SHERLOCK HOLMES

Season One     NO.2

 

SOO LIN: The great artisans say the more the teapot is used the more

         beautiful it becomes. The pot is seasoned by repeatedly pouring tea

         over the surface. The deposit left on the clay creates this 

         beautiful patina over time. Some pots, the clay has been burnished

         by tea made over 400 years ago.

BROADCAST: This museum will be closing in 10 minutes.

ANDY: 400 years old, they're letting you use it to make yourself a brew.

SOO LIN: Some things aren't supposed to sit behind glass, they're made to be

         touched. To be handled. These pots need attention. The clay is

         cracking.

ANDY: I don't see how a tiny splash of tea is going to help.

SOO LIN: Sometimes you have to look hard at something to see its value.

         See? This one shines a little brighter.

ANDY: I don't suppose... Um, I mean... I don't suppose that you want to have

      a drink? Not tea, obviously. Um, in a pab, with me, tonight.

SOO LIN: You wouldn't like me at all that much.

ANDY: Can I decide that for myself?

SOO LIN: I can't. I'm sorry. Please stop asking.

 

 

SOO LIN: Is that security?

         Hello?

 

 

PIN MACHINE: Can the till supervisor please go to...?

           Unexpected item in bagging area, please try again.

           Item not scanned. Please try again.

JOHN: Can you maybe keep your voice down?

PIN MACHINE: Card not authorised.

JOHN: Yes, all right! I've got it.

PIN MACHINE: Please use an alternative method of payment. Card not

             authorised.

             Please use an alternative method of payment.

JOHN: Keep it. Keep that.

 

 

SHERLOCK: You took your time.

JOHN: Yeah, I didn't get the shopping.

SHERLOCK: What? Why not?

JOHN: Because I had a row in the shop with a chipan PIN machine.

SHERLOCK: You... You had a row with a machine?!

JOHN: Sort of. It sat there and I shouted abuse.

      Have you got cash?

SHERLOCK: Take my card.

JOHN: You could always go yourself, you know, you've been sitting there all

      morning, you've not even moved since I left.

      And what happened about that case you were offered—the Jaria diamond?

SHERLOCK: Not interested. I sent them a message.

 

 

JOHN: Don't worry about me, I can manage.

      Is that my computer?

SHERLOCK: Of course.

JOHN: What?

SHERLOCK: Mine was in the bedroom.

JOHN: What? And you couldn't be bothered to get up?

      It's password protected.

SHERLOCK: In a manner of speaking. Took me less than a minute to guess

          yours, not exactly Fort Knox.

JOHN: Right. Thank you.

      Need to get a job.

SHERLOCK: Oh, dull.

JOHN: Listen, um...if you'd be able to lend me some...

      Sherlock, are you listening?

SHERLOCK: I need to go to the bank.

 

 

JOHN: Yes, when you said we were going to the bank...

 

SHERLOCK: Sherlock Holmes.

SEBASTIAN: Sherlock Holmes.

SHERLOCK: Sebastian.

SEBASTIAN: Hiya, buddy. How long - eight years since I last clapped eyes on

           you?

SHERLOCK: This is my friend, John Watson.

SEBASTIAN: Friend?

JOHN: Colleague.

SEBASTIAN: Right.

           Grab a pew.

           Do you need anything, coffee, water?

JOHN: No. We're all sorted here, thanks.

SHERLOCK: So you're doing well. You've been abroad a lot.

SEBASTIAN: Well, so?

SHERLOCK: Flying all the way around the world twice in a month.

SEBASTIAN: Right. You're doing that thing.

           We were at uni together, and this guy here had a trick he used to

           do.

SHERLOCK: It's not a trick.

SEBASTIAN: He could look at you and tell you your whole life story.

JOHN: Yes, I've seen him do it.

SEBASTIAN: Put the wind up everybody, we hated him. We'd come down to

           breakfast in the formal hall and this fread would know you'd been

           shagging the previous night.

SHERLOCK: I simply observed.

SEBASIAN: Go on, enlighten me.

          Two trips a month, flying all the way around the world, you're

          quite right.

          How could you tell?

          Are you going to tell me there's a stain on my tie from some

          special kind of ketchup you can only buy in Manhattan?

SHERLOCK: No, I...

SEBASTIAN: Is it the mud on my shoes?

SHERLOCK: I was just chatting with your secretary outside. She told me.

SEBASTIAN: I'm glad you could make it over, we've had a break-in.

 

SEBASTIAN: Sir William's office - the bank's former chairman. The room's

           been left here like a sort of memorial. Someone broken in late

           last night.

JOHN: What did they steal?

SEBASTIAN: Nothing. Just left a little message.

           60 seconds apart.

           So, someone camp up here in the middle of the night, splashed

           paint around and left within a minute.

SHERLOCK: How many ways into that office?

SEBASTIAN: Well, that's where this gets really interesting.

           Every door that opens in this bank, it gets locked right here.

           Every walk-in cupboard, every toilet.

SHERLOCK: That door didn't open last night?

SEBASTIAN: There's a hole in our security. Find it and we'll pay you - five

           figures. This is an advance. Tell me how he got in. There's a

           bigger one on its way.

SHERLOCK: I don't need an incentive, Sebastian.

JOHN: He's, er...he's kidding you, obviously. Shall I look after that for

      him?

 

JOHN: Two trips around the world this month. You didn't ask his secretary, 

      you said that just to irritate him.

      How did you know?

SHERLOCK: Did you see his watch?

JOHN: His watch?

SHERLOCK: The time was right, but the date was wrong. Said two days ago.

          Crossed the date line twice and he didn't alter it.

JOHN: Within a month? How did you get that?

SHERLOCK: New Breitling. Only came out this February.

JOHN: OK. So do you think we should sniff around here for a bit longer?

SHERLOCK: Got everything I need to know already, thanks.

          That graffiti was a message. Someone at the bank, working on the

          trading floors. We find the intended recipient and...

JOHN: They'll lead us to the person who sent it?

SHERLOCK: Obvious.

JOHN: Well, there's 300 people up there, who was it meant for?

SHERLOCK: Pillars.

JOHN: What?

SHERLOCK: Pillars and the screens. Very few places you could see that

          graffiti from. That narrows the field considerably. And, of

          course, the message was left at 11:34 last night. That tells us a

          lot.

