Page 148 - SHERLOCK transcripts

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(Outside the window is a one-storey extension, the roof of which can be easily climbed onto
from the window. The extension goes all the way to the bottom of the garden which ends in a
wall, and directly on the other side of the wall is the railway line.)
SHERLOCK: He stole the memory stick; killed his prospective brother-in-law.
(Dropping to his knees, he gets out his magnifier and uses it to slowly examine the edge of the
window sill. John walks across to him and peers over his shoulder as Sherlock finds some tiny
blood-red spots on the white paint.)
JOHN: Then why’d he do it?
(He straightens up and turns at the sound of someone unlocking the front door. Sherlock also
stands.)
SHERLOCK: Let’s ask him.
(Reaching round to the back of his jeans, John walks quietly to the door of the living room as
the front door slams. He steps out onto the landing just as Joe, wearing his courier gear, is
leaning his bicycle against the wall. When he sees John he picks up the bike as if he intends to
use it as a weapon or simply to throw it at him. John instantly raises his right hand and points
his pistol at him.)
JOHN (sternly): Don’t.
(For a moment Joe keeps coming but John shakes his head.)
JOHN: Don’t.
(Joe stops and lowers the bike, sighing in a mixture of frustration and fear.)

Shortly afterwards he is sitting on the sofa while the boys stand nearby. He is very distressed.
JOE: It wasn’t meant to ...
(Sherlock looks away, exasperated.)
JOE: God. (He rubs his hand over his face.) What’s Lucy gonna say? Jesus.
(He sinks back on the sofa.)
JOHN: Why did you kill him?
JOE: It was an accident.
(Sherlock snorts.)
JOE: I swear it was.
SHERLOCK (sternly): But stealing the plans for the missile defence programme wasn’t an
accident, was it?
JOE: I started dealing drugs. I mean, the bike thing’s a great cover, right? I dunno – I dunno
how it started; I just got out of my depth. I owed people thousands – serious people. Then at
Westie’s engagement do, he starts talking about his job.
(Throughout the next part of the scene there are flashbacks to Joe and Westie in a pub which
re-enact what Joe is describing.)
JOE: I mean, usually he’s so careful; but that night after a few pints he really opened up. He
told me about these missile plans – beyond top secret. He showed me the memory stick; he
waved it in front of me. You hear about these things getting lost, ending up on rubbish tips and
what-not. And there it was, and I thought ... well, I thought it could be worth a fortune.
(In flashback, Joe helps a very drunk Westie into his jacket and slips the memory stick out of
his shirt pocket while he’s doing so.)
JOE: It was pretty easy to get the thing off him, he was so plastered. Next time I saw him, I
could tell by the look on his face that he knew.
(In flashback, Joe is letting himself into his flat at night time when Westie hurries up the steps
and grabs him.)
WESTIE (in flashback): I know you took it.
JOE (in flashback): What are you doin’ ’ere?
WESTIE (in flashback): What have you done with it?
JOE (in flashback): What are you talking about?
WESTIE (in flashback): What have you done with the plans?
(In the present, Joe looks up guiltily at John.)
JOHN: What happened?
(In flashback, Westie and Joe scuffle on the small landing outside the front door. Joe angrily
shoves Westie and he loses his footing and rolls down the steps, landing heavily on the ground.)
JOE: I was gonna call an ambulance, but it was too late.
(In flashback, Joe has hauled Westie’s limp body into the living room, his face full of anguish.)
JOE: I just didn’t have a clue what to do, so I dragged him in ’ere, and I just sat in the dark,
thinking.
SHERLOCK: When a neat little idea popped into your head.

Transcripts by Ariane DeVere (arianedevere@livejournal.com)