ST ALDATE'S SCHOOL.
Greg's car drives into the grounds of the boarding school and pulls up outside the front entrance. Two police cars are already there and a woman is standing in front of one of them, leaning against the bonnet wearing a shock blanket around her shoulders and crying while a uniformed female police officer talks reassuringly to her. A man, probably a plain clothed police officer, is also talking to her but walks away as Greg, Sally and the three get out of the car and approach. The woman blows her nose on her handkerchief.
"It's all right." A female police officer said comfortingly.
"Miss Mackenzie, House Mistress. Go easy." Lestrade said quietly to Sherlock.
He stays back and lets Sherlock and Vaness walk over to the woman on their own. Vaness would've let him do it alone but he wasn't letting go pf her hand. They both weren't.
"Miss Mackenzie, you're in charge of pupil welfare, yet you left this place wide open last night..." he raises his voice angrily, "...What are you: an idiot, a drunk or a criminal?"
He grabs the blanket and abruptly pulls it from around her shoulders. She gasps in fear as he glares furiously at her.
"Now quickly, tell me!" Sherlock yelled.
"All the doors and windows were properly bolted. No-one - not even me - went into their room last night. You have to believe me!" Miss Mackenzie replied tearfully and cringing in terror.
Sherlock's demeanour instantly changes and he smiles reassuringly and gently takes hold of her shoulders. Vaness also placed her hand comfortingly on her.
"I do. I just wanted you to speak quickly." Sherlock said softly.
"Sorry about that." Vaness said quietly.
Sherlock looks at the nearby police officers as they turn and walk away.
"Miss Mackenzie will need to breathe into a bag now." He said.
She sobs in distress and the female police officer hurries over to comfort her.
Shortly afterwards, inside the school, Sherlock and Vaness leads the others into one of the dormitories.
"Six grand a term, you'd expect them to keep the kids safe for you. You said the other kids had all left on their holidays?" John asked.
Sherlock has already looked in a cupboard beside one of the beds and now drops to his knees and peers under the bed, Vaness had to do the same as he wasn't letting go.
"They were the only two sleeping on this floor. Absolutely no sign of a break-in." Lestrade answered.
Sherlock picks up a lacrosse stick lying on the floor and gets to his feet while looking at the stick closely. Vaness let go of his hand and he looked at her questioningly.
"You need to focus on solving this case, I'll be by your side, but you need both hands." She whispered to him.
Sherlock sighed, then went back to the lacrosse stick and briefly wields it as if using it as a weapon but then apparently decides it wasn't used in that way and drops it to the floor.
"The intruder must have been hidden inside some place." Lestrade said.
Sherlock goes over to a wooden trunk and opens the lid, Vaness stayed beside him. Amongst the other items inside the trunk Sherlock finds a large brown envelope with a wax seal on the back which has already been broken as if someone has opened the envelope. Inside is a large hardback book. Carefully checking the envelope first, he then takes out the book and flips it over to look at the cover. The book is "Grimm's Fairy Tales." He looks along the edges of the book and then riffles the pages quickly. Finding nothing of interest, he looks up.
"Show me where the brother slept." Sherlock said, holding Vaness' hand again and following Lestrade.
They are taken to another smaller dormitory and Sherlock looks around, going to stand beside the only bed in the room which still has bedding on it. The bed is opposite the door, which has a frosted glass pane in it. He looks towards the door while gesturing down to the bed.
"The boy sleeps there every night, gazing at the only light source outside in the corridor. He'd recognise every shape, every outline, the silhouette of everyone who came to the door." Sherlock said.
"Okay, so ..." Lestrade asked.
"So someone approaches the door who he doesn't recognise, an intruder. Maybe he can even see the outline of a weapon." Sherlock said.
Leaving the other four inside the room, he goes outside the door and pulls it almost closed, then raises his hand and points his fingers as if they're a gun, showing the others how it would be seen through the frosted glass. He pushes the door open and comes back into the room.
"What would he do in the precious few seconds before they came into the room? How would he use them if not to cry out?" Sherlock asked.
He walks around the bed, looking at the boy's possessions.
"This little boy; this particular little boy ..." he looks at the bedside table and points towards it "... who reads all of those spy books. What would he do?"
