LATER. John is sitting on the edge of the coffee table while Sherlock – wearing black trousers and a white shirt and putting on his jacket – walks across the living room. John has a bemused smile on his face. SHERLOCK: So – it’s just a guess but you’ve probably got some questions. JOHN: Yyyyeah, one or two, pretty much. SHERLOCK: Naturally. (He turns and looks towards the kitchen. John follows his gaze as Janine – also fully dressed – walks into the bedroom. Smiling, Sherlock sits down.) JOHN: You have a girlfriend? SHERLOCK (glancing towards him): Yes, I have. (John grins. Sherlock looks towards the bedroom again, then turns to John, looking more serious.) SHERLOCK: Now, Magnussen. Magnussen is like a shark – it’s the only way I can describe him. Have you ever been to the shark tank at the London Aquarium, John – stood up close to the glass? Those floating flat faces, those dead eyes ... That’s what he is. I’ve dealt with murderers, psychopaths, terrorists, serial killers. None of them can turn my stomach like Charles Augustus Magnussen. JOHN: Yes, you have. SHERLOCK: Sorry, what? JOHN: You have a girlfriend. SHERLOCK: What? Yes! Yes, I’m going out with Janine. I thought that was fairly obvious. JOHN: Yes. Well ... yes. (He clears his throat loudly.) But I mean you, you, you ... are in a relationship? (Sherlock blinks at him.) SHERLOCK: Yes, I am. JOHN: You and Janine? SHERLOCK: Mmm, yes. Me and Janine. JOHN: Care to elaborate? (Sherlock draws in a long breath and looks up thoughtfully, then puffs out his cheeks as he breathes out again.) SHERLOCK: Well, we’re in a good place. It’s, um ... (he looks down thoughtfully, then turns to John) ... very affirming. (He smiles at him. John points back at him.) JOHN: You got that from a book. SHERLOCK: Everyone got that from a book. (John looks round and smiles as Janine comes into the room.) JANINE: Okay, you two bad boys, behave yourselves. (Sherlock smiles happily at her as she sits down on the arm of his chair. He puts his arm round her as she turns and leans close to his face.) JANINE: And you, Sherl, you’re gonna have to tell me where you were last night. SHERLOCK: Working. (John stares at them.) JANINE: “Working.” Of course. I’m the only one who really knows what you’re like, remember? SHERLOCK (softly): Don’t you go letting on. (He gently runs his finger down the tip of her nose, then lays his hand on her arm. They stare deeply into each other’s eyes. John grins, apparently still unable to believe what he’s seeing.) JANINE (softly): I might just, actually. (She tears her eyes away from Sherlock and looks across to John, as does Sherlock.) JANINE: I haven’t told Mary about this. I kind of wanted to surprise her. JOHN: Yeah, you probably will. JANINE: But we should have you two over for dinner really soon! SHERLOCK: Yeah! JANINE: My place, though – not the scuzz-dump! (She punches Sherlock affectionately on the shoulder and they both laugh.) JOHN: Great, yeah! Dinner! Yeah. JANINE (standing up): Oh, I’d better dash. It was brilliant to see you! JOHN (also standing): You too. (He turns and watches while Sherlock escorts Janine to the living room door and opens it for her.) SHERLOCK: Have a lovely day. Call me later. (She turns back to him and fiddles with the edge of his jacket.) JANINE (teasingly): I might do. I might call you – unless I meet someone prettier(!) (They kiss, while John quickly turns away with his mouth in a startled ‘Ohhh!’ shape. As the other two continue to kiss noisily, he stares pointedly towards the window, but then gives an approving nod. Janine pulls back a little and whispers softly to Sherlock, their noses still touching.) JANINE: Solve me a crime, Sherlock Holmes. (Grinning, she turns and leaves the room. Sherlock smiles as he watches her go ... and then his smile abruptly drops and he closes the door. He walks back across the room.) SHERLOCK: You know Magnussen as a newspaper owner, but he’s so much more than that. (John frowns at him.) SHERLOCK: He uses his power and wealth to gain information. The more he acquires, the greater his wealth and power. (He sits down at the dining table and opens his