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While Detective Bell is driving home, his car gets riddled by bullets. The obvious suspect is a drug kingpin who recently got out of jail. He doesn't admit anything when he gets interrogated, so Holmes steals his basketball and throws it on the roof. Holmes can be kind of a jerk sometimes. The morning, the kingpin is dead and Bell is suspect number one. Holmes finds the murder weapon in Bell's bathroom, which also looks bad for him.
Bell takes a moment to confront his brother, who just got out of prison and is given to muttering ominous things about how Bell should learn what it's like to be in prison. And punching Bell in the face in the police station with plenty of witnesses. But it probably wasn't him who framed Bell, because he's the person to turn up shot. And he writes a message in blood on the floor to exonerate Bell, which is a nice twist on the old dying-message routine.
While they're waiting for Bell's brother to come through surgery, Holmes discovers that Bell blew the whistle on his old boss, who planted heroin on that drug kingpin from earlier in the show. And that means that this other police officer -- who Bell used to date -- was trying to frame him. So Bell is cleared. Hooray!
And in more personal news, Holmes tells Watson that he knows she's not a sober companion anymore. He knows that she's sticking around because she's interested in his work, so he offers her a new job as his partner and apprentice. And she takes it! She'll still make him go to meetings, but we have finally moved on to a new phase of their relationship where her only purpose isn't to watch him like a hawk for signs of heroin use.
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Want more? The full recap starts right below!Watson comes home. From that, we can deduce that she's been somewhere else. That doesn't have anything to do with the episode; I just wanted to show that I can do some deducing myself. There's a bulb out in the brownstone's foyer, and a mysterious ski-masked figure demands to know where Holmes is. He's stolen her mace so she has nothing to spray him with. Watson runs, and then she slips and falls. It turns out to have been a trick by Holmes. He would like her to learn some violent skills, since she was in physical danger last week. Holmes is going to bring in a series of martial arts experts to train her. He'll also surprise-attack her. She's not entirely delighted by this news.
Bell is driving around at night and delivering a phone message to Gregson. You're not supposed to talk on the phone while driving, man. That's probably why he doesn't notice the car behind him until it starts honking. When it pulls up to him, gunfire riddles Bell's car, and he runs it up a ramp so it does an A-Team flip. You know what that is, right? It's when a car hits a conveniently concealed ramp and flies into the air and lands on its roof. Everyone should know that.
In the police garage, Gregson decides that it was an MP5 that shot up Bell's car. Holmes says that they're pretty accurate weapons, so it was not a marksman. Because if it were, Bell would be dead. They were in three-round bursts. He thinks Bell should not have jerked the wheel because he would have been fine otherwise. He's also investigated Bell's history, and he has no shortage of possible enemies. This pleases Holmes -- e figures a policeman isn't doing his job right unless criminals want to kill him. Bell says he already knows who did it.
His answer is Curtis Bradshaw. He was an "aspiring drug kingpin" with a crew of almost a hundred. Bell was on a detail targeting him, and they put him away for eighteen months on a minor charge. Naturally, he recently got out. One of the detectives on the detail stole heroin from the evidence room and planted it on Bradshaw. But an anonymous source tipped them off. Bell put away most of Bradshaw's lieutenants, too. He has a picture of Bradshaw's car. And indeed, it looks like the one that was to him. Also, Bradshaw vowed vengeance when he went to jail. People, don't vow vengeance in public. It just gets you in trouble. Gregson says Bell's obviously not on this case. But Holmes is! And also probably a police officer, but we never see evidence of that.
As they leave the police meeting room, there's a message for Bell from "Mr. Cheese," who he claims is a CI. Holmes observes that he's had sex with Detective Reyes, the attractive female police officer who delivered the message. Then he suggests that Watson box with Reyes, but she's skeptical of his motives. He claims that he just noticed that she boxes, and he wants Watson to be able to defend herself.
Gregson walks up to Curtis Bradshaw, who's just trying to watch some basketball in a playground. You know how it is when you get out of prison. You want nothing more than some good food, a night in a soft bed, and to watch some guys play basketball. Gregson asks for his whereabouts between 10 and 10:30 last night, Bradshaw claims his car was stolen two nights ago, although he didn't report it. Both of his associates claim they were with him. One says he was at the movies and the other goes with a card game. Bradshaw cheerfully offers Gregson the opportunity to choose between the two alibis. Holmes noses in and baits him into a bet. Can he put the ball in the hoop from where they're standing near half-court? And if he does, will Bradshaw tell them his actual alibi? Bradshaw agrees. But Holmes just throws the ball on the roof of a nearby structure on the grounds that Bradshaw wasn't really going to tell them anyway. What a jerk! I like how Bradshaw's guys are only a little outraged: "You're gonna go get that ball, right?!" They kind of can't believe that just happened.
