Sherlock & Daughter (2025) s01e07 Episode Script
The Great Fleece
1
[Holmes] The thread
would've killed me long ago
were I not somehow vital
to their successes.
Mr. Sherlock Holmes, welcome.
Thank you, Prime Minister.
Someone at Chief
Inspector Witlock's office
immediately rang
up Lord Withersea.
Warning him he was
about to welcome
Watson and Mrs. Hudson,
not to mention the
ambassador's jewels.
Unless I find the jewels
by tomorrow afternoon,
the ambassador
collects 50,000 pounds.
The kidnappers must
communicate with each other,
and then, Watson and Mrs. Hudson
will once more be on the move.
Our allies and friends are
already strategically placed.
And I will light up the
sky with two signals,
one color representing
where Watson
and Mrs. Hudson have been kept,
and the other color representing
where they are going.
Prepare to write
a warrant for the,
what do you call it?
A wire tap, my Lord.
I can hear and record
every conversation
from the telephone of
the Chief Inspector.
[Holmes] Now, to go upstairs
and provoke your superiors.
(dramatic music)
No call yet, sir.
No, the person
using the telephone
must wait to be alone
in Whitlock's office.
How long will that take, sir?
Not long.
The time frame I gave
was designed to eliminate
the possibilities
of a messenger.
Are you in danger, sir?
No, no, no, no.
It's not my safety at risk,
but the lives of those
I hold most dear.
If I am wrong,
if the culprit employing the
telephone in Whitlock's office
does not use it again, if
we have nothing to record,
then my traps spring
shut on the wind,
and my friends, my dearest
friends, could die.
(phone rings)
[Caller] Operator, operator!
Whitlock?
[Operator] Not the police.
This is Scotland Yard.
Ring Belgrave near 483, quickly.
You have a stone in your boot.
I believe a cobbler can be
found in Kensington, quickly.
(dramatic music)
The hostages are traveling
from the dowager
Duchess of Lincolnshire.
Green, which is where Shaw
and the irregulars
are stationed.
To Kensington,
Duke of Leicester,
yellow where they'll have
to pass by the batty.
Now, excuse me, I'm sure I
haven't a second to lose.
But sir, what should I do?
Just continue
recording the calls,
and pray that there
is no change of plan.
Wish me luck, Swann.
(dramatic music)
(door creaks and shuts)
(dramatic music)
(footsteps thump)
(dramatic music)
(window creaks)
(Holmes sighs)
(dramatic music)
(flare gun fires)
(dramatic music)
Green boys.
Look ahead, that's us.
(dramatic music)
(hooves clop)
Two carriages, they
may have split them up.
Half and half lights.
You two take the
second one, all right?
Come on.
(hooves clop)
(dramatic music)
(flare gun clicks)
(flare gun fires)
(dramatic music)
That's the one.
Head to the Duke of Leicester.
That's it,
Mr. Harrigan, let's go!
(driver grunts)
(dramatic music)
(window creaks)
(Holmes pants)
(dramatic music)
Take the yellow road to
the Duke of Leicester.
(dramatic music)
(wheels clack)
Time is of the
essence, Dancliff.
Certainly sir.
(dramatic music)
Red thread's carriage, let's go.
Get after him!
(horse neighs)
(dramatic music)
Is this it?
(driver grunts)
(dramatic music)
(dramatic music)
Come on, keep going!
Almost there!
Keep going, keep going!
(horse neighs)
Don't chase the drivers.
Look for the hostages.
It's my sister!
Let me in, Missus.
Stuck.
It won't budge!
Let me in there.
(dramatic music)
Ah, Holmes, how kind
of you to join us.
Thank you for following my
instructions so closely.
Two carriages, my god,
clever but not clever enough.
Come on.
Is it Mr. Holmes?
I must be dreaming.
Everyone seems to be
floating, aren't they?
[Holmes] Steady,
Mrs. Hudson, steady.
Oh sister, dear sister.
Help Mrs. Hudson
to my carriage.
Take great care, she's been
heavily dosed with opium.
(dramatic music)
Ah, Watson.
Come on, Shaw.
Get this open, come on!
(Watson laughs)
Holmes.
Holmes, Holmes.
-Ah, yes.
Ahh.
Watson.
You found us.
Yes, of course.
-I knew you would.
-Of course.
You've been very
heavily sedated.
Yes.
-[Holmes] We'll get you home.
-Yes.
Where you can have
a proper rest.
No, no, no, no the gold,
the banking, the rob,
they're robbing the
Bank of England.
What?
They may have done it already.
-[Holmes] Who?
-I'm going to fall.
[Holmes] What?
[Watson] I'm falling.
Let's go.
Clarence, take him, take him.
Take him to my
carriage, come on.
There we go, careful there boy.
(curious music)
Lady Violet, how may I help you?
I must speak with
the ambassador.
Despite the lateness
of the hour,
my husband is still
at the embassy.
Would you care to
leave a message?
Sorry for the inconvenience,
but I must wait for his return.
And may I use your telephone?
I need to make an important
call to Scotland Yard.
(phone rings)
Chief Inspector Whitlock here.
To whom am I speaking, please?
Your betters, that's who.
And I have a serious problem.
I have already solved quite
a few of your problems,
Lady Violet, including
those related
to the less than accidental
death of one of your debutantes.
Your taste for violence is.
I'm in no mood for a
lecture on morality,
especially for a man who's
been so handsomely rewarded
for betraying the law.
If you wish to escape
with your prize,
you will continue to assist me.
Assist you?
How?
With that awful
girl, Amelia Rojas,
who the American
ambassador insisted
I place in his household.
She knows I have the designs
to her mother's weapon.
I want her out of the way.
Your hatred of this girl is
a distraction from Holmes
who you continue
to underestimate.
I have been right
about Sherlock so far!
But the girl is more
unpredictable and so a threat.
I am presently involved
in the most delicate part
of our entire enterprise.
And Holmes must not suspect
that he has been led
to do our bidding.
His arrogance won't
allow him to suspect,
and as for the girl, have
one of your idiot inspectors
pick her up and taken
care of in prison,
like you did with
Charlie the coachman.
There is nothing I can
do to remove the girl,
while she is at the
ambassador's residence.
Very well!
At my first opportunity,
I will kill her myself!
(phone clangs)
(dramatic music)
Shh, keep quiet.
You scared me half to death.
I'm sorry, I couldn't go
through the front door.
[Clara] Why?
Because it's so late?
No, it's not the hour,
although I have some explaining
to do for the Pinkertons
who'd seen me.
Does the lateness of your return
have anything to
do with Mr. Wiley?
No, no, sh.
Not at all.
Actually, it's (Amelia sighs).
Clara, listen to me, okay?
The person who planned
my kidnapping and yours,
who killed Emma and
murdered my mother,
is downstairs right now
in your father's study.
Who on earth are
you talking about?
Lady Violet Somerset
arrived two hours ago
and insisted on waiting for you,
and helped herself
to our telephone.
But what could
she possibly want?
It's quite nearly morning.
The sooner I talk with her,
the faster she will leave.
If there's a
problem, my darling,
if she's causing you distress.
Nothing beyond this
inexcusable intrusion,
which will soon be over.
(dramatic music)
(door creaks)
[Lady Violet] At last.
Your behavior grows more
reckless by the hour.
And your tone more presumptuous.
You may rank high
in London society,
but you hold no position
of legitimate power,
whereas I am the United
States ambassador
for the court of King James
and a legal representative
of my nation and Great Britain.
I am well aware of your status.
Indeed, I consider you
to be one of my most
valuable employees.
Your employee?
You may not wear my livery,
but of no doubt
you are my servant,
and on the verge of receiving
an extraordinary reward
for your labors.
By this time tomorrow, I
will have made you a hero
to the public and one of the
richest men in the world.
-One of the richest?
-Shh.
