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Holmes is still angry at Watson learning something about his past in the last episode. So instead of telling her about Irene, he gets really childish and petulant. Which, don't get me wrong, is a lot of fun to watch. So for most of the episode, the two of them are split up, which lets Holmes spend more time annoying the police.
And he has plenty of opportunity to do that as the case involves a family that's been murdered in exactly the same way as some people thirteen years ago. And the culprit, Wade Crewes, was brought to justice by Captain Gregson, who doesn't take kindly to the suggestion that maybe he got the wrong guy back then. He's also quite put out by the revelation that the arrest came on evidence that was planted by his partner. To be fair, though, the guy does sound like someone who'd kill a bunch of people.
While Holmes is pursuing this investigation, Watson is off at the rehab facility that Holmes recently left. None of the doctors learned anything about Holmes, but the amiable gardener is also a beekeeper. Naturally. So she manages to get some letters that Irene sent Holmes. She doesn't read them, so Holmes likes her again. Although he does stick the letters in a blender, so he's still at least a little petulant.
The murder case briefly leads Holmes and Watson to a one-eyed fan of Chechen football, but that's quickly dismissed as a red herring. The actual deal is that Wade Crewes had an illegitimate son who volunteered at the prison, taught him to read, and then went out to duplicate his father's killings in hopes of getting him freed from jail. It doesn't work.
And then Holmes tells Watson that Irene died.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!A spooky figure in a mask and hood walks through an expensive house. I can tell it's expensive because there's a spiral staircase in one of the rooms. That's one of the most expensive kinds of staircase! Oh, and there are two people with pillows taped to their faces. The spooky figure shoots them both, so I guess we can assume he's a bad guy.
With that out of the way, we join the Brownstone in an awkward morning. Watson puts some stuff in a juicer while Holmes gets something from the refrigerator. They are distant but polite. Watson deduces that Holmes is mad at her for going to Alistair and learning the name "Irene." And she recaps everything that's happened on the show so far so people who haven't been paying attention will know what a sober companion is. Luckily for Holmes, Gregson sends him a text about a double homicide. So he admits that he's been sulking and has to respect her right as a sober companion to meddle. Then he claims he's going to go get coffee and doesn't come back. He's escaped!
At the crime scene, Gregson notices that Watson isn't there, but doesn't care a lot. It is, in fact, the two people who got killed in the opening. Gregson says it's like a nightmare and Holmes supplies the information that this is just like series killings from 1999. Back then, it was Gregson himself who arrested someone named Wade Crewes. It seems like a weird murder to copycat and it's also unlikely to be a coincidence. Holmes wants to go to the shoe closet. As they go there, we see a fancy shot of the spiral staircase. This house is at least four stories tall.
Holmes explains that in the cases, there was always one shoe missing from the closets. And indeed, there's a high-heeled Jimmy Choo with no partner in this house's closet. Apparently Wade Crewes said he worked alone, but Holmes thinks he may have lied about that.
Gregson is giving the troops their instructions in the police station when Holmes's phone rings (with the music from Psycho, which strongly suggests that Holmes has a sense of humor). It's from Watson, so he ignores it. Holmes wants to go talk to Wade Crewes with Gregson. Gregson doesn't want to do it and he's sneering and sarcastic about the idea that Cruise could be involved in any way. Or that Cruise could be innocent. Anyway, it's another scene where the cops have forgotten how smart Holmes is, which I'm already tired of. The phone rings again and Holmes pretends to have a bad connection. But Watson is right to him, presumably because she correctly guessed he'd be at the police station. Holmes says she's not allowed to try to get through to him and they're back to the letter of the law: he'll check in every three hours and allow drug tests. She leaves in a huff.
Gregson brings Bell to Holmes. The murdered family got threatening e-mails from Julian Walsh, a kitchen contractor who was fired a few weeks earlier. And he once did time for weapons possession and assault. So, you know. Worth checking out, right?
Mr. Walsh admits sending the emails, but denies killing anybody. And where was he between six and midnight? Watching television, he says. Holmes inspects the house and wonders if there's a basement because Walsh keeps glancing at the floor. So he asks where the bathroom is and goes downstairs, not upstairs. He finds a locked metal cabinet and a doorknob that's not attached to anything. Behind the cabinet, there's a room and a foreign-sounding scared woman's voice. Holmes busts in and there's a woman in underwear, handcuffed to a pipe. Holmes says, "Polizei" and she breaks down. Walsh is quickly under arrest.
Watson has gone to the rehab facility Holmes was at. It's nice! And she's talking to the man who had him for therapy for two hours a day for six months. He says, "I don't believe I learned a single significant thing about him." You'd think he'd mention that he's not allowed to talk to her about what happened in therapy, but I guess he wanted to skip straight to the part where he didn't learn anything.
The woman from Walsh's basement is being bundled into an ambulance. She's quite broken up about the whole thing. Holmes reports that she's a Russian prostitute named Katya who was sold to Julian Walsh. Walsh has been sleeping in her room. Bell is unhappy that Walsh's sex slave is his alibi. Gregson still doesn't want to follow up on Wade Crewes.