Bell is welcomed into a crummy apartment by Mr. Cheese, who calls him "Marcus Bulletproof Bell." Cheese learns that it was a modified MP5, and he offers to ask around with some contacts he has. But Bell says it would violate his parole. He brought Cheese groceries! Bell is investigating the room, and Cheese objects to being scoped out. His name turns out to be Andre, and he's Bell's big brother. He's also named "Bell," of course, but I'll call him Andre to keep them separate.
Holmes has investigated Bradshaw, who kept an excellent distance from the drugs throughout his operation. Most of the notes in the files are from Mickey Hudson, the bad lieutenant that planted drugs. He's killed himself, so he's not much use as a witness. Watson thinks it's weird that Bradshaw would go after Bell himself after keeping all the drugs at arm's length, but Holmes says vengeance makes people stupid. He makes a point of thanking Watson for her help with the files. Watson goes to the other room to order Thai, and Holmes throws a tennis ball at her back. His explanation is that it could have been a knife, which does not mollify her. He encourages her to fight him. Then she gets distracted by his wall of locks, which are organized by country of origin. She knocks over the rack to make him do it again.
A woman exits her house and sees a man sitting on her steps. He's not moving. Because he's dead, but she doesn't know that. And he's Curtis Bradshaw!
Later, Holmes poses to Bradshaw's corpse, which the police do not find amusing. He sniffs the body and seems to be testing out angles. Reyes eyes him skeptically while he talks to her about boxing and how she's seen Bell naked. Then Holmes sniffs a wet cardboard box. Gregson shows up and Holmes says he has evidence that Bell was involved.
Bell's apartment. Holmes shows off his knowledge of Bell's shoes, which left a distinctive footprint on the box he was looking at. And the bootprint was exactly where the killer was standing. Bell reminds him and Gregson that there were uniforms at his front door, so he couldn't have snuck out to kill Bradshaw. Holmes says there are six other ways out, and then starts to list them. Then he admits that he doesn't really think Bell did it, but suggests that he come up with answers to the questions that are piling up. He goes off to look for the water closet. Gregson tells Bell the shots were "center mass" and Bell's on administrative duties because "We're gonna color inside the lines on this." Holmes comes back from the bathroom and strolls right out the front door.
Watson tells her therapist about the physical confrontation last week. She has not noticed any post-traumatic stress in herself. The therapist again reminds her she's not a sober companion, and that her life is now in danger. Has she been talking about boundaries with Holmes? Yes, but he doesn't listen. The therapist recommends that Watson move on from this "grand adventure." Watson claims unconvincingly that she's not staying with Holmes for the adventure angle.
Holmes listens to loud music while shooting a dummy in the main room of the brownstone. He explains to Watson that he needed the music to drown out the gunshots. He needs to do this ballistics test himself for some reason.
Andre comes out of the burger joint where he works, and Bell is waiting for him. Andre has learned that Tico Bettis tweaks MP5s, and Bell is mad that he's been talking to his old criminal friends. And the police already talked to Tico! Andre is frustrated that Bell doesn't know what it's like to be just out of prison. Then, he ominously says, "But who knows? Maybe someday, you will." Bell gets a text to go to the brownstone.
When Bell gets to the brownstone, Holmes is behind a microscope, and Watson tells Bell they think someone's trying to frame him. Holmes reveals a gun, which he stole from Bell's home. When he went to the bathroom, there was the smell of a recently fired gun, which was in the vent in the bathroom. Holmes has verified (through home ballistics tests) that it's the same gun that killed Bradshaw.
Holmes Watson, and Bell have gone to the police station. Gregson agrees with Holmes that this was the gun that killed Bradshaw. Holmes's claim is that he found it in a dumpster. But there were no fingerprints, so Bell is officially still a suspect. On their way out, Holmes and Bell talk about why Bell is bad at lying, but Holmes is good at it. Holmes doesn't think Bell did it, because he's not an idiot. And the reason Holmes lied is that he doesn't want Internal Affairs around the place. He'd like to nose around Bell's place to look for clues, and Bell claims nobody but him has a key. He gives his key to Holmes. Then he looks thoughtful.
Andre comes to the police station to talk to Bell. Andre cheerfully points out he's not allowed to talk about criminal activity, and Bell brings him up to speed with the events of the episode so far. And the distinctive boot prints that point to Bell could also have been made by the boots in the box of clothes Bell gave Andre when he got out of prison. He could even have copied his house key when he stayed at Bell's place. Andre is outraged. Things have been strained between them ever since Bell became a cop. Bell complains that Andre was in jail because he wouldn't roll on his friends. Andre leaves without denying being involved. Then he punches Bell in the face, and Bell has to stop everyone from arresting him. The middle of the police station is not really the place to punch your cop brother.
