Finale: The Adventure of the Seized Niece
Opening scene: Sherlock and John are now standing on the porch of a large, bourgeois mansion. Sherlock is wearing Olivet's uniform. John is wearing an ensemble consisting of an expensive suit, shoes and tie. He also is wearing several expensive rings.
John: (Uncomfortably straightening his tie) I hope this ridiculous outfit is on "appro."
Sherlock: It's on Mycroft's tab, so try to look comfortable in it and remember what Olivet coached you to say and do. You're my client. I'm only a poor, corrupt police official.
(A butler opens the door. The sound of Eastern European pop music wafts out. Sherlock and the butler bow to each other. Sherlock presents two cards. The butler glances at them and allows them to pass into the house. The entrance hall is quite dark.)
Butler: (In French) This way, gentlemen.
(He leads them forward and right. Halfway down the second hallway he opens a door leading down a flight of steps, which is also quite dark. Ahead of them they see a flicker of lavender and carnation pink colored lights. As they near, the music changes to erotic club music. The hallway turns and an enormous underground room comes into view. The room is round, with a stage. Bars line the rest of the room. It is pleasantly lit. They find that the "auction" is already underway.
Sherlock: (grimly) I hope we're not too late.
(They obtain a bidding number for John and watch the auction proceed. Sherlock catches John looking around. )
Sherlock: Watch your wandering eyes, John. No client is allowed to take any notice of any other one. We could get thrown right out of here for that.
(Close-up of John's face and then cutaway to a huge bouncer studying him suspiciously. John instinctively straightens into a stiff soldier posture, his face sets and he stares only at the stage. Heavily drugged girls are escorted on stage, wearing nothing but high heels and thongs. Their escorts turn them so the clients can see them at every angle, as if they were cattle. Then the bidding begins. The girl is then escorted off the stage, to be released to the highest bidder. They watch this happen to two girls and then Laura comes on. She is shivering and barely able to stand. It is clear she is heavily drugged. There is a tense and frenzied bidding process, but John finally succeeds in outbidding everyone else.)
Sherlock: (In an aside) Funds also courtesy of Mycroft.
John: Thank you, Mycroft. Now let's get Laura out of this hellish place!
(Laura is presented to them in a flimsy sheath. She is barely conscious. Sherlock surrenders his coat. When they get to the road, they hail a cab. John shelters the sleeping Laura under his arm.)
Scene 2: John in extreme closeup.
John: Hello, Mrs. Hudson? This is John. We have her. She is safe. And unharmed, yes. She will be fine.
(A flood of grateful weeping can be heard from John's phone.)
(Cut to Sherlock texting Mycroft and Lestrade with the same news. Pan back to see they are in Laura's hospital room. Laura is still unconscious. John approaches the bed where nurses are hooking her up to detoxification drips. We can see him speaking to them in the background. Sherlock, having finished his text, is staring blankly out the window again.)
Second flashback:
(The beefy man grabs the young Sherlock hard by the front of his shirt with his strong hand and slams his head against the mantel of the stone fireplace. Once. Twice. Then he bodily lifts him off his feet as if he was a bale of hay and slings him to the floor.
Shot of man's other hand holding a baling knife. He holds the knife to the boy's throat. Camera sees the hand with the knife from the boy's angle.
Man: I'm fed to the teeth with your meddling, you obnoxious little busybody!
(The camera sees the older sister, Vivienne, rise behind the man and bring the fireplace poker down on his back.)
Vivienne: And I've just about had enough of you, you filthy, drunken sot!
John: Sherlock?
(S. snaps out of his daze and turns. He puts on his coat and scarf.)
John: Wait a minute, where are you going?
Sherlock: You forget the man responsible for this is still out there – Viktor Abhesit. You stay here, in case Laura wakes up. You're the doctor.
(With trepidation John watches him leave. He looks at Laura, conflicted. Finally he decides to stay with her.)
(Cut to a wall clock showing nearly three hours have passed. It is now late afternoon. John is sitting at Laura's bedside when he receives a text from Sherlock: "On my way to another brothel" appears on the screen.)
(Cut to clock showing it is about 1 a.m. The only light in the hospital room comes from the open doorway and John is sleeping in the chair next to Laura's bed.)
(Cut to John pacing the floor of Laura's room. It is mid-morning. Sherlock slips into the room. The men look at each other, both clearly fatigued.)
John: Sherlock! It's a relief to see you! What have you been doing?
Sherlock: I tracked down Gjin Bicaku's new brothel, but the French gendarmes had already raided it by the time I got there. Abhesit was there, but he slipped away from me.