"He'd leave a sign?" John asked.
Sherlock starts sniffing noisily. He picks up a cricket bat leaning against the nearby cupboard and sniffs along both sides of it. Putting the bat down again he squats and sniffs around the bedside table, then reaches under the bed and picks up an almost empty glass bottle of linseed oil. He looks up.
"Get Anderson." He said sternly.
Not long afterwards the room has been darkened as much as possible by closing the wooden shutters over the windows. Sherlock shines an ultraviolet light onto the wall beside the boy's bed where the words "HELP US" have been written on the wall, only now visible in the light.
"Linseed oil." Sherlock said.
"Not much use. Doesn't lead us to the kidnapper." Anderson commented.
"Brilliant, Anderson." Sherlock said sarcastically.
"Really?" Anderson asked.
"Yes. Brilliant impression of an idiot." Sherlock said.
Vaness chuckled.
Sherlock points downwards, shining the light close to the wooden floorboards.
"The floor." He said.
There are several sets of illuminated footprints of varying sizes leading towards the door. Sherlock slowly follows them.
"He made a trail for us!" John said.
"The boy was made to walk ahead of them." Sherlock deduced.
"On, what, tiptoe?" John asked, looking at the shape of some of the smaller footprints.
"Indicates anxiety; a gun held to his head." Sherlock said.
He walks slowly out into the corridor, which has also been blacked out, and follows the footsteps. Anderson walks beside him with another ultraviolet light. Vaness, unfortunately, was beside Anderson.
"The girl was pulled beside him, dragged sideways. He had his left arm cradled about her neck." Sherlock told them.
A few yards along the corridor the glowing footsteps stop.
"That's the end of it. We don't know where they went from here." Anderson said.
Sherlock stops next to Vaness. Anderson turns back to him.
"Tells us nothing after all." Anderson continued.
"You're right, Anderson - nothing." Sherlock said.
He pauses for a moment, then takes a breath.
"Except his shoe size, his height, his gait, his walking pace." Sherlock said quickly.
He reaches to the closest window and tears down the blackout material that had been stuck across it. Daylight floods back into the corridor. Putting the light onto the window sill, he kneels down and takes his wallet of tools and a small lidded plastic Petri dish from his inside pocket. While the police go back towards the bedroom, he puts the dish on the floor, opens the wallet and chuckles contentedly. Vaness squats down next to him, and she couldn't help but to laugh quietly. Sherlock was enjoying the case and she was enjoying the way Anderson keeps proving how stupid he is. John squats down beside them.
"Having fun?" John asked.
"Starting to." Sherlock replied.
"Maybe don't do the smiling." John said.
Vaness bit her lip guilty. Sherlock lifts his head.
"Kidnapped children?" John said.
Sherlock lowers his head again and concentrates on scraping some of the dried linseed oil and floor wax loose with a small scalpel and then using tweezers to pick up the loosened pieces and put them into the container. John turns to Vaness questioningly.
"Well?" John asked.
Vaness pouted, "Anderson keeps being stupid." She explained.
John bit back a smile. "He does, doesn't he?" He said then he turned serious, "still, no smiling." John said sternly.
"Yes father." Vaness teased and Sherlock snorted.
LONDON.
Sherlock, Vaness and John are in a taxi.
"But how did he get past the CCTV? If all the doors were locked ..." John asked.
"He walked in when they weren't locked.: Sherlock answered.
"But a stranger can't just walk into a school like that." John said.
"Anyone can walk in anywhere if they pick the right moment. Yesterday - end of term, parents milling around, chauffeurs, staff. What's one more stranger among that lot?" Sherlock explained.
"He was waiting for them. All he had to do was find a place to hide." He continued.
A few moments of silence passed, they both noticed Vaness staring outside and holding Sherlock's hand far too tightly. Sherlock shook his head at John who wanted to ask her what was wrong.
ST BARTHOLOMEW'S HOSPITAL.
Molly Hooper walks along a corridor, pulling her coat on. Just as she reaches the fire doors at the end of the corridor, Sherlock, Vaness and John walk through them.
"Molly!" Sherlock greeted.
"Need your help." Vaness smiled tightly.
