here's an advance copy of strand magazine. they've printed 'the red-headed league!'
would you like to see how i treated it?
just what do you mean by that?
i deny the accusation.
a bit of poetic license.
that's not my doing. blame it on the illustrator.
oh, really?
you're much too modest.
it's those little touches that make you colorful --
a seven per cent solution.
as a doctor -- and as your friend -- i strongly disapprove of this insidious habit of yours.
did you say midgets?
disappeared between london and bristol .  don't you find that intriguing?
anarchists?
you really think so?
oh. and it sounded so promising --
please, mrs. hudson -- he's working on a definitive study of tobacco ash.
in our endeavors, it is sometimes vital to distinguish between, say, the ashes of a macedonian cigarette and a jamaican cigar. sor far he has classified 140 different kinds of ashes.
that'll be enough, mrs. hudson.
let me open a window.
personally, i consider it a major contribution to scientific criminology.
you do?
holmes --
holmes, where is your self-control?
aren't you ashamed of yourself?
the only reason you moved in with me is to have a steady supply of stimulants.
holmes, i warn you. if you lock yourself in there once more --
mrs. hudson, i want you to pack my bags.
and beyond. i'm moving out.
you heard me, mrs. hudson. and let's not waste any time.
i don't know yet. but i intend to resume my practice. i am, after all, a doctor. and quite a competent one, if i say so as shouldn't.
i will, of course, continue to pay my half of the rent until you find someone to share these rooms with you.
here's a fresh needle -- and here's my farewell present to you.
if you want to destroy yourself, go right ahead. but i won't sit by and watch you doing it.
please, mrs. hudson -- none of that.
i'll be at brown's hotel.
actually, i'm rather looking forward to it. leading a normal life again. regular office hours -- nine to three -- and if occasionally there's an emergency call in the middle of the night, i know it's going be appendicitis and not an ax murder. let holmes go mucking about in the fog and the sleet, looking for a bloodstained collar-button out on the moors, with some demented hound snapping at his behind --
it's all right, mrs. hudson. i'll clean it up -- -- while you unpack my things.
thank you, holmes. i know how difficult it must've been for you --
you've made me very happy.
i know that. but one likes to hear these things occasionally.
look at this. covered with that nasty stuff. i'd better dry it off.
for a moment, i was worried that you were going to let me walk out -- that you weren't even going to try to stop me.
why are you being so stubborn, holmes? why won't you go? it's the final performance of the imperial russian ballet -- the house has been sold out for months --
-- seats are going for a guinea apiece --
whoever sent them must be in great distress. the note says --
you mean somebody wants to lure us into a trap?
kill you?
but this isn't just any ballet. it's swan lake.
you know, of course, holmes -- that swan isn't really a swan -- it's an enchanted princess.
fabulous woman, don't you think so, holmes?
the great petrova.
they say twelve men have died for her.
six committed suicide, four were killed in duels, and one fell out of the gallery in the vienna opera house.
the man who fell from the gallery landed on top of another man in the orchestra.
immensely.
oh, he's in excellent shape.
a liason with a crowned head? compromising letters? blackmail?
we'd be delighted.
no, thank you.
no caviar. makes me break out in hives.
any of you girls understand english?
not one single word?
in that case, i don't mind telling you that you all have lovely po-pos.
excuse me. what does prokanzik mean?
it does? i am? thank you.
what is it, old boy?
home? not a chance. not the slightest -- not the remotest chance. toodle-ooo.
hold on! just a moment!
what's going on? what happened to the girls?
what way?
about me and him?
what is?
holmes!
holmes!
there you are, you wretch! you rotter! you blackguard! of all the vile, unspeakable fabrications. what do you have to say for yourself?
don't just sit there -- speak up, man!
holmes? are you all right, holmes?
how could you do a dastardly thing like that to me? what the deuce were you thinking of?
what about my feelings? and my reputation? do you realize the gravity of what you have done? the possible repercussions?
these things spread like wildfire. i can just hear those malicious whispers behind my back. i'll never be able to show my face in polite society.
dishonored, disgraced, ostracized. what am i to do?
you may think this is funny, but we're both in the same boat. we must take desperate measures. we must stop this talk.  maybe if we got married.
