Elementary (2012–…): Season 1, Episode 8 - The Long Fuse - full transcript

MAN 1 [ON TV]:
The gate is down. It's a fantastic start

for Dennis Bailey and Liam Sneed.

MAN 2:
The lioness lacks endurance

and can only run at top speed
for 100 yards.

Don't you ever get tired
of this memory game?

- You do it every morning.
- The mind is a muscle, Watson.

It needs to be exercised regularly,
lest it turn flabby.

Most people just read a book.

I am reading a book.

Well, do you mind turning it off
for a minute?

I wanna finish our conversation
from last night.

Okay, I meant all of them.

Absorbing and cataloging several
pieces of information at the same time

is the whole point. Talk away.

Okay, well then, I want us to get
more serious about finding a sponsor.

Why do I need a sponsor
when I have a companion?

Because you only have me
for a few more weeks.

A sponsor is permanent.

Someone who's struggled
with their own addictions

and is gonna offer you lifelong support
and advice, which is what you need.

"The drugs that I took
seemed to light up my brain.

Suddenly I realized the power I held,
the power to rule,

to make the world grovel at my feet."

[REWINDS VIDEO]

The drugs I took
seemed to light up my brain.

Suddenly I realized the power I held,
the power to rule,

to make the world grovel at my feet.

Well, I know someone
who might be a good fit for you.

I've worked with him before.
Let's have coffee with him, okay?

If I needed a sponsor,
that would sound delightful.

I don't. Just like I didn't need
a sober companion.

And you didn't need rehab
and you didn't need drug counseling

and you didn't need any help
of any kind, I know.

It's just coffee.

- Sherlock.
- Fine, I'll go.

Provided I can get some peace
and quiet around here.

[TELEVISIONS CHATTERING]

We completely understand,
Mr. McKeon. Fluid layout.

No, we agree.

Uh, grid-based design,
it's gone the way of the dinosaur.

Will do.

All right. Take care.

Our favorite client's
still wringing his hands?

Guy just does not get web design.

Of course, he's like 45 or something.

[BEEPING]

Is that you?

No.

I think it's coming from inside the vent.

[BEEPING CONTINUES]

Yeah. Repair guy must have dropped
his phone or something.

It's gonna make us crazy.

I'll call maintenance.

[BEEPING]

[POWERING UP]

[POLICE RADIO CHATTERING]

The blast detonated
in the southeast corner of the office

around 9:15 this morning.

Killed two people,

Dave Preston and Royce Maltz,
and injured 11 more.

Chemical composition of the device?

Bomb squad's working on it.

All they know for sure is that the bomb
was stashed in that air vent.

Both of the victims were employees
of this company?

Parabolic Web Industries.

They design and maintain
corporate websites.

We're looking into whether anybody
had beef with the firm.

OFFICER: Captain? Detective Bell?
Got a minute?

GREGSON:
Sure.

OFFICER:
Please watch your step there too.

I imagine you won't miss this
when you're gone.

In a few weeks,
you'll be with a new client.

No more crime scenes,
no more death and destruction.

Most dangerous place you'll go
is a support-group meeting

where they run out of coffee.

Firstly, I don't have a next client,

and secondly, you're right,
I'm not gonna miss seeing this stuff.

You see this? That's packing paper.

It's used to fill the gap between the fuel
and the blast cap on a pipe bomb.

When the bomb detonates,
this paper is ejected through the barrel

before it has time to fully combust.

Now, weapons-grade munition
uses pulp filler, not newspaper.

Bomb Squad said the same thing.

We're already running a check
on recent commercial burglaries

to see if anyone's missing any
flammable chemicals or gunpowder.

- You got something?
- Motherboard.

BELL: You know this is
a computer company, right?

Well, that's just it, detective.

This is not from a computer.
It's from a pager.

Note the presence of a receiver
but the absence of a transmitter.

So, what's it doing here? Hmm?

Pre-explosion, this place looked
like the deck of a starship.

It's unlikely any of the firm's employees
would use technology

as antiquated as a pager.

You're saying it's part of the bomb?

I'm saying this may be
the bomb's detonator.

The good news is,
if it's not too badly damaged,

you'll be able to trace the account.

I'll get this to Tech Assist right away.

I'll let you know
when we hear something.

If the motherboard is still functional,

how long do you think it's gonna take
the police to get a number?