JOHN: Does it?

SHERLOCK: Traders come to work at all hours. Some trade with Hong Kong in

          middle of the night. That message was intended fot somebody who

          came in at midnight. Not many Van Coons in the phone book.

          Taxi!

 

 

VAN COON

JOHN: So what do we do now? Sit here and wait for him to come back?

SHERLOCK: Just moved in.

JOHN: What?

SHERLOCK: Floor above, new label.

JOHN: Could have just replaced it.

SHERLOCK: No-one ever does that.

WINTLE: Hello?

SHERLOCK: Hi, um, I live in the flat just below you. I don't think we've

          met.

WINTLE: No, well, er, I've just moved in.

SHERLOCK: Actually, I've just locked my keys in my flat.

WINTLE: Do you want me to buzz you in?

SHERLOCK: Yeah. And can we use your balcony?

WINTLE: What?

 

JOHN: Sherlock? Sherlock, are you OK?

      Yeah, any time you feel like letting me in!

 

JOHN: Do you think he'd lost a lot of money? Suicide is pretty common among

      city boys.

SHERLOCK: We don't know that it was suicide.

JOHN: Come on. The door was locked from the inside, you had to climb down

      the balcony.

SHERLOCK: Been away three days judging by the laundry. Look at the case,

          there was something tightly packed inside it.

JOHN: Thanks. I'll take your word for it.

SHERLOCK: Problem?

JOHN: Yeah, I'm not desperate to root around some bloke's dirty underwear.

SHERLOCK: Those sumbols at the bank, the graffiti, why were they put there?

JOHN: Some sort of code?

SHERLOCK: Obviously.

          Why were they painted? Want to communicate, why not use e-mail?

JOHN: Well, maybe he wasn't answering.

SHERLOCK: Oh, good, you follow.

JOHN: No.

SHERLOCK: What kind of a message would everyone try to avoid?

JOHN: What about this morning?

SHERLOCK: Those letters you were looking at?

JOHN: Bills?

SHERLOCK: Yes. He was being threatened.

JOHN: Not by the Gas Board.

DIMMOCK: ...see if we can get prints off the glass.

SHERLOCK: Sergant, we haven't met.

DIMMOCK: Yeah, I know who you are and I would prefer it if you didn't tamper

         with any of the evidence.

SHERLOCK: I phoned Lestrade. Is he on his way?

DIMMOCK: He's busy. I'm in charge. And it's not Sergant, it's Detective

         Inspector Dimmock.

         We're obviously looking at a suicide. It does seem the only

         explanation of all the facts.

SHERLOCK: Wrong, it's one possible explanation of some of the facts. You've

          got a solution that you like, but you are choosing to ignore

          anything you see that doesn't comply with it.

DIMMOCK: Like?

SHERLOCK: Wound's on the right side of his head.

DIMMOCK: And?

SHERLOCK: Van Coon was left-handed. Requires quite a bit of contortion.

DIMMOCK: Left-handed?

SHERLOCK: I'm amazed you didn't notice. All you have to do is look around

          this flat. Coffee table on the left-hand side, coffee mug handle

          pointing to the left. Power sockets, habitually used the ones on

          the left. Pen and paper on the left of the phone. Because he

          picked up with his right, took message with his left.

          Do you want me to go on? 

JOHN: No, I think you've covered it.

SHERLOCK: I might as well, I'm almost at the bottom of the list.

          There's a knife on the breadboard with butter on the right side  

          of the blade because he used it with his left.

          It's highly unlikely that a left-handed man would shot himself in

          the right of his head. Conclusion, someone broke in here and

          murdered him - only explanation of all of the facts.

DIMMOCK: But the gun?

SHERLOCK: He was waiting for the killer. He'd been threantened.

DIMMOCK: What?

JOHN: Today at the bank, sort of a warning.

SHERLOCK: He fired a shot when his attracker came in.

DIMMOCK: And the bullet?

SHERLOCK: Went through the open window.

DIMMOCK: Oh, come on! What are the chances of that?!

SHERLOCK: Wait until you get the ballistics report. The bullet in his brain

          wasn't fired from his gun, I guarantee it.

DIMMOCK: If his door was locked from the inside, how did the killer get in?

SHERLOCK: Good, you're finally asking the right questions.

 

 

SEBASTIAN: He's left trying to sort of cut his hair with a fork, which of

           course can never be done.

SHERLOCK: It was a theat, that's what the graffiti meant.

SEBASTIAN: I'm kind of in a meeting. Can you make an appointment with my

           secretary?

SHERLOCK: I don't think this can wait. Sorry, Sebastian. One of your

          traders, someone who worked in your office, was killed.

SEBASTIAN: What?

JOHN: Van Coon. The police are at his flat.

SEBASTIAN: Killed?

SHERLOCK: Sorry to interfere with everyone's digestion.

          Still want to make an appointment? Would maybe nine o'clock at

          Scotland Yard suit?

 

SEBASTIAN: Harrow, Oxford...very bright guy. Would in Asia for a while,

           so...

JOHN: You gave him the Hong Kong accounts?

SEBASTIAN: Lost 5 millon in a single morning, made it all back a week later.

           Never of steel, Eddie had.

JOHN: Who'd want to kill him?

SEBASTIAN: We all make enemies.

JOHN: You don't all end up with a bullet through your temple.

SEBASTIAN: Not usually.

           Excuse me.

           It's my chairman. Police have been on to him. Apparently they're

           telling him it was a suicide.

SHERLOCK: Well, they've got it wrong, Sebastian. He was murdered.

SEBASTIAN: Well, I'm afraid they don't see it like that.

SHERLOCK: So?

SEBASTIAN: And neither does my boss.

           I hired you to do a job. Don't get sideiracked.

JOHN: I thought bankers were all supposed to be heartless bastards.

 

 

WOMAN: I need you to get over to Crispians. Two Ming vases up for auction-

       Chenghua. Will you appraise them?

ANDY: Soo Lin should go. She's the expert.

WOMAN: Soo Lin resigned her job. I need you.

 

 

SARAH: Just Locum work.

JOHN: No, that's fine.

SARAH: You're, um...well, you're a bit over-qualified.

JOHN: Er, I could always do with the money.

