Elementary (2012–…): Season 1, Episode 20 - Dead Man's Switch - full transcript

[BUZZING]

HOLMES: Close your mouth, Watson.
You'll catch a fly.

I didn't you had
one of those machines.

Only needle these arms see anymore.
I keep it for the occasional touch-up.

Well, wouldn't it be easier if someone
else did it, like an actual tattoo artist?

I am an actual tattoo artist.
I did lot of these myself.

- How'd you...?
- Ambidextrous.

Of course you are.

Can I interest you in some ink
of your own?

Syringe with a line through it
perhaps,

in honor of your former career
as a sober companion?

I think I'm good, thanks.

I wanted to plan something
for your anniversary.

You're gonna be one-year sober
in a few days.

They're gonna give you your one-year
chip at your next meeting.

It's a big deal, Sherlock.
You should be proud.

Been talking to Alfredo.

He's been hounding me about
my sober-versary for weeks now.

Of course, he has.
He's your sponsor.

Which is why
I have not had the heart to tell him

I have absolutely no intention
of accepting that chip.

And why wouldn't you accept it?

It is absurd to measure sobriety
in units of time.

It is a state of being.

One is either in it or out of it.
In my case, I am in it permanently.

Amassing a collection
of cheap plastic discs seems infantile.

Unless, of course,
I could trade them in for a prize.

A brood of sea monkeys, perhaps.

- Sherlock...
- You are an ex-sober-companion.

It is no longer your calling to nag me,
police me or reproach me.

If I require your opinion with regards
to my sobriety, I will ask for it.

[CELL PHONE RINGING]

You are right.

HOLMES:
Ha.

Alfredo, your ears
must have been burning.

Hope I'm not calling too early
but I'm with a friend.

I think he could use your help.

[CLASSICAL CELLO MUSIC
PLAYING INSIDE]

[DOORBELL RINGS]

Sherlock Holmes and Joan Watson.
We're here to see Ken Whitman.

Uh, my dad. He said someone was
coming by.

Come in.

HOLMES: You're quite good.
- Eva. Thanks.

Uh, Dad's in the den,
just down the hall.

I told you when I met you
that I had a great sponsor.

This is him.

The only one in the group
willing to take a chance

on a half-reformed ex-car thief.

Alfredo said you were in trouble.

Two years ago, Eva used a fake ID
to get into a club in the city.

A man named Brent Garvey
slipped something into her drink.

He took her to his apartment and...

The next morning,
she told me and her mom everything.

We took her to the police
and they found Garvey.

- She picked him out of a lineup.
- Brave girl.

After Garvey was charged,
two other victims came forward.

He ended up cutting a deal.
Pled guilty for a reduced sentence.

- Technically, it was over.
- But not for you and your family.

For Eva, it was hard.

She cut off contact with her friends.
Stopped playing.

Even tried to hurt herself.

We found her a therapist.
Things got better.

She said she might even be ready
for college next year.

And then a few months ago,
I got this in the mail.

It's a video of Eva with Brent Garvey
the night he...

[CLEARS THROAT]

"Mr. Whitman, you will transfer
$10,000 to the following account

or this video will be posted online
and released to the media.

Your daughter will be a star.

Do not go to the police,
do not attempt to identify me.

If I'm arrested or physically harmed
in any way,

I have a fail-safe in place,

an associate who will release
the video for me."

KEN:
Eva had come such a long way.

I didn't wanna see
her get hurt again.

So you paid the $10,000.

KEN:
I didn't even tell my wife. I just did it.

But then, a few weeks later...

They asked for more money.

I paid again.

The third demand came
a few days ago.

I finally lost it.

Came close to falling off the wagon.

My sponsor was out of town
so I reached out to Alfredo.

I just needed to talk to someone.

But then he told me about you.

He said you might be able to help?

I have a particular disdain
for blackmailers.

They are, in some respects,

more despicable to me
than even murderers.

Miss Watson and I will find the person
who's been targeting you.

We will also find their associate.

Then we will destroy
every trace of this vile recording.

WATSON:
You think he's the blackmailer.

My tech expert in London traced
the account number on the note

to that man and this address.

Charles Augustus Milverton.

WATSON:
Well, he certainly looks the part.

I'm just surprised
how easy it was to find him.