Two, maybe three hours. Why?

WATSON:
He'll be a great sponsor for you,

and he works on the floor
of the stock exchange.

Good thinking, Watson.
You know how much I enjoy bankers.

Glad to see you've been paying
attention over the last few weeks.

Actually,
he's an officer with the SEC.

So he spends his days
keeping bankers in line.

He also spent four years
at the London School of Economics,

so he knows
your old stomping grounds.

You think I'd just pick any name
out of a hat?

Oh, there he is. Hey, Adrian.

- Hi.
- Hi.

WATSON: Adrian, Sherlock.
- Pleasure.

Well, you guys talk.
I'll be over there when you're ready.

A hypothetical.
I call you in the middle of the night,

I tell you I'm thinking of using again,
and that if I don't, I might die.

How do you respond?

Well, Sherlock,
I think I'd start by reminding you,

you gotta take it one day at a time,
and that every clean day is a victory.

I call you and tell you
that an enemy has poisoned me

with a powerful neuroleptic agent.

The only antidote is a healthy dose
of diphenhydramine,

of which I have plenty.
Do you advise me to take it?

- Diphenhy...?
- Diphenhydramine.

Oh.

You find poisoning humorous?

No, of course not. I just...

The diphenhydramine,
Adrian, do I take it?

If it's gonna save your life,
then, yeah, course you do.

That's your idea of a good fit,
seriously?

I told you,
he's one of the best sponsors I know.

Peter Platitude?
I was waiting for him to hold my hand

so we could recite
the Serenity Prayer.

If you wanna hear something
other than platitudes,

try listening to the guy
for more than two minutes.

The man encouraged me to take
diphenhydramine, Watson. A deliriant.

The Republic of Zambia recently
classified that a controlled substance.

Now, what kind of a sponsor would
allow his sponsee to risk their sobriety

over a simple case
of neuroleptic poisoning?

Okay, you think I don't know there's
no right answer to that question?

You don't want Adrian? Okay.
This is a process.

We can look for other candidates
at group tonight.

But know this, we are gonna find you
a sponsor before my stint is up, okay?

[CELL PHONE RINGING]

- Ha. Captain.
- That motherboard you found,

Bomb Squad confirmed
it was part of the device, so touch?.

The pager it was part of was prepaid,
so there was no subscriber info,

but luckily, the Tech Assist
was able to pull a number off it.

And the same phone called the pager
three times this morning,

and each call was within seconds
of the bomb going off.

Were you able to trace the number?

Yeah, to a plumber named
Rennie Jacobs from Queens.

And get this,
he just did a six-year stretch

for burning down his apartment
in an insurance-fraud scheme.

Any particular reason he'd want
to depredate that web-design firm?

No clue, but if you wanna see him
live and in person, he just got here.

I was just trying to call in
a breakfast-sandwich order, that's it.

Three times you called that pager,
Mr. Jacobs.

Three times.

You said the pager number
was 555-0164, right?

212 area code?

I was trying to call Miracle Deli
on 113th.

Their number's off by one digit,
0165.

I must've misdialled,

because when they didn't answer,
I hit redial. Twice.

[LINE RINGING]

MAN [ON PHONE]:
Miracle Deli. Pickup or delivery?

Hmm. He's telling the truth about
the numbers being off by a single digit.

Yeah, we know.

Coincidence bugs me,
but not enough to cut him loose.

BELL: A bomb goes off
in downtown Manhattan...

GREGSON: I gotta step out.
Bomb Squad wants to brief me.

BELL: Our guys found a pager in the
rubble that they say was the detonator,

so we traced the number that calls...

WATSON:
You don't look convinced.

Bomb building is a dangerous venture.

It requires patience, precision,
attention to detail.

Mr. Jacobs' wristwatch
is nine minutes slow

and his fly is three-quarters down.

That doesn't scream
"detail-oriented."

Ted Kaczynski looked like a hobo
puked another hobo.

He managed to hurt
plenty of people.

BELL: Trying to order a sandwich.
- And point taken.

BELL:
Do you buy a story like that?

BENNETT: This is our power source.
- Yeah.

It was lying on the floor.

GREGSON:
Can I help you?

This is the, uh, bomb's power source,
I presume.

Six-volt.

Very interesting company,
PrimSource Battery.

Founded in 1888 by British ex-pat

and purveyor of mechanical novelties
Hubert Primler.