SARAH: Well, we've got two away on holiday this week and one's just left to

       have a baby. It might be a bit mundane for you.

JOHN: Er, no, nundane is good, sometimes. Mundane works.

SARAH: It says here you were a soldier.

JOHN: And a doctor.

SARAH: Anything else you can do?

JOHN: I learned the clarinet at school.

SARAH: Oh...well, I'll look forward to it.

 

 

SHERLOCK: I said, could you pass me a pen?

JOHN: What? When?

SHERLOCK: About an hour ago.

JOHN: Didn't notice I'd gone out then?

      I went to see about a job at that surgery.

SHERLOCK: How was it?

JOHN: Great. She's great.

SHERLOCK: Who?

JOHN: The job.

SHERLOCK: She?!

JOHN: It.

SHERLOCK: Yeah, have a look.

JOHN: "The intruder who can walk through walls."

SHERLOCK: It happened last night. Journalist shot dead in his flat. Doors

          loced, windows bolted from the inside. Exactly the same as Van  

          Coon.

JOHN: God! You think... ?

SHERLOCK: He's killed another one.

 

 

NEW SCOTLAND YARD

SHERLOCK: Brian Lukis, freelance journalist, murdered in his flat. Doors

          locked from the inside.

JOHN: You've got to admit, it's similar. Both men killed by someone who can

      walk through solid walls.

SHERLOCK: Inspector, do you seriously believe that Eddie Van Coon was just

          another city suicide?

          You have seen the ballistics report, I suppose?

          And the shot that killed him was it fired from his own gun?

DIMMOCK: No.

SHERLOCK: No. So this investigation might move a bit quicker if you were to

          take my word as gospel.

          I've just handed you a murder inquiry.

          Five minutes in his flat.

 

 

SHERLOCK: Four floors up. That's why they think they're safe. Put a chain

          across the door, bolt it shut, think they'reimpregnable. They

          don't reckon for one second that there's another way in.

DIMMOCK: I don't understand.

SHERLOCK: Dealing with a killer who can climb.

DIMMOCK: What are you doing?

SHERLOCK: Clings to the walls an insect. That's how he got in.

DIMMOCK: What?!

SHERLOCK: He climbed up the side of the walls, ran along the roof, dropped

          in through this skylight.

DIMMOCK: You're not serious? Like Spider-Man?

SHERLOCK: He scaled six floors of a Docklands apartment building, jumped the

          balcony and killed Van Coon.

DIMMOCK: Oh, hold on!

SHERLOCK: And of course that's how he got into the bank - He ran away the

          window ledge onto the terrace.

          I have to find out what connects these two men.

 

 

WEST KENSINGTON LIBRARY

SHERLOCK: Date stamped on the book is the same day that he died.

JOHN: Sherlock?

 

SHERLOCK: So, the killer goes to the bank, leaves a threatening cipher for

          Van Coon. Van Coon panics, returns to his apartment, locks himself

          in. Hours later, he dies.

JOHN: The killer finds Lukis at the library, he writes the cipher on the

      shelf where he knows it'll be seen. Lukis goes home.

SHERLOCK: Late that night, he dies too.

JOHN: Why did they die, Sherlock?

SHERLOCK: Only the cipher can tell us.

 

SHERLOCK: The world's run on codes and ciphers, John. From the million-pound

          security system at the bank to the PIN machine you took exception

          to. Cryptography inhabits our every waking moment.

JOHN: Yes, OK, but...

SHERLOCK: But it's all computer generated electronic codes, electronic

          ciphering methods.

          This is different. It's an ancint device. Modern code-breaking

          methods won't unravel it.

JOHN: Where are we headed?

SHERLOCK: I need to ask some advice.

JOHN: What?! Sorry?

SHERLOCK: You heard me perfectly. I'm not saying it again.

JOHN: You need advice?

SHERLOCK: On painting. Yes, I need to talk to an expert.

 

RAZ: Part of a new exhibition.

SHERLOCK: Interesting.

RAZ: I call it...Urban Bloodlust Frenzy.

JOHN: Catchy!

RAZ: I've got two minutes before a Community Support officer comes around

     that corner.

     Can we do this while I'm working?

SHERLOCK: Know the author?

RAZ: I recognise the paint. It's like Michigan...hard-core propellant. I'd

     say zinc.

SHERLOCK: And what about the symbols? Do you recognise them?

RAZ: I'm not even sure it's a proper language.

SHERLOCK: Two men have been murdered, Raz. Deciphering this is the key to

          finding out who killed them.

RAZ: And this is all you've got to go on? It's hardly much, is it?

SHERLOCK: Are you going to help us or not?

RAZ: I'll ask around.

SHERLOCK: Somebody must know something about it.

POLICEMAN: What the hell do you think you're doing? This gallery is a listed

           public building.

JOHN: No, no. Wait, wait. It's not me who painted that. I was just holding

      this for...

POLICEMAN: Bit of an enthuseast, are we?

 

 

ANDY: She was right in the middle of an important piece of restoration. Why

      would she suddenly resign?

WOMAN: Family problemms. She said so in her letter.

ANDY: But she doesn't have a family. She came to this country on her own.

WOMAN: Andy!

ANDY: Look, those teapots, those ceramics. They've become her obsession.

      She's been working on restoring them for weeks. I can't believe that

      she would just...abandon them.

WOMAN: Perhaps she was getting a bit of unwanted attention?

 

 

SHERLOCK: You've been a while.

JOHN: Yeah, well, you know how it is. Custody sergeants don't really like to

      be hurried, do they? Just formalities. Fingerprints, charge sheet, and

      I've got to be in Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.

SHERLOCK: What?

JOHN: Me, Sherlock! In court, on Tuesday!

      They're giving me an ASBO!

SHERLOCK: Good, fine.

JOHN: You want to tell your little pal, he's welcome to go and own up any

      time.

SHERLOCK: This symbol, I still can't place it.

          No, I need you to go to the police station and ask about the

          journalist. The personal effects will have been impounded. Get

          hold of his diary, or something that will tell us his movements.

          Go and see Van Coon's PA. If you retrace their steps, somewhere

          they'll coinide.

 

JOHN: Scotland Yard.

 

 

AMANDA: Flew back from Dalian Friday. Looks like he had bakc-to-back

        meetings with the sales team.