He's obviously confident
in the protection

that his fail-safe affords him.

I'll assess the threat he poses

and attempt to divine the identity
of his accomplice.

Once both individuals
are known to us,

we will destroy their blackmail troves
simultaneously.

[CAT GRUMBLES]

HOLMES [OVER RADIO]:
Another reason to dislike Milverton.

He keeps cats.

Well, he should get himself a real pet,
like a beehive.

- You see anything?
- Laptop.

He could have used it to burn
the DVD that he sent.

[CAT CONTINUES GRUMBLING]

WATSON:
What's happening?

Ken Whitman said the man
who assaulted his daughter

took two other teenaged victims
as well,

Tracy Bender and Karen Pistone.

There are videos of them here
as well.

You think he's blackmailing
their parents?

HOLMES: Them. Others.
- Others?

HOLMES: It would seem Mr. Milverton
is a professional blackmailer.

I'd estimate that his victims
number in the dozens.

He's back. He must have just gone
to get some groceries.

He's heading for the door.

[DOOR OPENS]

You could have specified back door,
Watson.

WATSON: What are you talking
about? He's coming through the front.

[DOOR OPENS]

[CAT MEOWS]

[GUN COCKS]

Please.

[CAT SCREECHES]

[GROANING]

[MILVERTON GRUNTS]

Holmes. What are you doing here?

I'd like you to take a look
at something.

Then I'd like you to join me
in the conference room.

You want to tell me why you asked me
to look at what appears to be

the brutal rape of a teenage girl?

I thought it was important
you understand what was at stake.

The man in that video
is Brent Garvey.

He was arrested in New Jersey
several years ago

and convicted of sexually assaulting
three young women,

Eva Whitman, Tracy Bender,
Karen Pistone.

Eva Whitman's father received
that DVD in the mail, along with a note

which demanded that he pay $10,000
or see it released on the Internet.

Now, I identified the blackmailer
earlier this evening.

I went to his home and I realized
that he had sent similar threats

to the parents of Miss Bender
and Miss Pistone.

So you're here to turn over
the evidence.

It's possible that I am here
to report a murder.

Or perhaps I'm just here
to seek the counsel

of an investigator
that I respect and admire.

Hypothetically, the blackmailer
was killed in his home tonight.

Hypothetically, I saw it happen.

Holmes,

if you know anything
about a murder,

you gotta report it.

There will be consequences.

The hypothetical blackmailer
had a hypothetical accomplice.

That accomplice, upon learning
of his partner's death,

would release that video,
and others, into the world.

That is, of course, if the accomplice
learns of his partner's death.

So you wanna keep it a secret.

It would give a motivated investigator
enough time to identify the accomplice,

prevent him from enacting any
offending fail-safes.

Obviously, you'd wanna find
the accomplice more than the killer

but what if the killer is
the accomplice?

Then all roads lead to Mecca.

Blackmailer is foiled
and a killer is caught.

All in one fell swoop.

You have daughters,
do you not, captain?

WATSON: So?
- Captain Gregson sees the wisdom

in keeping Milverton's death
a secret for now.

I've been listening to the scanner
since I got back.

There are no reports
of gunfire or break-ins

in Milverton's neighborhood.

Did you reach Alfredo?

He said he would stay there
as long as we needed.

Let us know if anyone came by.

What about the materials I took
from the dead man's desk?

Well, they're bills mostly.
And some receipts.

I did find this.
I think it's some sort of ledger.

Hmm. Records of payoffs
from Milverton's victims probably.

How are you doing?

You saw someone get murdered
tonight.

You said you never got a clean look
at the shooter.

Large man, approximately 6 foot 2,
100 kilograms.

His features were obscured
by a mask,

his scent by the cat urine
and kitty litter in Milverton's home.

Even if I had reported the crime,
I would not have had much to offer.

It's hard not to imagine that the killer

was one of the people
Milverton was blackmailing.

But the captain raised the possibility
that it was his accomplice.

Either way,
our goal remains the same.

Find the fail-safe before
he can release any salacious material.

Well, if the killer was
one of Milverton's victims,

why wouldn't he be worried
about the fail-safe kicking in?

It's possible that he solved
whatever problem

Milverton was taking advantage of.