May I remind you,
that the plan we are
about to execute is mine.
If not for me, the
success of your conspiracy
would've at best left the
country you wish to dominate
in financial ruin.
I admit, you've finessed
bribing the authorities
with genius, and your
change in what the robbery
should accomplish was
uncommonly clever,
but I chose you.
I came all the way to
America under the pretense
of helping your daughter
because I recognized despite
conspicuous failures,
you had the will, the
mean, and immunity
to accomplish what none
of the rest of us could.
So that you should
attempt to interfere
with selling this
weapon when you know
how important it is
to my ultimate goal,
well, I find it disloyal,
to say the very least,
especially as I created a
date for your daughter's ball
at the cost of someone's life.
Which was done without
my knowledge or consent.
You promised no murders,
and now there have been
bodies piling up beyond count!
So no, I will not
allow Clara's ball
or my embassy to be used as
an auction house for weapons.
There's no more perfect
place or occasion
for this sale to take place!
Every foreign diplomat in
London may attend the ball
without attracting suspicion.
The actual exchange
will be made discreetly
in your stables.
Perhaps I misled you a
little about killing people,
but I never denied
our ultimate aim.
Think, please.
This is no ordinary weapon.
It could decide the
outcome of this war
you seem so determined to start.
Do you really have so little
feeling for your own country?
Oh, don't be naive.
This war will not be won
on a field of battle.
Indeed the victors have
already been crowned.
They rule our boardrooms,
banks, and foundries.
By the day of surrender
without knowing it,
London will have been
subsumed by industry
and the financial system by
which I must live a beggar
in my own family,
will come to an end!
You say I have no
feeling for my country.
It is my country that
has no feeling for me!
This is not the future
Dan Moriarty espouses.
Well, he's ridiculous,
and like Holmes, will have
soon served his purpose.
The thread can
dispense with them both
and the wretched girl too.
How you start your war
and what you hope
it will accomplish
is up to you and your other
bloody minded accomplices.
But that wretched girl is
under my personal protection,
which I will not withdraw.
Oh really?
Have you forgotten all
about Clara's romance
with your former coachman?
You encouraged his advances.
And taking my daughter
hostage was both a betrayal
and an outrage.
Had you given me the
keys when I asked,
your daughter's seduction
would've been unnecessary.
You forced my hand.
If you do so again, well,
diplomatic immunity might
keep you from an arrest,
but nothing can protect you
from a scandal like that.
Do you ever wonder, Lady Violet,
if you might be
in over your head?
(Lady Violet laughs)
I have outmaneuvered
even Sherlock Holmes.
You are no such challenge.
Hopefully wealth and
universal adulation
will soften your outrage.
(dramatic music)
Hide this well!
Bring it with you
to Clara's ball.
Or your daughter's
introduction to society
will be the last night
she appears in public.
(dramatic music)
(door creaks)
That witch!
Wants to destroy me.
She can't.
The keys she was talking about,
they have to be
used at your debut.
What do they unlock?
Here I am, worried
about my own future,
while Lady Violet
plots your murder.
It's not just my life
that's being threatened.
It's Mr. Holmes' too.
And a war?
I can't believe it.
Why would Lady Violet
want to start a war?
Amelia, where are you going?
To get the answers
to your questions.
I'm gonna make dead certain
that nothing happens to you,
Michael Wiley, or to Mr. Holmes.
Take care.
I now fear Lady Violet
more than anything.
You're not wrong.
Wish me luck.
(Amelia groans)
(dramatic music)
Miss Rojas.
Detective Swann?
Sorry to startle you.
What are you doing here?
I've come to tell you,
you're in great danger,
and I must protect
you until morning.
(Amelia sighs)
(dramatic music)
Effects of the opium
will wear off soon.
But they should fully recover.
When they come 'round,
I advise fresh water,
some warm soup, and
a long hot bath.
Thank you, Doctor Welles.
Mr. and Mrs. Halligan, I
will leave our patients
in your care, whilst
I follow the scent.
Not to worry, Holmes.
We'll run these
kidnappers aground.
I'm sure you will,
but I must now turn my
attention to the robbery
of a significant amount of
gold from the Bank of England.
I don't know how you
came to be aware of it.
The transfer of
South African gold
from the wharfs to the bank
was accomplished in
complete secrecy.
Bullivant supervised
its transfer yesterday.
And even if thieves could
break into the bank,
I mean, how would they escape
with 8,000 ounces of solid gold?
An excellent
question, Bullivant.
And I must ask the Bank of
England to open their vault
in order to answer it.
If you'll excuse me, I fear
I may already be too late.
(dramatic music)
(bells toll)
(hooves clop)
(dramatic music)
Ah, Mr. Holmes,
I hope you'll allow
us to accompany you.
If your charges are
true, we must immediately
join at the pursuit.
[Holmes] Of which I
presume the reporter,
the photographer standing
behind you are indispensable?
Well, circumstances allow
we must immediately
alert the public.
The Daily Chronicle was
convinced to hold off
on the mid-morning edition
should our news
require the front page.
Well, I would've spared the Yard
such a salacious
expose, but as you will.
(door creaks)
Dear me, Mr. Holmes,
your alarms have us
terrified and perplexed.
This shipment of
South African gold
is essential to the
bank's capital reserves.
Without it, markets would
collapse across the empire.
I must hope you are
wrong, Mr. Holmes.
I assure you, Governor Cavener,
nothing would give
me more pleasure.
(door clangs)
(tense music)
Oh, thank heavens.
(footsteps clack)
(tense music)
[Photographer]
Mr. Holmes, sir,
would you mind posing
in front of the gold?
What gold?
(Bullivant laughs)
Well this gold
from South Africa,
securely transferred
from ship to vault
under my direct supervision.
May I, inspector?
Careful, Holmes,
it's quite heavy.
Ah, note the fine powder
appearing on the bar's exterior,
indicating soluble salts
moving to the surface.
The effects of moisture,
possibly related to
the recent rains.
I trust the powder will
have no effect on the value.
No, not at all.
The gold will be worth
exactly what it was
when it was loaded
into your vault.
You see, gentleman, these bars.
(bar clangs, governor groans)
Covering bits of lead.
(bar clangs)
Painted a persuasive color
and bearing the proper imprint,
are 100 percent.
(bar clangs)
Counterfeit.
But how?
I saw the gold being broken
open out of the crate
and tested and
unloaded off the ship
into a convoy of carriages.
[Holmes] That much
is certainly true.
[Bullivant] And I drove
alongside these carriages,
all the way from the
wharf to the bank.
I believe you.
And I observed the gold
being carried into the bank.
Now that is impossible.
The vault was neither
opened nor breached.
Yet this is not gold, ergo
the gold was never here.
Now, it was brought
from the ships
and walked past you by
a group of coachmen,
all of whom were part of a
conspiracy to rob the bank.
They arrived at the
wharf in vehicles
already filled with counterfeit
bars of painted plaster,
and the real gold was placed
in the carriages' false bottoms.
Now you escorted the gold
of these thieving coachmen
across London and upon
arrival at the bank,
the counterfeit bars were
loaded into the vault,
and the real gold
was driven away.
Where it has gone will
take some thought,
but that is hardly the
most important question.
The whereabouts of the gold
is not the most
important question?
No, it is not.
The most pertinent question
is how was I able to envision
this crime so quickly
and with such
astonishing accuracy?
I am used to making inferences
far beyond the scope
of untrained minds, but
criminals seldom provide me
with such flagrant clues
such as this plaster dust
flecked with gold paint,
left behind in at least
two of the carriages
used in the robbery.
[Bullivant] But how did you
come across these carriages?
Well they were engaged
again hours later
in the relocation of
Watson and Mrs. Hudson.
Their coats were
caked in gold dust,
and we rescued them
just in time to be told
their captors were robbing
the Bank of England.