John: I'm sorry. I wish I had been there. (He glances at the bed to see that Laura is beginning to stir. He takes her pulse, feels her arm.) She's ice cold! Why are hospitals always so cold?
(Sherlock heads for the door again.)
John: Where are you going now?
Sherlock: I'm hungry.
(Laura finally comes out of her drug-induced stupor. She gazes, bewildered, around the hospital room, at last her jet black eyes focus, with incomprehension, on John.)
John: (Smiling warmly.) Welcome back.
(Laura stares at John for some time as if reviewing everything she could remember. Her eyes travel dazedly around the room again and then overflow with tears.
Cut to her squeezing John's hand and she can be heard sobbing.)
Scene 3: Still in Laura's hospital room, only three days later. The head of her bed has been elevated so she can sit up and a cup of water with a straw sits on a tray in front of her. John is still sitting next to her.)
Laura: I feel like such an idiot. Crying the way I was doing before. I…don't do that.
John: (Smiles at her encouragingly.) Even seasoned soldiers succumb to grief, recalling mates blown to bits, or awaking to discover part of themselves missing. Recalling my own experience, I predict it will be some time before you can put the memory of this dreadful experience behind you It's not healthy to bottle it up inside.
Laura: I've been bottling it up all of my life. (She sighs sadly.) I always dreamed of going to Paris. This…wasn't exactly what I had in mind.
John: Well, we're all of us going home today.
Laura: (Smiles warmly and grasps John's hand.) I owe you and Mr. Holmes so much! Thank you.
(Sherlock walks in. He looks haggard and utterly exhausted.)
Sherlock: Abhesit and Bicaku are now both in custody and I've been looking after the legal proceedings. Laura will only have to depose against her kidnappers. I managed to convince the police that demanding her to appear in court shouldn't be necessary. And I bought her some clothes to wear home.
(He sets a large shopping bag from a very exclusive Paris shop behind John's chair.)
Sherlock: At Mycroft's expense, of course.
(Both of them stare at him in astonishment.)
Laura: Thank you, Sher…
(She trails off when he meets her eyes, studying her sharply.)
Sherlock: I'm off to police headquarters. I'll meet you there for the deposition.
(He leaves quickly.)
Laura: (concludes) …lock.
(Cut to Sherlock quickly leaving the hospital room again, Laura and John framed in the background through the doorway, watching him leave. Cut back to the bed.)
John: I don't believe he's slept since this thing started.
(Cut to Sherlock walking quickly down the hall until he reaches the window alcove where he'd cornered Olivet. He stares intently out of the rainy window. He is clearly very tired.)
Flashback 3:
(The man relinquishes his grip on young Sherlock's throat and staggers up with a roar of fury as Vivienne continues to hit him with the poker.)
Vivienne: (Raising poker again) Run, Sher! Get help!
(Turning, the man knocks the poker out of Vivienne's hand and grabs her by the hair. She screams.)
Man: I've had about as much as I can take of you too, you prissy little bitch!
(Camera sees from the boy's angle as the man's knife hand comes down. Vivienne screams again. And again. And then she makes a hideous gurgling sound. There are a series of dull, wet thuds as the knife continues to descend - over and over and over.
Cut to young Sherlock staggering to his feet. He claws at the man's massive shoulders and knees him in the back. This failing, he jumps on the man's back, throws his arm around his thick neck and squeezes. The man drops Viv and turns, trying to shake the boy off, turning in circles around the room.
Sherlock lets go and sees Viv on the floor, motionless, covered with blood. The man attempts to pounce on him, but Sherlock ducks under his arm and makes for the door. Cut over boy's shoulder as he opens the door with a view of a farmyard and verdant fields beyond it. Sound of man's huge work boots thundering on the floor behind him.)
(Sherlock snaps out of it when a Sister of Merci lays a hand on his arm. She is quite elderly and is wearing the conservative nun's habit.)
Sister: Monsieur?
(She smiles kindly and hands Sherlock a red rose before walking away. Sherlock stares at the rose. Behind the rose a gravestone rises into view with the name Vivienne Holmes 1969-1986. Fade into flashback again as a young Sherlock lays a red rose on the grave. He is sobbing.
(Sherlock snaps to reality again. Realizing where he is and remembering where he was going, he turns and walks swiftly down the hall. He places the rose on the counter of a nurse's station as he passes by.)
Scene 4: Shot of Laura being deposed at the French police station while her statements are recorded. She appears calm and matter-of-fact.
Cut to the three of them in a cab on their way to the airport. Sherlock sits by one window, Laura by the other with John between them.