The fail-safe would mean
nothing to him.

Unfortunately, it still means a
great deal to Milverton's other victims.

The parents of the three young women
raped by Brent Garvey, for example.

- I've arranged to pay him a visit.
- Garvey?

What if Garvey was the accomplice

Milverton entrusted his fail-safe
protocols with?

- He's in prison. How could he...?
- All he would need is

access to a smartphone
or a computer.

Neither, I'm sorry to say,
is impossible to come by in lockup.

If he is not the accomplice,
perhaps he can tell us who is.

Mr. Garvey.

I heard the victimizers of children
had a rough time in prison.

It's really nice to see
that it's not just a rumor.

- Who are you?
- I'm Holmes, this is Watson.

We consult
for the New York Police Department.

If this is about the guys
who jumped me,

I gave their names to the guards.

We're here to talk to you
about Charles Milverton.

Before you say you've never heard
of him, be advised

we come fresh from a conversation
with your warden.

We know that he paid you a visit here
several months ago.

Yeah.

He's friends with my dad.
He came to see how I was doing.

Is that why you gave him
your collection of rape tapes?

I don't know
what you're talking about.

I've seen the tapes, Garvey.
I have one in my possession.

I'm very seriously considering
telling your friends here

about them before I leave today.

Maybe they won't wait to find you
in the yard next time.

Maybe they'll pay you a visit
in your sickbed.

WATSON: We know
you gave Milverton the tapes.

We just want to know
if you have access

to any of his
other blackmail materials.

- Other materials?
- Milverton had an accomplice.

Someone who would put forth
his materials

in the event of his untimely death
or incarceration.

The fail-safe. Yeah. Yeah, I know.

He told me all about him
when he came to see me.

He said if I went to the police

and I told them
he was blackmailing me,

his partner would release the tapes.

- Blackmailing you?
- I didn't give him the tapes.

I had them in a storage unit.

When I got arrested,
I couldn't keep up with the payments.

The contents went into auction.
Milverton put in the highest bid.

Said he bought old units all the time.
Got a lot of dirt that way.

Let me guess.
You have a parole hearing coming up?

I'm sorry, but I can't help you.
I'm not in on it with these guys.

I'm just another victim.

So, what's the verdict on Garvey?

Well, as far as rapists go,
it would appear he's an honest one.

After Milverton's initial visit to him
in prison, he sent...

He sent a series of e-mails
to his parents, begging for loans.

The dates of those e-mails correspond
to payments made

in Milverton's ledger.

So Milverton was blackmailing Garvey,
Garvey was paying.

We're gonna tell the police
about the videos

before his parole hearing, right?

We will discuss the matter
with the girls' parents

at the appropriate time.
The decision will and should be theirs.

In the meantime,
we will stay the course

and attempt to identify
Milverton's accessory.

Before he finds out
that Milverton is dead. Got it.

I found something in his ledger.

He makes regular outgoing
payments to someone

with the code name HENRY8.

You think that's the accomplice?

Payments are consistently 10 percent
of whatever Milverton has coming in.

Seems like a reasonable rate
for a blackmailer's assistant.

[CELL PHONE BEEPS]

Oh.

That's Alfredo.
Someone's at Milverton's door.

He's gone.

Right after I texted you,
he hopped into a cab.

Tried to tail him
but I lost him in traffic.

Description?

Tall, 6 feet maybe,
fat, gray hair, mustache.

Suit and cowboy boots. It's weird.
I mean, something about him.

Something like what?

- He seemed familiar, like I knew him.
- Any idea from where?

I don't know.
Maybe I saw him at a meeting

or maybe I stole his car
back in the day.

- He was wearing cowboy boots.
- Yeah.

What matters is
that your eyes beheld him.

Which means his image
was transmitted

to your posterior parietal cortex.

So once we regress you,

you'll remember every detail,
including where you know him from.

- Re-what me?
- Regress you.

Normally, we would use a sensory
deprivation chamber.

But in the absence of that...

- You want me to get in there?
- Yeah.

- You grew up in New York?
- Well, yeah.

- You watch late-night TV?
- Uh, of course.

Is this the guy you saw?

Involved in an automobile accident?
Well, there's a new sheriff in town.

- Me, Duke Landers, Esquire.
ALFREDO: That's him.