Well, what an
amazing coincidence.
Here's another.
I was able to have a
similar carriage dismantled
right after it had been used
in the attempted abduction
of my former mate, so I knew
about the false bottoms.
And I assume Scotland Yard
contracted these vehicles
from the Green and Crest Asylum
for the criminally insane.
It was an attempt to
transport the gold
to the vault using
unremarkable conveyances.
Ah.
No, no, no, no.
This cannot be true!
(bar clangs)
(dramatic music)
(dramatic music)
Whoa.
Shouldn't I be taking
you to Baker Street?
[Amelia] No, I need to find
where Michael Wiley works.
Miss Rojas, wait, wait.
Um, ladies cannot
enter the exchange.
I will go in, find
this Michael Wiley,
and bring him out to you.
Yeah, but you don't
know what he looks like.
You there!
Move this carriage away from
the door of the exchange.
Scotland Yard!
(dramatic music)
[Amelia] Your badge
could get me inside.
Police business!
(dramatic music)
Scotland Yard, out
of the way please.
Police business, Scotland
Yard, police business!
Scotland Yard!
-Officer, officer!
Amelia, what are you doing here?
Excuse me, officer,
but I respectfully ask
you release Miss
Rojas immediately.
Well, I can assure
you, Mr. Wiley,
that my holding of Miss
Rojas' wrist was necessary
to keep her on the
floor of this exchange,
where she insisted
upon hunting for you.
It's okay.
I overheard Lady Violet
tell the ambassador
that she wants to get
rid of you and me.
What does Lady Violet
have against us?
Did she say?
Maybe it has something
to do with your support
of home rule?
How would she know about that?
Don't ask me, but she
also wants to start a war.
What, how?
That's impossible.
Stock market's crashing.
Stay away from Lady Violet.
Let Sherlock Holmes
deal with her.
I've gotta get back to work.
What is going on?
An epic crime.
The Bank of England
has been robbed,
and will probably fail.
We must go now.
I'll take you back to Baker
Street on the way to the Yard.
No, if this is
really an epic crime,
there's only one place
Sherlock Holmes will be.
(dramatic music)
So this conversation
you overheard
between Lady Violet
and the ambassador
is most revealing.
Now I know for certain why
the jewels are so important
and where they've gone.
[Amelia] Where?
To Chief Inspector Whitlock,
for whom they were always
intended as a bribe.
He took over the
search of them himself.
And before Lord
Withersea shot himself,
he must've told
Whitlock where the gems
were to be found.
But what part does the ambassador
play in the bank robbery,
and how does he
become a public hero?
No, I don't know,
but I can tell you who does.
Chief Inspector Whitlock.
I mean, he told you himself.
Every day the home
office sends me a list
of potential revolutionaries,
misfits, and former felons.
He must've hired some
of them as drivers
to steal the gold.
Whitlock brought a
reporter and a photographer
with him today inside the vault.
Well, maybe he didn't think
you'd figure out what happened.
Maybe he wanted to prove he's
smarter than Sherlock Holmes.
That's a mistake many
have made to their regret,
but consider this, the red
thread gave me the means
to lay bare the robbery so.
[Amelia] So?
So should I not also know
where the gold has gone?
Why would they want
you to find the gold?
Why would they want me to
know about the robbery at all?
Okay, this is, it's,
it's what you'd call
a theory of the crime.
So how do we prove it?
By locating the gold
without looking for it.
Make Whitlock tell us.
He's not only involved
with the robbery,
but he's also working
for Lady Violet.
Swann has a recording of
a telephone conversation.
[Lady Violet] I will
kill her myself.
Except I promised
the prime minister
nothing from the wiretap
would be used in evidence.
Well, Whitlock
doesn't know that.
Yes.
Yes, very good idea.
And I will follow up
on Whitlock's ignorance
of the prompt.
And not just yet, if I am right,
we should be able to deduce
the gold's whereabouts
based on the clues
we already have.
Remember I overheard Lord
Withersea in the stables
say that the coffins were
about to become more valuable.
And worth less than they
will be, a week or two hence.
But Withersea's needs
were more immediate.
And besides, you overheard
that conversation
without his knowledge.
If my theory is correct, all
clues left by the red thread
must be deliberate.
The telephone calls
between Whitlock and
the coffin factory.
[Holmes] No, Whitlock
called everyone.
No, it needs to be
something more specific.
(dramatic music)
Ugh.
What about this?
The coffin's screw from
the ambassador's carriage.
(Holmes laughs)
Why do you carry this with you?
I guess as a keepsake?
From the first day we
started working together.
Amelia, if I had known back
then when we first met,
if I understood.
If I had made a
better breakfast.
Oh, that wretched breakfast.
I shall never forget it.
(cloche clangs)
But to be fair, you
didn't taste it.
I chose life was the
sensible solution.
But you're quite right,
this, this screw is so specific
to Withersea's factory.
Yes.
Yes, yes.
That's why Wims and
Maggot were executed.
To cover their escape, they
set fire to the very place
the gold was to be hidden.
The thread must
have been furious.
[Amelia] You certainly were.
Do you think they
left the screw there
for you to find on purpose?
Yes.
Yes, someone brilliantly
anticipated by actions,
but they could never
have foreseen yours.
So, let us prove the
theory by finding the gold.
What if the coachmen are all
still there at the factory?
I mean, there are a lot of them.
Do we need the police?
No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
We can't afford to have Whitlock
warning them by telephone.
Wait, I have the
perfect solution, yes.
(dramatic music)
Swann, I have an idea where
we might find the stolen gold
and with not a second to lose.
But sir, I should
really report this.
Well, I could be wrong.
If it has happened, and
perhaps we should make sure
the gold is where we think it is
before informing your superiors
and having this case
snatched from your hands.
Yes, sir.
(dramatic music)
Where to?
Withersea coffin
factory, on the double.
Whoa.
(dramatic music)
[Holmes] Ah, this place
is more heavily guarded
than I'd hoped.
An observation I was on
the verge of making myself.
[Amelia] I bet
they'd chase someone
into the coffin factory.
I hope by chasing someone,
you don't mean you.
[Amelia] I'll get the
guards to follow me inside.
[Clarence] I can cut off
their exit from the roof.
Trust me, Mr. Holmes.
This will work.
Don't follow me until
they're all inside.
(dramatic music)
(Amelia sighs)
(dramatic music)
Hey, there's robbers
and murderers in here!
(worker grunts)
(dramatic music)
(worker grunts)
[Worker] Get back!
(dramatic music)
Easy!
(dramatic music)
Good day, gentlemen.
We ask that you
remain here quietly
until suitable
arrangements can be made.
What do you think
you're playing at?
You a copper?
No, I'm not, but
allow me to introduce.
Detective Swann
of Scotland Yard,
and I'm arresting you all
in the name of the Queen!
Not to worry, Mr. Holmes,
we've locked the
doors from up here.
The only place these
blokes are going is prison.
Thank you, Clarence.
You have done more than
I could have ever asked.
Game's up, gentlemen.
Now up against the wall.
Come on.
Well this is all well and good,
but do they have
my stolen jewels?
No, no, Bertie.
For now we shall have
to satisfy ourselves
with all this gold but
the gems will be back
in your hands soon enough.
I know where they are.
Now Shaw, if you and the
rest of the Irregulars
could please find
Inspector Bullivant
and tell him the happy news.
Then we need some
reinforcements.
Did we just save England
again, Mr. Holmes?
We did indeed.
I've never saved England before.
How does it feel?
Well, not bad, considering.
Much worse for dear
Mrs. Hudson than I.
How is she faring?
She's coming along.
Helps being tended
by her twin sister.
Oh, I have a small gift for you.
Your buttons, I believe.
(Watson laughs)
I'm glad to see that
I did not destroy
my waistcoat in vain.
At least you knew we were alive.