SHERLOCK: Can you print me up a copy?

AMANDA: Sure.

SHERLOCK: What about the day he died? Can you tell me where he was?

AMANDA: Sorry, I've got a gap.

        I have all his receipts.

 

 

DIMMOCK: Your friend...

JOHN: Listen, whatever you say, I'm bhind you 100 per cent.

DIMMOCK: ...he's an arrogant sod.

JOHN: Well, that was mild. People say a lot worse than that.

DIMMOCK: This is what you wanted, isn't it? The journalist's diary?

 

 

SHERLOCK: What kind of a boss was he, Amanda? Appreciative?

AMANDA: Um, no. That's not a word I'd use. The only thingsEddie appreciated

        had a big prace tag.

SHERLOCK: Like that hand cream. He bought that for you, didn't he?

          Look at this one. Got a taxi from him on the day he died, £18.50.

AMANDA: That would get him to the office.

SHERLOCK: Not rush hour. Check the time. Mid-mornng. 18 would get him as far

          as...

AMANDA: ...The West End. I remember him saying.

SHERLOCK: Underground, printed at one in Piccadilly.

AMANDA: So he got a Tube back to the office.

        Why would he get a taxi into town, and then the Tube back?

SHERLCK:Because he was delivering something heavy. You wouldn't lug a

        package up the escalator.

AMANDA: Delivering?

SHERLOCK: To somewhere near Piccadilly Station. Dropped the package,

          delivered it, and then... Stopped on his way. He got peckish.

 

 

SHERLOCK: So you bought your lunch from here en route to the station but

          where you headed from? Where did the taxi drop you?

JOHN: Oof!

SHERLOCK: Right.

          Eddie Van Coon brought a package here the day he died. Whatever

          was hidden inside that case...I've managed to piece together a

          picture using scraps of information-credit card bills, receipts.

          He flew back from China, then he came here.

JOHN: Sherlock.

SHERLOCK: Somewhere in this street, somewhere near. I don't know where,

          but...

JOHN: That shop, over there.

SHERLOK: How could you tell?

JOHN: Lukis' diary. He was here too. He wrote down the address.

 

 

SHERLOCK: Hello.

SHOPKEEPER: You want...lucky cat?

JOHN: No, thanks, no.

SHOPKEEPER: £10! 10 pound! I think your wife, she will like.

JOHN: Um, thank you.

      Sherlock... The label there.

SHERLOCK: Yes, I see it.

JOHN: It's exactly the same as the cipher.

 

SHERLOCK: It's an ancient number system. Hang Zhou. These days only street

          traders use it. Those were numbers written on the wall at the bank

          and at the libary. Numbers written in an ancient Chinese dialect.

JOHN: It's a 15. What we thought was the artist's tag, it's a number 15.

SHERLOCK: And the blindfold, the horizontal line. That was a number as well.

          The Chinese number one, John.

JOHN: We found it.

 

JOHN: Two men travel back from China, both head straight for the Lucky Cat

      emporium.

      What did they see?

SHERLOCK: It's not what they saw. It's what they both brought back in those

          suitcases.

JOHN: And you don't mean duty free.

      Thank you.

SHERLOCK: Think about what Sebastian told us. About Van Coon, about how he

          stayed afloat in the market.

JOHN: Lost 5 million.

SHERLOCK: Made it back in a week.

          That's how he made such easy money.

JOHN: He was a smuggler. Mm.

SHERLOCK: Cover would have been perfect. Businessman, making frequent trips

          to Asia. Lukis was the same, a journalist writing about China.

          Both of them smuggled stuff about. The Lucky Cat was their drop-

          off.

JOHN: But why did they die? It doesn't make sense. If they both turn up at

      the shop and deliver the goods, why would someone threaten them and

      kill them after the event, after they'd finished the job?

SHERLOCK: What if one of themn was light-fingered?

JOHN: How do you mean?

SHERLOAK: Stole something. Something from the hoard.

JOHN: The killer doesn't know which of them took it so threatens them both.

      Right.

SHERLOCK: Remind me. When was the last time that it rained?

 

SHERLOCK: It's been here since Monday.

          No-one been in that flat for at least three days.

JOHN: Could have gone on holiday. 

SHERLOCK: Do you leave your windows open when you go on holiday?

JOHN: Sherlock!

 

SHERLOCK: Someone else has been here. Somebody else broke into the flat and

          knocked over the vase, just like I did.

JOHN: Do you think maybe you could let me in this time?

      Can you not keep doing this, please?

SHERLOCK: I'm not the first.

JOHN: What?

SHERLOCK: Somebody's been in here before me.

JOHN: What are you saying?

SHERLOCK: Size eight feet. Small, but...athletic.

JOHN: I'm waiting my breath.

SHERLOCK: Small, strong hands. Our acrobat. Why didn't he close the window

          when he lef...? Oh, stupid, stupid! Obvious. He's still here.

JOHN: Any time you want to include me...

SHERLOCK: John... John!

JOHN: Oh, I'm Sherlock Holmes and I always work alone because no-one else

      can compete with my massive intellect!

SHERLOCK: The milk's gone off and the washing's started to smell. Somebody

          left here in a hurry three days ago.

JOHN: Somebody?

SHERLOCK: Soo Lin Yao. We have to find her.

JOHN: How, exactly?

SHERLOCK: We could start with this.

JOHN: You've gone all croaky. Are you getting a cold?

SHERLOCK: I'm fine.

 

 

SHERLOCK: When was the last time that you saw her?

ANDY: Three days ago. Here at th museum. This morning they told me she'd

      resigned. Just like that. Left her work unfinished.

SHERLOCK: What was the last thing that she did on her final afternoon?

ANDY: She does this demonstration for the tourists, a tea ceremony. So she

      would have packed up her things and just put them in here.

 

SHERLOCK: We have to get to Soo Lin Yao.

JOHN: If she's still alive.

RAZ: Sherlock!

JOHN: Oh, look who it is.

RAZ: Found something you'll like.

 

JOHN: Tuesday morning, all you've got to do is turn up and say the bag was

      yours.

SHERLOCK: Forget about your court date.

 

 

BOYS: Dude, that was rad!

