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Holmes is bored, so he drags Watson out to the site of a plane crash. And he immediately spots that one of the victims was actually dead before the crash, so there's a murder to investigate! They start by working on the passengers (a bunch of lawyers who fought a lot), but Holmes eventually determines that the victim was probably dead before the plane even took off. So the other two passengers didn't even know he was on board! Well, in the cargo bay.
Meanwhile, Watson has a dinner appointment with Holmes's father. Holmes is also invited, but he doesn't believe his father will actually show up. And he's right! But Watson doesn't find that out until after she has a conversation with an actor Holmes hired to prank her. This makes her mad until she discovers that the actor is actually a friend of Holmes's.
The investigation continues with the other employees of the company that owned the plane that crashed. One of them was smuggling cocaine from Miami! Well, I guess technically the smuggling happened right before the cocaine got into Miami, but he transported it up to New York. And the other employee assures Holmes and the police that that guy totally did it. But he does such a bad frame job that even Bell is like, "This is a terrible frame job." In order to get him to confess, Holmes has to show off his deductive skills and prove that he's got a giant wound somewhere that's being held together with airplane glue.
Watson misses that last part, because she goes off to have another conversation with the actor from before. The actor takes awhile to say anything useful, but Watson eventually learns that Holmes feels very strongly about a name that he was repeating while stoned out of his gourd nine months ago.
The name: Irene.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Watson awakes to a cacophonous noise. It's Holmes's police scanner, which he left set on "incredibly loud" while he went into another room for cereal. He's been listening to the scanner for days because Gregson hasn't called him for a regular case. Also, he's using a real radio scanner instead of just using a website like a normal person. Watson says Holmes's father is coming to town and would like to have dinner. Holmes points out that she's never met him and has only contacted him electronically. He assures her that his father has zero intention of seeing them because his father never follows through on things. I immediately jump to the conclusion that Holmes hired her himself through a byzantine series of stand-ins. Then something comes on the scanner: a code 1066, which is an "unusual incident": Holmes has narrowed it down to a plane crash. And they're off!
They find Detective Gregson at the plane crash. Holmes wants to help, even though it's not a crime scene. Even Gregson is only here to push away the onlookers, according to the actual person in charge. She's Miss Molinari, if you're curious. And why wouldn't you be? I can't just call her "Plane Investigation Lady" all the time. Holmes noses in and asks Miss Molinari some questions about the crash. He claims to be "an expert in the field of deductive reasoning and unraveling the complex chain of events that can turn a triumph of human innovation into a smoldering pile of wreckage in seconds." That's an awfully specific field. Miss Molinari politely declines his help, and Gregson offers to give Holmes some Cold Case Files to keep him occupied. Holmes walks into the scene and starts looking at things. There are dead people among the wreckage.
Holmes establishes that all three of the passengers were attorneys. One man's leg was nearly cut off by the fuselage, but there's not much bleeding on his clothes. Holmes concludes, "Someone caved his skull in before the plane hit the ground." So he was murdered before the plane crash.
After the commercial, Holmes has an audience as he describes the murder weapon: a large wrench. The flight recorder hasn't been recovered, but there was a witness to the crash. Everyone speculates about who could have killed the passenger. The pilot? One of the other passengers? Holmes finds some sand that's not natural, but he figures it was probably trucked in to offset erosion. Watson thinks the murderer must have died in the crash, so she doesn't know why Holmes is so intent on solving the mystery. Well...because he's obsessed with solving mysteries? Holmes explains that there's a story that needs to be told, and she accuses him of just trying to avoid his father. Holmes wants to talk to the last people to see the passengers alive.
The first witness was a friend of Joe Newell, the pilot. He also knew one of the passengers: Walter Devlin. He'd never met Hank Gerard (the murder victim), and Ellie Wilson, although he knows they worked together. Joe, he says, didn't have a temper and would be unlikely to bludgeon a passenger to death while he was supposed to be flying the plane. Also, Joe was ex-military. He offers up the information that there was a security camera in the parking lot that might show the passengers arriving. He insists that Joe didn't do it.
Continuing the subplot, Watson says she got an email from Holmes's father with a dinner appointment at a specific time and place. Holmes says his father doesn't care about him or her, and that he's not coming tonight. His father is a pathological maker and breaker of promises. This is interrupted by Bell, who says there's news. So Holmes, Watson, and Bell all have to traipse into Gregson's office.
Bell tells Gregson that the three lawyers on the plane were going to Martha's Vineyard to work on a suit against Carmonto Foods, which is exactly the kind of giant evil conglomerate it sounds like. They make a sugar substitute that causes cancer. Allegedly. The three lawyers disagreed about how to proceed and Hank had a loud argument with Walter Devlin. Holmes wonders why Walter would bring a giant wrench on the flight.
