Page 77 - SHERLOCK transcripts

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SHERLOCK: I’ve phoned Lestrade. Is he on his way?
MAN: He’s busy. I’m in charge. And it’s not Sergeant; it’s Detective Inspector. Dimmock.
(Sherlock looks at him in surprise [See? He agrees with me that this boy is far too young to
even be in the police, let alone have advanced to D.I. rank], then turns and shares his surprised
look with John. Dimmock walks out of the room. The boys follow him into the living room where
he hands the bag to one of the forensics team.)
DIMMOCK: We’re obviously looking at a suicide.
JOHN: That does seem the only explanation of all the facts.
(Sherlock takes off the latex gloves and turns back to him.)
SHERLOCK: Wrong. It’s one possible explanation of some of the facts.
(He turns to Dimmock.)
SHERLOCK: You’ve got a solution that you like, but you’re choosing to ignore anything you see
that doesn’t comply with it.
DIMMOCK: Like?
SHERLOCK: The wound was on the right side of his head.
DIMMOCK: And?
SHERLOCK: Van Coon was left-handed.
(He goes into an elaborate mime as he demonstrates his point, pretending to try and point a
gun to his right temple with his left hand.)
SHERLOCK: Requires quite a bit of contortion.
DIMMOCK: Left-handed?
SHERLOCK (sarcastically): Oh, I’m amazed you didn’t notice. All you have to do is look around
this flat.
(He points to the table beside the sofa.)
SHERLOCK: Coffee table on the left-hand side; coffee mug handle pointing to the left. Power
sockets: habitually used the ones on the left ...
(Close-up of a double socket on the wall with a plug in the left-hand socket.)
SHERLOCK: Pen and paper on the left-hand side of the phone because he picked it up with his
right and took down messages with his left. D’you want me to go on?
JOHN (tiredly): No, I think you’ve covered it.
SHERLOCK: Oh, I might as well; I’m almost at the bottom of the list.
(John nods as if to say, ‘Yeah, I thought you might.’)
SHERLOCK (pointing towards the kitchen): There’s a knife on the breadboard with butter on the
right side of the blade because he used it with his left.
(He turns to Dimmock with an impatient look on his face.)
SHERLOCK: It’s highly unlikely that a left-handed man would shoot himself in the right side of
his head.
[Says the man whose flatmate is left-handed but shoots with his right hand ...]
SHERLOCK: Conclusion: someone broke in here and murdered him. Only explanation of all the
facts.
DIMMOCK: But the gun: why ...
SHERLOCK (interrupting): He was waiting for the killer. He’d been threatened.
(He walks away and starts to put on his scarf, coat and gloves.)
DIMMOCK: What?
JOHN: Today at the bank. Sort of a warning.
SHERLOCK: He fired a shot when his attacker came in.
DIMMOCK: And the bullet?
SHERLOCK: Went through the open window.
DIMMOCK: Oh, come on! What are the chances of that?!
SHERLOCK: Wait until you get the ballistics report. The bullet in his brain wasn’t fired from his
gun. I guarantee it.
DIMMOCK: But if his door was locked from the inside, how did the killer get in?
SHERLOCK (condescendingly, as he dramatically slams his hand into his glove): Good! You’re
finally asking the right questions.
(He turns and flounces out. John looks round at Dimmock and then points apologetically
towards the departing drama queen before following him.)

RESTAURANT. Sebastian is having lunch with some clients or work colleagues.
SEBASTIAN (laughing): ... and he’s left trying to sort of cut his hair with a fork, which of course
can never be done!
(Sherlock and John walk over to the table.)

Transcripts by Ariane DeVere (arianedevere@livejournal.com)