Page 99 - SHERLOCK transcripts

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come over and start to attach heavy chains and straps to him, strapping his now-folded arms in
front of him and then backing him up against the board and starting to chain him to it.)
SHERLOCK (softly): Classic Chinese escapology act.
(John and Sarah turn to him.)
JOHN: Hmm?
SHERLOCK: The crossbow’s on a delicate string. The warrior has to escape his bonds before it
fires.
(The Opera Singer loads another arrow into the crossbow. The men attach more padlocks and
chains and one of them pulls a chain tight, yanking the warrior’s head back against the board.
The warrior cries out. The men loop the chains through solid rings attached to the board and
secure the warrior, who cries out again. Once they’ve finished, they step away. The music
begins building in intensity and cymbals crash unexpectedly. Sarah jumps, clutching at John’s
arm.)
SARAH: Oh, Gawd! I’m sorry!
(She laughs in embarrassment, taking his arm with her other hand as well. John laughs with
her, then smiles delightedly as she lets go with her more distant hand but continues to hold
onto his arm with the other. The Opera Singer picks up a small knife and displays it to the
audience.)
SHERLOCK (softly): She splits the sandbag; the sand pours out; gradually the weight lowers
into the bowl.
(The Opera Singer does just what Sherlock predicted – she reaches up to a small sandbag
hanging on a long cable and stabs the knife into the bottom of the sack. Sand begins to pour
out, and the warrior repeatedly cries out with effort as he tugs at his chains. The sandbag’s
cable is looped over a pulley and a metal ball is attached to the other end. As the sand
continues to pour out of the bag the weight lowers towards the bowl at the back of the
crossbow. The warrior gets one hand free. John is watching the weight lower, and Sarah now
looks nervously at it as it crosses paths with the sandbag on its way up. They turn to look at the
warrior as he gets his other hand free and starts tugging at the chains around his neck. The
weight is now only a few feet above the bowl and Sarah clings tightly to John’s arm, grimacing.
The warrior cries out again as he pulls at his chains and the weight gets ever closer. As it
almost reaches the lip of the bowl the warrior loosens the chains around his neck and struggles
to free himself.
The weight touches the bowl and the arrow streaks across the room. With a split second to
spare, the warrior pulls free of the chains and ducks down and the arrow thuds into the board.
The warrior cries out triumphantly as the audience begins to applaud. Sarah gasps in relief.)
SARAH: Thank God.
JOHN: My God!
(The warrior stands up and takes the applause. Still clapping, John looks over his shoulder, but
Sherlock has vanished. John looks around the hall but can’t see him anywhere.)
(Sherlock has made his way onto the stage, which is being used as the performers’ dressing
room. There’s a dressing table with mirrors, free-standing clothes rails and many other items all
around. He looks at everything and notices that it’s almost as if another warrior is standing
nearby – except that the chainmail and mask are hanging on a stand.
In the performance area, the Opera Singer raises a hand to halt the audience’s applause.)
OPERA SINGER: Ladies and gentlemen, from the distant moonlight shores of the Yangtze River,
we present for your pleasure the deadly Chinese bird-spider.
(As she walks away, a masked acrobat descends from the ceiling, rolling through the air as the
broad red band wrapped around his waist unravels. The audience applauds and he stops a
couple of feet above the ground, holding his body parallel to the floor.)
JOHN (to Sarah): Did you see that?!
(Descending to the floor, the acrobat removes the band from around his waist and splits it,
revealing that it’s made up of two strips of material which he now wraps around his arms and
then runs around the circle before taking his weight on the bands, lifting into the air and flying
around in a circle several feet above the ground, the red bands soaring out behind him. Sarah
and John – and presumably the rest of the audience – stare up open-mouthed.
On the stage, Sherlock goes over to the curtains and parts them slightly to look out at the
performance. He looks with interest at the acrobat as he floats around.)
SHERLOCK (softly): Well, well.
(To the right of the stage, a door opens. Sherlock runs to take cover, pushing through the
middle of the clothes on the clothes rail and then quickly spreading the items out again as the
Opera Singer comes onto the stage. She goes over to the dressing table and picks up a mobile

Transcripts by Ariane DeVere (arianedevere@livejournal.com)