"Oh, hello. But I'm just going out." She said.
"No you're not." Sherlock said putting his hands onto her shoulders and turning her back the way she just came.
"I've got a lunch date." Molly said.
"Cancel it. You're having lunch with me." Sherlock said putting a hand on her back to start her walking again.
Reaching into his coat pockets, he dramatically produces a bag of Quavers crisps from each pocket.
"What?" Molly asked.
"Need your help. It's one of your old boyfriends - we're trying to track him down. He's been a bit naughty!" Sherlock said putting the crisps back into his pockets.
Reaching the fire doors at the other end of the corridor, Sherlock and Vaness turns and smiles back at Molly, who has stopped dead a few paces back. John also stops and stares at them.
"It's Moriarty?" John asked.
"Yes." Vaness replied.
"Course it's Moriarty." Sherlock said.
"Er, Jim actually wasn't even my boyfriend. We went out three times. I ended it." Molly said.
Vaness held Sherlock's mouth closed before he could say something.
"Please Molly, we really need your help." She said sincerely.
Vaness pulled Sherlock then continues on through the fire door. Molly stares after Vaness in utter bewilderment.
Shortly afterwards, wearing her lab coat, Molly pushes her way through the door into Sherlock's favourite lab weighed down by the huge pile of books and files she is carrying. As she staggers into the room, Sherlock is sitting at the bench in front of a microscope, Vaness is at his side acting likebhis assistant. John is standing at the other side of the bench.
"Oil, John." Sherlock said.
He opens the plastic Petri dish Vaness gave him and takes out one of the samples with tweezers.
"The oil in the kidnapper's footprint - it'll lead us to Moriarty." Sherlock said.
He drops the sample into a test tube which has some liquid in the bottom. The fluid begins to fizz. He suctions up some of the liquid and drops it onto a slide.
"All the chemical traces on his shoe have been preserved. The sole of the shoe is like a passport. If we're lucky we can see everything that he's been up to." Sherlock said.
He looks at the slide under the microscope. Time passes as all of them does something productive.
"I need that analysis." Sherlock said.
Molly squeezes some liquid into a glass dish and applies some Litmus paper to it. The paper turns blue.
"Alkaline." Molly said.
"Thank you, John." Sherlock replied.
"Molly." She corrected.
"Yes." Sherlock said.
She turns away unhappily. Sherlock has found the first component in the mixture of items and makes a note of it:
1. Chalk
He takes another sample and dissolves it. The results reveal another item:
2. Asphalt
Dissolving another sample into a dish:
3. Brick Dust
And another sample dissolved and heated over a Bunsen burner:
4. Vegetation
Later, he has another sample on a slide and is looking at it in the microscope. He quietly murmurs to himself.
"I ... owe ... you." Sherlock muttered quietly and Vaness stared down on the floor.
Sherlock turns his head and looks at a nearby computer screen.
"Glycerol molecule." Sherlock said.
He sighs heavily as he struggles to identify the item, seeing it in his head as:
5. ?????
"What are you?" Sherlock asked.
He looks into the microscope again as Molly stands beside Vaness typing onto a laptop.
"What did you mean, "I owe you"?" Molly asked him.
John walks across the lab on the other side of the bench. Sherlock raises his eyes from the microscope and watches him crossing the room.
"You said, "I owe you." You were muttering it while you were working." Molly said.
"Nothing. Mental note." Sherlock said looking into the 'scope again.
Molly looks at him, then she looks at Vaness, then turned back to Sherlock.
"You're a bit like my dad. He's dead." Molky said.
She closes her eyes, embarrassed.
"No, sorry." Molly said.
"It's fine." Vaness said not looking at her.
"Molly, please don't feel the need to make conversation. It's really not your area." Sherlock said.
"Sherlock..." Vaness said softly.
Molly cringes but continues.
"When he was ... dying, he was always cheerful; he was lovely - except when he thought no-one could see. I saw him once. He looked sad." Molly said.
"Molly ..." Sherlock said sternly.
"He's fine Molly." Vaness turned to her.
"Really? But it's not just him, you both look sad ..." she glances towards John "... when you think he can't see you."