Now come, I am anxious
to hear the whole story.
Crime of the century.
Oh, hardly that.
Nonsense, you've
recovered the gold,
caught an entire factory filled
with thieves, rescued us.
About which I am most happy.
Never think otherwise.
But before Lord
Withersea kill himself,
he implied a crime
beyond my imagination,
and that is not happened.
There are so many orphaned
pieces to this puzzle.
Why steal plans for a
weapon in California?
Why demand keys of the
American ambassador?
No, the robbery
and the kidnappings
are not the whole story.
There's something worse.
What awful crime binds
these disparate members
of the red thread together?
Red thread, it'll
make a terrific title.
(Holmes sighs)
Dammit, I tire so easily.
The aftereffects of too
much opium, dear boy.
It'll soon wear off.
Who on earth is that?
Oh uh, Miss Rojas.
Allow me to present
Miss Amelia Rojas.
She is my,
my,
my, my, my, look at the time.
Enough of these questions.
The doctor is here to
measure your progress.
A little peace and
quiet will do you good.
Amelia.
(footsteps clack)
(Holmes sighs)
[Amelia] He's better.
You'll have your old
stalking partner back soon.
Not soon enough.
Clara's ball is two days hence
and by then all our
riddles must be answered.
I've solved a lot
of them already.
Oh, which ones?
Why you weren't murdered,
why we were meant
to find the gold,
and how the American ambassador
will become a national hero.
Well your deductive powers
have shown sensational progress.
How did you manage all that?
The evening paper.
You're mentioned too.
As the greatest
detective in the world.
Well Amelia, that is not news,
that is not news.
Fortunately, I am
immune to flattery,
though we should
always be grateful
whenever the press
elect to be precise.
Oh for goodness sake.
After hearing of the robbery,
the American ambassador
hurriedly put together
a consortium of investors.
The purchase of the
bank's plummeting shares
stopped the panic
and brought stability
to the chaotic markets.
In his speech to reporters
later, he explained.
When I heard the Bank
of England's governor
has engaged the brilliant
Sherlock Holmes,
I knew the gold would be found.
My broker, Sir Nigel Parks,
helped me to find others
who would intervene,
and together,
we were able to halt the
Bank of England's slide
toward bankruptcy by the
purchase of a majority
of its shares.
But nothing we did
would've mattered,
without the greatest
detective on earth
exercising his
miraculous abilities.
The real victory belongs
to Sherlock Holmes.
Yes, by bringing the press
with him into the vault,
Whitlock made sure the world
would know about the robbery
and launched a financial panic,
allowing the thread
to buy the bank
for pennies on the pound.
(newspaper thuds)
Just this afternoon,
Ambassador Anderson
made ten million
off an investment
of 50,000 pounds.
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
In the meantime, the coachmen
are carted off to jail
without knowing how or
why they were betrayed.
Guess we didn't solve
the crime of the century.
We will make it possible.
Therefore, the greatest
crime is yet to come.
(dramatic music)
This broker, Sir Nigel Parks,
is he not Dan
Moriarty's employer?
Did Dan also invest
in this scheme?
Where would he get the money?
By muscling in on his
father's organization,
about which he may have
known more than he let on.
(dramatic music)
Yes.
Let me see.
I have both my profession
as a mathematician
and my greater
enterprise to maintain.
Greater enterprise?
By which you mean the
exploitation of human weakness
through opium dens, gambling,
and houses of ill repute,
run by men for whom
loyalty is a vice
best remedied by greed?
And at Lady Violet's party
was the young Moriarty,
who lured me outside.
What do you mean Amelia
was denied entry?
That's unacceptable.
Excuse me.
Excuse me, Mr. Holmes.
-I just spoke to her.
Wait, Mr., wait.
[Amelia] Holmes!
And if I hadn't
been lured outside,
I would never have
seen the carriage,
nor known how the
gold went missing
on its journey from
the ship to the bank.
Were it not for
that wretched boy.
(dramatic music)
Of course, that's why the
other coach was waiting
for your sham abductors.
Kidnappers don't need
getaway vehicles.
They take their crime with them.
All of this makes perfect sense
if we change but one conclusion.
What's that?
I'm surprised to find
someone of your intellect
mistaking current circumstances
for future prospects.
Dan Moriarty
did not kill the
coachman to save you.
Perhaps time will reveal
just how much you
understated my abilities.
He did it to save me.
(dramatic music)
(dramatic music)
[Michael] Michael
Wiley, here to visit
with Professor James Moriarty.
(door clangs)
(dramatic music)
(door creaks)
Father.
Dear boy.
Dear boy.
Go, I will call
you if I need you.
I apologize for my
previous behavior.
It was necessary to deceive
that pompous fool Holmes.
I'm so relieved, dear boy.
But do not be dismissive.
My most persistent
adversary, pompous, oh yes,
but Holmes is no fool.
Not only did he
rescue his friends,
he foiled a perfect robbery
of the Bank of the England.
Now, I assure you, father,
in no way did Holmes
foil anything.
Almost his every move
in solving these crimes
was designed by me.
[James] What?
But surely you did not.
I robbed the Bank of England,
and it went even
better than hoped.
But Holmes recovered the gold
and the perpetrators
have been arrested.
Only because these actions
were vital to my success.
You see, by purchasing
the stock in the bank
when it seemed almost
certain to fail,
I gained a great fortune
when Holmes saved the day.
I wonder where a broker's clerk
found enough pounds to invest
during an unexpected
market panic.
From you, of course.
From me?
More specifically, those
elements of the Moriarty
criminal syndicate I acquired
through your less
loyal henchmen.
Accomplished by approving a
more equal split in profits
and long denied promotions.
But you never took
my businesses!
That was the red thread.
Do you still not understand?
I am the red thread.
Well, the most
important part of it.
And tonight, we achieve
a far greater ambition
than stupendous wealth.
There is no greater
ambition than wealth.
That is the locus around which
our entire empire revolves.
Before the sun rises tomorrow,
I will bring that
empire to its knees.
And I'll be well on my way
to setting its colonies free,
now and forever.
We have the financial means.
We have the weapon.
Now all we need
is the inciting incident.
You said yourself, you could
leave whenever you wanted.
A ship awaits you even now,
as does a villa in
Rivanna where you can.
Hold a moment.
There is much here to consider.
First, what do you mean,
bring the empire to its knees?
Surely you intend no
harm to her Majesty.
What, kill the queen
with so many princes
to take her place?
No.
I will settle for nothing less
than freeing the Crown's
colonies from British rule.
In order to achieve
that, I require war.
Against England?
Against all nations that
would subjugate free people.
I'm pressed for time.
We can explain this.
-Dan, Dan, Dan!
Are you planning to
sacrifice yourself
for some transient
political course?
It's hardly transient.
But do not worry,
I am no martyr.
Oh but you are.
To steal from me and
boast of it to my face
and then in recompense
for your impudence,
offer me a life as a fugitive!
Or were you planning to use
my escape as a distraction
to mislead the
authorities into thinking
that I was the author
of your inciting incident?!
Very good, Father, very good.
Yes, yes, that had
been what I'd hoped,
to achieve the evening's work
and have all eyes trained
on the disappearance
of Professor Moriarty,
the world's most
famous criminal maniac.
And as the search
became more frantic,
would I ever arrive
at this villa,
or would my body be a better
answer for your treason?
(dramatic music)
Dancliff!
[Dancliff] Yes, your
Professorship, sir.
Show this young,
unnatural man out
and see that he never returns.
Admit it, Father,
you're a little proud
of me, aren't you?
Moriartys do not
overthrow empires.
We corrupt them
to our advantage.
And I can feel little
pride in a criminal
who when given the chance,
fails to kill Sherlock Holmes.
You mean like you?