laptop.) SHERLOCK: I’m not exaggerating when I say that he knows the critical pressure point on every person of note or influence in the whole of the Western world and probably beyond. He is the Napoleon of blackmail ... (He pulls up a photograph of Magnussen’s home, together with a blueprint of the building.) SHERLOCK: ... and he has created an unassailable architecture of forbidden knowledge. Its name ... (He turns the laptop to show the screen to John.) SHERLOCK: ... is Appledore. JOHN: Dinner. SHERLOCK: Sorry, what, dinner? JOHN: Me and Mary, coming for dinner ... with ... wine and ... sitting. (Sherlock turns and stares at him for a moment.) SHERLOCK: Seriously? I’ve just told you that the Western world is run from this house ... (he points at the screen) ... and you want to talk about dinner? JOHN: Fine, talk about the house. (Sherlock throws him a look, then turns back to his laptop while John looks towards the door as if he still can’t believe what he just witnessed, but eventually he turns back.) SHERLOCK: It is the greatest repository of sensitive and dangerous information anywhere in the world ... (he looks over his shoulder at John) ... the Alexandrian Library of secrets and scandals – and none of it is on a computer. He’s smart – computers can be hacked. It’s all on hard copy in vaults ... (he points at the rotating blueprint on the screen) ... underneath that house; and as long as it is, the personal freedom of anyone you’ve ever met is a fantasy. (There’s a knock on the living room door, followed by Mrs Hudson’s familiar, “Ooh-ooh!” The door opens and she comes in.) MRS HUDSON (pointing back down the stairs): Oh, that was the doorbell. Couldn’t you hear it? SHERLOCK: It’s in the fridge. It kept ringing. MRS HUDSON: Oh, that’s not a fault, Sherlock! JOHN: Who is it? (Mrs Hudson draws in an anxious breath. Shortly afterwards she goes down the stairs to the bottom.) MRS HUDSON: Mr Holmes said you can go right up. (She looks nervously at whoever is waiting in the hall. We can’t immediately see who they are but she’s clearly frightened by them because she flattens herself against the wall and almost cringes as three men in dark suits walk up the stairs. Your transcriber remembers the last time men in dark suits were in her house, and wibbles on her behalf. As a fourth person walks towards the stairs, we are looking through his eyes. He can see not only Mrs H but information about her, which reads:
MARTHA LOUISE HUDSON (née SISSONS)
LANDLADY WIDOW (SEE FILE) SEMI-REFORMED ALCOHOLIC FORMER “EXOTIC DANCER” (SEE FILE) FINANCES: 21% DEBT (SEE FILE) STATUS: UNIMPORTANT
and underneath, flashing in red:
PRESSURE POINT: > MARIJUANA
Upstairs, the three men – clearly security men, all wearing earpieces – walk into the living room. Sherlock, now standing by the fireside with John, sighs and unfolds his arms.) SHERLOCK (mock-wearily): Oh, go ahead. (He spread his arms and allows one of the goons to frisk him. Another one walks over to John while the third generally looks round the room.) SECURITY MAN (to John): Sir? (John glances over to Sherlock, then looks back to the man.) JOHN: Can I have a moment? (Sherlock lowers his arms from his frisking and looks across to the man.) SHERLOCK: Oh, he’s fine. (The man glances at Sherlock, then kneels down in front of John and starts frisking him.) JOHN: Er, I ... right. I should probably tell you ... (The man reaches into John’s jacket pocket and takes out Bill’s flick-knife.) JOHN: Okay, I ... (he points to the knife) ... That. (The man pulls John’s jacket open.) JOHN: And ... (The man stands up, holding the tyre lever he has just taken from John’s jeans and looking at him sternly. Sherlock looks startled. John steps closer to the man and speaks confidentially.) JOHN: Doesn’t mean I’m not pleased to see you. (The man does not look amused.) SHERLOCK: I can vouch for this man. He’s a doctor. If you know who I am, then you know who he is ... (He turns his head towards the door as Magnussen walks in and stops just inside the doorway.) SHERLOCK: ... don’t you, Mr Magnussen? (John’s security man steps to John’s side and faces his boss while the other one stands at Sherlock’s side and the third waits in the kitchen.) SHERLOCK (to Magnussen): I understood we were meeting at your office. (Magnussen looks round the room for a moment.) MAGNUSSEN: This is my office. (He walks slowly towards the sofa, then stops and turns to look at John. Information appears in front of his eyes:
JOHN HAMISH WATSON AFGHANISTAN VETERAN (SEE FILE) G.P. (SEE FILE) PORN PREFERENCE: NORMAL FINANCES: 10% DEBT (SEE FILE) STATUS UNIMPORTANT
then, in flashing red underneath:
PRESSURE POINT: > HARRY WATSON (SISTER) ALCOHOLIC MARY MORSTAN (WIFE)
MAGNUSSEN: Well, it is now. (He continues on to the dining table, picks up a newspaper from it and then goes back and sits down on the sofa.) SHERLOCK: Mr Magnussen, I have been asked to intercede with you by Lady Elizabeth Smallwood on the matter of her husband’s letters. (Magnussen appears to have been ignoring him, paying more attention to what seems to be the uncomfortableness of the sofa. Now he looks at the newspaper in his hand.) SHERLOCK: Some time ago you ... put pressure on her concerning those letters. (Magnussen looks up at him, leaning back on the sofa.) SHERLOCK: She would like those letters back. (Magnussen looks at him silently as he continues speaking, and information appears in front of his eyes:
SHERLOCK HOLMES CONSULTING DETECTIVE PORN PREFERENCE: NORMAL [Your transcriber does a spit-take, narrowly missing her computer screen.] FINANCES: UNKNOWN BROTHER: MYCROFT HOLMES M.I.6 (SEE FILE) OFFICIALLY DECEASED 2011-2013
and underneath in red:
PRESSURE POINT: IRENE ADLER (SEE FILE) JIM MORIARTY (SEE FILE) REDBEARD (SEE FILE) HOUNDS OF THE BASKERVILLE OPIUM JOHN WATSON
The list of pressure points cycles round several times.) SHERLOCK: Obviously the letters no longer have any practical use to you, so with that in mind ... (He breaks off, perhaps noticing something about Magnussen’s expression. Magnussen gives a quiet snort.) SHERLOCK (letting out an exasperated huff of air): Something I said? MAGNUSSEN: No, no. I-I was reading. (He adjusts his glasses, the red list of pressure points cycling more quickly.) MAGNUSSEN: There’s rather a lot. (Sherlock frowns. In front of Magnussen’s eyes, the white list of information vanishes and the red list cycles rapidly.) MAGNUSSEN: “Redbeard.” (Sherlock blinks and his mouth opens slightly.) MAGNUSSEN: Sorry. (He shakes his head.) S-sorry. You were probably talking? SHERLOCK: I ... (He pauses for a long moment, then clears his throat.) SHERLOCK: I was trying to explain that I’ve been asked to act on behalf of ... (Magnussen turns his head to the security man beside John.) MAGNUSSEN: Bathroom? SECURITY MAN (nodding to his right): Along from the kitchen, sir. MAGNUSSEN: Okay. SHERLOCK (more firmly): I’ve been asked to negotiate the return of those letters. (Magnussen takes off his glasses and looks towards the window.) SHERLOCK: I’m aware you do not make copies of sensitive documents ... MAGNUSSEN (gesturing around the living room): Is it like the rest of the flat? (He looks at the security man.) SECURITY MAN: Sir? MAGNUSSEN: The bathroom? SECURITY MAN: Er, yes, sir. MAGNUSSEN: Maybe not, then. SHERLOCK: Am I acceptable to you as an intermediary? (Magnussen meets his eyes for a moment, then looks towards the window again.) MAGNUSSEN: Lady Elizabeth Smallwood. I like her. (He turns his eyes towards Sherlock and pops his lips a couple of times.) SHERLOCK: Mr Magnussen, am I acceptable to you as an intermediary? MAGNUSSEN: She’s English, with a spine. (He lifts his right foot and puts it against the side of the coffee table, then pushes the table away from him. Sherlock frowns slightly. Magnussen stands up and, beside Sherlock, the second security man turns and steps forward to the fireplace, taking the fire guard away from the front of the unlit fire. Sherlock glances over his shoulder.) MAGNUSSEN: Best thing about the English ... (He walks over to Sherlock and John and looks at them one after the other.) MAGNUSSEN: ... you’re so domesticated. All standing around, apologising ... (He nods to Sherlock and then walks in between him and John towards the fireplace.) MAGNUSSEN: ... keeping your little heads down. (He stands in front of the fireplace, facing it. The sound of him unzipping his trousers can be heard.) MAGNUSSEN: You can do what you like here. No-one’s ever going to stop you. (He looks down and the sound of him urinating into the fireplace can be heard. John blinks as if appalled and half-turns his head towards him. Sherlock keeps his head facing forward, his eyes fixed on the opposite wall.) MAGNUSSEN (continuing to urinate): A nation of herbivores. (He half-glances over his shoulder.) MAGNUSSEN: I’ve interests all over the world but, er, everything starts in England. (He looks down again as the last of his urine splashes on the grate in front of the fire.) MAGNUSSEN: If it works here ... (He jiggles up and down as he ‘shakes off’ and then zips up his trousers.) MAGNUSSEN: ... I’ll try it in a real country. (Looking at himself in the mirror for a moment, he turns and strolls back in between the boys. The security guard beside John holds out a packet of wet wipes and Magnussen takes one and turns to face the others.) MAGNUSSEN: The United Kingdom, huh? (He starts to wipe his fingers.) Petri dish to the Western world. (He looks at Sherlock briefly.) MAGNUSSEN: Tell Lady Elizabeth I might need those letters, so I’m keeping them. (Finishing wiping his fingers, he drops the wet wipe to the floor.) MAGNUSSEN: Goodbye. (He turns as if to leave, then turns back and put his hand into his jacket’s inside breast pocket.) MAGNUSSEN: Anyway ... (He chuckles and pulls out the edge of a packet of documents to show Sherlock.) MAGNUSSEN: ... they’re funny. (Smirking, he tucks the packet back into his jacket and leaves the room. The security men follow him. As the sound of their feet can be heard clattering down the stairs, John takes a step forward.) JOHN (furiously): Jesus! SHERLOCK: Did you notice the one extraordinary thing he did? JOHN: Wh... There was a moment that kind of stuck in the mind, yeah. (He gestures towards the fireplace but Sherlock is smiling, having not noticed him.) SHERLOCK: Exactly – when he showed us the letters. (He walks across the room, still smiling, while John closes his eyes in disbelief.) JOHN: ... Okay. SHERLOCK: So he’s brought the letters to London – so no matter what he says, he’s ready to make a deal. Now, Magnussen only makes a deal once he’s established a person’s weaknesses – the ‘pressure point,’ he calls it. (He picks up his coat from a dining chair and puts it on.) SHERLOCK: So, clearly he believes I’m a drug addict and no serious threat. (He looks out of the window to where one of the security guards is closing the rear door of a car parked outside.) SHERLOCK (turning back and gesturing enthusiastically): And, of course, because he’s in town tonight, the letters will be in his safe in his London office while he’s out to dinner with the Marketing Group of Great Britain from seven ’til ten. JOHN: How-how do you know his schedule? SHERLOCK: Because I do. Right – I’ll see you tonight. I’ve got some shopping to do. (He heads out the door and down the stairs.) JOHN (calling after him): What’s tonight? SHERLOCK (calling up the stairs): I’ll text instructions. JOHN (loudly): Yeah, I’ll text you if I’m available. SHERLOCK: You are! I checked! (Looking exasperated, John heads for the door.)
Downstairs, Sherlock goes out of the front door followed by John. SHERLOCK: Don’t bring a gun. JOHN: Why would I bring a gun? SHERLOCK: Or a knife, or a tyre lever. Probably best not to do any arm-spraining, but we’ll see how the night goes. (He raises his arm to an approaching taxi.) JOHN: You’re just assuming I’m coming along? SHERLOCK: Time you got out of the house, John. (He runs his eyes over him as the taxi pulls up.) You’ve put on seven pounds since you got married, and the cycling isn’t doing it. (He opens the cab door and gets in.) JOHN: It’s actually four pounds. SHERLOCK (shutting the door and looking at him through the half-open window): Mary and I think seven. See you later. (He sits down on the seat and gives his destination to the driver.) SHERLOCK: Hatton Garden. (The cab drives away. John looks at his watch, then walks off.)
