Page 54 - SHERLOCK transcripts

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JOHN: Sorry.
(He turns and heads back in the opposite direction, following Sherlock. In Sherlock’s mind-map,
he picks a new point where he and John can intercept the cab. The boys run down the street,
taking a shorter route than the taxi which is being diverted by various road signs taking it the
long way around. They head down more alleyways and side streets towards the interception
point in Wardour Street and finally, at the precise point which his mental map predicted,
Sherlock races out of a side street and hurls himself into the path of the approaching cab, which
screeches to a halt as he crashes hard into the bonnet. Scrabbling in his left coat pocket,
Sherlock pulls out an I.D. badge and flashes it at the driver as he runs to the right hand side of
the cab.)
SHERLOCK: Police! Open her up!
(Panting heavily, he tugs open the rear door and stares in at the passenger, who looks back at
him anxiously. Instantly Sherlock straightens up in exasperation just as John joins him.)
SHERLOCK: No.
(He leans down again to look at the passenger a second time.)
SHERLOCK: Teeth, tan: what – Californian?
(He looks at something on the floor in front of the passenger.)
SHERLOCK: L.A., Santa Monica. Just arrived.
(He straightens up again, grimacing.)
JOHN: How can you possibly know that?
SHERLOCK: The luggage.
(He looks down at the suitcase on the floor of the cab and its luggage label showing that the
man has flown from LAX [Los Angeles International Airport] to LHR [London Heathrow Airport].)
SHERLOCK (to the passenger): It’s probably your first trip to London, right, going by your final
destination and the route the cabbie was taking you?
PASSENGER: Sorry – are you guys the police?
SHERLOCK: Yeah. (He flashes the I.D. badge briefly at the man.) Everything all right?
PASSENGER (smiling): Yeah.
(Sherlock pauses for a moment as if wondering how to finish this conversation, then smiles
falsely at the man.)
SHERLOCK: Welcome to London.
(He immediately walks away, leaving John staring blankly for a moment before he steps closer
to the taxi door and looks in at the passenger.)
JOHN: Er, any problems, just let us know.
(As the man nods, John smiles politely and slams the cab door shut. The man looks round to
the taxi driver in bewilderment. John walks to where Sherlock has stopped a few yards behind
the vehicle.)
JOHN: Basically just a cab that happened to slow down.
SHERLOCK: Basically.
JOHN: Not the murderer.
SHERLOCK (exasperated): Not the murderer, no.
JOHN: Wrong country, good alibi.
SHERLOCK: As they go.
(John notices as Sherlock switches the I.D. card from one hand to another.)
JOHN: Hey, where-where did you get this? Here.
(He reaches for the card and Sherlock releases it.)
JOHN: Right. (He looks at the name on the card.) Detective Inspector Lestrade?
SHERLOCK: Yeah. I pickpocket him when he’s annoying. You can keep that one, I’ve got plenty
at the flat.
(John nods, then looks down at the card again before lifting his head and giggling silently.)
SHERLOCK: What?
JOHN: Nothing, just: “Welcome to London.”
(Sherlock chuckles, then looks down the road to where a police officer has apparently gone to
investigate why the cab has stopped in the middle of the road. The passenger has got out and is
pointing down the road towards the boys.)
SHERLOCK (to John): Got your breath back?
JOHN: Ready when you are.
(They turn and run off down the road.)

Transcripts by Ariane DeVere (arianedevere@livejournal.com)