered when you and I
would be seeing each other again.
I must admit, life has become
somewhat tepid without you.
You mind if I sit?
Please. Take the royal throne.
Thank you, Princess.
What game are we playing today?
- What game would you like to play?
- I'll let you decide.
How very kind. Why don't we start by you
telling me how my mother is involved?
Ah. English boys and their mothers.
Very touching.
How did you know
what she said to me in the asylum?
First principles: the likeliest
explanation is always the simplest.
The likeliest explanation
would be that you heard her say it.
The recordings.
You had access to them?
Ooh. Lightning fast.
Professor Malik.
Is there a question there?
- Why did he visit my mother?
- How do you know it was him?
"The man with the bird's claw."
Clearly a reference to his walking cane.
That was Malik.
There's a place where I met my handler.
A safe house.
They're listening to me.
A whirring all the time.
There's a man with a bird claw.
He's coming back for me.
This safe house,
do you think it's possible
Malik is still there?
Imagine if we combined our talents.
You want Malik. I want him too.
For very different reasons.
I want to find out
why he was recording my mother.
You, on the other hand,
want to kill him.
Then let's help each other.
The final act we can debate later.
Where is this safe house?
You are going to have
to give up something.
I very much doubt Hodge is going
to let you out of here until you do.
But that is preposterous. Slanderous.
Professor Malik works for me.
Why on earth would he be at this-- this--
- Safe house, sir.
- Safe house.
There is nothing in Malik's file
to suggest any nefarious activity.
- All I know is what I saw.
- I should have hanged you this morning.
- Get her out of here.
- Hold on.
I didn't see him at the gala.
- Who?
- Professor Malik.
When I came through the wall
at the gala, I didn't see him.
All of the other professors were there
at the table, except him.
Yes, but…
He left.
…of Her Majesty's empire.
Don't take the empire for granted.
We may live to regret it.
During your speech, sir.
I thought it odd at the time.
Why would anyone leave my speech?
I assumed the poor fellow
had bladder issues.
Were you given an exact time
to carry out the explosion?
Eight o'clock.
My instructions were quite explicit
on that point.
Unless Malik had a conveniently
life-saving desire to urinate,
I think it fair to say
he knew the bomb would go off at 8:00.
If he is in this safe house, sir,
and if he is indeed
working against your interests,
wouldn't you rather know?
Let's go, Constable.
Front and back doors
are sealed with plate metal.
Bars on the windows half an inch thick.
Basement has a coded lock.
I want an officer by her side
at all times.
I'll take Sherlock.
You think she gets to choose
who babysits her?
- No, sir.
- No, sir.
Sherlock or no one.
Or send me back to my cell.
And you can find Malik yourself.
Why are you doing this?
Because there's a chance
it keeps me alive.
No, why are you after Malik?
Why are you killing professors?
It's what I am paid to do.
I don't believe that.
Do you trust me?
Of course I don't trust you.
You know I don't trust you.
And nor I you.
The code is Hydra.
Seventeen stars in the southern sky.
All yours.
Don't force my hand.
Right, come on!
Thank you.
No, thank you.
Malik.
Your Highness.
May I present to you
the real Princess Shou'an.
Your Highness, Sir Bucephalus Hodge.
I only wish that our first meeting had
been under more salubrious circumstances.
Trust me when I tell you that I have
spared no expense in my search for you.
O'Shea, send a wire immediately
to the Foreign Secretary.
O'Shea…
Be sure to tell him I found her.
Yes, sir.
This is where I saw
Professor Malik listening.
Sherlock?
Your mother.
All of her recordings.
I had a little pony,
his name was Dapple Grey.
I lent him to a lady to ride a mile.
She whipped him and she slashed him,
and she…
Make it…
Make it stop!
I'm so sorry.
Why would anybody want to do this?
While you were detained
by these nefarious individuals,
did you, by any chance, happen to see…
this man?
No.
You see, I knew he would
never have been embroiled
in this unsavoury business, Mycroft.
You see, unlike you, Professor Malik
understands the meaning of loyalty.