The plot can now proceed, because they finally have the flight recorder. The four of them listen to the sound of Walter Devlin yelling at Hank and also Ellie: "You can't protect Hank, Ellie. Not from me!" There's also the sound of a struggle and a plane out of control.. Holmes looks at the pictures of dead people on the beach. There are screams on the recording. Then Holmes says Walter's argument with Hank was one-sided; Hank never said a word. They had loud arguments all the time, but this time Hank never got a word in. And they have everything that was on the plane, but no wrench. Also, the pilot said "three souls aboard" when he was radioing for help. So Holmes's theory is that Hank Gerard was not in the cabin at all. He wasn't killed in the plane! The killer bludgeoned Hank Gerard, then hid the body in the cargo hold. Walter Devlin was on the phone during the conversation until Ellie dragged him to the back of the plane. And that shifted the weight in the plane, which made the unsecured body slide around in the cargo hold, thus causing the crash!
Conveniently enough, they have also recovered Gerard's cellphone, although they think it's broken. Holmes grabs Bell's phone and swaps out the SIM card. There is, in fact, a voicemail form Walter Devlin! So neither of the passengers did it, and the pilot would have known better than to let the body slide around in the cargo hold. So there's a living murderer somewhere! Which I think we all assumed from the beginning of the episode, but I guess we have to let the characters catch up with us once in a while. Holmes wonders why the body was stuck in the cargo hold. It would be found it landed, right? Watson asks if he's scared of flying. She thinks he's been acting weird, because he got distracted by sand earlier. He's acting exactly as squirrelly as always, and Watson should know by this point to stay out of his way. She really has no faith in him at all. Holmes points out she's a disgraced ex-surgeon, not a disgraced ex-psychiatrist. Burn! She asks how Holmes got from London to New York, because she's now convinced that he's afraid of flying.
The owner of the airplane company shows the good guys the footage of the parking lot security camera. Holmes covers his nose as he watches the footage. Watson guesses it's the airplane model glue in the air. Well, there are some model airplanes in the background. The security camera footage does show Hank Gerard arriving.
Brownstone. Holmes has magic photo-enhancing software that shows the mysterious legend "ARM/TO" on the sleeve of the polo shirt worn by the person Mr. Gerard was meeting. He tells Watson that the facial features were unclear. Watson connects the dots that the shirt actually said cARManTO. Holmes also notes that the suspect had a particular pager. Watson again says she's going to see his father because "People don't make plans just to break them." Holmes: "People don't. My father does." On her way out the door, Watson identifies the pager as an insulin pump. I think it would be easier to identify the one person who's still carrying around a pager in 2012.
Holmes and Bell meet an Ed Hairston at Carmanto.. He's overweight, so he's clearly the guy with diabetes. Ed says he doesn't know who Hank Gerard is, but Bell says there's footage of them meeting. Ed says he doesn't understand, because he heard Hank died in a crash. He closes the door and says he was giving information about Carmanto to Hank, but Hank wanted him to go public. Holmes watches him have trouble opening a pill bottle. Ed admits, "The company knew that that sugar substitute was deadly." Holmes says he and Bell have to go.
Outside, Bell complains that Holmes said Ed was their best suspect. But now Holmes says Ed was way too weak to grasp and swing a heavy wrench, based on his poor performance opening that pill bottle. Bell whines, "So in other words, we've got nothing." No, they've got that sand from earlier! Also, I like that Bell is now just letting Holmes completely dictate where the investigation goes. You can't be Skeptical Cop forever.
Watson meets an older gentleman in a restaurant. It's Roger Rees! You kids are probably too young to remember him on Cheers, huh? How about The West Wing? He's reading a book by Zadie Smith, which immediately pleases Watson. Mr. Holmes is not surprised that the younger Holmes isn't there. Watson describes Holmes's recovery. Mr. Holmes says Sherlock was stubborn and curious even young. He tells a story about this time that Sherlock fell off a fence and broke his wrist, with his bone poking through the skin. He covered the scar with a tattoo. Watson wants to know more about him. Mr. Holmes asks how the sex is, because he was told that was part of the service: "Why else would anyone pay your exorbitant fees?" Watson asks, "You're not Mr. Holmes, are you?" Laughter. No, he's an actor, hired by Sherlock.
Holmes leads Bell and Miss Molinari into the hangar. The talk of fake sugar reminded him of the odd sand at the crash site. It turns out that the parks department hadn't trucked in sand for years. But! Sand in the gas tank would start out on the bottom, then clog things up during the flight. And there it is in the gas tank: unfrosted grains of commercial sand. Holmes speculates that Hank walked in on the saboteur and got whanged over the head and stuffed in a cargo hold. The murderer probably assumed the plane would be over the water when the engines seized up, but the fight on board made it crash earlier.
Brownstone. Watson comes home and glares at Holmes for hiring an actor. He claims it was a prank well played, since he had to be absolutely certain his father wouldn't show. She says his father emailed that he was called away. Holmes catches her up about the sabotage. He wants to go confront a suspect and wants her to come with him: "I waited for you. Hmm? You should be grateful!" She goes to bed and Holmes says she should have trusted him. She's mad that he hasn't shared any of his personal history with him.