"Come on down
and see Sheriff Duke."

If you're looking forjustice
and money,

come on down
and see Sheriff Duke.

Charles Milverton.

Sorry, name doesn't ring a bell.

That's funny, sheriff,
because you were seen

knocking on his door
in Staten Island this morning.

- Can you prove that?
- No.

Nor can we prove
that Milverton was your client.

Or that he left certain materials
with you

and told you to disperse them
should certain fates befall him.

Say this Milverton guy is a client.

The law would proscribe me from
discussing him with you in any way.

So now if you'll excuse me.

"Duke Landers, Esquire."

I take it the title refers
to your law license

as opposed to your birthright
as the eldest son of a knight.

What are you doing?

Yeah. Thought so.
This paper is 24-pound stock

as opposed to the 80 pound
favored by most institutions.

Watson, I added several tomes
on handwriting analysis

to your reading list the other week.

If you've properly absorbed them,

you'll find the signatures of both
the dean and the board president

most interesting.

WATSON:
Florence Costello and Martin Faber.

They have the same
D'Nealian capital F's.

That's because
they were written by one person

attempting to mimic
two different styles.

The certificate from
the Unified Court System looks dodgy.

I should give them a call,
see if you're licensed.

I know him, okay?

I know Charles Milverton.
But he's not my client.

If anything, you could say
that I was a client of his.

Explain.

A few years ago,
I got him off a DWI charge.

He said if any sensitive information
came across my desk

that he could use it to make
some money for both of us.

- Just so we're clear, that's all I did.
- That's all.

Hey, I'm not the one that was
supposed to disperse materials

if something happened to Charles.
That was someone else.

You're a liar who lies.

Charles never told me his name
but I know he's out there.

Charles used to call him his fail-safe.

We'll need everything you have on
Milverton. And I do mean everything.

WATSON:
Lots of evidence that Duke Landers

is even scummier than we thought,

but nothing helpful
on Milverton's accomplice.

How are you doing with the, um?

Are those sobriety chips?

I ordered a set online yesterday,
had them shipped overnight.

Wanted to see what all the fuss
was about.

Colors are a bit garish.

More appropriate to a successful
first year as a Vegas showgirl.

Have you been playing quarters
with these?

I didn't drink anything, Watson,
I just wanted to see them bounce.

- I don't believe you.
- Smell my breath.

Not talking about drinking,
I'm talking about what you said about

- not weighing in on your sobriety.
- What?

Listen, if you want to talk about your
feelings about your one-year chip,

I'm here.

You were asking if I'd found anything.
The answer is maybe.

Two years ago, Charles Milverton
referred a client to the sheriff.

His name was Abraham Zelner,
a morbidly obese man

who wanted to sue an airline
for removing him from a flight.

Zelner was the only client
Milverton referred.

Earlier, we were theorizing that
HENRY8 was Milverton's accomplice.

Henry Vlll, as I'm sure you're aware,

was the fattest monarch
in British history.

So you think Zelner
was his accomplice

and that Milverton gave
him that code name

because he was heavyset?

Orson Welles was heavyset.

Abraham Zelner could pull
small moons out of orbit.

[CELL PHONE RINGS]

What is the first thing that comes
to mind when I say Henry Vlll?

GREGSON [OVER PHONE]:
Herman's Hermits? Listen.

Call came in a little while ago from a
night watchman at a construction site.

He saw some, uh,
suspicious activity.

The responding officers found a perp
trying to dump a corpse

into some wet cement
in the building's foundation.

Victim was shot three times
in the chest.

The perp claimed he did it
because he was being blackmailed.

Some hypothetical bells
obviously went off.

HOLMES: Was the victim's name,
perchance, Milverton?

First name Charles.

Culprit didn't by any chance confess
to being his accomplice, did he?

GREGSON:
No. His name is Anthony Pistone.

His daughter is Karen Pistone,
Brent Garvey's second victim.

- Yes. He was being blackmailed too.
GREGSON: Yeah.

And his attorney's already spinning
his story to the media.

So I'm afraid the news
that Charles Milverton is dead is

officially out.

[CHIPS CLATTER]

I got the first blackmail note

nine months ago.

It came with a DVD.

Hearing about it
when it first happened,

that was nothing compared
to seeing it.

