Elementary

Previously on Elementary :

Several weeks ago, you learned of the existence of a woman named Irene Adler.

He's only loved one person in his life, and she was murdered.

Your girl.

That was him. That was Moriarty.

And whom do I have the pleasure of speaking to?

My name is Moriarty.

I believe we're overdue for a chat.

Well, if this is Moriarty, then, yeah, long overdue.

lf? - You're just a voice on the telephone.

I don't even know if you have a first name. Mind telling me your first name?

I appreciate your passing my message along to Sebastian Moran.

I hear his prognosis is quite grave.

So what?

I expect you to feel angry because I manipulated you.

Rather easily, I might add.

Chin up, Holmes. Manipulation is my business.

Seems more like murder is your business.

A part of it.

Explain.

Consider me a spider.

I sit motionless at the center of my web.

That web has a thousand radiations, and I know well every quiver of each of them.

I do little myself, I only plan.

But my agents are numerous and splendidly organized.

If there is a crime to be done, a paper to be abstracted,

a house to be rifled, a man to be removed,

the word is passed to me, the matter is planned and carried out.

So you're a pimp, and assassins are your girls.

Ha, ha. Yes, I suppose that's one way of putting it.

Irene Adler.

Did you have her killed?

That is the question, is it not?

The one that's haunted you these many months?

Why'd you do it?

And what is your interest in me?

You want answers. I don't blame you.

But first, I require something of you.

I'd like to hire you.

Not as an assassin, though I do believe you'd excel in that position.

I'd like to secure your services as an investigator.

A man named Wallace Rourke was murdered in Brooklyn several months ago.

The New York Police Department investigated but failed to find any leads.

Bring his killer to justice,

and I promise I'll give you all the answers you can handle.

Here we are. New York Ledger from December.

"Wallace Rourke, mechanic, age 43,

found stabbed to death in an alley in Brooklyn."

Can we just talk about what just happened?

"His missing wallet and watch led police to suspect he was the victim of a mugger."

Moriarty, or someone claiming to be Moriarty, called

and asked you to take a case and you're doing it.

- And why wouldn't I? - For one thing, he's dangerous.

For another, you think he's behind Irene's death.

Yes, and in the course of one brief exchange,

I've already gleaned that Moriarty is between 40 and 45 years of age.

He hails from Sussex,

and he has some interest or connection to Mr. Wallace Rourke.

As the case continues, there will be more interactions.

And with each, more of the man will be revealed.

Assuming the man on the phone is actually Moriarty.

Even if it is a mere minion,

just identifying the minion will get me closer to identifying the man himself.

How do you know it's not a trap and he doesn't wanna kill you?

- He doesn't. - How can you be so sure?

Because three years ago, he ordered Daniel Gottlieb not to kill me.

Last night, I was in the sights of another assassin's rifle.

Yet, here I sit. It couldn't be clearer. He doesn't want me dead.

Then what does he want?

That's precisely what I intend to find out.

So we already know, Wallace Rourke was attacked by an unknown assailant.

His watch, wallet and cell phone were taken.

He bled to death in an alleyway.

He was married.

A condolence call to his widow is in order.

Captain Gregson wants a word with you.

- Can it wait? - Not you. Miss Watson.

Hi. You wanted to see me?

Oh, yeah, Joan. Come in. Sit down. Close the door.

You ever have trouble trying to remember your online passwords?

Sure. Sometimes. Why?

I got this friend named Eddie. We grew up together.

He invented a widget

for storing all your passwords for your computer into one place.

- You know the one. - Yeah.

He made a fortune, sold his company,

and he moves his family down to Boca Raton.

- Good for Eddie. - Yeah, but not for his daughter, Kelly.

She ended up with a serious drug problem.

I'm sorry to hear that.

Eddie and I were talking on the phone the other day.

And he happened to mention that he and his wife

were looking to hook Kelly up with a sober companion after she gets out.

I'm thinking, I know a great one.

