This begins in Minsk, Belarus, as Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) visits a prisoner accused of stabbing his wife, and pleading for Sherlock's help lest he be hanged, but Sherlock, instead, returns to London's 221B Baker Street, at which Doctor John Watson (Martin Freeman) returns, asking whether Sherlock took case, and why he shoots the walls, to which Sherlock replies, "An open and shut domestic murder, not worth my time."
When John leaves to visit Sarah (Zoe Telford), Landlady, Mrs. Hudson (Una Stubbs), arrives upstairs, Sherlock telling her that his debate with John boils down to matters important and unimportant to know, to which she replies, "a little murder ought to cheer you up," immediately before a bomb blast interrupts the neighborhood.
John returns from Sarah's the next morning after watching a televised report about the blast, to find Mycroft (Mark Gatiss) visiting his brother, Sherlock, to attempt to persuade him to investigate missing top secret Bruce-Parkington missile plans, and the body of his associate Alan West (San Shella), a murder victim discovered upon railroad tracks.
Sherlock puts Mycroft on hold to visit Police Headquarters when Inspector Lestrade (Rupert Graves) summons Sherlock. With Sergeant Sally Donovan (Vinette Robinson) in attendance, John accompanies Sherlock, who deduces evidence of stationary from Czech Republic with a woman's handwriting, as memories from "Study in Pink" blog begin to surface, with a new pink cell-phone delivering cryptic messages from the bomber, who transmits a series of clock-ticking puzzles via hostages whom the bomber then murders.
Sherlock, characteristically, rattles off dialogue, such as "Secret society dried melon seeds sends five pits to indicate another bomb blast," before arriving by Speedy's Cafe and into Mrs. Hudson's basement flat, where Sherlock, John and Lestrade discover trainer's shoes of a twenty-year-old murder case involving a youth from Sussex.
A woman hostage then calls from an automobile, pleading with Sherlock to solve another puzzle, which leads Sherlock and John to the Police Laboratory, at which Molly Hooper (Loo Brealey) enters with Jim (Andrew Scott), of IT Unit upstairs, announcing their office romance, but Sherlock tells her Jim is Gay, which upsets Molly, and John says it's unkind.
Sherlock then deduces that a young Carl Powers came from Sussex twenty years ago, reluctantly left shoes, drowned in pool accident, after having a seizure in water, leaving clothing in locker, with no sign of shoes until now, because the poison introduced into medication takes effect in pool, and the killer kept his shoes.
Sherlock sends John to Mycroft to discuss missile plans, then discovering that Alan West was last seen with fiancée at 10:30 last evening, before the crying woman again calls, before the Bomber calls, saying Sherlock solved last puzzle in nine-and-a-half hours, and this time he has eight.
Sherlock visits Mrs. Monkford (Caroline Trowbridge) at scene of another crime, discovering one pint of blood, in a Janus Cars rental, and questions owner, Mr. Ewart (Paul Albertson), to ask about Mr. Ian Monkford, whom he deduces fled to Colombia, a case involving an insurance scam.
A call from an elderly woman hostage gives Sherlock twelve hours to solve the next puzzle, before Connie Prince (Di Botcher), a television makeover show host is believed to have been murdered. John visits her brother, Kenny Prince (John Sessions), under the guise of a reporter before Raoul de Santos (Stefano Braschi) the House-boy escorts Sherlock to the scene to investigate as a photographer, they to determine that Tetanus had somehow entered her system after the murder. Sherlock then asks John to research Connie Prince's background.
The body of Alex Woodbridge, a museum security guard, is discovered on the banks of Thames, after Sherlock deduces the location, and also figures a Dutch Masters' painting valued at 30,000 pounds a fake. Sherlock and John take a taxicab to Waterloo Bridge, where Sherlock hands a fifty-pound note to a beggar, to invest in Homeless Network, his eyes and ears all over city.
John investigates Alex Woodbridge's background to discover that the gallery attendant, an amateur astronomer, has received a message from Professor Cairns (Lynn Farleigh) at the planetarium, while Sherlock disguises himself as a security guard to investigate Hickman Gallery and Miss Wenceslas (Haydn Gwynne), its Curator, to suspect the painting a fake.
In a darkened alley, Sherlock and John chase the giant Golem (John Lebar) to the planetarium, which he wrecks before murdering a witness, before the team arrives at Hickman Gallery with Lestrade, for Sherlock to interrogate Miss Wenceslas regarding the painting of the Van Buren Super-Nova, which occurred in 1858, so how could it have been painted in 1640?
John and Sherlock then burglarize the flat of Joe Harris (Doug Allen) once Sherlock suspects his involvement in stealing plans for missile defense program to pay a drug debt, and tying Joe to one of the murders, upon discovering a Bruce-Parkington memory stick.
But the climactic showdown scene is set at indoor poolside, where the arrogant bomber confronts John and Sherlock the consulting detective as a consulting criminal and arch-enemy, who would gladly kill again one day.
The cast is rounded out by Lauren Crace as Lucy, Alison Lintott as Julie, Matthew Needham as Bezza, David Ryall as Lord Huxley, Jeany Spark as Homeless Girl, Deborah Moore as Crying Woman, Rita Davies as Blind Lady, Nicholas Gadd as Scared Man, Kemal Sylvester as Tube Guard, and Peter Davison as Planetarium Voice-over.
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