(dramatic music)
(footsteps thud)
(dramatic music)
(door clangs)
(dramatic music)
(dramatic music)
(dramatic music)
[Holmes] The thread
would've killed me long ago
were I not somehow vital
to their successes.
Mr. Sherlock Holmes, welcome.
Thank you, Prime Minister.
Someone at Chief
Inspector Witlock's office
immediately rang
up Lord Withersea.
Warning him he was
about to welcome
Watson and Mrs. Hudson,
not to mention the
ambassador's jewels.
Unless I find the jewels
by tomorrow afternoon,
the ambassador
collects 50,000 pounds.
The kidnappers must
communicate with each other,
and then, Watson and Mrs. Hudson
will once more be on the move.
Our allies and friends are
already strategically placed.
And I will light up the
sky with two signals,
one color representing
where Watson
and Mrs. Hudson have been kept,
and the other color representing
where they are going.
Prepare to write
a warrant for the,
what do you call it?
A wire tap, my Lord.
I can hear and record
every conversation
from the telephone of
the Chief Inspector.
[Holmes] Now, to go upstairs
and provoke your superiors.
(dramatic music)
No call yet, sir.
No, the person
using the telephone
must wait to be alone
in Whitlock's office.
How long will that take, sir?
Not long.
The time frame I gave
was designed to eliminate
the possibilities
of a messenger.
Are you in danger, sir?
No, no, no, no.
It's not my safety at risk,
but the lives of those
I hold most dear.
If I am wrong,
if the culprit employing the
telephone in Whitlock's office
does not use it again, if
we have nothing to record,
then my traps spring
shut on the wind,
and my friends, my dearest
friends, could die.
(phone rings)
[Caller] Operator, operator!
Whitlock?
[Operator] Not the police.
This is Scotland Yard.
Ring Belgrave near 483, quickly.
You have a stone in your boot.
I believe a cobbler can be
found in Kensington, quickly.
(dramatic music)
The hostages are traveling
from the dowager
Duchess of Lincolnshire.
Green, which is where Shaw
and the irregulars
are stationed.
To Kensington,
Duke of Leicester,
yellow where they'll have
to pass by the batty.
Now, excuse me, I'm sure I
haven't a second to lose.
But sir, what should I do?
Just continue
recording the calls,
and pray that there
is no change of plan.
Wish me luck, Swann.
(dramatic music)
(door creaks and shuts)
(dramatic music)
(footsteps thump)
(dramatic music)
(window creaks)
(Holmes sighs)
(dramatic music)
(flare gun fires)
(dramatic music)
Green boys.
Look ahead, that's us.
(dramatic music)
(hooves clop)
Two carriages, they
may have split them up.
Half and half lights.
You two take the
second one, all right?
Come on.
(hooves clop)
(dramatic music)
(flare gun clicks)
(flare gun fires)
(dramatic music)
That's the one.
Head to the Duke of Leicester.
That's it,
Mr. Harrigan, let's go!
(driver grunts)
(dramatic music)
(window creaks)
(Holmes pants)
(dramatic music)
Take the yellow road to
the Duke of Leicester.
(dramatic music)
(wheels clack)
Time is of the
essence, Dancliff.
Certainly sir.
(dramatic music)
Red thread's carriage, let's go.
Get after him!
(horse neighs)
(dramatic music)
Is this it?
(driver grunts)
(dramatic music)
(dramatic music)
Come on, keep going!
Almost there!
Keep going, keep going!
(horse neighs)
Don't chase the drivers.
Look for the hostages.
It's my sister!
Let me in, Missus.
Stuck.
It won't budge!
Let me in there.
(dramatic music)
Ah, Holmes, how kind
of you to join us.
Thank you for following my
instructions so closely.
Two carriages, my god,
clever but not clever enough.
Come on.
Is it Mr. Holmes?
I must be dreaming.
Everyone seems to be
floating, aren't they?
[Holmes] Steady,
Mrs. Hudson, steady.
Oh sister, dear sister.
Help Mrs. Hudson
to my carriage.
Take great care, she's been
heavily dosed with opium.
(dramatic music)
Ah, Watson.
Come on, Shaw.
Get this open, come on!
(Watson laughs)
Holmes.
Holmes, Holmes.
-Ah, yes.
Ahh.
Watson.
You found us.
Yes, of course.
-I knew you would.
-Of course.
You've been very
heavily sedated.
Yes.
-[Holmes] We'll get you home.
-Yes.
Where you can have
a proper rest.
No, no, no, no the gold,
the banking, the rob,
they're robbing the
Bank of England.
What?
They may have done it already.
-[Holmes] Who?
-I'm going to fall.
[Holmes] What?
[Watson] I'm falling.
Let's go.
Clarence, take him, take him.
Take him to my
carriage, come on.
There we go, careful there boy.
(curious music)
Lady Violet, how may I help you?
I must speak with
the ambassador.
Despite the lateness
of the hour,
my husband is still
at the embassy.
Would you care to
leave a message?
Sorry for the inconvenience,
but I must wait for his return.
And may I use your telephone?
I need to make an important
call to Scotland Yard.
(phone rings)
Chief Inspector Whitlock here.
To whom am I speaking, please?
Your betters, that's who.
And I have a serious problem.
I have already solved quite
a few of your problems,
Lady Violet, including
those related
to the less than accidental
death of one of your debutantes.
Your taste for violence is.
I'm in no mood for a
lecture on morality,
especially for a man who's
been so handsomely rewarded
for betraying the law.
If you wish to escape
with your prize,
you will continue to assist me.
Assist you?
How?
With that awful
girl, Amelia Rojas,
who the American
ambassador insisted
I place in his household.
She knows I have the designs
to her mother's weapon.
I want her out of the way.
Your hatred of this girl is
a distraction from Holmes
who you continue
to underestimate.
I have been right
about Sherlock so far!
But the girl is more
unpredictable and so a threat.
I am presently involved
in the most delicate part
of our entire enterprise.
And Holmes must not suspect
that he has been led
to do our bidding.
His arrogance won't
allow him to suspect,
and as for the girl, have
one of your idiot inspectors
pick her up and taken
care of in prison,
like you did with
Charlie the coachman.
There is nothing I can
do to remove the girl,
while she is at the
ambassador's residence.
Very well!
At my first opportunity,
I will kill her myself!
(phone clangs)
(dramatic music)
Shh, keep quiet.
You scared me half to death.
I'm sorry, I couldn't go
through the front door.
[Clara] Why?
Because it's so late?
No, it's not the hour,
although I have some explaining
to do for the Pinkertons
who'd seen me.
Does the lateness of your return
have anything to
do with Mr. Wiley?
No, no, sh.
Not at all.
Actually, it's (Amelia sighs).
Clara, listen to me, okay?
The person who planned
my kidnapping and yours,
who killed Emma and
murdered my mother,
is downstairs right now
in your father's study.
Who on earth are
you talking about?
Lady Violet Somerset
arrived two hours ago
and insisted on waiting for you,
and helped herself
to our telephone.
But what could
she possibly want?
It's quite nearly morning.
The sooner I talk with her,
the faster she will leave.
If there's a
problem, my darling,
if she's causing you distress.
Nothing beyond this
inexcusable intrusion,
which will soon be over.
(dramatic music)
(door creaks)
[Lady Violet] At last.
Your behavior grows more
reckless by the hour.
And your tone more presumptuous.
You may rank high
in London society,
but you hold no position
of legitimate power,
whereas I am the United
States ambassador
for the court of King James
and a legal representative
of my nation and Great Britain.
I am well aware of your status.
Indeed, I consider you
to be one of my most
valuable employees.
Your employee?
You may not wear my livery,
but of no doubt
you are my servant,
and on the verge of receiving
an extraordinary reward
for your labors.
By this time tomorrow, I
will have made you a hero
to the public and one of the
richest men in the world.
-One of the richest?
-Shh.
May I remind you,
that the plan we are
about to execute is mine.