They switched to making batteries
full time in 1907,

each one stamped with the company's
now iconic rising-sun logo.

The logo remained unchanged
until 2008,

when a small oak tree was added

to commemorate
the company's centenary. Hmm.

Yet this one has no oak tree.

That means that battery
is more than four years old.

Odd, isn't it?

Go to all that trouble
building an elaborate explosive device,

and then power it with an old
and potentially unreliable battery.

Odd, yes, but not impossible.

Holmes. Holmes,
I've only got a few minutes here

to pick Bennett's brain before
I have to stand in front of 20 cameras

to explain
what happened this morning.

- What about that?
- What about what?

BENNETT: It's the president.
- Wrong. It's the senator.

- Captain...
- Senator Obama.

Not President Obama. You can tell
from the lack of gray in his hair.

He's right.

I can make out a date on this one.
October 13th, 2008.

So, what are you saying?

That battery is four years old.

These shreds of newspaper
are four years old.

The bomb that exploded this morning
was four years old.

Why would the suspect build a bomb
and sit on it for four years?

He wouldn't have. And in Rennie
Jacobs's case, he couldn't have.

He was in prison four years ago.

I think he was telling the truth

when he said
he dialed the wrong number.

We have the man
who set it off accidentally in 2012.

Now we just need the man
who intended to set it off in 2008.

You sure he's not the one
who built the bomb?

Sure? No.
Reasonably certain? Yeah.

The N.Y.P.D. Can continue
to poke and prod him,

in the meantime, you and I can
push forward on this, our new front.

- It is a lovely front.
- Hmm.

Vanowen Strategic Communications.

Public-relations consultancy
founded in 1994

by Harrington School of Business
alumna Heather Vanowen.

The firm is particularly adept at solving
image crises of the corporate variety,

making them one-stop shopping
for many of the Fortune 500.

Spin doctors of highest order,

and former tenants
of the midtown offices

ravaged by a homemade bomb
this morning.

They occupied the space
until December, 2008.

Now, if I'm right and the bomb
was planted that October,

this company, or one of its employees,
may have been the intended target.

VANOWEN:
Mr. Holmes?

Heather Vanowen.
This is Earl Wheeler, my CFO.

We were told
you work with the police.

I'm their consultant.
This is Miss Watson.

She is my
consultant-slash-housekeep.

So how can we help you today?

Well, you can start by telling us

who may have wanted
to blow you up in 2008.

I'm stunned. I saw the story
on the news this morning.

I knew that was our old office space,

but I never would've guessed that
that bomb was meant for us.

So you honestly think it was
just sitting there this whole time?

The police think it was tucked
into an air vent.

If that part of the building's climate
control system never needed repair,

and judging by this morning's events,
it didn't,

it could have gone undiscovered
indefinitely.

Okay, but why this morning?

Why'd it go off after all this time?

Bomb was detonated by a pager.

In 2008, the company
that made that pager

had no signal towers
within 42 blocks of your old offices.

In 2010, they erected a new tower
a mere three blocks away.

So the bomb didn't detonate in 2008
because the call couldn't go through.

The question is, who built the device,

and what may they have had
against your company?

I'm sure that we've made our fair share
of enemies along the way,

but, uh, someone
who would build a bomb?

The ELM.

The Earth Liberty Militia.

We got some threatening letters
from them in 2008.

They're an ecoterrorist group, right?

They've bombed other companies
over the years.

What would an ecoterrorist group have
against a PR firm?

Our clients.

We work with some
of the major energy conglomerates.

Occasionally, we have to help them
smooth over their image after mishaps.

Two hundred million gallons of oil
spilling into the Gulf, for example?

WHEELER: The ELM sent us
seven letters in 2008.

I think we have copies of them in
our records room. Wanna take a look?

We would.

Effluvium, fussbudget, Cairo.

Nine across, 14 down, 32 down.

I have a sort of thing for puzzles.

WOMAN: When I first tried
getting clean, I started drinking.

Before long, I realized that I had
swapped one addiction for another.

[WHISPERING]
Please put those away.

[WHISPERING] "You cannot stop this.
You can only submit.

Submit or be destroyed."

That's something
the ELM would say. Hmm.

- Here.
- Not the time, not the place.

I'm sorry, but from my forensic
linguistic standpoint,

these threats are quite fascinating.