You know that I don't do that kind of work anymore.

Probably only take you a couple of months.

It's not like you're formally committed to Holmes anymore. Right?

Hmm. Speaking of. Oh.

He's downstairs. I should meet him. But I will give you some other names.

I'm sorry.

I've never heard the name Moriarty before in my life.

Did your husband do business with any British people?

Wallace worked in a garage.

He knew a couple of Dominican guys.

You mentioned something about Wallace thinking that he was being followed.

Yeah. Before he died, he kept seeing the same car in his rearview mirror,

but it just... It happened the one time,

so the cops said it didn't have anything to do with the mugging.

Are those your husband's things?

Uh, yeah.

Wallace was kind of a packrat.

Do you mind if we take a look?

Yeah.

So you said you're consulting detectives, right?

Not the real kind?

Oh, I assure you, the work that we do is quite real.

So does that mean there's a new lead?

Not exactly.

But sometimes new eyes on a case can be as useful as new information.

As a matter of fact, it might be quite useful to spend more time with his belongings.

Perhaps we could borrow them.

Sure.

Uh, fine, yeah. Take whatever.

Thanks.

I read in the police report that the mugger also stole your husband's phone.

Yeah, well, like I said, Wallace is a packrat.

He never threw anything out.

That's his old phone.

A few weeks before he died,

someone bumped into him on the street and spilled coffee all over it.

He had his new one on him when he died.

Please.

Please find whoever did this.

According to Wallace's financial records,

him and his wife were living quite close to the bone.

Is that significant?

Moriarty paid Sebastian Moran and Daniel Gottlieb

quite handsomely.

Oh, so you think Rourke was working for him too?

Moran and Gottlieb were assassins.

Perhaps he did something less dangerous.

Perhaps he was just good at hiding his money.

Maybe. But why would Moriarty wanna expose another one of his employees?

It seems a little risky.

It's one of the advantages of being a shadowy criminal mastermind, I imagine.

You get to take the occasional risk.

But I see your point.

According to the M.E.'s report,

Rourke's initial wounds were these two stabs to the chest.

The wounds are smooth, not jagged,

which would suggest he was not moving or struggling when he was stabbed.

You're saying he didn't resist?

I'm saying he was motionless or maybe he was frozen in fear.

Wallace was a former Army Ranger.

Given his combat experience, that doesn't seem likely.

See this bruise below his left ear?

That's from a blow to the mastoid process. That's designed to stun.

He wasn't frozen in fear, he was immobilized.

Then the killer stabbed him in each lung, silencing him for good.

Whoever attacked Wallace wanted him dead, and knew how to do it.

This is not the work of your average street thug looking for a wallet, no.

Moriarty's right. Obviously,

there's more to this than meets the eye.

And now,

I require sustenance.

Out with it, Watson, or are you gonna spend all night

almost asking me something?

What was she like?

Irene. You talk about what happened to her,

but you never talk about who she was.

She was difficult to explain.

And I mean that as a compliment. She was American.

Really?

I held it against her only briefly.

She was an exquisite painter.

She made her living restoring Renaissance paintings for art museums.

She traveled extensively because of her work.

She was highly intelligent,

optimistic about the human condition.

You mean that as a compliment too?

I do, oddly enough.

I usually consider it a sign of stupidity, but with Irene, it seemed

almost convincing.

She was, to me, the woman.

To me, she eclipsed and predominated the whole of her gender.

She's the only one I ever...

- And the sex. - You don't have to...

I learned things, Watson. Me.

And that hasn't happened before.

What is it?

I think Wallace Rourke might've been right about being followed.

Have a look at that.

There's an old shipping label.

For the cell phone he had on him when he died.

Look at the return address.

"Postal Unlimited. 2249 Lexington Avenue."

All the major cellular companies ship from distribution warehouses upstate.

How does that equal him being followed?

Because the simplest way to follow someone is to track their cell phone.

It's a relatively simple undertaking