If not for me, the
success of your conspiracy
would've at best left the
country you wish to dominate
in financial ruin.
I admit, you've finessed
bribing the authorities
with genius, and your
change in what the robbery
should accomplish was
uncommonly clever,
but I chose you.
I came all the way to
America under the pretense
of helping your daughter
because I recognized despite
conspicuous failures,
you had the will, the
mean, and immunity
to accomplish what none
of the rest of us could.
So that you should
attempt to interfere
with selling this
weapon when you know
how important it is
to my ultimate goal,
well, I find it disloyal,
to say the very least,
especially as I created a
date for your daughter's ball
at the cost of someone's life.
Which was done without
my knowledge or consent.
You promised no murders,
and now there have been
bodies piling up beyond count!
So no, I will not
allow Clara's ball
or my embassy to be used as
an auction house for weapons.
There's no more perfect
place or occasion
for this sale to take place!
Every foreign diplomat in
London may attend the ball
without attracting suspicion.
The actual exchange
will be made discreetly
in your stables.
Perhaps I misled you a
little about killing people,
but I never denied
our ultimate aim.
Think, please.
This is no ordinary weapon.
It could decide the
outcome of this war
you seem so determined to start.
Do you really have so little
feeling for your own country?
Oh, don't be naive.
This war will not be won
on a field of battle.
Indeed the victors have
already been crowned.
They rule our boardrooms,
banks, and foundries.
By the day of surrender
without knowing it,
London will have been
subsumed by industry
and the financial system by
which I must live a beggar
in my own family,
will come to an end!
You say I have no
feeling for my country.
It is my country that
has no feeling for me!
This is not the future
Dan Moriarty espouses.
Well, he's ridiculous,
and like Holmes, will have
soon served his purpose.
The thread can
dispense with them both
and the wretched girl too.
How you start your war
and what you hope
it will accomplish
is up to you and your other
bloody minded accomplices.
But that wretched girl is
under my personal protection,
which I will not withdraw.
Oh really?
Have you forgotten all
about Clara's romance
with your former coachman?
You encouraged his advances.
And taking my daughter
hostage was both a betrayal
and an outrage.
Had you given me the
keys when I asked,
your daughter's seduction
would've been unnecessary.
You forced my hand.
If you do so again, well,
diplomatic immunity might
keep you from an arrest,
but nothing can protect you
from a scandal like that.
Do you ever wonder, Lady Violet,
if you might be
in over your head?
(Lady Violet laughs)
I have outmaneuvered
even Sherlock Holmes.
You are no such challenge.
Hopefully wealth and
universal adulation
will soften your outrage.
(dramatic music)
Hide this well!
Bring it with you
to Clara's ball.
Or your daughter's
introduction to society
will be the last night
she appears in public.
(dramatic music)
(door creaks)
That witch!
Wants to destroy me.
She can't.
The keys she was talking about,
they have to be
used at your debut.
What do they unlock?
Here I am, worried
about my own future,
while Lady Violet
plots your murder.
It's not just my life
that's being threatened.
It's Mr. Holmes' too.
And a war?
I can't believe it.
Why would Lady Violet
want to start a war?
Amelia, where are you going?
To get the answers
to your questions.
I'm gonna make dead certain
that nothing happens to you,
Michael Wiley, or to Mr. Holmes.
Take care.
I now fear Lady Violet
more than anything.
You're not wrong.
Wish me luck.
(Amelia groans)
(dramatic music)
Miss Rojas.
Detective Swann?
Sorry to startle you.
What are you doing here?
I've come to tell you,
you're in great danger,
and I must protect
you until morning.
(Amelia sighs)
(dramatic music)
Effects of the opium
will wear off soon.
But they should fully recover.
When they come 'round,
I advise fresh water,
some warm soup, and
a long hot bath.
Thank you, Doctor Welles.
Mr. and Mrs. Halligan, I
will leave our patients
in your care, whilst
I follow the scent.
Not to worry, Holmes.
We'll run these
kidnappers aground.
I'm sure you will,
but I must now turn my
attention to the robbery
of a significant amount of
gold from the Bank of England.
I don't know how you
came to be aware of it.
The transfer of
South African gold
from the wharfs to the bank
was accomplished in
complete secrecy.
Bullivant supervised
its transfer yesterday.
And even if thieves could
break into the bank,
I mean, how would they escape
with 8,000 ounces of solid gold?
An excellent
question, Bullivant.
And I must ask the Bank of
England to open their vault
in order to answer it.
If you'll excuse me, I fear
I may already be too late.
(dramatic music)
(bells toll)
(hooves clop)
(dramatic music)
Ah, Mr. Holmes,
I hope you'll allow
us to accompany you.
If your charges are
true, we must immediately
join at the pursuit.
[Holmes] Of which I
presume the reporter,
the photographer standing
behind you are indispensable?
Well, circumstances allow
we must immediately
alert the public.
The Daily Chronicle was
convinced to hold off
on the mid-morning edition
should our news
require the front page.
Well, I would've spared the Yard
such a salacious
expose, but as you will.
(door creaks)
Dear me, Mr. Holmes,
your alarms have us
terrified and perplexed.
This shipment of
South African gold
is essential to the
bank's capital reserves.
Without it, markets would
collapse across the empire.
I must hope you are
wrong, Mr. Holmes.
I assure you, Governor Cavener,
nothing would give
me more pleasure.
(door clangs)
(tense music)
Oh, thank heavens.
(footsteps clack)
(tense music)
[Photographer]
Mr. Holmes, sir,
would you mind posing
in front of the gold?
What gold?
(Bullivant laughs)
Well this gold
from South Africa,
securely transferred
from ship to vault
under my direct supervision.
May I, inspector?
Careful, Holmes,
it's quite heavy.
Ah, note the fine powder
appearing on the bar's exterior,
indicating soluble salts
moving to the surface.
The effects of moisture,
possibly related to
the recent rains.
I trust the powder will
have no effect on the value.
No, not at all.
The gold will be worth
exactly what it was
when it was loaded
into your vault.
You see, gentleman, these bars.
(bar clangs, governor groans)
Covering bits of lead.
(bar clangs)
Painted a persuasive color
and bearing the proper imprint,
are 100 percent.
(bar clangs)
Counterfeit.
But how?
I saw the gold being broken
open out of the crate
and tested and
unloaded off the ship
into a convoy of carriages.
[Holmes] That much
is certainly true.
[Bullivant] And I drove
alongside these carriages,
all the way from the
wharf to the bank.
I believe you.
And I observed the gold
being carried into the bank.
Now that is impossible.
The vault was neither
opened nor breached.
Yet this is not gold, ergo
the gold was never here.
Now, it was brought
from the ships
and walked past you by
a group of coachmen,
all of whom were part of a
conspiracy to rob the bank.
They arrived at the
wharf in vehicles
already filled with counterfeit
bars of painted plaster,
and the real gold was placed
in the carriages' false bottoms.
Now you escorted the gold
of these thieving coachmen
across London and upon
arrival at the bank,
the counterfeit bars were
loaded into the vault,
and the real gold
was driven away.
Where it has gone will
take some thought,
but that is hardly the
most important question.
The whereabouts of the gold
is not the most
important question?
No, it is not.
The most pertinent question
is how was I able to envision
this crime so quickly
and with such
astonishing accuracy?
I am used to making inferences
far beyond the scope
of untrained minds, but
criminals seldom provide me
with such flagrant clues
such as this plaster dust
flecked with gold paint,
left behind in at least
two of the carriages
used in the robbery.
[Bullivant] But how did you
come across these carriages?
Well they were engaged
again hours later
in the relocation of
Watson and Mrs. Hudson.
Their coats were
caked in gold dust,
and we rescued them
just in time to be told
their captors were robbing
the Bank of England.
Well, what an
amazing coincidence.
