- When Sherlock's brother Mycroft makes a surprise return to New York, his motivations cause discord between Sherlock and Joan. Meanwhile, a missing person case takes Sherlock and Joan inside the world of unmanned aeronautics.
- "Elementary" - "The Man With the Twisted Lip" - April 24, 2014
A man leading a 12-step meeting discusses the biggest threat to his sobriety. Then he asks Sherlock to share his threat. Sherlock states,"I am without peer." Because of this he worries about valuing relationships and maintaining them and essentially says that his own peerlessness makes him a threat because he may not be able to truly love.
Outside the meeting room, Watson comforts a crying woman named Tess, who reveals that her sister Paige is missing. When Sherlock joins them they learn more about Paige, an aspiring musician, who may have relapsed. Sherlock seems dismissive of the case but Watson points out that Tess was encouraging to him when he first started coming to meetings. He points out that he didn't say he wouldn't do it, just that it wasn't very interesting.
Upon returning home, they are surprised to find Ms. Hudson and Sherlock's brother Mycroft have prepared dinner.
Over dinner, Mycroft declares his intention to concentrate on his New York restaurant, Diogenes. He notes that he's had some recent romantic difficulties and Watson expresses sadness that this means he's broken up with Claudia. Sherlock seems annoyed that Watson knows this tidbit and wonders how. She says she and Mycroft have stayed in touch via e-mail like people who are friends do. Sherlock bluntly asks if Mycroft is there to sleep with Watson, which Watson and Mycroft try to deflect. Mycroft pointedly invites Joan to help him evaluate a new pastry chef at the restaurant and she agrees to meet him the next day.
Sherlock continues to irritate Watson on the subject of Mycroft as they enter Paige's apartment. They find a box of cash and heroin, indicating that she is a small dealer as well as a user. Watson calls Paige's distributor and places an order, while Sherlock prepares to follow the deliveryman to his lair and have the NYPD arrest everyone.
At the precinct, Gregson is disturbed to have a cell full of heroin dealers. Interviewing the leader yields no results; he didn't know she was missing and can prove he was out of town.
Watson meets Mycroft at Diogenes, and he states that although is New York restaurant does need his attention he also came back because he's interested in pursuing a relationship with her pointing out that they're both grown-ups, enjoy each other's company and says it's clear the attraction is still there. Watson is very flattered and he says he'll give her time to think about it. When she returns home that night, Holmes is listening to Paige's music seeking clues.
Sherlock wakes Watson the next morning with the news that Paige mentioned Harriet Tubman on a hidden CD track. A historical marker for Tubman is in a park near Paige's apartment. Upon visiting the site, they discover Paige's body - but also the dead body of an unknown man.
Sherlock determines that the man was the original target, and Paige probably got caught up as a witness to the pursuit of this man and was killed because of it. Sherlock notes a mosquito flying around and Bell says it's too early in the season for mosquitoes and Sherlock snippily points out that this is why he mentioned it.
They identify the man as Zach Piller. He evidently moved from Las Vegas to New York, and is under the care of a psychiatrist.
Bell, Sherlock and Watson meet with the psychiatrist at the precinct. He is surprised by the death and didn't know of any danger to Zach. They learn that Zach worked at an aeronautics firm. Upon visiting the firm, they learn he formerly worked on unmanned drones for McCarthy-Strauss.
Sherlock goes to Mycroft's restaurant and notices a man sitting in a corner - the same man Sherlock saw there months before. Sherlock demands that Mycroft stop pursuing Watson. Mycroft states that Sherlock does not appreciate Watson aside from her detecting work, and her support in keeping him stable. He adds that Sherlock does not care about Watson's happiness, and no matter what man she chooses, Sherlock will pick him apart.
At the brownstone, Sherlock tells Watson that his brother is either an idiot or a criminal. The man at the restaurant is Guillaume de Soto, a high-ranking member of Le Milieu, a French criminal organization.
During their conversation Sherlock notes a buzzing insect-like noise. He uses a glass to trap the thing in the table. It is a tiny drone, probably equipped with video and audio recording abilities, and possibly poison. Sherlock believes it has been following them since they found the bodies, and that the victims were killed by drones.
Upon reviewing Piller's effects, Watson notices his computer is missing. Sherlock finds articles about some CIA agents dressed as tribesmen who were massacred by a UAV in Afghanistan. Notes indicate Piller felt guilty, and that he discussed this with his psychiatrist.
Watson visits Mycroft at the restaurant again, apologizing for Sherlock. She says there are some issues, but the first step to pursuing a relationship would be to get her own place. Mycroft is pleased. As she prepares to leave, Watson notes a man approaching Guillaume in his usual corner. She furtively snaps a picture on her phone.
At the precinct, Watson explains to Holmes that the facial recognition software could not ID the man. However, she found a sketch of him issued in connection with a massacre of 13 cartel lieutenants; Le Milieu was suspected.
Holmes cleans guano off his shoes, which he encountered while, "in the steeple of St. Olaf's church ... in pursuit of a lost cat belonging to one of our friends in Everyone." Watson says, "Can't we just find a hacker collective that accepts cash?" Everyone found that the psychiatrist accepted $200,000 from McCarthy-Strauss, probably to report back to them about Piller.
Gregson and Bell confront the psychiatrist about this, as well as his collection of Italian candy/toys that have been banned by the FDA as a choking hazard. Under pressure, he reveals the traumatic story. Piller was flying a surveillance drone and saw a group marching, fanned out like a Taliban scout unit. He called it in and the Army ordered a strike - but the group was CIA, and 10 people died. Piller wrote up a report about the incident and planned to send it to the media.
As the questioning continues, the psychiatrist hears a mosquito. Sherlock and Watson burst into the room, but the psychiatrist has already been "bitten" and goes into cardiac arrest. He dies due to poisoning.
Lacking evidence linking McCarthy-Strauss to the crimes, the team agrees they need Piller's report. Watson proposes that they pretend to have a copy of it. Sherlock believes that Piller's original report is held by one of six company officers. He arranges a purchase meeting by displaying written cards to the tiny drone which he captured in the glass.
At the meeting place, Sherlock recognizes the approaching executive as Carlson, and texts Watson who is waiting at the corporate office. She cons her way into Carlson's office, finds a hidden safe and cracks it open. In the meantime, Sherlock stalls Carlson, ducking questions. Disgusted with Sherlock's uncooperative attitude, Carlson starts to walk away - and then Watson calls him from his office and starts reading the report to him. Sherlock advises him that the police are nearby.
At the brownstone Watson tells Sherlock that Carlson was responsible for bribing the psychiatrist as well as the massacre cover up. She invites Sherlock to come with her to Diogenes and explain Le Milieu to Mycroft, but he declines.
Mycroft is not at Diogenes when Watson arrives. She sees a man and Guillaume confer over a manila envelope, then Guillaume leaves.
Meanwhile, at home Sherlock climbs the bookcase ladder, opens a book, and stashes one of Paige's heroin packs in a cutout space.
When the second man leaves Diogenes, Watson follows him outside. He places the envelope on a motorcycle and enters a building. She opens the envelope and finds a picture of herself. The man appears behind her and says "You take my picture, I take yours." He grabs her and covers her mouth with a cloth. After she goes limp, a team of men put her in a van, which takes off.
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