I swear, if I could have got my hands
on Garvey...

ATTORNEY:
Anthony, let's try to stay on topic.

PISTONE:
I did what I had to do.

I paid.

It wasn't easy.

My brother and I have
a contracting business.

Work was slow.

But no way was I gonna let
that tape get out.

I thought that would be the end of it.

I was wrong.

A few weeks later I get an e-mail.

Same threat, same demand.

GREGSON: Now, how did you find
Charles Milverton?

He e-mailed me again last week.

Asked for more money.

I wrote him back and said I had it,
but it was in cash.

Said I'd borrowed it from a friend
who runs numbers.

Couldn't deposit it in a bank
without raising a red flag.

I left an envelope
under a park bench.

When he came to pick it up,
I followed him home.

A few nights later I broke in through
his back door, shot him.

Grabbed his body and his laptop
and took off.

GREGSON: Where's the laptop now?
PISTONE: Smashed.

I stomped on it and tossed it
in some dumpster.

I understand there was some
postmortem damage done

to the victim's face.

When your guys came at me tonight,

when I, uh, realized
I couldn't get away,

I looked down at Milverton,

and it was like
he was looking back at me.

Like he was laughing.

I snapped.

Lifted my boot up and just...

He's got enough face left
for an open casket.

That's more than he deserves.

That's the guy you saw
the other night.

The man I saw was wearing a mask
but the height and weight are correct.

And usually I feel so good
when we've got a killer dead to rights.

The man is an idiot.

He's put all of Milverton's victims,
including his own daughter, at risk.

For all we know, Internet is
already flooded with their secrets.

I'm not saying I agree with what he did.
I'm saying I sympathize.

The guy plays his cards right,

the DA won't ask for more
than manslaughter in the first,

- he'll be out in three and a half years.
- Yeah.

I went to that address you gave me.
The one for the guy working

with the dead blackmailer,
Abraham Zelner?

Tell me you have him in custody.

The address wasn't a residence,
it was a butcher shop in Chinatown.

It gets worse. Can't find any record
of the guy in the NCIC

- or the DMV database.
- None?

Sorry. I know you thought
it was a lead

but as far as I can tell,
the name's a fake.

[CELL PHONE RINGING]

Brownstone is on fire,
my bees have escaped,

and there is a giant comet
headed for Manhattan.

WATSON: Excuse me?
- The way the evening is going,

I thought you could only be calling
with more good news.

WATSON:
I don't know, but Alfredo was here

and he thought we should know
that his sponsor

just got a new blackmail demand
from Charles Milverton.

WATSON:
What do you think it means?

HENRY8.

You think his accomplice sent it?

As Milverton's fail-safe, he would be
privy to all aspects of the operation.

He possesses the same prurient
material that Milverton did.

But instead of exposing it
as he's supposed to...

He's using it
to take over the business.

Milverton's murder has been all over
the news for hours now.

HENRY8 knows but doesn't care.

Hmm. I can't recall the last time

I was so thankful for the essential
avarice of the human condition.

- You're happy about this?
- Milverton's plan has backfired.

His fail-safe has shirked the duties
for which he was hired.

Which means that, for the moment,

the secrets of Milverton's blackmail
targets are safe.

Abraham Zelner, as it turns out,
was a pseudonym.

But I still think that the fat man
represented by Duke Landers

is Milverton's accomplice.

You're gonna open up
Landers' files again.

Only lead we have at the moment,
so, yes.

But not before tea.
It's gonna be a long night.

Thank you, Alfredo.
You've been most helpful.

ALFREDO:
Hey.

Want to, uh, check in with you
about tomorrow before I go.

We're going to a meeting.
You're getting your chip.

Yeah.

About that. Um,
tomorrow's not really good for me.

Well, you're working. I get it.

But your day is your day, man.
I promise it'll only take a few minutes.

Look, Alfredo, it's not the case,
it's the chip.

I can't accept it.

I know that to most addicts,
it's a treasured token.

It's a very tangible representation
of their hard work and determination

but I'm not most addicts.

To me, it does not commemorate
a period of success

but, rather, the end of a period
of great failure.

I failed when I abused drugs

and I would really rather not
be reminded of that fact.

ALFREDO:
I'm sorry if that's how you see it.