- Malik?
- Yes.
- You recognise his name?
- Yes, they mentioned him.
- Perhaps you misheard.
- I did not.
Only yesterday
they talked of visiting him.
Your Highness, did they say where?
"At Abdon. Behind the locks."
That's all I heard.
Sherlock, all of these
are transcripts of the recordings.
Her entire life is laid out in here.
This is a record of her visitors.
Myself, my brother, my father.
There's a "Lawson Jaggers". A lawyer.
- Is that someone you know?
- No.
When did Jaggers last visit?
Friday, August 11th. 10 o'clock.
Sherlock, that page has been
torn out of the transcriptions.
August 11th, 10 o'clock?
Yes.
Mr Jaggers' here to see you.
Mrs Holmes, charming to see you again.
I'll leave you two to talk.
Hmm.
New rooms, I see. Very nice.
Now, perhaps we might continue
with our previous matter of business.
It's been scratched.
- The cylinder. It's…
- Sabotaged.
Someone must have been
rather keen to make sure
we don't find out what's on there.
Ah, Sherlock. What's all this?
They're recordings of our mother.
All of them.
Why would someone
do this to her, Sherlock?
We are working on that.
We have a lead on the potential
whereabouts of Professor Malik.
Um, obviously,
Hodge wants to pursue it himself, but…
- No, you find Professor Malik.
- Right.
- You find out why he's been doing this.
- You have my word.
And we will pay a visit
to this Lawson Jaggers fellow
and see what business he's had
with our mother.
- Wait, who…
- Where is she?
Shou'an, or whatever the hell
her real name is. Where is she?
She-- She was here just a moment ago.
Damn you, Holmes, if she's escaped,
you will be held personally responsible.
I have men on all the doors.
There's no way she could have got out.
- How could she have possibly slipped--
- Wait.
O'Shea, consider yourself
my hunting hound.
Don't bring her back.
This is why she brought us here.
You're an idiot, Holmes. She duped you.
Get out of the way!
Wait! Stop!
Move! Out of the way!
Stop right there!
There is no "Abdon" on the map.
She said "behind the locks".
Now, could it be somewhere on the canal?
Could Abdon be the name of a boat?
We keep a register of boats
and vessels somewhere.
But where is O'Shea?
He hasn't reported back yet, sir.
This is becoming a bloody fiasco!
Find Professor Malik, damn it, man!
Thinks he can betray me?
I'll rip his bloody head off!
Might I ask
exactly what the Princess said, sir?
She said they were meeting
Professor Malik at Abdon.
Behind the locks.
Abdon and Sennen.
They're ancient Catholic martyrs.
If I may.
There's a ruined medieval abbey
not far from Oxford.
It was once dedicated to them.
"Behind the locks"?
The locks of Marian.
Ah.
An old relic believed to have
been kept at the abbey.
According to legend, it was the hair
of Mary, mother of Jesus.
Well, I never, Edie.
How did you know this?
My father encouraged me to read, sir.
Oh. Why don't you know this, Mycroft?
A little scratchy
on my esoteric Christian martyrs, sir.
Where is this ruined abbey?
There, sir.
Shou'an's making a good habit
of beating you.
Nonsense.
As a matter of fact, I think you'll find
I helped her to regain her liberty.
Oh, I see.
So you knew about the passageway?
You knew she was going to escape?
I simply decided the world was
a more interesting place with her in it.
Mm-hmm.
What a load of shite.
Ah, Lawson Jaggers, Esquire.
Smells interesting.
Are you all ready?
There's more than one way
to skin a cat, James.
Well, this is how I like to skin my cats.
Oh, dear Lord.
That's the last of Jaggers, Esquire.
Mrs Holmes,
how charming to see you again.
Is that blood?
Sign of a struggle.
He got in a scrap.
So someone erases his conversations
with my mother.
And then he finds himself
unceremoniously erased.
A rather convenient suicide,
don't you think?
Diaries. Might tell you what business
he had with your mother.
I am going to report this.
To the police?