For example,
I see clues here that would suggest

that the ELM was not an organization,
per se,

but one man posing
as an organization.

Seriously, can you just examine those
at home? We have work to do here.

Oh, yeah. Sponsor Search 2012.

I have to say, Watson,
it's a bit of a motley crew tonight.

I don't think
these are my kind of addicts.

I think this is gonna be
a much longer

and more involved process
than we initially thought.

You have 23 days,
then our time is up.

ALFREDO: My name is Alfredo
and I'm an addict.

ALL:
Hi, Alfredo.

ALFREDO: I started boosting cars
when I was 14.

By the time I turned 18,
I was the best there is.

Ain't a car in this city I can't steal.

- Him.
- Hmm?

So I'm flush with cash, bored,
I turn to drugs.

I want him to be my sponsor.

ALFREDO:
Took my first hit at 19.

This phrase, "On your beam ends,"
it appears in five of the seven threats.

I'm certain I've heard it before,
I just can't recall where.

WATSON:
"On your beam ends"?

A nautical idiom first documented

in Captain Frederick Marryat's
1830 novel The King's Own,

signifying a situation of great peril.

Strange for such an aberrant phrase
to appear so repeatedly.

Are you seriously gonna
make me ask?

- Ask what?
- About your sponsor, Alfredo.

Delightful fellow. He's agreed
to meet us both tomorrow for coffee.

So we can get to know one another.

- You don't approve?
- I'm just a little confused, that's all.

I mean, you actually met Adrian.

You talked to him
before you turned him down.

You heard Alfredo speak
for 15 seconds.

Oh. Have you not figured out by now

that I see far more
than your average addict?

My observational skills
are second to none.

I know. I know that. I just...

I wanna leave you in the best
situation possible. It's important to me.

- Got it.
- Good, I'm glad.

No, "On your beam ends." I've got it.

I know where I was when I heard it.

That one.
That's where I saw it, weeks ago.

But what was the context?

[SIGHS]

Yellow cartoon sponge man,
sports news,

mouthwash advert, Arctic Blue.

- Wanna tell me what you're doing?
- Method of loci, mnemonic device.

Relies on memorized
spatial relationships

to establish, catalog,
and recollect memorial content.

If I remember
what was on these six screens,

I'll remember
what was on the seventh.

Fat lady, new cookbook,
insufferable.

Erectile dysfunction.

Nature program, penguins
and talk show.

The topic was
international whaling laws.

The two guests
got into an argument.

MAN [ON VIDEO]:
You are not seriously suggesting

that cleaning out the Pacific Ocean
is a good idea?

What do you suggest we tell
the Japanese worker

whose livelihood depends
upon this trade?

You just... You don't get it.
One day, 50 years from now,

when you're on your beam ends,

you'll wish you'd done more
when you could have.

That's the same bombast I read
in the ELM letters.

- It's the same hyperbole.
- Same weird phrase.

You really think it's him?

I know a way to find out.

KNOWLES:
I'm confused, detective.

You're accusing me
of being some sort of ecoterrorist?

One of our special consultants
thinks your speech pattern

is a match for these letters.

For the last time,
I have never seen these letters before.

I don't know anything about the ELM,
and I certainly didn't build any bombs.

Lie, lie, and lie.

Who the hell are you?

I am the man with the button.

It's from the elevator down the hall.
You pushed it to get to this floor.

As soon as you disembarked,
I removed it,

took it to the department's
Latent Print Unit.

Has your fingerprint on it, you see.

Which means it has a great deal
in common

with a component from a bomb
the ELM detonated

in a lumber mill in Utica in 2005.

Button.

Bomb.

Button.

Bomb.

Similarities are quite striking,
wouldn't you agree?

You built the ELM bombs,
Mr. Knowles.

And you wrote those letters.

It's too bad you didn't go back
for the one you left at Vanowen S.C.

When you realized it was defective.

Maybe you wouldn't be facing
two murder charges today.

I bombed that lumber mill.

And I wrote these letters
to Vanowen S.C.

But you know what I didn't do?

Follow up on them.

By 2008, I had successfully detonated
nitrate-based bombs

at five different companies.

I was established,
and I was taken very seriously.

Vanowen S.C. Was one
of several dozen businesses

I threatened but never bombed.

Why am I not surprised
you take credit for every bombing

except the one
that killed two people?

[EXPLOSION]

WATSON:
Was that you?