SHERLOCK: You want to hide a tree, then a forest is the best place to do it,

          wouldn't you say? People would just walk straight past, not

          knowing, unable to decipher the message.

RAZ: There. I spotted it earlier.

SHERLOCK: They've been here. And that's the exact same paint?

RAZ: Yeah.

SHERLOCK: John. if we're going to decipher this code, we need to look for

          more evidence.

 

JOHN: Answer your phone. I've been calling you. I found it.

 

JOHN: It's been painted over. I don't understand. It was...here.

      10 minutes ago. I saw it. A whole load of graffiti.

SHERLOCK: Somebody doesn't want me to see it.

JOHN: Sherlock, what are you doing...?

SHERLOCK: Ssh! John, concentrate. I need you to concentrate. Close your

          eyes.

JOHN: What? Why? Why? What are you doing?

SHERLOCK: I need you to maximise your visual memory. Try to picture what you

          saw. Can you picture it?

JOHN: Yeah.

SHERLOCK: Can you remember it?

JOHN: Yes, definitely.

SHERLOCK: Can you remember the pattern?

JOHN: Yes.

SHERLOCK: How much can you remember it?

JOHN: Look,don't worry.

SHERLOCK: Because the average human memory on visual matters is only 62%

          accurate.

JOHN: Well, don't worry, I remember all of it.

SHERLOCK: Really?

JOHN: At least I would, if I could get to my pockets. I took a photograph.

 

 

SHERLOCK: Always in pairs, John, look.

          Numbers...come with partners.

JOHN: Good, I need to sleep.

SHERLOCK: Why did he paint it so near the tracks?

JOHN: No idea.

SHERLOCK: Thousands of people pass by there every day.

JOHN: Just 20 minutes...

SHERLOCK: Of course. Of course, he wants information. He's trying to

          communicate with his people in the underworld. Whatever was

          stolen, he wants it back. It's somewhere here, in a code.

          We can't crack this without Soo Lin Yao.

JOHN: Oh, good.

 

 

SHERLOCK: Two men who travelled back from China were murdered. And their

          killer left them messages in Hang Zhou numerals.

JOHN: Soo Lin Yao is in danger. That cipher, it was just the same pattern as

      the others. He mans to kill her as well.

ANDY: Look, I've tried everywhere - friends, colleagues. I don't know where

      she's gone. I mean, she could be a thousand miles away.

      What are you looking at?

SHERLOCK: Tell me more about those teapots.

ANDY: The pots were her obsession. They need urgent work. If they dry out,

      then the clay can start to crumble. Apparently, you have to just keep

      making tea in them.

SHERLOCK: Yesterday, only one of those pots was shining. Now, there are two.

 

SHERLOCK: Fancy a biscuit with that?

          Centuries old. Don't want to break that.

          Hello.

SOO LIN: You saw the cipher. Then you know he is coming for me.

SHERLOCK: You've been clever to avoid him so far.

SOO LIN: I had to finish. To finish this work. It's only a matter of time. I

         know he will find me.

SHERLOCK: Who is he? Have you met him before?

SOO LIN: When I was a girl, we met in China. I recognised his...signature.

SHERLOCK: The cipher?

SOO LIN: Only he would do this. Zhi Zhu.

JOHN: Zhi Zhu?

SHERLOCK: The spider.

SOO LIN: You know this mark?

SHERLOCK: Yes. It's the mark of a Tong.

JOHN: Huh?

SHERLOCK: Ancient crime syndicate, based in China.

SOO LIN: Every foot soldier bears the mark. Everyone who hauls for them.

JOHN: Hauls?

      You mean you were a smuggler?

SOO LIN: I was 15. My parents were dead. I had no livehood. No way of

         surviving, day-to-day, except to work for the bosses.

SHERLOCK: Who are they?

SOO LIN: They are called the Black Lotus.

         By the time I was 16, I was taking thousands of pounds worth of

         drugs across the border into Hong Kong. I managed to leave that

         life behind me. I came to England. They gave me a job, here.

         Everything was good. New life.

SHERLOCK: And he came looking for you.

SOO LIN: Yes. I hoped, after five years...maybe they would have forgotten

         me. But they never really let you leave. A small community like

         ours...they are never very far away.

         He came to my flat. He asked me to help him to track down something

         that was stolen.

JOHN: And you've no idea what it was?

SOO LIN: I refused to help.

JOHN: So, you knew him well when you were living back in China?

SOO LIN: Oh, yes. He's my brother.

         Two orphans. We had no choice. We could work for the Black Lotus,

         or starve on the streets, like beggers. My brother has become their

         puppet. In the power of the one they call Shan. The Black Lotus

         general. I turned my brother away. He said I had betrayed him. Next

         day, I came to work and the cipher was waiting.

SHERLOCK: Can you decipher these?

SOO LIN: These are numbers.

SHERLOCK: Yes, I know.

SOO LIN: Here, the line across the man's eyes, it's the Chinese number one.

SHERLOCK: And this one is 15. But what's the code?

SOO LIN: All the smugglers know it. It's based upon a book...

 

SOO LIN: He's here. Zhi Zhu has found me.

JOHN: No, no, Sherlcok.

      Sherlock, wait!

      Come here. Get in. Get in!

 

JOHN: I have to go and help him. Bolt the door after me.

 

SHERLOCK: Careful! Some of those skulls are over 200,000 years old. Have a

          bit of respect.

          Thank you.

 

SOO LIN: Liang. 大哥，是你。

 

JOHN: Oh, my God.

 

 

JOHN: How many murders is it going to take before you start believing that

      this maniac's out there?

      A young girl was gunned down tonight. That's three victims in three

      day. You're supposed to be finding him.

SHERLOCK: Brian Lukis and Eddie Van Coon were working for a gang of

          international smugglers. A gang called the Black Lotus, opening

          here in London right under your nose.

DIMMOCK: Can you prove that?

 

 

SHERLOCK: What are you thinking? Pork or pasta?

MOLLY: Oh, it's you.

SHERLOCK: I suppose it's never going to trouble Egon Ronay, is it?

          I'd stick with the pasta. Don't want to be doing roast pork, not

          if you're slicing up cadavers.

MOLLY: What are you having?

SHERLOCK: I don't eat when I'm working. Digesting slows me down.

MOLLY: So you're working here tonight?

