Vatican Cameos (A BBC Sherlock Fanfiction)

27. Lady Elizabeth Smallwood

The scene opens on a pair of thin rimmed spectacles lying on top of a table.

"Mr Magnussen, please state your full name for the record." Says Lady Smallwood.

"Charles Augustus Magnussen." A heavy Danish accent replies

We look at Lady Smallwood from Magnussen's viewpoint. She is a woman in her early sixties. She is sitting at another table some distance away, facing him. With his glasses off, his view of the woman is blurred.

"Mr Magnussen, how would you describe your influence over the Prime Minister?"

"The British Prime Minister?"

"Any of the British Prime Ministers you have known."

We now see the layout of the room. Magnussen sits alone at a table in a large room. The wall to his left is floor-to-ceiling glass. He is facing three more tables which are laid out in a U-shape. There are eleven people sitting at these tables. Each person has a microphone on a stand in front of them, and the session is being filmed and projected onto a screen behind Lady Smallwood. She sits at the centre of the table facing Magnussen. She is clearly the chairperson of what must be the parliamentary commission to which a rolling news headline referred in "The Empty Hearse" at the same time that the TV news announced that Sherlock was alive. There is a glassed-off viewing gallery at the rear of the room where observers – perhaps mostly journalists – are sitting and watching the proceedings with headphones on their ears. Magnussen answers all his questions in a flat tone, showing no emotion.

"I never had the slightest influence over any of them. Why would I?" He says

"I notice you've had ... seven meetings at Downing Street this year. Why?" She says, looking through a report on the table in front of her.

"Because I was invited." He replies.

"Can you recall the subjects under discussion?"

"Not without being more indiscreet than I believe is appropriate."

A man to the right of Lady Smallwood leans forward to his microphone.

"Do you think it right that a newspaper proprietor, a private individual and, in fact, a foreign national should have such regular access to our Prime Minister?" He asks.

While he has been speaking, Magnussen has picked up his glasses and put them on. As soon as the man comes into focus, information appears in front of Magnussen's eyes in a white font

JOHN GARVIE

MP ROCKWELL SOUTH
ADULTERER (SEE FILE)
REFORMED ALCOHOLIC
PORN PREFERENCE: NORMAL
FINANCES: 41% DEBT (SEE FILE)
STATUS UNIMPORTANT

then, in red underneath:

PRESSURE POINT: >

The last line flashes momentarily.

"I don't think it's wrong that a private individual should accept an invitation."

The line stops flashing and adds further information:

PRESSURE POINT: >
DISABLED DAUGHTER
(SEE FILE)

"However, you have my sincere apologies for being foreign."

"That's not what I meant. That is not in any way ..."

"Mr Magnussen, can you recall an occasion when your remarks could have influenced government policy or the Prime Minister's thinking in any way?" Says Lady Smallwood.

While she has been speaking, Magnussen has turned his gaze to her and information immediately appears in front of his eyes.)

LADY ELIZABETH SMALLWOOD
MARRIED
SOLVENT
FORMER GYMNAST
PORN PREFERENCE: NONE
VICES: NONE