HOLMES:
Was what me?

What did those balls ever do to you?

They're dying for a good cause,
Watson.

- Of course they are.
- Ah!

Did you know
that when a bomb explodes,

the component that houses the fuel
is often atomized?

Now, this can make it difficult,
if not downright impossible,

to identify the device's
chemical composition.

The N.Y.P.D. Bomb Squad is currently
struggling with this very conundrum,

so I thought I would help.

With tennis balls?

I'm attempting to replicate
the odor and burn pattern

of the office bombing
using a few of my own concoctions,

and these balls make
the perfect delivery mechanism.

[SNIFFING]

When Edgar Knowles was arrested
this afternoon,

he confessed to setting off five
nitrate-based bombs

at various businesses.

No self-respecting eco-warrior

would use toxic, man-made chemicals
in his bombs.

He would use natural ingredients.

- It smells like fertilizer.
- And with good reason.

Beyond its horticultural employments,
fertilizer can be distilled down

and mixed into a rather potent
nitrate accelerant.

This ball is filled with the stuff.

If Knowles did try to blow up
Vanowen S.C.,

he would have used nitrates,
and if he'd used nitrates,

the bomb would have filled the air with
an odor as pungent as it is distinctive.

The same odor
that you're smelling right now.

The thing is, I didn't smell any fertilizer
when we were there.

I smelled something else.

It was foreign to me in the moment,
but I have managed to recreate it

with the help of
my little round friends here.

I am now certain that the bomb
was made using potassium chlorate.

It's an accelerant made of gasoline,
bleach and petroleum jelly.

Are you saying that Edgar Knowles
was telling the truth when he told you

that he didn't build the bomb
that exploded at Vanowen S. C?

I am.

Well, if he didn't build it, who did?

Haven't the foggiest.

Hey.

Heard you were looking for me.

Yesterday, you gave us Edgar Knowles
on a silver platter.

Now you're telling me
he did every bomb

except for the one
from two days ago?

As I said before, that bomb was built
using potassium chlorate.

Yeah, and Knowles only used ones
with cow manure, I heard you.

- That's not enough.
- There's more.

I came in this morning to re-examine
the bomb's components.

I pieced together some of the strips
of packing paper that were used.

I managed to form
almost a third of a page

of the October 13th edition
of The New York Times.

This particular clump caught my eye.

I saw small, almost imperceptible
indentations along the upper fringe.

- I don't see anything.
- You wouldn't.

Right, most people wouldn't,
which is why I traced over it.

The paper that was used in the bomb
was beneath another piece of paper

when someone wrote that word.

They pressed hard enough
to make indentations.

I checked it against
Edgar Knowles' handwriting.

It's not a match.

With all due respect,
Holmes, so what?

Maybe he had help with the bomb.

Maybe that person wrote some
weird note on top of the newspaper.

As I said previously, I believe
that Edgar Knowles worked alone.

And as I said previously,
I still like him for the last bomb.

The threats against Vanowen S.C.
Were never made public,

which means, aside from the police,

the firm's employees were the only
ones who were aware of them.

I'd like you to subpoena their personnel
files so that I can review them.

For what?

Well, imagine
you're a disgruntled employee, hmm?

You wanna strike out at the company
but don't wanna get caught,

so why not take advantage
of the ELM threats

to plant a device of your own, hmm?

You get the blast,
they get the blame.

- No.
- No?

No subpoena.

If you really wanna go poking around
at Vanowen S.C.,

you're gonna have
to take it up with them.

I'm sure he's gonna be here
any second.

I really like those tattoos.

You know, I'm just gonna text him
again and see where he is.

[CELL PHONE CHIMES]

I'm really sorry, Alfredo,

but doesn't look like
Sherlock is gonna be joining us today.

Be patient.

First rule of good sponsorship.

Newcomers like him
don't always understand

the scope of the work involved.

They get frustrated.

We need to be patient
and methodical with him.

I was under the impression that
you'd never been a sponsor before.

Haven't. But I had a great one.

Taught me everything he knows.

Truth is, I've been wanting to be
a sponsor for a while now.

People never ask.

Think it's because I'm quiet.

[CHUCKLES]

I can help your friend, Miss Watson.

He just needs
to give me the chance.

Doing okay?

I am. And thank you again
for allowing me to peruse these files.