You know what I wish you got?

Milestones like this one,

they're yours
but they're not about you.

They're about all the people
who haven't got there yet.

They see you do it and they think,
why can't I?

You know, I know it's hard

but one of these days,
you gotta get over yourself.

[DOOR OPENS THEN CLOSES]

[HOLMES CLEARS THROAT]

I believe I've uncovered
the real identity of HENRY8.

It all starts with the corpulent
Abraham Zelner.

It was an assumed identity,

used for the expressed purpose
of an obesity discrimination lawsuit.

When the airline that "Zelner" sued

made its first lowball offer
of settlement, he accepted.

Probably because he knew
that his false identity

would not stand up to scrutiny.

This started me thinking.
What if he'd done it before?

- So you think he sued other airlines?
- Airlines, theaters, restaurants.

To the professional fat man,
these businesses are

a veritable deep-fried buffet
of nuisance lawsuits.

Each one with a lucrative stream
of income.

I delved into the records of similar
lawsuits filed on the east coast

and focused only on those that
resulted in quick "go away" payoffs.

Do you notice anything unusual about
the names of these plaintiffs?

Abraham Zelner, Brad Yates,
Cory Xavier, Declan Winchell.

The initials.

A-Z, B-Y, C-X, D-W.

They represent a pattern.

First name starts with an A
and moves forward,

the last names starts with Z
and moves backward.

I believe they were all assumed
by one man.

The same man that Charles Milverton
refers to in his ledger as HENRY8.

That's great but it still doesn't
tell us the real name.

Nope. But it did help me
find photographs

of the plaintiffs
in two of the nuisance suits.

One appeared in a Queens newspaper
regarding the complaint

of an Ethan Varner
against a tanning salon

whose beds could not accommodate
his prodigious girth.

Four years ago,
the rotund Stuart Bloom

sued a Cineplex in Dover, Delaware
for excessively small seats.

He received a $50,000 payoff.

WATSON:
This is the same man.

Stuart Bloom does not match
the pattern.

It does not because I believe
it was his first lawsuit.

You think that's his real name?

Abraham Zelner may not have
a DMV record

but Stuart Bloom
most certainly does.

He lives in Staten Island.

HOLMES:
Mr. Bloom?

It's so dark in here.

What is it?

It's cat litter.

I don't think this was put down
for cats.

I think it was put down
to absorb odors.

[WATSON COUGHS]

Very strong odors.

[FLIES BUZZING]

Captain Gregson, meet Stuart Bloom,
a.k.a. HENRY8,

a.k.a. Charles Milverton's
accomplice.

Looks like he's been here
about a week.

Note the bruise pattern on his chest.

GREGSON:
Is that a boot print?

HOLMES: Obviously the killer
caught him unaware

as he drove his head
beneath the water.

The body was too immense to remove
so rather than dismember him,

Milverton left behind
a decade's worth of cat litter

to cover the stench
of his decomposition.

Wait a minute.
You think Milverton did this?

Why not Anthony Pistone?
He killed Milverton.

He would have motive
to kill Bloom too, no?

The bruise on Bloom's chest
suggests a shoe size

between a 6 and an 8.

HOLMES:
Milverton was a 7.

Mr. Pistone a 12.

Also, the cat litter spread about
all over the place.

The same one that Milverton has
in his home.

I recognize the scent quite vividly.

We think if you run the credit cards,

you'll find that he purchased
a large amount of the stuff

a couple weeks ago.

Any idea why Milverton
would kill his partner in crime?

Bloom wanted a raise?

I think the more pressing question,
in my humble opinion, is this.

If Mr. Bloom hasn't taken over
the blackmailing business

then who has, hmm?

Oh, this is a surprise.

I thought you would have covered
this wall with evidence by now.

I did. I took it down.

Put it back up again.
Took it down again.

WATSON:
Not helpful, I take it?

I've been through it all
and so have you.

I need new data to move forward.

I will take another look at it
before I go to bed.

You were right about the sobriety chips
that I ordered.

I was trying to get a rise.

I was trying to spark a conversation.

I told Alfredo that I could not accept
my one-year chip

because it would conjure memories
of a period of failure in my life.

That's not true.

I cannot accept my one-year chip
on my one-year anniversary

because it's not my anniversary.