SHERLOCK: Need to examine some bodies.

MOLLY: Some?

SHERLOCK: Eddie Van Coon and Brian Lukis.

MOLLY: They're on my list.

SHERLOCK: Could you wheel them out again for me?

MOLLY: Well...their paperwork's already gone through.

SHERLOCK: You changed your hair.

MOLLY: What?

SHERLOCK: The style. It's usually parted in the middle.

MOLLY: Yes, well...

SHERLOCK: It's good. It...suits you better this way.

 

SHERLOCK: We've just interested in the feet.

MOLLY: The feet?

SHERLOCK: Yes.

          Do you mind if we havea look at them?

          Now, Van Coon.

DIMMOCK: Oh! So...

SHERLOCK: So either these two men just happened to visit the same Chinese

          tattoo parlour. Or I'm telling the truth.

DIMMOCK:What do you want?

SHRLOCK: I want every book from Lukis' aoartment and Van Coon's.

DIMMOCK: Their books?

 

 

SHERLOCK: Not just a criminal organisation. It's a cult. Her brother was

          corrupted by one of its leaders.

JOHN: Soo Lin said the name.

SHERLOCK: Yes, Shan. General Shan.

JOHN: We're still no closer to finding him.

SHERLOCK: Wrong! We've got almost all we need to know. She gave us most of

          the missing pieces.

          Why did he need to visit his sister? Why did he need her

          expertise?

JOHN: She worked at the museum.

SHERLOCK: Exactly.

          An expert in antiquities.

JOHN: Of course, I see.

SHERLOCK: Valuable antiquities, John. Ancient Chinese relics purchased on

          the black market. China's home to a thousand treasures hidden

          after Mao's revolution.

JOHN: The Black Lotus is selling them.

 

SHERLOCK: Check for the dates...

          Here, John,"arrived from China four days ago". Ananymous. The

          rendor doesn't give his name."Two undiscovered treasures from the

          East".

JOHN: One in Lukis' suitcase, and one in Van Coon's.

SHERLOCK: "Antiquities...sold at auction."

          Look, here's another one. Arrived from China a month ago, Chinese

          ceramic statue sold for 400,000 pounds.

JOHN: Look, a month before that, Chinese painting, 500,000 pounds.

SHERLOCK: All of them from an anonymous source.

          They're stealing them back in China...and one by one feeding them

          into Britain.

JOHN: Every single auction coincides with Lukis or Van Coon travelling to

      China.

SHERLOCK: So what if one of them got greedy when they were in China? What if

          one of them stole something?

JOHN: That's why Zhi Zhu's come.

MRS HUDSON: Sorry, are we collecting for charity, Sherlock?

SHERLOCK: What?

MRS HUDSON: A young man's outside with crates of books.

 

SHERLOCK: So the numbers are references.

JOHN: To books.

SHERLOCK: To specific pages and specfic words on those pages.

JOHN: Right, so...15 and 1, that means?

SHERLOCK: Turn to page 15 and it's the first word you read.

JOHN: OK, so what's the message?

SHERLOCK: Depends on the book. That's the cunning of the book code. It has

          to be one that they both own.

JOHN: OK, fine. This shouldn't take too long, should it?

DIMMOCK: We found these at the museum. Is this your writing?

JOHN: Er, we hoped Soo Lin could decipher it for us.

DIMMOCK: Anything else I can do? To assist you, I mean.

SHERLOCK: Keep silence right now would be marvellows.

 

SHERLOCK: Cigarette. Imagine.

 

 

DOCTOR: I'm sorry to keep you waiting, but we haven't got anything now until

        next Thursday.

PATIENT 1: This is taking ages.

DOCTOR: Sorry.

PATIENT 2: What's the point of booking an appointment if they can't stick to

           it?

SARAH: Um, what's going on?

DOCTOR: That new doctor you hired, he didn't buzzed the intercome for ages.

SARAH: Let me go and have a word.

       Eccuse me. Sorry.

       John?

 

JOHN: Looks like I'm done. I thought I had some more to see.

SARAH: Oh, I did one or two of yours.

JOHN: One or two?

SARAH: Well, maybe five or six.

JOHN: I'm sorry, that's not very professional.

SARAH: No, not really.

JOHN: I had...a bit of a late one.

SARAH: Oh, right.

JOHN: Anyway, see you.

SARAH: So...what were you doing to keep you up so late?

JOHN: I was attending a sort of book event.

SARAH: Oh. Oh, she likes books, does she, your girlfriend?

JOHN: No, it wasn't a date.

SARAH: Good. I mean, I'm...

JOHN: And I don't have one tonight.

 

 

SHERLOCK: A book that everybody would own.

          15, entry 1."Add, nostrils, I..."

          I need to get some air. We're going out tonight.

JOHN: Actually, I've got a date.

SHERLOCK: What?

JOHN: Where two people who like each other go out and have fun?

SHERLOCK: That's what I was suggesting.

JOHN: No, it wasn't.

Sherlcok: At least, I hope not.

          Where are you taking her?

JOHN: Er, cinema.

SHERLOCK: Dull, boring, predictable...

          Why don't you try this? In London for one night only.

JOHN: Thanks, but I con't come to you for dating advice.

 

 

SARAH: It's years since anyone took me to the circus.

JOHN: Right, yes. A friend recommended it to me and I phoned up.

SARAH: Oh! What are they, a touring company or something?

JOHN: I don't know much about it.

SARAH: I think they're probably from China.

JOHN: I think so, yes. There's  coincidence!

 

CUSTOMER: That's wonderful. Thank you very much!

JOHN: Hi, I have two tickets reserved for tonight.

CONDUCTOR: And what's the name?

JOHN: Holmes.

CONDUCTOR: Acrually, I have three in that name.

JOHN: No, I don't think so, we only booked two.

SHERLOCK: Then I phoned back and got one for myself as well.

          I'm Sherlock.

SARAH: Hi.

SHERLOCK: Hello.

 

JOHN: You couldn't let me have just one night off.

SHERLOCK: Yellow Dragon Circus, in London for one day. It fits. The Tong

          sent an assassin to England...

JOHN: Dressed as a tightrope walker. Come on, Sherlock, behave!

SHERLOCK: We're looking for a killer who can climb, who can shin up a rope.

