- When a famous cancer researcher is found dead, Holmes and Watson must determine if the scientist's untimely demise was tied to his latest cutting-edge invention. Meanwhile, Bell is finally cleared to re-enter the field.
- "Elementary" - "The Hound of the Cancer Cells" - March 13, 2014
Bell has been cleared to return to the field and he invites Watson and Holmes to a party to celebrate. He also wants them to look into an old homicide. The perp has committed many crimes and with this one they finally had a witness willing to come forward named Nicole, who has now changed her mind and is in the wind. He asks them to look for her.
A man returns from his jog to his laboratory and takes a shower. While in there, someone seals off the doors and pipes in helium and kills him.
When the cops are called in the guy's body is staged to look like a suicide complete with a note saying "It's all true," but Holmes quickly figures out that the gas was piped into the bathroom.
The man was a scientist named Barry working on a remarkable breakthrough: a breathalyzer apparatus that can detect cancer. The gadget's working name is the "Hound" in honor of the fact of the way that dogs can seemingly detect when their owners have the illness. Someone had come out and tried to discredit him. But his business partner says the device did in fact work but the accusation hurt the device in the eyes of the science community and the business world. They question the business partner but he points out that Barry is worth more to him alive than dead. His alibi is his mistress and he wants them to keep it discreet because he's getting a divorce and if the wife knew she could take him for half of the likely billions he'd make from the device.
Sherlock looks into the person trying to discredit Barry's work, he's an anonymous internet tipster and medical detective. Watson is still trying to track down Bell's witness. She tries to tell Sherlock about the party but he cuts her off when they get the surveillance from outside the lab showing Barry arguing with a woman.
There are several calls on his cell phone to a woman and they track her down. She's a travel agent. She says Barry had a thing for her and the feeing wasn't mutual. As they talk to her Sherlock notices a surveillance camera and a locked door and they figure it's not a travel agency and they think she's lying about her association with Barry.
Watson goes to see an old teacher Nicole, the murder witness, got close to. She is there at his house, hiding. Nicole says she doesn't want to testify anymore and she's being threatened. She doesn't believe in police protection, plus, she's pregnant.
Gregson goes to the travel agency with a search warrant and the woman has bugged out, it's totally empty. He is not surprised since he says the woman has done an impressive job of not existing the last few years. Then she suddenly shows up at his door claiming she is a Mossad agent. She says she thinks she knows who killed Barry. She says they did meet in college and she says he was her friend. Barry wanted her to find out who tried to discredit his work since he knew she was an agent. She thinks this anonymous tipster killed him since he values his anonymity. She gives Sherlock emails of the tipster she found by hacking servers of journals he wrote to. For some reason he won't take the flash drive from her hand and she sets it down.
Watson tells Bell about Nicole and her new situation and that she's staying with the old teacher, Mr. Rose. Bell knows of this old teacher's "Lean On Me"-style reputation.
The next morning Sherlock looks through the emails and cuts her off again when she tries to talk about Bell's party. He says he isn't going because he's an outsider who is also responsible for the reason Bell was out.
They go looking for the first whistle blowing case the internet tipster reported on thinking he might be the guy who complained from the inside on the first case.
Bell goes to see the teacher, Mr. Rose and tells Nicole that it's okay if she doesn't testify given her new circumstances. Mr. Rose still wants her to testify since it's the right thing to do.
Sherlock finds the angry whistle-blower, who became a surfer and died in Baja. So he's not their guy.
As it turns out "their guy" is a woman, specifically the woman at the whistle-blower's company who discreetly tried to help him and also became the internet tipster. Or at least half. She says Barry himself was the other half of the tipster team and they know he didn't kill himself so if she thinks the tipster killed Barry, they're wrong.
She goes to the station and tells Gregson someone hijacked their pseudonym and sent the email to Barry to try and discredit him. She says she didn't come forward when Barry was killed because it would look like the tipster/herself was motivated by greed. Her alibi is she was getting off a red eye with her colleagues. She's worried they're going to tell on her. Sherlock says they have to because of the pseudonymous tipster.
They go and tell Barry's business partner and wonder if the "Hound" has competitors since they consider those people to be the likely suspect.
Mr. Rose, the teacher comes to see Bell and says Nicole left his house. He says he wants to testify in her place since he knows every detail inside and out. Bell says that's perjury and he would lose his badge and the defendant's attorney would see right through him. He says he appreciates what he wants to do and knows how much he's done for his school and community. Mr. Rose says he believes in the right thing and he always wants to do it and he feels he hasn't done enough. Bell says if they don't get him this time they will get him the next and he gives his word.
Then a bizarre twist: Barry's business associate has been arrested for killing his estranged wife. The one he was trying to hide his affair from. The man insists he didn't kill his wife and he was with his girlfriend in a cab and he got a receipt that should be on his counter. He makes Watson and Sherlock tell Gregson that they think someone is targeting him. Also, what kind of idiot leaves his own gun behind after killing his estranged wife.
Sherlock gets all fired up to look into "Hound" competitors and wakes Watson up to check them out, including the head of the closest competitor. The guy, of course, denies this. He claims they don't have to kill anyone because he was planning on buying the company and still might after the dust settles on the murder cases.
Sherlock now thinks the business associate himself is responsible for "targeting" himself. His company was on target to make big bank if the competition bought his company and his wife was a thorn in his side because she would've taken a big bite of this money. The device worked, he was getting divorced so he killed two birds with one stone, leaving him free to get the big payday unfettered and not having to share any credit with Barry who would be vindicated after the murders were solved. He framed himself for the murder since it fits the narrative and got his girlfriend to troll the internet dating sites for a guy who looked like him to ride in the cab with her. She flipped on him.
Mr. Rose, having had enough, goes to kill the murderer himself and the killer shot back. They are both in the morgue when Bell sees them. He then has trouble going into his own party. Sherlock meets him outside. Bell asks if Sherlock ever had "one of those nights." Bell says he worked his ass off to get back and everyone in the bar is expecting him to be happy tonight but he's not really feeling it or ready to go inside. Sherlock tells him not to and invites for a cup of coffee around the corner first. Bell takes him up on it.
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