Page 76 - SHERLOCK transcripts

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wealthy person, with white leather furniture, shiny black tables and minimal clutter. He looks at
everything as he goes through the room, and glances at a pile of books on a table. He walks
through the kitchen, looking at the work surface before opening the fridge to reveal that it’s full
of nothing other than bottles of champagne. The front door to the flat buzzes.
JOHN (from the other side of the door): Sherlock.
(Sherlock moves into the hall.)
JOHN (from outside): Sherlock, are you okay?
(Sherlock opens the door to the small bathroom and glances inside at the few items on the shelf
opposite. He shuts the door and walks to a larger door which is closed. He tries it and finds that
it’s locked.)
JOHN (from outside): Yeah, any time you feel like letting me in.
(Sherlock turns side-on and shoulder-charges the door and it bursts open. He walks inside and
finds a man in a suit and overcoat lying on his back on the bed, dead. There is a pistol on the
floor, and the man has a small bullet hole in his right temple.)

Later, the police have been called and a photographer is taking pictures of Van Coon’s body
lying on the bed. A forensics officer is dusting for fingerprints on the nearby mirror, and distant
voices suggest that other forensics officers are elsewhere in the flat. Sherlock has taken off his
coat and is in the bedroom putting on a pair of latex gloves. John stands beside him.
JOHN: D’you think he’d lost a lot of money? I mean, suicide is pretty common among City boys.
SHERLOCK: We don’t know that it was suicide.
JOHN: Come on. The door was locked from the inside; you had to climb down the balcony.
(Sherlock has squatted down by a suitcase on the floor near the bed and has opened the lid and
is looking at the contents.)
SHERLOCK: Been away three days, judging by the laundry.
(He sees that there’s a deep indentation in the clothing inside the case, then straightens up and
looks at John.)
SHERLOCK: Look at the case. There was something tightly packed inside it.
JOHN: Thanks – I’ll take your word for it.
SHERLOCK: Problem?
JOHN: Yeah, I’m not desperate to root around some bloke’s dirty underwear.
SHERLOCK (walking to the foot of the bed): Those symbols at the bank – the graffiti. Why were
they put there?
JOHN: What, some sort of code?
SHERLOCK: Obviously.
(Having looked closely at Van Coon’s legs – or possibly his shoes – he moves up and carefully
opens the man’s jacket to look at his inside pockets.)
SHERLOCK: Why were they painted? If you want to communicate, why not use e-mail?
JOHN: Well, maybe he wasn’t answering.
SHERLOCK: Oh good. You follow.
JOHN: No.
(Sherlock throws him a look before moving on to examine Van Coon’s hands.)
SHERLOCK: What kind of a message would everyone try to avoid?
(John frowns in confusion.)
SHERLOCK: What about this morning – those letters you were looking at?
JOHN: Bills.
(Sherlock gently prises open Van Coon’s mouth and pulls out a small black origami flower from
inside. Air hisses out from the dead man’s lungs.)
SHERLOCK: Yes. He was being threatened.
MAN’s VOICE (outside the bedroom): Bag this up, will you ...
JOHN (looking closely at the paper flower as Sherlock lifts an evidence bag to put the flower
into it): Not by the gas board.
MAN’s VOICE: ... and see if you can get prints off this glass.
(The man – a plain clothed police officer who looks so young to your ancient transcriber that
she feels he really ought to be in his own bedroom doing his school homework – walks into the
bedroom. Sherlock turns and walks towards him.)
SHERLOCK: Ah, Sergeant. We haven’t met.
(He offers his hand to shake. The young man puts his hands on his hips.)
MAN: Yeah, I know who you are; and I’d prefer it if you didn’t tamper with any of the evidence.
(Lowering his hand, Sherlock gives the evidence bag to the officer and turns his best stroppy
look on him.)

Transcripts by Ariane DeVere (arianedevere@livejournal.com)