- Yes.
- And do their jobs for them?
Because I have been
suspected of murder before,
and I would rather it didn't happen again.
Seneca says the problem with this life
is not that it's short.
It's that we waste
an awful lot of it dicking about.
I'd like to report a death.
Lawson Jaggers. Solicitor. 4 Alba Lane.
And you are?
- Sherlock Holmes.
- Holmes?
We have a wire for you.
Sherlock?
Hyah! Giddyap!
Sherlock.
Let me go!
- Mother?
- Sherlock!
Mother! Get off her!
Unhand her! Unhand her now!
She requires help. She needs to be
somewhere she can be cared for.
I'm so sorry, Sherlock,
I was only gone for a moment.
Don't you worry, Crowle.
They won't be taking her anywhere.
I believe you'll find
I have jurisdiction over her.
And I believe you'll find
I have jurisdiction over this.
Is the double-barrelled 12-bore hammer gun
not persuasive enough for you?
- Let her go.
- Thank you.
We're only acting in her best interests.
You knew, didn't you?
You knew about the recordings.
About Professor Malik.
- Why did he do it?
- You'll have to ask him.
I was merely paid to look the other way.
I am so sorry, Mother.
I'm so sorry.
I should never have left you.
Can I respectfully suggest
that ye all fuck off?
Right, move up!
- You're quite sure this is the place?
- Quite sure, sir.
Lestrade, I want it on the record
that I was the one
who blew this case wide open.
Yes, of course, sir.
I think I saw movement by the church, sir.
I wish to be the one to apprehend him.
Very good, sir.
Good day to you, Bucephalus.
Kishore Malik.
So it's true. My very own personal Judas.
There is nothing that can't be sacrificed
in the pursuit of science.
"Knowledge is the wing
wherewith we fly to heaven."
Don't quote the Bard at me, sir.
Don't dress up your grubby greed
in noble sentiment.
You were going to sell my project
to the highest bidder.
What was it, I wasn't paying you enough?
Greed, pure and simple.
As if you stand for anything else.
I stand for Queen and country, sir.
To be an Englishman
is to win the lottery of life.
Something I remind myself of
each and every day.
Can I help it
if I stand to make the odd penny
from my tireless dedication to the cause?
I did not betray you, sir, for money.
I betrayed you because what I discovered
could change the world entirely.
And I couldn't bear to see you
take credit for my discoveries.
- For history to forget me.
- Oh, but it will, sir.
I will go down
as the man who built the Empire.
You, on the other hand,
will be forgotten even by your own mother.
Oh, just one request,
before I bid you adieu.
I mean, if you'd be so accommodating,
who did you betray me for?
The Prussians?
Ottomans?
Take your hand out of your pocket, man.
Hodge?
Hodge!
Right, fan out! Malik can't have gone far.
Has he been shot?
Uh.
There's-There's… There's no blood. Uh…
There's no bullet hole. Nothing.
Sir Bucephalus?
He's not-- He's not breathing.
He's dead.
Guns and hot toddies.
Jesus, you're a woman after my own heart,
Mrs Crowle.
Mrs Crowle.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Must have felt very good, that slap.
Oh, James.
It was such a tonic.
So, what now?
We're still no closer to figuring out
why you were involved in any of this.
The likeliest explanation
is always the simplest.
I was merely paid to look the other way.
Darling.
Sherlock.
My boy. I heard you had a spot of bother.
There's a man goin' 'round
Takin' names ♪
And he decides who to free
And who to blame ♪
Everybody won't be treated
All the same ♪
There'll be a golden ladder
Reachin' down ♪
When the man comes around ♪
The hairs on your arm will stand up ♪
At the terror in each sip
And in each sup ♪
Will you partake
Of that last offered cup ♪
Or disappear into the potter's ground? ♪
When the man comes around ♪
The whirlwind is in the thorn tree ♪
It's hard for thee to kick
Against the prick ♪
In measured hundredweight
And penny pound ♪
When the man comes around ♪
And I hear a voice in the midst
Of the four beasts ♪