          Where else would you find that level of dexterity? Exit visas are

          acarce in China. They need a good reason to get out of that

          country. All I need to do is have a quick look around...

JOHN: Fine. You do that, I'll take Sarah for a pint.

SHERLOCK: I need your help.

JOHN: I do have a couple of other things on my mind this evening.

SHERLOCK: Like what?

JOHN: You are kidding?

SHERLOCK: What's so important?

JOHN: Sherlock, I'm in the middle of a date. You're going to chase some

      killer while I'm trying to...

SHERLOCK: What?

JOHN: While I'm trying to get off with Sarah.

      Hey... Ready?

SARAH: Yeah.

 

JOHN: You said circus. This is not a circus. Look at the size of this crowd.

      Sherlock, this is...art.

SHERLOCK: This is not thieir day job.

JOHN: Sorry, I forgot, they're not a circus, they're a gang of international

      smugglers.

 

SHERLCK: Classic Chinese escapology act. The ctossbow's on a dilicate

         string. The warrior has to escape his bonds before it fires. She

         splits the sandbag, the sand pours out. Gradually, the weight

         lowers into the bowl.

SARAH: Thank God.

JOHN: My God!

 

SHAN: Ladies and gentlemen. From the distant moonlit shores of the Yangtze

      River, we present for your pleasure, the deadly Chinese bird spider.

 

JOHN: Did you see that?

 

SHERLOCK: Well, well.

          Found you.

          Come on. Come on. Let's go!

 

 

DIMMOCK: I sent a couple of cars. The old hall is totally deserted.

SHERLOCK: Look, I saw the mark at the circus. The tatto that we saw, on the

          two bodies, the mark of the Tong.

JOHN: Lukis and Van Coon were part of  smuggling operation. One of them

      stole something in China. Something vluable.

SHERLOCK: The circus performers were gang members sent here to get it back.

DIMMOCK: Get what back?

JOHN: We don't know.

DIMMOCK: You don't know?

         Mr. Holmes, I've done everything you asked. Lestrade, he seems to

         think your advice is worth something. I gave the order for a raid.

         Please tell me I'll have something to show for it. Other than a

         massive bill for overtime.

 

 

JOHN: They'll be back in China by tomorrow.

SHERLOCK: No, they won't leave without what they came for. We need to find a

          hideout. A rendezvous. Somewhere in this message it must tell us.

SARAH: Well , I think perhaps I should leave you to it.

JOHN: No, you don't have to go. Stay.

SHERLOCK: Yes, it'd be better if you left now.

JOHN: He's kidding. Please stay if you'd like.

SARAH: Is it just me or is anyone else starving?

SHERLOCK: Oh, God.

 

SARAH: So this is what you do. You and John, you solve puzzles for a living.

SHERLOCK: Consulting detective.

SARAH: What are these squiggles?

SHERLOCK: They're numbers. An ancient Chinese dalect.

SARAH: Oh, right. Well, of course. I should have known that.

 

MRS HUDSON: I've done punch and a bowl of nibbles.

JOHN: Mrs. Hudson, you are a saint.

MRS HUDSON: If it was Monday, I'd have been to the supermarket.

JOHN: Thank you. Thank you.

 

SARAH: So those numbers, it's a cipher?

SHERLOCK: Exactly.

SARAH: And each pair of numbers is a word?

SHERLCK: How did you know that?

SARAH: Well, two words have already been translated. Here.

SHERLOCK: John. John, look at this. Soo Lin at the museum, she started to

          translate the code for us. We didn't see it.

          Nine mil.

JOHN: Does that mean millions?

SHERLOCK: Nine million quid. For what?

          We need to know the end of this sentence.

JOHN: Where are we going?

SHERLOCK: To the museum, to the restoration room.

          We must have been starig right at it.

JOHN: At what?

SHERLOCK: The book, John. The book. The key to cracking the cipher. Soo Lin

          used it to do this. Whilst we were running around the gallery, she

          started to translate the code. It must be on her desk.

 

SHERLOCK: Taxi.

          Entschuldige Sie, bitte.

TRAVELLER: Ja, danke!

 

SHERLOCK: Please, wait! Bitte!

TRAVELLER: Was wollt er?

           Hey, du, was machst du?

SHERLOCK: Minute!

TRAVELLER: Gib mir doch mein Buch zuruck!

 

SARAH: Yeah. No, absolutely. I mean, a quiet night in is just what the

       doctor ordered. I mean, I love to go out of an evening and wrestle a

       few Chinese gangsters generally, but a girl can get too much.

JOHN: OK.

      Er, shall we get a takeaway?

SARAH: Yeah.

 

SHERLOCK: Page 15, entry 1...

          Dead man.

          He was threatening to kill them. That's the first cipher.

          9...0...15 Er, 15 and 36.

          36,39,39...39...9...

          "Nine","mill","for"...

 

JOHN: Blimey, that was quick. I'll just pop down.

SARAH: Do you want me to lay the table?

JOHN: Um...eat off trays?

SARAH: Yeah.

 

SHERLOCK: 70...35... Jade...

 

JOHN: Sorry to keep you. How much do you want?

MAN: Do you have it?

JOHN: What?

MAN: Do you have the treasure?

JOHN: I don't understand.

 

SHERLOCK: ...tramway

          Nine mill for Jade pin. Dragon den, black...tramway.

 

SHERLOCK: John! John, I've got it.

 

 

SHAN: A book is lilke a magic garden, carried in your pocket.

      Chinese proverb, Mr. Holmes.

JOHN: I'm...I'm not Sherlock Holmes.

SHAN: Forgive me, if I do not take your word for it.

      Debit card, name of...S Holmes.

JOHN: Yes, that's not actually mine. He lent that to me.

SHAN: And a cheque for £5,000 made out in the name of Mr. Sherlock Holmes.

JOHN: Yeah, he gave me that to look after.

SHAN: Tickets from the theatre collected by you, name of Holmes.

JOHN: Yeah, OK.

      I realise what this looks like. But I'm not him.

SHAN: We heard it from your own mouth.

JOHN: What?

SHAN: "I am Sherlock Holmes and I always work alone."

JOHN: Did I really say that?

      I suppose there's no use me trying to persuade you I was doing an

      impression.

SHAN: I am Shan.