The morgue. Holmes is going to eyeball the slug that came out of the recent murder victims to compare it with the old case. He claims the eye is a precision instrument, so he doesn't need whatever ballistics computers would normally be involved. And based on that, he declares the grooves on this bullet to be the same as the old one, proving that it was the same murder weapon: "This is no longer a theory, captain. This is a fact. These cases are indelibly linked.
Gregson greets someone named Carrie D'amico even though he didn't call her to consult on the Wade Crewes case. But Holmes did, because she was Gregson's partner when Wade Crewes was arrested. Bell lists the possibilities for this case (like "Crewes was working with someone who has laid low until now"), to which Holmes adds the idea that Wade Crewes could be innocent. Gregson is all touchy about the idea. But he'll go "shake Cruise's tree" to see if he was working with someone. He'll let Holmes go along and "observe." Gregson is also touchy about his old partner. He's very on edge in this episode.
Watson continues on her rehab investigation. She learns that Holmes spent every group session in total silence. But then she spots a gardener, who turns out to be named Edison. And he has beekeeping equipment. Edison calls Holmes "Sherlock," which is fun. Nobody calls him by his first name on this show. Edison says, "He used to tell me I was the only person here without an agenda. I took that to mean he liked me." Sure, that seems obvious.
At the prison, Wade Crewes is surprisingly upbeat and friendly. He says he gave up anger a long time ago and insists that Gregson knows that he's innocent. The world has decided to prove his innocence, he says. Holmes notes that he was illiterate when arrested and now he's quoting War and Peace. He had an alibi at the time, but Gregson says that the woman (Carla Figueroa) recanted. Crewes's explanation is that she was a married woman who didn't want to admit that she was out with another man. He also says that Gregson planted his fingerprints on a mug in 1999. And finally, the time they speak, he'll be on the court steps speaking after his exoneration.
At the rehab facility, Watson asks Edison if Holmes ever mentioned Irene. Apparently not: "Can't say he did." She starts to leave and then Edison says the name sounds familiar because Holmes left some personal stuff. How convenient! It's a sheaf of letters and the return address is Irene Adler.
Holmes has taken Gregson to Carla Figueroa's place, but they're still in the car outside the house. Gregson is still a jerk about everything, because he feels threatened by the suggestion that he might have been wrong once. Holmes says that Gregson swallowed twice after being accused of planting fingerprints, so he's hiding something. A kid leans in the window and says they have to move the car. And that Carla died four years ago. Gregson says that Crewes gloated on the tapes, and he dares Holmes to watch them and not think Crewes is guilty.
So Holmes watches the tapes at the brownstone. Wade does sound smug as he offers to watch the crime scene again and again. Watson comes home and Holmes says he left urine in her room. "Tell me it's in a cup," she sighs. In her room, she takes out the sheaf of letters.
Carrie (Gregson's old partner) talks to the camera about how she's interrogating Wade Crewes. Gregson brings him a black coffee. Holmes runs upstairs and says he needs Watson because this is something bigger than the two of them. And also because it has a moral component, which is something she's better at.
Holmes says that the first interrogation had a paper cup, but that the second had a mug. And it looks like the one at the crime scene. Watson agrees that it's the same one. Holmes: "The evidence was planted. And it was Captain Gregson who gave him that mug."
Holmes interrupts Gregson while he's pouring coffee. He asks why he asked him to watch the tape. Obviously Holmes was going to notice. Gregson takes off his coat as Holmes talks to him about how he's sure any framing was done out of frustration. Gregson does a good job of not talking while Holmes babbles. He says he never planted evidence. Holmes asks how the mug showed up at the crime scene, and Gregson violently opens the door for Holmes to get the hell out of his office.
Holmes comes downstairs at the brownstone, unsatisfied. Watson offers him the letters and he takes them stiffly. She says she didn't read them: "Whatever happened, this is not how I want to find out about it." And she says she won't ask him about them anymore. Holmes thanks her (slightly less stiffly), then puts the letters in the blender. He explains that he left them at the rehab facility because he didn't want them anymore.
Holmes has restarted the old Crewes investigation. One early suspect, Victor Nardan, has been in jail for twelve years, then came out three weeks ago. The police have lost track of him, but the jail photos show that he has tattoos for Chechnya's premier football club. Holmes concludes, "Wherever he is, he will want to watch his beloved team." There are only three bars in New York that show Chechen football and they're all within walking distance of a specific hotel. No Victor Nardan, but there's a Victor Jones, which is his official alias.
Carrie meets Gregson out in a street somewhere. He tells her she planted that mug. She answers, "I always assumed you knew that." Ha! I was expecting her to indignantly deny it. But no, he thought they were lucky. He says that if Wade Crewes is innocent, he's not going to stay quiet about it, even if it's bad for his career. He ends the scene with, "Fair warning, partner."