Sherlock's eyes lift from the microscope and drift towards John who is looking through papers on the other side of the lab some distance away, unaware of the conversation. Vaness looked bewildered, she wasn't like that, she even laughed today as far as she remembers. Sherlock turns his head and looks at Molly.
"Are you both okay?" Molly asked.
Sherlock opens his mouth but she interrupts before he can speak.
"And don't just say you are, because I know what that means, looking sad when you think no-one can see you." Molly said.
"But you can see us." Sherlock said.
"I don't count." Molly replied.
"Molly..." Vaness started but she was interrupted.
"I know we're not close. I mean..." Molly was saying but Vaness grabbed her hand, interrupting her.
"You're my friend, I would trust you with both of our lives." She said genuinely.
Sherlock blinks and really looks at Vaness curiously.
"Do you mean that?" Molly asked.
Vaness smiled at her, "Every single word. And as I've said, we're both fine." She gestured to Sherlock who nodded.
"Still, if there's anything I can do, anything you both need, anything at all, you can have me." Molly said, lookibg at Vaness the to Sherlock.
She flinches and looks away briefly.
"No, I just mean ... I mean if there's anything you need ..." Molly said.
She shakes her head.
"It's fine." Molly said.
"Thank you Molly." Vaness told her.
Molly smiled but that smile disappeared when Sherlock spoke.
"What-what-what could I need from you?" He asked.
"He means thank you." Vaness said quickly, squeezing Sherlock's hand.
"Yes, thank you." Sherlock said hesitantly, still thinking.
He frowns and turns his head away as if surprised that he has said it. Molly starts to walk towards the door.
"I'm just gonna go and get some crisps. Do you want anything?" Molly asked.
Sherlock starts to open his mouth but she turns back and beats him to it.
"It's okay, I know you don't." Molly said, then she turned to Vaness, "You need anything?" She asked.
Vaness smiled warmly at her, "No thank you."
Molly turns and walks away, leaving the room. Sherlock watches her go, then gazes to Vaness thoughtfully for a moment before looking back to his microscope.
On the other side of the lab, ignorant of the conversation that has just taken place, John is looking through police photographs taken at the school. He finds one of the inside of the wooden trunk which shows the envelope with the wax seal, and another with a close-up of the seal.
"Sherlock." John said.
"Hmm?" Sherlock asked.
"This envelope that was in her trunk. There's another one." John said.
He walks over to where he has put his jacket.
"What?" Sherlock asked.
"On our doorstep. Vaness and I found it today." John said.
He gets the envelope out of his pocket and looks at it.
"Yes, and look at that." John said.
He brings the envelope round the bench and gives it to Sherlock.
"Look at that. Exactly the same seal." He said.
Sherlock reaches into the envelope and takes out some of the brown dust which we now see more clearly.
"Breadcrumbs." Sherlock said.
"Uh-huh. It was there when we got back." John said.
"A little trace of breadcrumbs; hardback copy of fairy tales." Sherlock said.
His eyes widen. Vaness started gathering their things.
"Two children led into the forest by a wicked father follow a little trail of breadcrumbs." Sherlock said.
"That's "Hansel and Gretel." What sort of kidnapper leaves clues?" John asked.
"The sort that likes to boast; the sort that thinks it's all a game. He sat in our flat and he said these exact words to me, 'all fairytales need a good old-fashioned villain.'" Sherlock replied.
Sherlock puts down the envelope and adjusts his microscope before starting to look into it again.
"The fifth substance: it's part of the tale." He deduced.
He looks up again.
"The witch's house." Sherlock said.
"What?" John asked.
"The glycerol molecule." Sherlock replied.
The final element in the sample becomes clear to him:
5. PGPR
"PGPR!" Sherlock exclaimed.
"What's that?" John asked.
"It's used in making chocolate." Sherlock explained leaping to his feet.
He grabbed Vaness who already got all their stuff. They hurry out of the lab.
SCOTLAND YARD.
Greg hands a sheet of paper to Sherlock as he leads him, Vaness and John into the department's main office.
"This fax arrived an hour ago." Lestrade said.
There is a large handwritten note on the paper saying:
HURRY UP
THEY'RE
DYING!
Sherlock hands the note to John.
"What have you got for us?" Lestrade asked.
