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25. EXT – LONDON STREET – DAY

JOHN is walking down the street after exiting the tube. He passes an alley and hands reach out and pull him into the alley. It is the MAN who has been following him.

JOHN

Hey!

SHERLOCK

Shhh! John, it’s me.

JOHN

SHERLOCK!

(Then seeing his signal to be quiet, he whispers)

Sherlock, what is going on? I was just coming to give you your coat.

Sherlock takes off the coat that he is wearing and puts on the coat that John is holding. He rifles through the pockets of the old coat removing some keys, a pen, and a lighter, then he takes the old coat and throws it into a trash bin.

SHERLOCK

Thank you, John.

He turns up the collar. John smiles.

JOHN

You really should visit Molly.

SHERLOCK

Ah, there it is.

JOHN

What?

SHERLOCK

Sentiment. That patina of sadness that gets in the way of reason. Well work is the best antidote to sorrow, John, and I have a good piece of work for us tonight. You do have your gun don’t you?

JOHN

Yes but…why?

SHERLOCK

The sun has almost set, and we must be in place by nightfall. Once there we can have plenty of time to discuss the last year of our lives. Come along.

SHERLOCK leads JOHN through an elaborate series of back streets in much the manner of the first episode taxi chase.

26. EXT – CAMDEN HOUSE – SUNSET

They end in an alley and use a key to open a door that has obviously not been used for a long time.

27. INT – CAMDEN HOUSE – NIGHT

They walk through the darkened building and enter one of the rooms where they look through a window.

SHERLOCK

Do you know where we are?

JOHN

Why that’s our apartment on Baker street.

SHERLOCK

Indeed. This is Cavendish house. Currently empty. I palmed the key from the estate agent. It commands an excellent view of our apartment. And what do you see there?

John looks into the window of the 221B Bakers street and sees Sherlock Holmes standing there.

JOHN

Why, is that you? (John touches Sherlock’s sleeve to see if it is really him) It looks just like you.

SHERLOCK

It really is rather like me isn’t it?

JOHN

Oh I see, it’s a dummy. A model made to look like you so that … It moved. Did you see that. Just now it moved toward the window.

SHERLOCK

It wouldn’t make a very effective double if it didn’t move.

JOHN

But what? How?

SHERLOCK

A hologram John. The most advanced model out of Japan. In a darkened room it’s virtually indistinguishable from the real thing.

JOHN

But why? Do you think our rooms are being watched?

SHERLOCK

I know they are. I saw the man watching them. A minor member of the London criminal class. I was not concerned about him. It is his boss that I hope to fool. He’s the man who is going to try to kill me.

JOHN

Who? I thought that Moriarty was dead.

SHERLOCK

Do not think that when Jim Moriarty died all of his plans died with him. His second in command was still out there watching. That is why I had to fake my death. As long as he knew I was alive, you all were in danger.

JOHN

We were in danger? What do you mean?

SHERLOCK

Moriarty’s parting gift. I had to kill myself or Mrs Hudson, Inspector Lestrade, and you would be killed.

JOHN

Killed? Moriarty said that? How did you know he was telling the truth?

SHERLOCK

I couldn’t take that chance. I couldn’t bear to lose you, John.

John is affected by Sherlock’s confession.

JOHN

So you jumped off that roof, let everyone think that you were a fake, that you had done all of those crimes so that We wouldn’t be hurt?

That’s …well…that’s pretty heroic of you.

SHERLOCK

I didn’t actually kill myself, John.

JOHN

But you killed your reputation. You gave up your work, and I know that that means more to you than your life.

SHERLOCK

I took the logical course of action. No need to romanticize the facts.

JOHN

Sherlock, thank you.

SHERLOCK is a tiny bit affected.

JOHN

So what do we do now?

SHERLOCK

We wait.

JOHN

We wait.

Time passes.

JOHN

Sherlock?

SHERLOCK

Hmmm.

JOHN

So how long do you expect us to have to wait here?

SHERLOCK

Until something happens.

JOHN

You didn’t happen to bring any food or snacks with you by any chance?

Sherlock sighs.

JOHN

It’s just that I haven’t eaten since this morning, and what is it now, coming on midnight.

SHERLOCK

Oh John! You are so …visceral.

JOHN

So who exactly is it we are waiting for?

SHERLOCK

You know him. You’ve already met the killer, that is you’ve witnessed his work.

JOHN

When?

SHERLOCK

When we ran from the police?

That man, the agent who told us Moriarty’s plan.

JOHN

He’s the killer?

SHERLOCK

No not him. He was shot down in the street. The second person to be shot down in front of me that day.

JOHN

Then who?

SHERLOCK

A sharpshooter by the name of Colonel Sebastian Moran. Once a military officer, recruited by special forces for some…more specialized duties. Lately he has been listed as unemployed, but he was secretly working for Moriarty. You do remember the marksman at the swimming pool.

JOHN

I don’t think I could ever forget that.

SHERLOCK

Same man. I’m surprised you haven’t heard of him, a military man like yourself.

JOHN

So why are we here? Are we just waiting for him to try and shoot you?

SHERLOCK

Yes.

JOHN

But he’s killed before. Those men in the street. Can’t you prove that he did that? Get him arrested?

SHERLOCK

Who has he killed? Spies and foreign assassins? Their bodies were shipped back to their home countries before I could examine them. Ballistic analysis was inconclusive. Those bungling police investigators entirely forgot to look at the right things.

JOHN

Well this is like old times. You and me in some uncomfortable position waiting to get shot at. I go an entire year without someone trying to kill me. You show up, and the next day here we are waiting for an assassin.

SHERLOCK

Does it bother you?

JOHN

God no.

SHERLOCK

Good, because I …

SHERLOCK Puts his hand out and motions John to be silent.

We hear a sound like the scraping of a key in a lock. They stand up and move to the edge of the room, and then we hear it. A door opening. Next there are furtive footsteps and the door to the room opens.

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