Here's another.
I was able to have a
similar carriage dismantled
right after it had been used
in the attempted abduction
of my former mate, so I knew
about the false bottoms.
And I assume Scotland Yard
contracted these vehicles
from the Green and Crest Asylum
for the criminally insane.
It was an attempt to
transport the gold
to the vault using
unremarkable conveyances.
Ah.
No, no, no, no.
This cannot be true!
(bar clangs)
(dramatic music)
(dramatic music)
Whoa.
Shouldn't I be taking
you to Baker Street?
[Amelia] No, I need to find
where Michael Wiley works.
Miss Rojas, wait, wait.
Um, ladies cannot
enter the exchange.
I will go in, find
this Michael Wiley,
and bring him out to you.
Yeah, but you don't
know what he looks like.
You there!
Move this carriage away from
the door of the exchange.
Scotland Yard!
(dramatic music)
[Amelia] Your badge
could get me inside.
Police business!
(dramatic music)
Scotland Yard, out
of the way please.
Police business, Scotland
Yard, police business!
Scotland Yard!
-Officer, officer!
Amelia, what are you doing here?
Excuse me, officer,
but I respectfully ask
you release Miss
Rojas immediately.
Well, I can assure
you, Mr. Wiley,
that my holding of Miss
Rojas' wrist was necessary
to keep her on the
floor of this exchange,
where she insisted
upon hunting for you.
It's okay.
I overheard Lady Violet
tell the ambassador
that she wants to get
rid of you and me.
What does Lady Violet
have against us?
Did she say?
Maybe it has something
to do with your support
of home rule?
How would she know about that?
Don't ask me, but she
also wants to start a war.
What, how?
That's impossible.
Stock market's crashing.
Stay away from Lady Violet.
Let Sherlock Holmes
deal with her.
I've gotta get back to work.
What is going on?
An epic crime.
The Bank of England
has been robbed,
and will probably fail.
We must go now.
I'll take you back to Baker
Street on the way to the Yard.
No, if this is
really an epic crime,
there's only one place
Sherlock Holmes will be.
(dramatic music)
So this conversation
you overheard
between Lady Violet
and the ambassador
is most revealing.
Now I know for certain why
the jewels are so important
and where they've gone.
[Amelia] Where?
To Chief Inspector Whitlock,
for whom they were always
intended as a bribe.
He took over the
search of them himself.
And before Lord
Withersea shot himself,
he must've told
Whitlock where the gems
were to be found.
But what part does the ambassador
play in the bank robbery,
and how does he
become a public hero?
No, I don't know,
but I can tell you who does.
Chief Inspector Whitlock.
I mean, he told you himself.
Every day the home
office sends me a list
of potential revolutionaries,
misfits, and former felons.
He must've hired some
of them as drivers
to steal the gold.
Whitlock brought a
reporter and a photographer
with him today inside the vault.
Well, maybe he didn't think
you'd figure out what happened.
Maybe he wanted to prove he's
smarter than Sherlock Holmes.
That's a mistake many
have made to their regret,
but consider this, the red
thread gave me the means
to lay bare the robbery so.
[Amelia] So?
So should I not also know
where the gold has gone?
Why would they want
you to find the gold?
Why would they want me to
know about the robbery at all?
Okay, this is, it's,
it's what you'd call
a theory of the crime.
So how do we prove it?
By locating the gold
without looking for it.
Make Whitlock tell us.
He's not only involved
with the robbery,
but he's also working
for Lady Violet.
Swann has a recording of
a telephone conversation.
[Lady Violet] I will
kill her myself.
Except I promised
the prime minister
nothing from the wiretap
would be used in evidence.
Well, Whitlock
doesn't know that.
Yes.
Yes, very good idea.
And I will follow up
on Whitlock's ignorance
of the prompt.
And not just yet, if I am right,
we should be able to deduce
the gold's whereabouts
based on the clues
we already have.
Remember I overheard Lord
Withersea in the stables
say that the coffins were
about to become more valuable.
And worth less than they
will be, a week or two hence.
But Withersea's needs
were more immediate.
And besides, you overheard
that conversation
without his knowledge.
If my theory is correct, all
clues left by the red thread
must be deliberate.
The telephone calls
between Whitlock and
the coffin factory.
[Holmes] No, Whitlock
called everyone.
No, it needs to be
something more specific.
(dramatic music)
Ugh.
What about this?
The coffin's screw from
the ambassador's carriage.
(Holmes laughs)
Why do you carry this with you?
I guess as a keepsake?
From the first day we
started working together.
Amelia, if I had known back
then when we first met,
if I understood.
If I had made a
better breakfast.
Oh, that wretched breakfast.
I shall never forget it.
(cloche clangs)
But to be fair, you
didn't taste it.
I chose life was the
sensible solution.
But you're quite right,
this, this screw is so specific
to Withersea's factory.
Yes.
Yes, yes.
That's why Wims and
Maggot were executed.
To cover their escape, they
set fire to the very place
the gold was to be hidden.
The thread must
have been furious.
[Amelia] You certainly were.
Do you think they
left the screw there
for you to find on purpose?
Yes.
Yes, someone brilliantly
anticipated by actions,
but they could never
have foreseen yours.
So, let us prove the
theory by finding the gold.
What if the coachmen are all
still there at the factory?
I mean, there are a lot of them.
Do we need the police?
No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
We can't afford to have Whitlock
warning them by telephone.
Wait, I have the
perfect solution, yes.
(dramatic music)
Swann, I have an idea where
we might find the stolen gold
and with not a second to lose.
But sir, I should
really report this.
Well, I could be wrong.
If it has happened, and
perhaps we should make sure
the gold is where we think it is
before informing your superiors
and having this case
snatched from your hands.
Yes, sir.
(dramatic music)
Where to?
Withersea coffin
factory, on the double.
Whoa.
(dramatic music)
[Holmes] Ah, this place
is more heavily guarded
than I'd hoped.
An observation I was on
the verge of making myself.
[Amelia] I bet
they'd chase someone
into the coffin factory.
I hope by chasing someone,
you don't mean you.
[Amelia] I'll get the
guards to follow me inside.
[Clarence] I can cut off
their exit from the roof.
Trust me, Mr. Holmes.
This will work.
Don't follow me until
they're all inside.
(dramatic music)
(Amelia sighs)
(dramatic music)
Hey, there's robbers
and murderers in here!
(worker grunts)
(dramatic music)
(worker grunts)
[Worker] Get back!
(dramatic music)
Easy!
(dramatic music)
Good day, gentlemen.
We ask that you
remain here quietly
until suitable
arrangements can be made.
What do you think
you're playing at?
You a copper?
No, I'm not, but
allow me to introduce.
Detective Swann
of Scotland Yard,
and I'm arresting you all
in the name of the Queen!
Not to worry, Mr. Holmes,
we've locked the
doors from up here.
The only place these
blokes are going is prison.
Thank you, Clarence.
You have done more than
I could have ever asked.
Game's up, gentlemen.
Now up against the wall.
Come on.
Well this is all well and good,
but do they have
my stolen jewels?
No, no, Bertie.
For now we shall have
to satisfy ourselves
with all this gold but
the gems will be back
in your hands soon enough.
I know where they are.
Now Shaw, if you and the
rest of the Irregulars
could please find
Inspector Bullivant
and tell him the happy news.
Then we need some
reinforcements.
Did we just save England
again, Mr. Holmes?
We did indeed.
I've never saved England before.
How does it feel?
Well, not bad, considering.
Much worse for dear
Mrs. Hudson than I.
How is she faring?
She's coming along.
Helps being tended
by her twin sister.
Oh, I have a small gift for you.
Your buttons, I believe.
(Watson laughs)
I'm glad to see that
I did not destroy
my waistcoat in vain.
At least you knew we were alive.
Now come, I am anxious
to hear the whole story.