John read the paper and looked at Vaness for hope, but she was looking at Sherlock.
"Need to find a place in the city where all five of these things intersect." Sherlock said.
He hands a piece of paper to Greg, who reads it aloud.
"Chalk, asphalt, brick dust, vegetation ... What the hell is this? Chocolate?" Lestrade asked.
"I think we're looking for a disused sweet factory." Sherlock said.
"We need to narrow that down. A sweet factory with asphalt?" Lestrade asked.
"No. No-no-no. Too general. Need something more specific. Chalk; chalky clay - that's a far thinner band of geology." Sherlock said.
He calls up a map of London in his head, overlaying it with the names of the towns, then begins zooming in and out of various areas.
"Brick dust?" Lestrade asked.
"Building site. Bricks from the 1950s." Sherlock said.
"There's thousands of building sites in London." Lestrade said rubbing his face in despair.
Sherlock looks exasperated at the distraction.
"I've got people out looking." Sherlock said.
"So have I." Lestrade replied.
"Homeless network - faster than the police. Far more relaxed about taking bribes." He said smiling snidely.
Sitting at a nearby desk, Anderson looks up and rolls his eyes. Sherlock's phone trills a text alert, followed by several more alerts. He brandishes his phone triumphantly at Greg while the messages continue to pour in. Smiling smugly, he lifts the phone up high and calls up his mental London map in front of him, flicking his eyes across to the phone to look at each photograph and then transfer it to the map. One of the photos, a close-up shot of some purple flowers, attracts his particular attention.
"John." He called.
He holds the phone out to show him the picture.
"Rhododendron ponticum. It matches." Sherlock said.
He goes back to the mental map and scans around it to the only places in London where such a plant grows, then finds the one place which contains the other elements as well.
"Addlestone." Sherlock said.
"What?" Lestrade asked.
"There's a mile of disused factories between the river and the park. It matches everything." Sherlock said.
He turns and hurries out of the office with Vaness at his side and John in hot pursuit. Greg turns to his team.
"Right, come on." Lestrade said.
Sally hesitates.
"Come on!" Lestrade called.
She jumps up and hurries after him.
ADDLESTONE.
Several police cars race to a disused factory and the police officers, together with Sherlock, Vaness and John, run inside the dark building. John tugged Vaness and she turned to him. She saw the look in his face and smiled comfortingly.
"They are fine." She whispered, Sally heard her.
Everyone switches on flashlights and Sally coordinates the police as they start to search in all directions.
"You, look over there. Look everywhere. Okay, spread out, please. Spread out." Sally said, she narrowed her eyes at Vaness' back.
Greg leads another team, including Sherlock and John, into another part of the factory. Greg directs his officers.
"Look in there. Quietly. Quietly." Lestrade said softly.
As they make their way deeper into the factory, Sherlock finds a large number of empty sweet wrappers scattered on the floor around a candle on a plate. Sherlock touches the wick of the candle.
"This was alight moments ago." He said.
He calls out loudly.
"They're still here." He said.
The search continues all around.
"Sweet wrappers. What's he been feeding you?" He asked.
He picks up one of the wrappers and looks at it more closely.
"Hansel and Gretel." He said.
He holds the wrapper closer to the beam of his flashlight and sniffs the paper, but before touching the tip of his tongue to it Vaness slapped it out of his hand.
"It's mercury." She said.
"What?" Lestrade asked.
"The papers: they're painted with mercury." Sherlock said.
John groans.
"Lethal. The more of the stuff they ate ..." Sherlock said.
"It was killing them." John said.
"But it's not enough to kill them on its own. Taken in large enough quantities, eventually it would kill them." Sherlock said.
The police continue searching the building but Sherlock is now locked onto his thoughts about Moriarty.
"He didn't need to be there for the execution. Murder by remote control. He could be a thousand miles away." He said.
Nearby, Sally sees something in the light of her torch. She moves closer and sees a little girl sitting on the ground with her brother's head in her lap. His eyes are closed. The girl looks around at Sally.
"The hungrier they got, the more they ate ... the faster they died." Sherlock said softly, looking at Vaness and she nodded with pursed lips.
Sherlock grins.
"Neat." He said.
"Sherlock." John said reprovingly.