JOHN: You're... You're Shan?

SHAN: Three times we tried to kill you and your companion, Mr. Holmes. What

      does it tell you when an asassin cannot shot straight?

      It tells you that they're not really trying.

 

 

SHERLOCK: Tramway.

          There.

 

 

SHAN: Not blank bullets now. OK.

      If we wanted to kill you, Mr. Holmes, we would have done it by now. We

      just wanted to make you inquisitive.

      Do you have it?

JOHN: Do I have what?

SHAN: The treasure.

JOHN: I don't know what you're talking about.

SHAN: I would prefer to make certain.

      Everything in the West has its price.

      And the price for her life - information.

 

SHAN: Where's the hairpin?

JOHN: What?

SHAN: The Empress pin valued at 9 million sterling? We already had a buger

      in the West, and then one of our people was greedy, he took it,

      brought it back to London, and you, Mr. Holmes, have been searching.

JOHN: Please, please. Listen to me. I'm not... I'm not Sherlock Holmes. You

      have to believe me. I haven't found whatever it is you're looking for.

SHAN: I need a volunteer from the audience.

JOHN: No, please, please!

SHAN: Ah, thank you, lady.

      Yes, you'll do very nicely.

 

SHAN: Ladies and gentlemen, from the distant, moonlit shores of NW1, we

      present for your pleasure, Sherlock Holmes' pretty companion in a

      death-defying act.

JOHN: Please!

SHAN: You've seen the act before. How dull for you. You know how it ends.

JOHN: I'm not Sherlock Holmes!

SHAN: I don't believe you.

SHERLOCK: You should, you know.

          Sherlock Holmes is nothing at all like him.

          How would you describe me, John? Resourceful? Dynamic? Enigmathic?

JOHN: Late?

SHERLOCK: That's a semi-automatic. If you fire it, the bullet will travel at

          over 1,000 metres per second.

SHAN: Well?

SHERLOCK: Well...the radius curvature of these walls is nearly four metres.

          If you miss, the bullet will ricochet. Could hit anyone. Might

          even bounce off the tunnel and hit you.

 

SHERLOCK: It's all right.

          You're going to be all right. It's over now.

JOHN: Don't worry. Next date won't be like this.

 

 

SHERLOCK: We'll just slip off. No need to mention us in your report.

DIMMOCK: Mr. Holmes...

SHERLOCK: I have high hopes for you, Inspector. A glittering career.

DIMMOCK: I go where you point me.

SHERLOCK: Exactly.

 

 

SHERLOCK: So, nine million.

JOHN: Million.

      Yes.

      Nine million for Jade pin dragon den black tramway.

SHERLOCK: An instruction to all their London operatives. A message. What

          they were trying to reclaim.

JOHN: What, a jade pin?

SHERLOCK: Worth 9 million pounds. Bring it to the Tramway, their London

          hideout.

JOHN: Hang on. A hairpin worth 9 million pounds?

SHERLOCK: Apparently.

JOHN: Why so much?

SHERLOCK: Depends who owned it.

 

SHERLOCK: Two operatives based in London. They travel over to Dalian to

          smuggle those vases. One of them helps himself to something, a

          little hairpin.

JOHN: Worth 9 million.

SHERLOCK: Eddie Van Coon was the thief, he stole the treasure when he was in

          China.

JOHN: How do you know it was Van Coon, not Lukis? Even the killer didn't

      know that.

SHERLOCK: Because of the soap.

 

 

AMANDA: Amanda?

SHERLOCK: He brought you a present.

AMANDA: Oh, hello.

SHERLOCK: A little gift when he came back from China.

AMANDA: How do you know that?

SHERLOCK: You weren't just his PA, were you?

AMANDA: Someone's been gossiping.

SHERLOCK: No.

AMANDA: Then I don't understand why...

SHERLOCK: Scented hand soap in his apartment. 300ml of it. Bottle almost

          finished.

AMANDA: Sorry...?

SHERLOCK: I don't think Eddie Van Coon was the type of chap to buy himself

          hand soap, not unless he had a lady coming over. And it's the same

          brand as that hand cream there on your desk.

AMANDA: Look, it wasn't serious between us. It was over in a flash, it

        couldn't last. He was my boss.

SHERLOCK: What happened? Why did you end it?

AMANDA: I thought he didn't appreciate me. Took me for granted. Stood me up

        once too often. We'd plan to go away for the weekend, and then he'd

        just leave. Fly off to China at a moment's notice.

SHERLOCK: And he brought you a present from abroad to say sorry.

          Can I just have a look at it?

 

SEBASTIAN: He really climbed up onto the balcony?

JOHN: Nail a plank across the window and all your problems are over.

      Thanks.

 

AMANDA: He said he bought it in a street market.

SHERLOCK: Oh, I don't think that's true. I think he pinched it.

AMANDA: Yeah, that's Eddie.

SHERLOCK: Didn't know its value, just thought it would suit you.

AMANDA: Oh? What's it worth?

SHERLOCK: 9 million pounds.

AMANDA: Oh, my God. Oh, my God! Nine million?!

 

 

JOHN: Over 1,000 years old and it's sitting on her bedside table every

      night.

SHERLOCK: He didn't know its value. Didn't know why they were chasing him.

JOHN: Should we just got her a lucky cat.

      You mind, don't you?

SHERLOCK: What?

JOHN: That she escaped. General Shan. It's not enough that we got her two

      henchmen.

SHERLOCK: Must be a vast network, John. Thousands of operatives. You and I,

          we barely scratched the surface.

JOHN: You cracked the code though, Sherlock. And maybe Dimmock can track

      down all of them now he knows it.

SHERLOCK: No. No, I crack this code, all the smugglers have to do is pick up

          another book.

 

 

SHAN: Without you...without your assistance, we would not have found passage

      into London. You have my thanks.

M: GRATITUDE IS MEANINGLESS

   IT IS ONLY THE EXPACTATION OF FURTHER FAVOURS.

SHAN: We did not anticipate... We did not know this man wouls come. This

      Sherlock Holmes. And now your safety is compromised.

M: THEY CANNOT TRACE THIS BACK TO ME.

SHAN: I will not reveal your identity.

M: I AM CERTATIN.

 

-----------------------------------The End---------------------------------