obviously, we cannot continue to live under the same roof. we must move apart.
the whole thing is ridiculous. we have nothing to hide.
let somebody start a rumor -- just one ugly word -- and we'll sue them for slander.
damn right. i can get women from three continents to testify for me. and you can get women to vouch for you, too -- can't you, holmes?
can you, holmes?
holmes, let me ask you a question -- i hope i'm not being presumptuous -- but there have been women in your life?
holmes.
were you expecting someone?
maybe mrs. hudson is entertaining.
what is it, mrs. hudson?
for what?
what young lady?
well. what have we here? who are you, miss? what happened to you?
where did she come from?
rather perplexing, wouldn't you say?
keep the change.
you're shivering, my dear.
sit here, my dear.
she's suffering from shock and exposure.
look at this -- she's had a nasty blow on the head.
no. the blood has already coagulated. so it would appear that she was the victim of a deliberate attack.  get my bag, will you?
i'm dr. watson -- and this is mr. sherlock holmes. do the names mean anything to you?
think.
she's obviously had a concussion -- which often leads to temporary amnesia.
we know a lot more than that. from her accent, we know she is foreign -- from her ring, we know she is married -- and there is one other clue we have.  something i deduced while i was helping her up the stairs. no corset.
how can she say she's not french, in french?
we just found out that she's belgian.
from brussels.
that's enough, holmes. i will not permit you to question her in this condition. mrs. hudson, put her to bed. my bed. i'll sleep on the couch.
i'd better mix her a sleeping potion.
under no circumstances.
she can get that from me. but more importantly, she must be protected -- there has already been one attempt on her life.
it depends on the extent of the injury. it's like veils shrouding her memory. it could clear up in a few days -- or a few weeks.
holmes, we've never had a case like this. a woman comes to us with a problem -- we don't know who the woman is -- and we don't know what the problem is. don't you find that challenging?
you really feel it's that urgent?
oh.
i would like to very much. but -- mrs. hudson, would you mind planting your knee in the small of my back?
please! i'm in excruciating pain.
a bit higher -- just below my seventh vertebra -- that's good. put your arms under mine -- fold them behind my neck --
bless you. that damn couch. you'd better see if our patient is awake.
gone?
holmes! holmes! she's gone!
oh, there you are, holmes. we were just wondering -- how --
you can't really blame her -- i mean, the way it looks -- if i didn't know you better, i might suspect you'd taken advantage of the young lady.
of course.
you did what?
holmes, this is reprehensible! where are your professional ethics? have you no sense of decency, no shame --
you cad!
i'd rather not hear about it!
that's her suitcase?
by jove! if you're right, we should find a clue to her identity.
let's see - what else is in here?
who do you suppose this is?
221b baker street.
coffee. you want strong coffee.
here you are.
how decidedly odd.
you could have done worse.
we'll do our best, i assure you.
you're sending an empty sheet of paper to an empty shop?
here!
look at all these canaries. do you suppose this could have been a pet shop?
i don't understand how anybody picks up letters here. no footprints -- just tracks. what does it mean?
what do we do now?
i really thought we were done for.
maildrops and canaries and wheelchairs.  and what was all that about jonah? and what do you suppose they're doing up there? and where is up there?
inverness?
11:43.
i don't mind telling you i'm a bit apprehensive about this.
i don't mean mycroft, i mean madame valladon.
thank you.
if you don't mind my saying so, anybody who's susceptible to gout shouldn't be --
mmmm. superb. how old did you say it was?
one year before waterloo? think of that.
belgium, isn't it?
we? who's we?
as good an explanation as any.
perfectly.
goodbye, sir.
you will be gentle, won't you, when you tell her you're dropping the case?
absolutely nothing.
is it?
you're just trying to impress me.
and i'll be in scotland before ye.  you are dropping the case, aren't you, holmes?
why? what happened?
holmes, you didn't answer my question. are you planning to disobey mycroft's orders? he's not just your brother, you know. you'd be defying her majesty's government.
holmes, let me caution you ---
well, that's better.
madame valladon, you must understand.
yes, my dear. but circumstances have changed --
on the contrary. it's being handled at a much higher level --
she's not?
mr. and mrs.  ?
maybe i should do it, since i'm the valet.
