We open on Holmes and Watson on the phone with Moriarty. They play a cat and mouse game verbally, while Watson records the conversation. Holmes asks Moriarty why he killed Irene Adler. Moriarty tells Holmes that he will get answers to all of his questions if he does a job for him. Moriarty then tells Holmes that he wants to hire him to find who killed a man named Wallace Rourke, who was killed in Brooklyn a few months ago. Moriarty then says the NYPD investigated his murder but failed to get any leads. Moriarty then promises Holmes that if he finds Rourke’s killer, he’ll “give you all of the answers you can handle.”
Shoot to Holmes going online and learning more of the details about Rourke’s murder. Watson wants to talk to Holmes about what just occurred. Holmes then tells Watson that from the conversation, he gleaned that Moriarty is “between 40 and 50 years of age, hails from Sussex and has a connection to this Mr. Rourke.” Watson isn’t entirely sure that the man Holmes just spoke to was really Moriarty, but Holmes insists that regardless, there will obviously be more phone conversations during which Holmes will be able to deduce more about this man, thus identifying him. Watson then puts forth the theory that the man on the phone wants to kill him. Holmes denounces this theory because he has been in sights of Moriarty’s assassins and is still alive.
Shoot to Holmes and Watson going over the Rourke murder file at the station. They learn he was stabbed and bled to death in an alleyway and was married. Then, an officer interrupts them saying that Gregson wants to see Watson. Gregson tells Watson about his friend, Eddie’s daughter, Katie, who has developed a bad drug problem. Eddie told Gregson that Eddie was looking for a sober companion for Katie and Gregson thought of Watson. Watson tells Gregson that she doesn’t do that kind of work anymore. Watson tells Gregson that she’ll give him some names of other sober companions then leaves his office.
Shoot to Holmes and Watson going to see Rourke’s widow. She tells them she’s never heard of anyone named Moriarty. Holmes then asks her if Rourke dealt with any British people. His widow replies that he didn’t. Holmes then mentions that she told the police that Rourke thought he was being followed. She explains that a few weeks before his murder, Rourke told her that he kept seeing the same car following him but then it stopped. Watson then asks to look at Rourke’s belongings, which are on a desk in the dining room. His widow agrees and asks if their stopping by means there’s a new lead on who killed her husband. Holmes tells her that “fresh eyes” can often help an investigation. He then asks if he could “borrow” his belongings to go over them more thoroughly. His widow agrees. Watson notices Rourke’s phone among his belongings and says that she read in the police report that the mugger also took Rourke’s phone. His widow replies that he was a “packrat, who never threw anything away.” She then says the phone Watson found was Rourke’s old phone and a week before he died, a guy bumped into him on the street and poured coffee all over him so he got a new phone, which he had on him when he died. She then begs Holmes and Watson to find whoever killed her husband.
Shoot to Holmes’ brownstone. Holmes tells Watson that he thinks Rourke worked for Moriarty, not as an assassin but something less dangerous. As Holmes looks at the photos of Rourke’s body he notices a bruise behind his left ear that indicates he was stunned, which would account for the stab wounds being smooth and not jagged. He wasn’t moving when he was stabbed, he’d been immobilized. “Whoever wanted killed Wallace wanted him dead and knew how to do it. This isn’t the work of a street thug. Moriarty’s right, there’s obviously more to this than meets the eye,” Holmes tells Watson. Holmes then goes to make a snack and Watson asks him about Irene and what she was like. “She’s difficult to explain and I mean that as a compliment,” replies Holmes. He adds that Irene was American and was an exquisite painter “who 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.” Holmes notes that he usually noted that as a sign of stupidity but in Irene it “seemed almost convincing. To me, she was The Woman. She eclipsed and predominated women all of her gender.” He started to describe the sex but Watson cut him off before he could elaborate. He just said he “learned things, which hadn’t happened to me before.” Then, Holmes notices something among Rourke’s belongings. He then tells Watson that Rourke might have been right about being followed. He then hands her an envelope with a shipping label on it. He notes that Rourke’s widow told them Rourke had a new cell phone on him when he died. He asks Watson to read the return address on the label. She does and he notes that all “major cellular phone companies ship phones to warehouses upstate,” the return address doesn’t match that criteria. Watson doesn’t understand how that correlates with Rourke knowing he was being followed. Holmes then says that the easiest way to track someone nowadays is to trace their cell phone, which is easy if you have the device’s ID number. “Which you would have if you supplied the replacement cell phone, so who sent Rourke the phone?” Watson asks.
Shoot to Watson and Holmes going to see Daren Sutter and his wife, Katie. He’s a top security expert and they are there to ask Sutter some questions. Holmes notes that Sutter is a third degree black belt, judging from the pictures in his office. Holmes then asks Sutter and his wife why their firm was tracking Rourke. Sutter and Katie look at the picture of Rourke Holmes hands them and they both say they don’t recognize him. Holmes then tells them that either they or an employee of theirs bumped into Rourke with a cup of coffee, ruining his cell and sent him a new one so they could track him. Sutter then admits that his company trailed Rourke for a few days. Katie isn’t pleased that Sutter is giving up this information. Sutter adds that they were tracking Rourke based on evidence that he made threats toward a client but after tracking him for a few days, “we realized the claims were unfounded and we stopped the surveillance.” Watson then asks Sutter who the client was but Sutter replies that information was confidential. As they leave, Watson tells Holmes that whoever hired Sutter to tail Rourke must be their new murder suspect. Holmes then tells Watson that he doesn’t believe a client actually exists and they’ve already met Rourke’s murderer…Daren Sutter.
Shoot back to Holmes’ brownstone. Holmes tells Watson that Sutter’s book is “a virtual confession to Wallace Rourke’s murder.” Watson notes that the book was published five years ago, how could he confess to something he hadn’t done yet? Holmes adds that the book is an accounting of what led him to kill Rourke. Holmes tells Watson to go a specific page in the book where Sutter talks about the murder of his sister, Leah, during a home invasion robbery when Sutter was 23. Sutter was staying with Leah at the time and came face to face with her murderer as he was fleeing the scene. He gave the police a good enough description for them to draw up a composite of the murderer, which is also in the book. The drawing looks just like Rourke. Holmes adds that Leah’s murderer was never caught and Sutter has been tormented ever since. Sutter then dropped out of business school, studied law enforcement and security and…karate, the type that uses the blow that immobilized Rourke before he was stabbed to death. Watson then asks Holmes if Rourke had a criminal history. He noted that Rourke was in the Army Reserves but it was a choice between that or jail after he was convicted of breaking and entering. Watson then asks Holmes if Rourke was in the vicinity of where Leah was killed and Holmes replies that after Rourke was discharged he moved back in with his mother, who lived a half an hour from where Leah was killed. Watson then agrees that it is possible Rourke killed Sutter’s sister 20 years ago and Rourke’s death was Sutter’s retribution for his sister’s death. But, then Watson asks Holmes why Moriarty would care? Holmes thinks Moriarty wants them to bring Sutter down since his security company is one of the best in the country. With Sutter’s company gone, Moriarty’s victims will be more vulnerable since of them is probably a client of Sutter’s. Holmes then tells Watson that he’s arranged a meeting with Sutter…in private. Holmes then leaves the room and Watson gets a text from Gregson asking her why she hasn’t gotten back to him about the sober companion discussion. She ignores the text.
Shoot to Holmes meeting Sutter in a park. He asks Sutter to stand up from the bench he’s sitting on. Holmes then takes out his bug-sweeper and sweeps Sutter for any listening devices he might have on his person. Once Holmes is satisfied that Sutter is bug-free, he hands the bug sweeper to Sutter telling him, “Once you’ve heard what I have to say, you’ll want to know we’re not being recorded.” Sutter then sweeps Holmes. Holmes is also bug-free. Holmes then asks Sutter how he’s felt since killing Rourke. Sutter moves to leave but Holmes stops him saying it’s “an inquiry from one scarred man to another.” Holmes tells Sutter he could tell he’s begun to heal from the pictures in his office, he’s lost weight and gotten rid of the bags under his eyes, which are both signs of depression. “Avenging your sister’s death has…freed you,” Holmes tells Sutter. Sutter repeats that his company tailed Rourke then discontinued the surveillance. Holmes call Sutter a liar and Sutter replies that he’s an “excellent liar” and if Holmes had proof he’d be talking to the police. Holmes tells Sutter that it’s only a matter of time before he has proof…unless Sutter diverts his attention. Holmes then asks Sutter again if the name Moriarty means anything to him. Sutter says it still doesn’t and asks Holmes why. Holmes then tells Sutter that Moriarty pointed him in Sutter’s direction and thinks Moriarty “wishes to profit from your incarceration.” Sutter says again that he’s never heard the name Moriarty. Holmes finally believes Sutter and asks him to give him access to his client files so he can find the link. Sutter doesn’t want to give Holmes access based on his story about Moriarty targeting him. Sutter moves to leave but stops when Holmes says Moriarty will probably know about Sutter killing Rourke because of a listening device in Sutter’s home or office. Sutter says that is impossible because both are swept regularly. Holmes replies that if one knew the sweeping schedule, bugs could be removed then replaced. Holmes then tells Sutter to sweep again then come see him with what he finds.
Shoot to Watson going to see Gregson at the station. She tells him that she feels like he’s pushing her to take the sober companion job. Gregson says he’s impressed with her growing investigative skills but then tells her to sit down. Gregson then tells Watson that men like Holmes don’t get hurt but those around them do, like Irene. Watson thinks Gregson’s concern is because she’s a woman. He says he’s concerned because no one is closer to Holmes than she is. Watson insists that Holmes needs her and Gregson replies that he’s always going to need someone. Then, another cop interrupts them telling them that Sutter is there to confess to Rourke’s murder.
Shoot to Rourke confessing to Gregson as Watson and Holmes watch from behind a two-way mirror. Sutter says Rourke came in for a routine background check and he recognized immediately as the man who killed his sister 22 years earlier. Holmes tells Watson that Sutter must have found Moriarty’s bugs. As Holmes leaves the station, Watson follows and asks them what they do next. Holmes replies that they’ve done as Moriarty wanted so now they wait for him to call.
Shoot to Holmes’ brownstone. Watson is watching the news report on Sutter confessing to Rourke’s murder. Meanwhile, Holmes is kicking a ball back and forth against the wall. Holmes is clearly frustrated because Moriarty hasn’t called yet. He then asks Watson why she was at the station when Sutter came to confess. She says she was there to talk to Gregson and Holmes asks if it was about a “new mysterious conversation or your previous one?” Then, Moriarty calls and congratulates them on Sutter’s arrest. Holmes then asks Moriarty to keep up his end and tell him why he killed Irene but Moriarty says Holmes only revealed “half of the truth” and he owes him nothing. Holmes then says that he knows Sutter was Moriarty’s target and that Moriarty used him to get Sutter out of the way. “You’re slipping Holmes. I’m referring to the truth about Leah Sutter’s murder,” Moriarty replies. He then tells Holmes that Rourke didn’t kill Leah and that he had an alibi. Moriarty says that Rourke didn’t go home to his mother after he was discharged, he did “off-the-books work in Saudi Arabia and didn’t get home until March 1991. Sutter killed the wrong man. And your work is far from done. Finish it.”
Shoot to Holmes waking Watson up. Holmes tells her hasn’t confirmed that Rourke was in Saudi Arabia when Leah was killed or that he accompanied his effects, which were sent to his mother’s house in Connecticut after he was discharged from the Army. Holmes did find that right before he left the Army, Rourke refilled his malaria prescription and received a typhoid and meningococcal booster, the latter only required for travel to Saudi Arabia, which Holmes overlooked. Holmes also notes he overlooked a $30,000 deposit made to Rourke in April 1991 by a shell corporation. Watson theorizes that maybe Moriarty killed Leah but Holmes shoots down that theory because Sutter saw her killer and somehow Moriarty got Sutter to kill an innocent man. Holmes then goes upstairs to brush his teeth. Watson follows him up and asks him why Moriarty is putting him through all of this. “He obviously views me as an enemy. I must have interrupted some criminal enterprise of his in London,” replies Holmes. Watson then wonders why he hasn’t killed Holmes, killed Irene and is now making Holmes “jump through hoops?” Holmes replies that Moriarty is the most complex adversary he’s come across in a long time and when Watson asks Holmes if he’s afraid of Moriarty, he says fear is an “unproductive filter that dampens his abilities.” Watson then tells Holmes that Moriarty can hurt Holmes without hurting Holmes himself. Holmes then says that Watson knows the risks their job undertakes but that he’d never let Moriarty hurt her. Watson replies that Holmes can’t promise that. Holmes then tells Watson that they’re going to split up. He’ll go see Sutter to see if can get more information and Watson will go see Sutter’s wife, Katie, to see if she can convince her let Holmes see their client list.
Shoot to Holmes visiting Sutter in prison. Sutter maintains that Rourke killed his sister even though Holmes tells him the evidence proves otherwise. Holmes then tells Sutter that it’s possible he was tricked into killing the wrong man.
Shoot to Watson playing a recording of Moriarty’s voice to Sutter’s wife, Katie. She tells Watson she’s never heard the voice before. Watson then tells Katie that Moriarty may be targeting one of her and Sutter’s clients and that they need to look at their client list. Katie refuses to break their client’s trust. Watson mentions that Sutter was obviously mistaken as to Rourke being Leah’s murderer but Katie insists he wouldn’t have made a mistake like that not even after 22 years. Watson then asks Katie if she knew Sutter before Leah died. She said she met Sutter at a candlelight vigil for Leah. Katie then added that Sutter found closure when he killed Rourke, that she was sad was in jail but glad he was “found some peace.”
Shoot to Watson going home and telling Holmes that Katie refused to give up the company’s client list. Holmes told her that Sutter refused to talk about his enemies or believe that he killed the wrong man. Holmes said he began an enemies list himself from files he got from Bell. Sutter put away abusive husbands, obsessives, etc. and shared his crusade with the world so everyone knew about his need to find Leah’s killer. Holmes then violently knocks down the chalk board of potential suspects and then apologizes to Watson. “I’m so close to answers I’ve…sought for so long. I cannot come up empty-handed,” Holmes tells Watson. Watson then tells Holmes that she knows how badly Moriarty hurt him and that she wishes she could fix it for him. Holmes replies that he appreciates the sentiment but the goal may be unattainable. Watson then compares Holmes to Sutter, “except Sutter got what he wanted. He’s at peace now.” Watson then proposes Sutter was tricked by someone who “wanted to lift him up.” She then shows Holmes a picture of Sutter with his wife.
Shoot to Holmes, Watson, Gregson and Bell going to see Sutter’s wife, Katie. She says she isn’t comfortable answering questions about Sutter without an attorney present. Holmes asks Katie to confirm exactly when she met Sutter. She repeats what she told Watson, that she met Sutter at a candlelight vigil for Leah in 1991. Watson says that Katie must have known that partial fingerprints were found on Leah’s door that night. They were never identified but the police thought they belonged to the killer. Holmes then says the fingerprints were Katie’s and she was the one who was there that night not Sutter. Watson then says that Katie lied and that she knew Sutter before Leah died. Gregson then says Katie was married then and she and Sutter were having an affair. Katie then admits to the affair and knowing him before Leah died. Holmes then says Sutter was certain he killed the right man because Katie told him so. Sutter wasn’t there the night Leah was murdered, Katie was. Then, Katie came across Rourke, who resembled an older version of the police sketch. Katie wanted to give Sutter peace so she insisted to Sutter that Rourke was the man she saw that night. Katie insists that Rourke did kill Leah. But, then Gregson tells her that they’ve confirmed that Rourke wasn’t even in the country at the time of the murder. Katie is shocked as Gregson tells her that she should tell them the whole story since Sutter will find out the truth sooner or later. Katie says she loved Leah and Sutter too and doing their security work helped Sutter cope but when the 20th anniversary of Leah’s death came, Katie felt Sutter slipping away again. Katie even stopped Sutter from committing suicide but she knew he’d try again. Katie decided Rourke, an innocent man’s death, was worth Sutter finding peace. Gregson then arrests Katie.
Shoot to Katie being taken away in handcuffs. Watson asks Holmes what they do next now that they have the “whole truth.” Holmes tells Watson it was Moriarty’s way of showing Holmes that vengeance can hurt those you love. Watson then asks if that was meant to get Holmes to back off. Holmes then tells Watson he’s going to visit Sutter again because he “feels obliged to tell him personally of his wife’s deceit.” Holmes says he’ll meet Watson back at the brownstone.
Shoot to Sutter asking Holmes why he’s the one telling him. Holmes tells Sutter that he will everything he can to bring Leah’s killer to justice. Sutter replies that until he can kill Leah’s killer with his bare hands, they’ll never be any justice.
Shoot to Moriarty telling Holmes over the phone, as he’s leaving the prison, that he knows about Katie’s arrest. “You’ve now earned your answers,” Moriarty tells Holmes. Moriarty then texts Holmes his location and says he can track him down or get his answers, it’s his choice. Then, Watson calls Holmes asking how Sutter took the news, “As well as can be expected,” replies Holmes. Watson then asks Holmes if he’s heard from Moriarty, he says he hasn’t and will be home shortly. Holmes then gets into a cab.
Shoot to the cab dropping Holmes off at the address Moriarty texted him. Watson is there too and asks him what he thinks is inside. She then says that the “easiest way to track someone is via their cell phone.” She cloned the cell phone Moriarty had been calling them on right after Holmes said he’d never let Moriarty harm her. He then adds he lied about coming there to protect her. She then says she signed on to be his partner NOT to sit on the sidelines when he or Gregson thinks it’s too dangerous. They both then approach the house. They go inside, slowly looking in every room. They hear music coming from one room and head towards it. They find a room full of paintings and a blonde woman painting. Holmes starts to cry and crumble. “Irene,” he whispers as Watson holds him up. “Irene,” he says louder over the music, causing her to turn and face them.