Holmes is frustrated at the lack of evidence in Bell's apartment. He asks Watson, "Can you think of any reason that Bell would have a lingerie catalog on which your head has superimposed on almost all of the models? He hasn't. But can you think of any reason he would?" That's fun. Holmes is still frustrated that Watson won't learn self-defense. She tells him she's not his apprentice; she's his sober companion. But Holmes tells her she isn't! Holmes learned that she isn't when he called his father last week. Which is good because that's what everyone assumed. He's been acting very sober lately to show her that if she wants to leave, she could, "But the most curious thing happened. You stayed." He feels she was staying for herself. He asks her to consider a proposal: "Stay on permanently. Not as my sober companion. As my companion." He wants to teach her, and she'll receive a stipend. He has "certain funds set aside." She's also relieved of any confidentiality requirements about his sobriety. He encourages her to discuss this decision with others. He wants her to be a partner. Jonny Lee Miller's really good in this scene -- he's radiating. He begins to leave, and then he says "I am better with you, Watson. I am sharper. More focused. Difficult to say why, exactly. Perhaps in time I'll solve that as well." Great scene.
Bell bangs on Andre's door. He can hear the television. He apologizes through the door. But the door's unlocked, and Andre's lying on the floor. He's been shot in the torso. The window is broken. Bell calls in to the police. But Andre isn't dead yet! He doesn't sound good, though. Andre adds, "Be advised the victim is my brother." And we see that Andre wrote, "WAS NOT MARCUS" in blood on the floor. Thanks, Andre! Nice dying message! Unless you're not dying.
Holmes investigates Andre's apartment. He finds it interesting that he didn't know Bell had a brother even after nosing through Bell's personal stuff. He's been staring at the bloody message for over five minutes. He doesn't think it's in code, but he thinks it's interesting that both attempts to frame Bell were foiled. Watson suggests that Andre could have been shot for unrelated reasons, what with his giant police file. Holmes points to a place outside the window where there will be an obvious boot print.
Bell tells Holmes he needs to be the one to tell Gregson. They're in the hospital, waiting for Andre's surgery. Watson says the suturing is a good sign. I guess if Andre's chances were low they wouldn't bother? Bell says Andre took two slugs in the back. And Bell cashed in a big favor to get Andre a chance at an early parole, and he refused to testify against his friends to get it. Andre wouldn't talk and served his full term. Watson realizes that Bell was the one who blew the whistle on the Curtis Bradshaw detail. He's a straight-shooter across the board. Holmes asks, "Did you earn the favor by informing on your boss or not?" He feels this is important because anyone from the old detail could have known, and this opens up the list of possible suspects. Bell says nobody knew he informed on his boss, but Holmes has a crazy theory: "Perhaps they found out!"
Officer Reyes comes into the police meeting room, where Gregson, Holmes and Watson are waiting for her. Gregson accuses her of all the misdeeds that have happened so far. Holmes explains that they looked at all the people on Hudson's detail. Hudson wrote her a letter of recommendation, which shows that they were close. And she's been going out with Detective Evan Carlisle of "the rat squad" for months, which could have led her to the information that Bell was the snitch. She could even have been the person who stole the heroin from the evidence locker. Hudson said Reyes didn't steal the drugs, but Holmes thinks he'd already decided to kill himself and didn't want to drag her down with him. Watson connects the dots between Bell dating her and her having a key to his apartment. Sure, that makes sense. Reyes starts to stomp out, but Holmes has some shoelace eyelets that were left over after she burned some boots.
They then bring up someone named Denny Vargas. She arrested him, but didn't turn in the untraceable guns he was alleged to have. Gregson says the ballistics results from these recent murders match Vargas's crimes. Holmes suggests that Reyes was stockpiling her own personal armory of untraceable guns. Reyes sits down and complains that Bell would never say anything to her face.
Hospital room. Andre figures Reyes is going to prison for life. Bell agrees. Andre says the worst thing any of his exes ever did to him was to cut the spokes on his bike. Bell apologizes for calling his brother a murderer. Andre says it's cool. Bell points out that he couldn't really see who shot him, but Andre knew it wasn't him anyway.
Holmes is rearranging the locks. Watson notes that it's by date of manufacturer, earliest to latest. I love the idea of a puzzle like that being set up in your own home. She tells him she likes to be paid on Thursdays, and she's willing to stay until she gets an apartment. And he has to keep going to meetings. Holmes, trying not to beam, says, "Congratulations on your new career, Watson." She smiles a little. Then she picks up a basketball and bounces it off his face: "Could have been a knife." Holmes smiles.
Follow Monty on Twitter at @monty_ashley and read his blog, Mysterious Exhortations.