Are you saying you relapsed?

It was a while ago.
It was before I met you.

The day after I agreed to enter
into rehab, as a matter of fact.

I had realized
that my father was right.

I needed to repair myself.

So I disposed of my drugs
and I destroyed my paraphernalia.

The next day, I entered Hemdale.

The day after that, I got sick.

And, yeah, very sick.

So I devised a way to leave
without being detected.

I got what I needed, returned.

Yeah.

And that was the last time
I took drugs.

Not the day before.

Sherlock, I understand
why you're upset.

But we're talking about
the difference of one day.

It does not change what you did
in the 364 that followed.

I decided to stop using drugs, yes?

I decided, me.

And then 24 hours later...

It's just, I mean,
it sounds like a mere detail,

but I'm a man of details
and it matters to me.

Now, I know that I need to, uh,
tell Alfredo, but it's proving difficult.

And it just didn't seem right
to tell him before you.

[COMPUTER BEEPING]

Oh.

- What is it?
- Charles Milverton's autopsy report,

which I would happily consider
new data

were it not for the fact that I was there
when he was gunned down.

WATSON:
Hmm.

What?

When you said that Anthony Pistone
stomped on Milverton's face,

I assumed it was all over,

but according to this,
there's just damage to one side.

- And they're gone.
- What are?

His scars.
There was patches of them here.

Very distinctive.

Almost as though
Pistone has targeted them.

Mr. Pistone, such a pleasure
to see you again.

I was so glad to hear
that you made bail.

Thanks.

My attorney said you had some more
questions for me before I go home.

Yeah, remind us,
when did you first identify

Charles Milverton
as your blackmailer?

A few nights ago, like I told you.

We now have reason to believe that
you actually crossed paths before that.

Charles Milverton was savagely
beaten four months ago.

He had to go to an ER.

He said he was mugged,

which is why the responding
detectives took photographs,

but we think he lied.

He gave varying descriptions
of his mugger to the police.

The doctor who treated him
chalked that up to concussion

but we think it was more than that.
That he couldn't tell the real story.

Which was that you found him
and beat him

until he surprised you with an offer
that you could not refuse,

a piece of his blackmailing business.

See these gashes, left temple?

Now, these wounds
bear a striking resemblance

to the emblem on your ring.

Milverton was left with these scars.
You knew this.

So when the police closed in on you
two nights ago,

you trampled his face
in an effort to obscure them.

You wanna guess
how many of these are out there?

Hmm. It's interesting that you failed
to mention the other night

that Karen is not your daughter
but your stepdaughter.

According to your neighbors,
you two fight a lot.

You found Milverton months ago.

You intended to punish him

but he offered you a piece of his
operation in exchange for his life.

You needed the money.
You took him up on his offer.

Charles now had two partners,
his fail-safe, Stuart Bloom, and you.

Someone had to go.

Milverton murdered Bloom.

Maybe you put him up to it,
maybe he did it of his own volition.

Either way, I suspect a 50-50 split
was not enough for you.

These are theories, captain.
You're gonna need proof.

I agree.

Which is why we conducted
a thorough search

of your client's business and home
this morning.

We found this laptop at his office.

It's Milverton's.

You told me you smashed it,
threw it in a Dumpster.

Funny thing is, we didn't find it
in your desk but in your brother's.

He's already confessed
to being your partner,

the Stuart Bloom
to your Charles Milverton.

He was the one who sent
Ken Whitman the demand for money

when you were in police custody
the other day.

So it looks like you'll be spending
a few more decades in prison

than you thought.

ALFREDO:
Hey.

Change your mind?

HOLMES: I have not.
- What are you doing here?

You okay?

There's something
I'd like to discuss with you.

[TATTOO NEEDLE BUZZING]

Hey, I didn't hear you come in.

You know me, stealthy as a shadow.

How'd it go with Alfredo?

Liberating, as you predicted.

I'm lucky to have him.

Look at the time.
Happy real anniversary.

Regardless of the actual start date
of my sobriety,

I still have no interest
in public celebrations,

speeches, encouragements

or the bestowing of chips.

I know.

Found it at a secondhand store.

It's dark. It's not just for anyone
but I thought it was very you.

I just wanted to let you know
that I was thinking of you.