Oh, it was an easy decision to make.
If you think there's anyone here

who has something against
this company, I would like to know.

You're a fellow addict, aren't you?

Crosswords.

You couldn't have figured out

those clues at my computer
the other day if you weren't.

I dabble.

Well, I wish I could say I just dabbled.

I used to have my habit
under control,

back when the papers only issued
one a day.

Ever since they put the last 50 years of
their archives online, I'm a lost cause.

It's a miracle I get any work done at all.

- You want sex?
- Excuse me?

I'm not averse, Ms. Vanowen,
I'm just busy.

Perhaps we could set
an appointment.

You're flirting. This crossword talk.

You find me attractive.

The feeling is mutual, mostly.

The musculature of your legs,
your shoulders,

suggests a certain elasticity
I find quite tantalizing.

I must warn you, however,

a relationship between us
could never go beyond the physical.

No offense to you, of course.
It's just not my way.

Hey.

- Am I interrupting?
- No.

Not even a little.

Sorry I missed our engagement,
Watson.

As you can see,
I'm investigating the possibility

that a Vanowen employee
set the bomb.

It's okay. I told Alfredo I'd be in touch
and that we could reschedule.

VANOWEN: Is that the whole piece?
WHEELER: It's the...

Pradeep Singh. Hired as a copywriter
in December 2003.

He was promoted to junior associate
in January 2007,

senior associate in June 2007,

and, finally, associate creative director
in March 2008.

I see here that he was written up
by the Human Resources Department

on October the 10th, 2008,

for engaging in a shouting match
with you, Mr. Wheeler.

I see the Human Resources report
and then nothing, no more papers.

Yes, because his contract
with this company was terminated.

- Because he fought with you?
- Because he disappeared.

He came to work, left,
and never came back.

It was in all the papers at the time.

The police got involved,
never found him.

May I ask what sparked the
disagreement between the two of you?

Pradeep wasn't happy.

He was a model employee
at the beginning,

but something changed in him.

He became, I don't know, arrogant.

He started talking about
how he wanted more power

here at the company, more control.

And we gave it to him at first.
I mean, Pradeep was a capable guy.

Then it all changed
when he came in asking for

his fourth raise in 18 months.

You told him enough was enough?

No, that's when he snapped.

He told me I'd be sorry.

He worked here
for about another week,

and after that, he was gone.

Never saw him again.

Pradeep is dead. He died in 2008.

It was our understanding, Mrs. Singh,
that he was never found, alive or dead.

My husband loved me very much,
just as I loved him.

He never would run away.

I held out hope for him
for quite some time,

but eventually I had to accept

that the only possible explanation
for his disappearance was death.

You think he was a victim
of foul play?

If he had collapsed somewhere,
had a heart attack or a stroke,

someone would have found him.

Pradeep was murdered.

Or he snapped,
planted a bomb at his workplace,

and then dropped off the grid
before it detonated.

Do you have any idea who might have
wanted to hurt your husband?

No.

There was the one man at his office
he argued with

a few days before he vanished,
but the police were able to clear him.

Other than that,
he had no enemies...

I'm just curious, Mrs. Singh.

Have you had any work done
in this room since 2008?

- Work?
- Remodeling, refurbishment,

reconstruction.

No, I haven't touched it
since Pradeep disappeared.

Not even to address the mold
on the wall behind that cabinet?

- How did you...?
- The nose knows.

Might we take a look
in your backyard?

- Why?
- Formality.

[DOOR OPENS]

Actually, I think I'll just use
your facilities first.

I think I had a dodgy egg.

I'll join you presently.

[DOOR CLOSES]

[SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]

- Would you excuse us a moment?
- Sure.

Excuse me.

Mrs. Singh was right.
Her husband is dead.

- He has been for some time.
- What are you talking about?

Photograph
at the end of the mantelpiece

shows Pradeep and Mrs. Singh
on the sofa.

It was taken in the same room
we were in.

I noticed several discrepancies
between the wall in the photograph

and the one that we were facing.

The spacing between the paintings
was all wrong.

In the photograph,
they're 18 centimeters apart.

In the room, 12 centimeters.

They also hang lower now
by about ten centimeters.

Someone took them all down,
put them back up again,

didn't get the measurements right.

- So Himali moved them?
- She said she hasn't had work done.

When I took the frames off the wall,
I saw that she was right.

There's no old nail holes
that correspond

to the frames' original arrangement.