"Over here!" Donovan called out.
Everyone runs in the direction of her voice. Sally and other officers reach down to the children.
SCOTLAND YARD.
Sherlock is pacing outside an office, Vaness was standing near him while John sits nearby. The door to the office opens and Sally and Greg come out.
"Right, then. The professionals have finished. If the amateurs wanna go in and have their turn ..." Sally said sarcastically.
John stands up and walks over to the others. Greg looks seriously at Sherlock.
"Now, remember, she's in shock and she's just seven years old, so anything you can do to ..." Lestrade was interrupted.
" ... not be myself." Sherlock said.
"Yeah. Might be helpful." He said.
Sherlock looks round to John and Vaness, doing everything but roll his eyes, reaches up and unpops the collar of his coat, folding it down flat before leading Vaness, John and the others into the office. The little girl is sitting at a table looking down into her lap. A female liaison officer is sitting beside her stroking her arm reassuringly.
"Claudette, I ..." Sherlock said.
He gets no further because the girl lifts her head, takes one look at him and begins to scream in terror.
"No-no, I know it's been hard for you ..." Sherlock tried.
She continues screaming and scrambles to get away while pointing at him.
"Claudette, listen to me ..." Sherlock said softly.
Vaness pulled him back.
"Out. Get out!" Lestrade said.
Grabbing his arm, Vaness bundles Sherlock out of the room as the girl's screams continue.
Shortly afterwards, Sherlock is standing with Vaness holding him close at her, at the window of another office looking out into the night through the slats of the Venetian blinds. Sally stands at the other side of the office watching them thoughtfully.
"Makes no sense." John said.
"The kid's traumatised. Something about Sherlock reminds her of the kidnapper." Lestrade said.
"So what's she said?" John asked.
"Hasn't uttered another syllable." Lestrade replied.
"And the boy?" John asked.
"No, he's unconscious; still in intensive care." Lestrade said.
In the building opposite Scotland Yard, all the lights in the offices come on. On the second floor, spray paint has been applied to three of the office windows. Sherlock and Vaness stares at the enormous letters that have been painted:
I O U
Seconds later, the lights on that floor go out again. Behind them, the others are unaware of what they have just seen, their view blocked by the blinds. Vaness held him even tighter as she closed her eyes briefly.
"Well, don't let it get to you. I always feel like screaming when you walk into a room! In fact, so do most people." Lestrade said.
Lestrade looks round to Sally and John.
"Come on." Lestrade said.
He and John leave the room. Sally stays behind as Sherlock and Vaness turns away from the window and walks towards the door.
"Brilliant work you did, finding those kids from just a footprint. It's really amazing." She said.
"Thank you." Sherlock said.
"Unbelievable." Sally said pointedly.
Sherlock hesitates momentarily, then continues on. Sally watches him go with a thoughtful expression.
Outside shortly afterwards, John waits for Sherlock and Vaness to join him and then looks down the street.
"Ah." John said.
He raises his hand to hail the approaching taxi. As they walk to the edge of the kerb, John looks round to Sherlock and Vaness.
"You two okay?" John asked.
Sherlock let go of Vaness' hand.
"Thinking." He said.
The taxi pulls up at the kerb.
"This is my cab. You two get the next one." Sherlock said.
"Why?" John asked.
"You might talk." Sherlock said.
He gets in but Vaness goes after him and closes the door and the taxi pulls away. John stares after them in disbelief, then sighs.
"I told you.." Sherlock was saying.
"That I will stay at your side. Now think." Vaness said, holding his hand and staring at the window. She allowed her senses to be aware, knowing who was driving.
Back inside Scotland Yard, Sally is in a large office and has scattered all the police photographs and other evidence over a long table. She stands looking down at everything thoughtfully. Greg walks along the corridor outside and notices her. He stops and looks into the room as Sally mentally plays back earlier moments.
"What the hell is this? Chocolate?" Lestrade said.
"I think we're looking for a disused sweet factory." Sherlock replied.
"They are fine." Vaness said.
Claudette screams in terror.
Now Greg comes into the room and walks over to Sally as Claudette's screams fade from her mind.
"Problem?" Lestrade asked
She looks around at him, then down at the evidence again.