Holmes and Bell go to bother Mr. Owen Barts, one of the pilots. Joe Newell's widow said Barts and Newell had an argument. Apparently Bart sniped a client from him. Holmes says that since it was sabotage, it could have been someone with a grudge against the company and not have anything to do with the passengers at all. And Barts consistently recorded a weight precisely 66 pounds too much when he came back from Miami. That's exactly 30 kilos and, as we all know, cocaine comes in kilograms! Holmes says Joe, with his military background, would have wanted to go to the police. But Barts was nowhere near the hangar this morning. Don't believe him? He says they should go see his boss, Mr. Charles! Then he shuts the door and they leave.
Watson wakes up in bed, and Holmes is in a chair staring at her. Creepy! He admits that he has a preoccupation with plane crashes. Not that he's phobic; he just sees too much on a plane. He analyzes the pilot and the mechanic. Watson is still cross with him. He claims he was attempting to demonstrate his trust in her by telling her that stuff about having a fascination with plane crashes. Watson: "How? By telling me something I already figured out?" Holmes's phone rings to interrupt them. Charles Cooper is on his way to the station.
It's the guy who showed them the security camera footage. Holmes again has his nose covered with his scarf, saying it's like Cooper bathed in glue! Watson says Cooper looks pale. He does! Pale and waxy. Cooper's says, He wanted me to tell you guys that he was with me at the time of Mr. Gerard's murder. But he wasn't." Everyone leaves. Gregson wants a warrant for Barts.
But at the Barts home, Barts is gone, as is his car. But they have the wrench. It's bloody and placed very prominently on a shelf in the garage. Gregson thinks it's weird that the wrench is not even cleaned. Bell agrees that it looks pretty strange. Holmes calls it "utterly ridiculous." They're pretty much in agreement that it's a pretty sloppy frame job. Holmes examines the wrench and says there's a pattern found only in brackish water. (Watson: "It's a combination of fresh and salt water." Holmes: "Mmm.") So the wrench was in the water...recently. Holmes thinks the wrench was disposed of, then retrieved, then planted here. And he finds it interesting that the missing car is a Camry, but the can of motor oil on the shelf are super-high end and meant for cars that are better than a Camry. So he demonstrates that the oil cans are fake. These three cans all have big rolls of cash. It safe to assume that if he were blowing town, Barts would probably have taken his 50-100K in smuggling dollars with him. So...back to Cooper, right? Yeah. They didn't really need Holmes for this, but finding the money is convenient.
Interrogation room. Cooper continues to deny everything. He now claims that Owen Barts called him last night and admitted to all the crimes. From outside the room, Holmes says the pallor and lack of eye contact prove he's lying. Watson observes Cooper's constant water drinking and says he's got serious medical problems. She also notices Holmes's wrist scar, which matches the story that Fake Mr. Holmes told. She claims to have an errand and gets out.
Interrogation over. Bell and Gregson says Cooper won't budge because he knows there's no proof. Holmes is outraged, because Cooper's obviously lying. Also, he's bothered by the very strong smell of model glue. Bell goes to get some more water for Cooper. Holems says to bring him a pitcher, because he's got a crazy plan.
A bookstore! Watson interrupts Roger Rees, who turns out to be a bookstore worker named "Alistair." She's decided that knowing about Holmes's wrist scar means he's an actual friend who might know something about Holmes's history. And she found him because he dropped a receipt for that Zadie Smith book, and there was an employee discount. He says he was an actor in a radio drama ("We still have those across the pond."). He also claims to be Holmes's friend, in that Holmes appears at odd moments to make outrageous requests. Alistair is glad Holmes has Watson. She asks, "You knew him when he was using?" Well, Alistair knew he was dabbling, but thought he'd grow out of it. But nine months ago, Holmes showed up on his doorstep, so high he could barely speak. This also feels like acting to me. There's a lot of eye-contact-avoidance here. At this point, I think everything is an elaborate setup by Holmes. Alistair says Holmes was babbling a name over and over all night, but it doesn't matter what the name was. Watson doesn't push, but Alistair volunteers it. And then we don't hear it...yet.
Interrogation chamber. Holmes comes in and asks if Cooper needs to urinate. Nope. Holmes thinks Cooper has lost a lot of blood: "A pint or two if I had to guess." This is because he's been drinking a lot of water but doesn't need to get rid of any. And the model glue was used to close his wound! It sounds dangerous, but that's actually what superglue was invented for. Holmes dares him to take off his shirt and pants. Cooper changes his story to having accidentally cut his side. Gregson points out that when they find Owen's body, it'll have Cooper's blood all over it. And Holmes figures they'll find Owen's body in one of the very few pools that match the water the wrench spent time in. Holmes describes all the things he knows about Cooper, like that he likes to hide things in brackish water and is too weak from blood loss to have spent a lot of time hiding a body and a car. So it's narrowed down to Jamaica Bay and Alley Pond Park. Gregson points out that bringing down planes is something that's frowned upon these days. Holmes recommends giving up, which will keep it a state case.
Watson comes home. Holmes is cleaning up the records of the Case of the Plane Crash and actually says the police did most of the work. Watson has a question about his past. Holmes starts to walk away. Watson: "I know about Irene. I want you tell me about her." Yeah! Let's get some proper Sherlock Holmes going on here! At least work a little of the original character in here, right?
Follow Monty on Twitter at @monty_ashley and read his blog, Mysterious Exhortations.