holmes, what exactly are you up to?
but what game? are you really that interested in the belgian engineer?
or the wife of the belgian engineer?
nothing of the sort. quite the opposite.  but there's more to this case than meets the eye --
looking for something?
let me help you.
here it is.
sorry, father -- i mean, friar -- or is it abbot?
going to scotland, you gentlemen? so are we.
i'm a valet. my master and mistress and i are our way to inverness. ever been there? beautiful country.
oh, forgive me. you must be one of those orders that's taken the vow of silence. trappists, i believe you're called.
i see you're reading the book of jonah. funny - we were just talking about johan this morning.  never mind.
let's see -- two, three, four --
you know -- a valley -- with a yew tree.  ?
well, if it's got a view, it might be a nice place for a picnic.
the three boxes. is that it, holmes?
are you trying to tell us it was the monster?
incredible.
to think that people still believe in that nonsense. here we are, living in the nineteenth century --
however, there still remains the clue of the castle and the red runner -- wherever it may be.
if they're unidentified graves, why are those boys bringing flowers?
their brothers?
pebbles.
midgets.
i still don't see --
not at all.
oh, yes -- that case you turned down -- i completely forgot.
holmes! she's fainted.
it is valladon, isn't it?
i suppose you're putting me in the basement.
good.
mr. ashdown!
holmes! i saw it! i saw it from the attic! it's out there in the lake!
the telescope. where's the telescope?
the monster!
there it is! there it is!
look for yourself.
see it? see it?
nothing?
it's gone.
i swear to you -- i saw it -- clear as anything --
maybe that grave-digger was right -- the swell, and the boat overturning --
that may be. but the fact remains that i saw something out there.
you call yourself logical? you're the least logical man i know.
how can you say it's a figment of my imagination, when for years you've been saying i have no imagination whatsoever!
we have so far investigated eight drafty castles -- had our bicycles attacked by sheep and our ears assaulted by bagpipes -- and we are exactly where we started.
yes, dear.
i say there. good afternoon. remember me?
some chaps i met on the train. we had a long conversation -- or rather, i had a long conversation -- because they're not allowed to talk -- trappists, you know. just study their bibles. you'll never guess what the one next to me was reading -- the book of jonah -- isn't that odd?
well, i don't think we have to bother with this castle. it's just a pile of rubble.
go where?
pleasant sort, isn't he?
no. those birds are making too much of a racket.
sulphuric acid?
like this?
holmes, i have a feeling we're redundant here.
we have now observed the castle from the front, from the back, from the side, from land, from water.  what now? are you planning to spend the night out here?
you're going to catch your death of cold. wouldn't it be ironic if holmes' last case were a case of pneumonia? sorry.
holmes!
holmes, what are we doing? we should be going away from it.
at least you admit there's an it, not just a figment of my imagination.
never without it.
what is it?
i have come face to face with man-eating tigers -- i was once caught in a stampede of wild elephants -- india, you know -- but i wasn't half as frightened. this beast seems to have a personal grudge against us.
what strange goings-on.
yes, i know. but would you believe that you can't borrow a decent pair of trousers in this place?
would you like to confide in us?
whenever he starts whistling, i know he's getting close to a solution.
we have? where?
ballet?
then what is it?
oh?
but why would anybody build a mechanical monster? just to scare people?
the diogenes club?
i don't like the sound of it.
you'd better take this with you.
holmes! holmes!
holmes!
holmes, i saw it again -- that thing -- it came from the castle -- it's out there
gone?
a bottle of champagne?.  and a bible?.
do you know what he's talking about?
all right, holmes -- you don't have to explain anything to me, if you don't want to.
after all, i'm only your official biographer --
the public has a right to know these things. if she's a german spy, why should we concern ourselves about her feelings?
if i promised not to write a word about it, would you enlighten me? as your friend -- as your valet --
a message?
what is she saying?
auf weider---? the nerve!
maybe mycroft is putting you up for membership.
aren't you going to finish your breakfast?
holmes -- i'm terribly sorry about this.
in the files. may to july, 1885.
what is it this time, inspector lestrade?
yes, i think i have.
i'm sorry, lestrade. but at the moment, holmes is working on another problem.
oh, i'm sure you will.
good day, lestrade.