Sherlock: Abhesit will be extradited to France and later, to England, Miss Devereux. Protocol being what it is, that may take as long as several years.
Laura: (Studying him intently with her fathomless eyes.) My name…is Laura.
(Sherlock's pale gray, exhausted eyes lock with hers for several moments. John, caught between this Mexican stare-down, glances from one to the other, clearly not quite sure how to break the tension. Finally, Laura breaks it. She smiles.)
Laura: Nice jeans.
(The tension breaks as Sherlock grins, amused.)
Sherlock: So I was told.
(John continues to look from one to the other of them, bewildered.)
Sherlock: Don't you think they're nice jeans, John?
John: Yes, very nice. Must have cost a pretty penny too. (There is a pause and then he adds) I can just imagine the fun you had, quizzing the French shop girls about which style would be most appropriate.
(Both Laura and Sherlock appear highly amused at this comment and simultaneously gaze out of their respective windows.)
Scene 4: We can see and vaguely hear Sherlock keeping up a narration on his observations of the people in the airport, ie.:
Sherlock: She is in her mid- to late fifties, although she's had a facelift. She looks to be of southern European stock, possibly Greek or Sicilian, which suggests a large, extended family. Her companion is about ten years younger, although he looks older due to his state of fitness, or lack of it. He obviously doesn't work with his hands. Probably a mid-level professional, since no one at the top would be allowed to maintain such a whimsical beard…
Laura and J. listen, fascinated and amused.
Cut to a plane flying overhead.
Scene 5: Laura is hugging her aunt Betty Hudson, assuring her she is just fine, couldn't be better, just glad it's over.
Laura: (Turning to John and Sherlock.) Curry for dinner all right?
Mrs. Hudson: Nonsense dear! No cooking for you! I have supper planned for all three of you.
Sherlock: And John is very welcome to join you. I have something to do.
Mrs. Hudson: Oh, what is it, Sherlock!
Sherlock: It's called sleeping.
(He retreats up the staircase. Cut to Laura's face following his retreat thoughtfully.)
Scene 6: A wall clock shows it is late afternoon. Sherlock is lying on the sofa in pajamas and dressing gown, balancing a coffee cup on his chest. He still looks very tired. John sits in a chair nearby.
Sherlock: There are some novel permutations to this story, in the end. It turns out that Laura's father is not an embezzler. He is a blackmailer. At least according to Mycroft. The information on the microdot consisted of a study – done by Mr. Devereux and Yakov – proving that the faulty design of Tactical Gear's body armor was responsible for the death of at least ten British soldiers in Afghanistan.
John: (Clearly disgusted and angry by this revelation) Damn it!
Sherlock: Yes, I imagined that would be your reaction. Devereux and Yakov were in it together, initially. They threatened to make the evidence public unless they both were given…hefty end-of-the-year bonuses, shall we say. After the "bonuses" were placed in a Swiss bank account, Devereux wired out all of the money, leaving Yakov empty-handed. Perhaps he saw abducting Laura as his only means of revenge.
John: (Sighs) No honor among thieves. How did the microdot get inside of the locket?
Sherlock: Clearly they both knew where the evidence was. As to who originally placed it there, that we may never know.
John: At dinner, Mrs. Hudson informed us that Laura's mother is home from rehab. Laura would like to continue to live downstairs, which, in her aunt's opinion, is the best thing. She turns eighteen next May and will be legally an adult, anyway. She plans to take her qualifying exams and edit her little newspaper as she has been. I imagine she'll be thanking you for saving her from a dreadful fate.
Sherlock: She already did.
John Oh? When?
Sherlock: You heard her say she liked the jeans.
John: (Looking very puzzled.) I know I'm probably very obtuse, but I fail to see what that has to do with it.
Sherlock: (Smirking) Your being obtuse has everything to do with it.
John: (Sighs. A sly thought occurs to him.) Sounds to me like you have sisters.
Sherlock: (The smirk fades. His eyes grow distant.) As a matter of fact, I did have one.
John: Had?
Sherlock: Yes. She is no longer living.
John: Older? Younger?
Sherlock: Older. By three years.
John: Oh! I'm sorry to hear she has passed away. When did it happen?
Sherlock: This is not the time to be discussing it.
John: All right. I get the impression it was unexpected.
Sherlock: She was Laura's age. Most deaths at that age are unexpected. I might be willing, John, to fill you in on the details some day, but not now. (He rises and walks over the coffee table) Excuse me, John, I need to update my website.
(Sherlock trots upstairs to his room. Episode ends with a shot of John still sitting in the chair, staring straight ahead of him, thinking. Fadeout.)