Crime of the century.
Oh, hardly that.
Nonsense, you've
recovered the gold,
caught an entire factory filled
with thieves, rescued us.
About which I am most happy.
Never think otherwise.
But before Lord
Withersea kill himself,
he implied a crime
beyond my imagination,
and that is not happened.
There are so many orphaned
pieces to this puzzle.
Why steal plans for a
weapon in California?
Why demand keys of the
American ambassador?
No, the robbery
and the kidnappings
are not the whole story.
There's something worse.
What awful crime binds
these disparate members
of the red thread together?
Red thread, it'll
make a terrific title.
(Holmes sighs)
Dammit, I tire so easily.
The aftereffects of too
much opium, dear boy.
It'll soon wear off.
Who on earth is that?
Oh uh, Miss Rojas.
Allow me to present
Miss Amelia Rojas.
She is my,
my,
my, my, my, look at the time.
Enough of these questions.
The doctor is here to
measure your progress.
A little peace and
quiet will do you good.
Amelia.
(footsteps clack)
(Holmes sighs)
[Amelia] He's better.
You'll have your old
stalking partner back soon.
Not soon enough.
Clara's ball is two days hence
and by then all our
riddles must be answered.
I've solved a lot
of them already.
Oh, which ones?
Why you weren't murdered,
why we were meant
to find the gold,
and how the American ambassador
will become a national hero.
Well your deductive powers
have shown sensational progress.
How did you manage all that?
The evening paper.
You're mentioned too.
As the greatest
detective in the world.
Well Amelia, that is not news,
that is not news.
Fortunately, I am
immune to flattery,
though we should
always be grateful
whenever the press
elect to be precise.
Oh for goodness sake.
After hearing of the robbery,
the American ambassador
hurriedly put together
a consortium of investors.
The purchase of the
bank's plummeting shares
stopped the panic
and brought stability
to the chaotic markets.
In his speech to reporters
later, he explained.
When I heard the Bank
of England's governor
has engaged the brilliant
Sherlock Holmes,
I knew the gold would be found.
My broker, Sir Nigel Parks,
helped me to find others
who would intervene,
and together,
we were able to halt the
Bank of England's slide
toward bankruptcy by the
purchase of a majority
of its shares.
But nothing we did
would've mattered,
without the greatest
detective on earth
exercising his
miraculous abilities.
The real victory belongs
to Sherlock Holmes.
Yes, by bringing the press
with him into the vault,
Whitlock made sure the world
would know about the robbery
and launched a financial panic,
allowing the thread
to buy the bank
for pennies on the pound.
(newspaper thuds)
Just this afternoon,
Ambassador Anderson
made ten million
off an investment
of 50,000 pounds.
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
In the meantime, the coachmen
are carted off to jail
without knowing how or
why they were betrayed.
Guess we didn't solve
the crime of the century.
We will make it possible.
Therefore, the greatest
crime is yet to come.
(dramatic music)
This broker, Sir Nigel Parks,
is he not Dan
Moriarty's employer?
Did Dan also invest
in this scheme?
Where would he get the money?
By muscling in on his
father's organization,
about which he may have
known more than he let on.
(dramatic music)
Yes.
Let me see.
I have both my profession
as a mathematician
and my greater
enterprise to maintain.
Greater enterprise?
By which you mean the
exploitation of human weakness
through opium dens, gambling,
and houses of ill repute,
run by men for whom
loyalty is a vice
best remedied by greed?
And at Lady Violet's party
was the young Moriarty,
who lured me outside.
What do you mean Amelia
was denied entry?
That's unacceptable.
Excuse me.
Excuse me, Mr. Holmes.
-I just spoke to her.
Wait, Mr., wait.
[Amelia] Holmes!
And if I hadn't
been lured outside,
I would never have
seen the carriage,
nor known how the
gold went missing
on its journey from
the ship to the bank.
Were it not for
that wretched boy.
(dramatic music)
Of course, that's why the
other coach was waiting
for your sham abductors.
Kidnappers don't need
getaway vehicles.
They take their crime with them.
All of this makes perfect sense
if we change but one conclusion.
What's that?
I'm surprised to find
someone of your intellect
mistaking current circumstances
for future prospects.
Dan Moriarty
did not kill the
coachman to save you.
Perhaps time will reveal
just how much you
understated my abilities.
He did it to save me.
(dramatic music)
(dramatic music)
[Michael] Michael
Wiley, here to visit
with Professor James Moriarty.
(door clangs)
(dramatic music)
(door creaks)
Father.
Dear boy.
Dear boy.
Go, I will call
you if I need you.
I apologize for my
previous behavior.
It was necessary to deceive
that pompous fool Holmes.
I'm so relieved, dear boy.
But do not be dismissive.
My most persistent
adversary, pompous, oh yes,
but Holmes is no fool.
Not only did he
rescue his friends,
he foiled a perfect robbery
of the Bank of the England.
Now, I assure you, father,
in no way did Holmes
foil anything.
Almost his every move
in solving these crimes
was designed by me.
[James] What?
But surely you did not.
I robbed the Bank of England,
and it went even
better than hoped.
But Holmes recovered the gold
and the perpetrators
have been arrested.
Only because these actions
were vital to my success.
You see, by purchasing
the stock in the bank
when it seemed almost
certain to fail,
I gained a great fortune
when Holmes saved the day.
I wonder where a broker's clerk
found enough pounds to invest
during an unexpected
market panic.
From you, of course.
From me?
More specifically, those
elements of the Moriarty
criminal syndicate I acquired
through your less
loyal henchmen.
Accomplished by approving a
more equal split in profits
and long denied promotions.
But you never took
my businesses!
That was the red thread.
Do you still not understand?
I am the red thread.
Well, the most
important part of it.
And tonight, we achieve
a far greater ambition
than stupendous wealth.
There is no greater
ambition than wealth.
That is the locus around which
our entire empire revolves.
Before the sun rises tomorrow,
I will bring that
empire to its knees.
And I'll be well on my way
to setting its colonies free,
now and forever.
We have the financial means.
We have the weapon.
Now all we need
is the inciting incident.
You said yourself, you could
leave whenever you wanted.
A ship awaits you even now,
as does a villa in
Rivanna where you can.
Hold a moment.
There is much here to consider.
First, what do you mean,
bring the empire to its knees?
Surely you intend no
harm to her Majesty.
What, kill the queen
with so many princes
to take her place?
No.
I will settle for nothing less
than freeing the Crown's
colonies from British rule.
In order to achieve
that, I require war.
Against England?
Against all nations that
would subjugate free people.
I'm pressed for time.
We can explain this.
-Dan, Dan, Dan!
Are you planning to
sacrifice yourself
for some transient
political course?
It's hardly transient.
But do not worry,
I am no martyr.
Oh but you are.
To steal from me and
boast of it to my face
and then in recompense
for your impudence,
offer me a life as a fugitive!
Or were you planning to use
my escape as a distraction
to mislead the
authorities into thinking
that I was the author
of your inciting incident?!
Very good, Father, very good.
Yes, yes, that had
been what I'd hoped,
to achieve the evening's work
and have all eyes trained
on the disappearance
of Professor Moriarty,
the world's most
famous criminal maniac.
And as the search
became more frantic,
would I ever arrive
at this villa,
or would my body be a better
answer for your treason?
(dramatic music)
Dancliff!
[Dancliff] Yes, your
Professorship, sir.
Show this young,
unnatural man out
and see that he never returns.
Admit it, Father,
you're a little proud
of me, aren't you?
Moriartys do not
overthrow empires.
We corrupt them
to our advantage.
And I can feel little
pride in a criminal
who when given the chance,
fails to kill Sherlock Holmes.
You mean like you?
(dramatic music)
(footsteps thud)
(dramatic music)
(door clangs)
(dramatic music)
(dramatic music)
(dramatic music)