Holmes puts on a stupid fake voice as he knocks on Victor's door. Then he picks the lock. It is a crummy hotel room and Watson confirms for us that it stinks. And the floor is sticky. Holmes sniffs around to determine that there's orange juice spilled on the floor. A little more snooping and he's led to the corner of the room, where the carpet has come up from the floor. He pulls it away and finds a loose floorboard. And as he lifts the board, his phone rings. It's Gregson and he needs him right away. It happened again. A triple homicide. Holmes says, "We'll be right there. And Captain, I think I may be able to tell you where the murder weapon is." He pulls a gun out of the floor.
Gregson describes the new case. Two of the victims are the homeowners (with the now-traditional pillows taped to their faces) and one of the victims is a houseguest, who may have surprised the attacker. Gregson says here was a struggle. And there's physical evidence in the form of some cigarette butts from across the street. So the police have a warrant out for Victor and are searching his room right now. I guess Holmes left the gun there, but doesn't it seem like Victor would be able to claim that Holmes planted it? He did pick the lock and pull up the carpet.
Holmes stands where Gregson places the shooter. Gregson tries to talk to him about how he won't hide if Wade is really innocent. But Holmes is concentrating and has no time for Gregson's grand statement of moral culpability. Holmes covers his eye and crouches down. Bell calls to report that they have Victor in custody. Holmes says that'll make it easier to prove he's innocent.
Interrogation chamber. Victor, in Russian accent, says he didn't kill those people. Holmes opens the door and throws an orange at him. It bounces off his right eye. Holmes announces that he's innocent! He's also ticked off now: "Why he hit me?" Seriously, the guy was in prison for twelve years and he just wants to watch some football from Chechnya. And now some weirdo starts throwing oranges at him?
Gregson's office. Holmes says everything in Victor's place was lined up on the left side. And there were blue marks on the ceiling above his bed, suggesting that he was throwing a ball at it. Anyway, the point is that he's blind in the right eye. He can't even pour orange juice without spilling it, so how's he going to hit a moving target at night? And the cigarette butts across the street were ground out in an ashtray, not flattened by being stepped on. So who framed him? Holmes says Crewes is the obvious choice, since he's the one who would benefit by someone new being blamed for these killings. And Crewes had access to all the files, so he could easily locate the same guy Holmes settled on. Bell asks who'd be willing to kill five people to get Crewes out of prison. Gregson says if they don't get someone soon, Victor will eat the charges and Wade Crewes will get out. Um, even if the police don't think Victor did it? And wouldn't they need to arrest Victor for the actual murders that Crewes is in jail for?
Brownstone. Watson says Crewes has had no visitors. Holmes says his only cellmate has life without parole. And he's from a group home, so he has no family. That last one seems like a stretch to me. Even people in group homes have people they grow up with, right? On the television, Crewes is having a press conference where he quotes Oscar Wilde. And Tolstoy. Holmes and Watson decide that he's reading at an advanced level, so someone must have taught him to read. There's no record of him taking any classes, but he worked at the prison library. And Holmes knows that the library at Sing Sing was on the verge of being shut down. A volunteer advocacy group called "LIFA" kept it open and he remembers that the son of Carla Figueroa was wearing a shirt with their logo.
Sean Figueroa is at LIFA headquarters, reshelving books. Holmes asks if Sean ever wondered why he had blue eyes. He goes straight to telling him that Wade Crewes was his father. Sean answers, "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm busy, so..." Now, when I say he's reshelving books, I mean he's moving them from one shelf to the shelf immediately above it. This scene reminds me a lot of a routine on John Mulaney's first album. Holmes continues the explanation about the prison library and points out that it'll be easy to establish paternity. Sean cops to being Crewes's son, explaining that he found his mother's diaries. He admits to teaching Wade to read and Holmes asks how loyal he thinks his father will be when the police offer him a deal. "Will he visit you in prison?" Suddenly Sean looks like he's reconsidering.
Wade Crewes in prison. Gregson coldly puts some evidence on the table. Holmes says it's his trophies: the shoes from the earlier murders, which Sean helped them find. Crewes denies having a son, so Gregson tells him, "Sean's going away and you're getting five new conspiracy charges." Crewes is pulled away, shouting that Gregson framed him (true!) and that he's innocent (false!)
So let's look at this brilliant plan by Mr. Wade Crewes. He's in jail for life when a kid introduces himself as his long-lost illegitimate son. He learns to read and convinces his son to go kill several people in his signature style. And the son plants evidence in the crappy hotel room of someone who got out of prison at about the right time. But there's no guarantee that the police will hit on the idea of searching the patsy before they find the son, who's brand new at the process of sneaking around town killing people. And meanwhile, the son has to keep breaking into this hotel room to hide and retrieve the murder weapon. And there's no guarantee that the guy they're framing won't have an alibi for the new murders. This whole thing is full of holes. I'm not surprised it didn't work.
That night, Holmes is at the fireplace in the brownstone. Watson is going up to bed when Holmes interrupts her with the news that Irene died: "We were quite close. I did not take her passing well. Good night."
I like the way he said that. He's forcing himself to open up, but he's not good at it.
Follow Monty on Twitter at @monty_ashley and read his blog, Mysterious Exhortations.
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