There is, however, a slight bulge.

Bulge?

The center of the wall is almost
imperceptibly convex. Why?

Because the gasses released from
Pradeep Singh's decomposing body

expanded the plastic sheeting that
he's wrapped in, pushing outwards.

Wait a second.

Are you telling me
that Pradeep is in that wall?

- That would explain the mold too.
- No.

His killer removed insulation
to make space for his body.

This creates a temperature differential
between that section and the others.

- Condensation formed...
- Then mold.

Four years ago, Pradeep's murderer
tore down that section of wall,

stashed him inside, and then replaced
and repainted the drywall.

Are you sure?

I'm fairly sure.

GREGSON:
Himali Singh didn't kill her husband.

ICE confirmed she was in Mumbai

visiting family
during most of October '08.

She didn't even come home until
she learned Pradeep was missing.

Whoever murdered Pradeep,

they probably knew
that his wife was out of town.

Her trip would have provided
the privacy and time to kill him

and stash him away.

Maybe Singh had a co-conspirator,
someone he built the bomb with.

- Things went south...
- Hmm.

That's a reasonable theory, captain.

Problem is, I no longer think
that Pradeep had anything to do with it.

GREGSON:
What's that? Company newsletter?

Now, that is Pradeep's desk.

That is the air vent in which the bomb
was concealed, right next to it.

Now, if that had gone off
when it was supposed to in 2008,

it would have turned him into so much
newly promoted hamburger.

Van Owen S.C.'s personnel files
showed

that he did not miss
a single day's work

until the moment
that he left for good.

That means he spent almost a week
in the early part of October 2008

sitting within spitting distance
of a live explosive device.

You think it was meant for him.

It is abundantly clear
someone wanted Pradeep dead.

The question is, who would be willing
to go to such lengths and why?

M.E. Confirms Pradeep Singh was
killed by a gunshot wound to the chest.

Death was followed by, and I quote,
"pervasive mummification."

That's everything we found
in his pockets. It's kind of weird.

There's a key on the key chain
with a button to unlock a car door,

but it's definitely not a car key.

No, that is a safety deposit box key.
You can tell by the teeth.

GREGSON:
"SLB."

Sequoia Liberty Bank?

Box number 699.

Huh.

Cheech & Chong's Next Movie?

It's not a good movie,

but it didn't make me
wanna commit homicide.

Hmm. The movie's gone.
You see this slot here?

It's there to stop you
from recording over the tape.

You put Scotch tape there,
it allows you to do so.

Now all we gotta do is find a VCR
in 2012.

Have you not been to my home yet,
Detective Bell?

I maintain several VCRs.

I like to watch police interrogations
from the '70s and '80s.

Techniques were rawer back then,
and you do, on occasion,

learn something useful.

[CELL PHONE RINGING]

This is one of my Cls. I've been waiting
to hear from him on another case.

- You mind if I take this in private?
- My parlor is at your disposal.

What up, Carlo? Mm-hmm.

So, listen, I texted Alfredo
and we're all set for tomorrow.

Coffee at 9.

Alfredo. Yeah, uh, I don't think
that's gonna work out.

The spark's no longer there.

I think I'm gonna have to seek
sponsorship elsewhere.

What are you talking about?
You handpicked him.

Mm, we can do better.

- Is this about us?
- Is what about us?

Your reluctance to find a sponsor.

I think you're being difficult
because you don't want me to leave.

You never told me you were funny.

You picked Alfredo because
you thought I wasn't gonna like him,

but now that I do,
you're trying to push him away too.

[HOLMES SCOFFS]

WATSON: What you're feeling
right now, I've seen it before.

Clients worry about
what their lives are gonna be like

after their companion leaves.
They kind of get a separation anxiety.

It's pretty standard, actually.

Since you've never been anything
but opposed to me being here,

it never occurred to me
that you might feel it too.

I don't know what you're on, but old me
would definitely have wanted some.

- Listen, I am...
- You're back. Excellent.

BELL:
Hey, is that Pradeep?

He looks about 25 years old there.

WOMAN:
Hey, sweetie.

I'm so glad we finally got
to have this date.

PRADEEP: Me too.
WOMAN: You ready to party?

PRADEEP: Yes.
- She's a prostitute.

That's interesting.

High-end by the looks of it.

WOMAN: Wanna help me with this?
PRADEEP: Sure.