EVENING/NIGHT TIME. John walks towards the entrance of a skyscraper building which houses CAM Global News. In the foyer, a TV screen is broadcasting the company’s news channel, which is currently showing a Breaking News item reading, “MP JOHN GARVIE ARRESTED ON CHARGES OF CORRUPTION.” A photograph shows the man who spoke at the parliamentary hearing at the beginning of the episode. A newsreader’s voice can be heard. NEWSREADER (on the TV): And breaking news now. John Garvie MP has been arrested today on charges of corruption. This follows an investigation ... (John walks through the revolving doors and approaches the security barriers which need an electronic key card to open them. He looks around and then looks at his watch, and Sherlock walks over and stops behind him.) SHERLOCK: Magnussen’s office is on the top floor, just below his private flat ... (he looks towards lift doors on the next level up) ... but there are fourteen levels of security between us and him ... (His mind’s eye floats quickly along the next level towards the lift and homes in on the security card reader beside the lift doors.) SHERLOCK: ... two of which aren’t even legal in this country. Want to know how we’re going to break in? JOHN: Is that what we’re doing? SHERLOCK: Of course it’s what we’re doing. (He turns and walks away. Later, the boys are each carrying a takeaway cup of coffee and are walking towards an escalator in the building.) SHERLOCK: Magnussen’s private lift. It goes straight to his penthouse and office. Only he uses it ... (they get onto the escalator) ... and only his key card calls the lift. Anyone else even tries, security is automatically informed. (They get to the top and walk towards the lift. Sherlock holds up a key card.) SHERLOCK (stopping): Standard key card for the building. Nicked it yesterday. Only gets us as far as the canteen. (He walks to the lift, stops and looks at it.) SHERLOCK: Here we go, then. (The camera shifts back along the corridor and Sherlock and John are still standing where they just were, several yards away from the lift.) SHERLOCK: If I was to use this card on that lift now, what happens? (He gestures towards the lift where an imaginary version of himself is touching his card to the security reader. Alarms immediately begin to sound – at least in Sherlock’s head – and two imaginary security men run towards imaginary-Sherlock standing at the lift.) JOHN (obviously not seeing or hearing anything): Er, the alarms would go off and you’d be dragged away by security. (Over at the lift, imaginary-Sherlock is indeed being seized by the arms by the two men.) REAL-SHERLOCK: Exactly. (He looks towards the lift and watches as imaginary-Sherlock is marched away.) JOHN: Get taken to a small room somewhere and your head kicked in. (Imaginary-Sherlock looks over his shoulder and throws an indignant look towards his real self and his friend. Real-Sherlock looks round at John.) SHERLOCK: Do we really need so much colour? JOHN: It passes the time. (Sherlock gives him a look and passes him his coffee cup. John takes it and returns the look. Ignoring it, Sherlock takes his phone from his coat.) SHERLOCK: But if I do this ... (He presses the security card against his phone.) SHERLOCK: If you press a key card against your mobile phone for long enough, it corrupts the magnetic strip. The card stops working. It’s a common problem – never put your key card with your phone. (He looks along the corridor to where imaginary-Sherlock is back at the lift and swiping his card across the reader. The two imaginary security men start to run towards him again ... but then they go into slow motion and then stop, frozen in mid-run.) SHERLOCK: What happens if I use the card now? JOHN: It still doesn’t work. SHERLOCK: But it doesn’t read as the wrong card now. (More imaginary security men run towards imaginary-Sherlock, then they too slow down and freeze in mid-run.) SHERLOCK: It registers as corrupted. But if it’s corrupted, how do they know it’s not Magnussen? JOHN (looking round, possibly to check if real security are anywhere around): Huh. SHERLOCK: Would they risk dragging him off? JOHN: Probably not. SHERLOCK: So what do they do? What do they have to do? JOHN: Check if it’s him or not. (Near the lift, the imaginary security men shrink down and each one disappears into a different imaginary waste paper bin, all of which have suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The bins then disappear again.) SHERLOCK: There’s a camera at eye height to the right of the door. (Imaginary-Sherlock walks up to the lift doors again, where the security card reader has a flashing red light above it. He swipes the card past the reader and on a laptop elsewhere in the building there’s a repeated beeping sound and a message comes up on the screen reading:
