Sherlock Transcript

A Study in Pink (Part IV)

Downstairs, Sherlock opens the front door and stands on the doorstep for a moment while he shrugs himself into his coat. A taxi is parked at the kerb and the driver, Jeff Hope, is leaning casually against the side of the cab.
JEFF: Taxi for Sherlock 'olmes.
(Sherlock steps forward, closing the door behind him.)
SHERLOCK: I didn't order a taxi.
JEFF: Doesn't mean you don't need one.
SHERLOCK: You're the cabbie. The one who stopped outside Northumberland Street.
(In flashback, the American man sits in the back of the cab outside the restaurant and turns his head to the front. In the driver's seat, Jeff looks over his shoulder and through the rear window of the cab before turning around again and starting to drive away.)
SHERLOCK: It was you, not your passenger.
JEFF: See? No-one ever thinks about the cabbie. It's like you're invisible. Just the back of an 'ead. Proper advantage for a serial killer.
(Sherlock takes a few more steps forward and looks up towards the windows of his flat.)
SHERLOCK: Is this a confession?
JEFF: Oh, yeah. An' I'll tell you what else: if you call the coppers now, I won't run. I'll sit quiet and they can take me down, I promise.
SHERLOCK: Why?
JEFF: 'Cause you're not gonna do that.
SHERLOCK: Am I not?
JEFF: I didn't kill those four people, Mr 'olmes. I spoke to 'em ... and they killed themselves. An' if you get the coppers now, I promise you one thing.
(He leans forward.)
JEFF: I will never tell you what I said.
(Sherlock stares at him. After a moment, Jeff straightens up and starts to walk around the front of the cab.)
SHERLOCK: No-one else will die, though, and I believe they call that a result.
(Jeff stops and turns back towards him.)
JEFF: An' you won't ever understand how those people died. What kind of result do you care about?
(He turns again and continues around to the driver's door. Getting in, he sits down and closes the door, settling into his seat and ignoring Sherlock. Biting his lip, Sherlock walks closer to the cab, looking up again at the flat windows, then he bends and looks into the open side window of the cab.)
SHERLOCK: If I wanted to understand, what would I do?
JEFF (turning to look at him): Let me take you for a ride.
SHERLOCK: So you can kill me too?
JEFF: I don't wanna kill you, Mr 'olmes. I'm gonna talk to yer ... and then you're gonna kill yourself.
(He turns to face the front again. Sherlock straightens up, his eyes lost in thought as he considers the situation. Jeff calmly sits gazing out of the front window, then smiles in satisfaction when the rear door opens. The cab dips as Sherlock gets in and then the door slams shut. Jeff starts the engine.
Upstairs, John has his phone held to his ear and is looking out of the window. The cab can be heard as it pulls away.)
JOHN: He just got in a cab.
(He turns to Lestrade.)
JOHN: It's Sherlock. He just drove off in a cab.
(Donovan, standing beside Lestrade, tuts in irritation.)
DONOVAN: I told you, he does that.
(She turns to Lestrade.)
DONOVAN: He bloody left again.
(She walks back into the kitchen, talking loudly.)
DONOVAN: We're wasting our time!
JOHN (to Lestrade): I'm calling the phone. It's ringing out.
(In the cab, a phone is ringing. Sherlock watches Jeff as the pink phone – which Jeff has put in the well beside his seat – continues to ring. Back in the flat, Lestrade watches John as he continues to hold his phone to his ear.)
LESTRADE: If it's ringing, it's not here.
(John lowers his phone and reaches for the computer notebook.)
JOHN: I'll try the search again.
(Donovan comes back to confront Lestrade.)
DONOVAN: Does it matter? Does any of it? You know, he's just a lunatic, and he'll always let you down, and you're wasting your time. All our time.
(Lestrade stares at her for a long moment as she holds his gaze, then he sighs.)
LESTRADE (loudly): Okay, everybody. Done 'ere.
(In the cab, Sherlock is watching the London scenery pass by.)
SHERLOCK: How did you find me?
JEFF: Oh, I recognised yer, soon as I saw you chasing my cab. Sherlock 'olmes! I was warned about you. I've been on your website, too. Brilliant stuff! Loved it!
SHERLOCK: Who warned you about me?
JEFF: Just someone out there who's noticed you.
SHERLOCK: Who?
(He leans forward, looking closely at the side of Jeff's neck, then noticing a photograph of a young boy and girl attached to the dashboard of the cab.)
SHERLOCK: Who would notice me?
JEFF (meeting his eyes briefly in the rear view mirror): You're too modest, Mr 'olmes.
SHERLOCK: I'm really not.
JEFF: You've got yourself a fan.
SHERLOCK (nonchalantly, sitting back in his seat): Tell me more.
JEFF: That's all you're gonna know ...
(He pauses dramatically for a moment.)
JEFF (quietly): ... in this lifetime.
(Back at the flat, as the other police officers leave, Lestrade picks up his coat and turns to John.)
LESTRADE: Why did he do that? Why did he have to leave?
JOHN (shrugging): You know him better than I do.
LESTRADE: I've known him for five years and no, I don't.
JOHN: So why do you put up with him?
LESTRADE: Because I'm desperate, that's why.
(He walks to the door, then turns back.)
LESTRADE: And because Sherlock Holmes is a great man. And I think one day, if we're very, very lucky, he might even be a good one.
(He turns and leaves. Some distance away, the cab drives on and finally stops at the front of two identical buildings side by side. Jeff turns off the engine and gets out, coming to the back door and opening it. He looks in at Sherlock.)
SHERLOCK: Where are we?
JEFF: You know every street in London. You know exactly where we are.
SHERLOCK: Roland-Kerr Further Education College. Why here?
JEFF: It's open; cleaners are in. One thing about being a cabbie: you always know a nice quiet spot for a murder. I'm surprised more of us don't branch out.
SHERLOCK: And you just walk your victims in? How?
(Jeff raises a pistol and points it at Sherlock. Sherlock rolls his eyes and turns his head away.)
SHERLOCK: Oh, dull.
JEFF: Don't worry. It gets better.
SHERLOCK: You can't make people take their own lives at gunpoint.
JEFF: I don't. It's much better than that.
(He lowers the gun.)
JEFF: Don't need this with you, 'cause you'll follow me.
(He confidently walks away. Sherlock sits for a moment, then grimaces in exasperation at himself as he does just what Jeff predicted and gets out of the cab to follow the man.)