Hello, Miss Vanowen.

We can keep watching
if you'd both like,

but I'd say we found our bomber.

All this just so you can ask me
a few questions.

Just a consent form, ma'am.
Standard procedure.

So now you wanna tell me
what this is all about?

VANOWEN [ON VIDEO]:
Hey, sweetie.

I'm so glad we finally got
to have this date.

PRADEEP: Me too.
VANOWEN: You ready to party?

PRADEEP: Yes.
VANOWEN: Good.

I'm sorry,
was that supposed to be me?

I've learned since we spoke
that you come from modest origins.

Father a contractor,
mother a homemaker.

So when you got into business school,
you needed a source of income.

Something to pay your tuition

and provide you with seed money
for your company.

You turned, in your hour of need,
to the world's oldest profession.

Took to it with some gusto, I'd say.

Okay, please turn this off.

You built a successful new life
for yourself

on the ashes of your old one,
and no one was any the wiser.

Until Pradeep Singh got a job
at Vanowen.

It probably took him a while
to realize that his new boss

was one of the women that
he had secretly recorded years ago,

but when he did,
he turned the screw.

So to speak.

Hmm. Three promotions in a year.
That smells like a payoff to me.

No. I promoted Pradeep
because he deserved it.

Small confession.

I find the anti-prostitution laws
in this country rather Victorian.

I mean, sex is a commodity.
Why shouldn't there be a market for it?

But, of course,
not everyone thinks like I do.

Which is why
you had to pay Pradeep

until his demands escalated past
the point that you could meet them.

Then you cast about
for a way to kill him.

Now, you already had
threatening letters from the ELM,

so you built a pipe bomb,
planning to blame them.

But when it didn't detonate,
you simply shot Pradeep

and walled him off.

I imagine it was your father
who taught you how to hang drywall.

That's very creative.
I'll give you that much.

Can he just sling mud at me
like this?

You can seek counsel at any time,
ma'am.

Hardly surprising
that you were the one

to lead the search for new offices
for Vanowen S.C.

You were, after all,
the only person who knew

there was an unexploded bomb
in the wall.

You know what?
I think I will actually call my lawyer.

Well, if you do, Miss Vanowen,

you might wanna tell him
you're about to be arrested.

You have an old videotape
and some stupid theories.

This is not evidence.

Yes, well, I found something
on one of the scraps of paper

that was used to pack the bomb.
An imprint of the word "novocaine."

Useful handwriting sample,
but the message itself, rather opaque.

Until one considers your love
of crosswords. Novocaine.

Answer to 144 across

in The New York Times crossword,
October 13th, 2008.

The clue was "pain's enemy,"
in case you forgot.

HOLMES: Detective Bell
and the Questioned Documents Unit

have just matched it to
a handwriting sample you gave us

when you signed your consent form.

Detective Bell, the honor is all yours.

Miss Vanowen,
would you face that way, please?

You're under arrest for the bombing
that took the lives

of David Preston and Royce Maltz.

[DOORBELL RINGS]

This is a surprise.

I was on my way over to show you
something, then I got your message.

Yeah, well...

- It's nothing personal.
- I don't take it personal. It's okay.

But since I'm here...

Ever since I got straightened out,

I've been picking up work
with car companies.

I test their security systems.

I guess they figure anything
that can keep me out

is good enough for their customers.

Last job just came in.

Miss Watson tells me
that you into lock-picking.

Figure maybe you wanna
give it a shot.

Well, the truth is, Alfredo,
I'm already quite adept

at defeating security systems.

This stuff's not even
on the market yet.

So really, how would you know
if you could beat it?

WATSON:
You know you wanna try.

Obviously your idea.

Zeroing in on common ground.

Hoping it's enough to make me
reconsider him. It won't be.

What's the harm
in getting to know the guy?

One way or the other, I'm gonna be
out of your life in a few weeks.

Maybe you're dreading that day,
maybe you're counting the seconds.

Either way, I'm gonna make sure
you're ready when the time comes.

I promise.

If I help him with his assignment,

it does not mean I am assenting
to his sponsorship.

Of course it doesn't.

I am quite self-sufficient.

Of course you are.

HOLMES: Factory-installed immobilizer
or after-market tracking system?

Not telling.

Well, that's quite all right.
I'll just figure it out for myself.

I'm entirely self-sufficient, you know.