NEW SCOTLAND YARD. Inspector Dimmock sits at his desk and folds his arms in exasperation as Sherlock stands at the other side of the desk and types onto a laptop.

Sherlock: Brian Lukis, freelance journalist. Murdered in his flat ...

(He turns the laptop around to show Dimmock the web page which John was looking at earlier.)

Sherlock: ... doors locked from the inside.

John: You've gotta admit, it's similar.

(Dimmock scowls at the computer.)

(Y/N): For God's sake Inspector, both men were killed by someone who can ...(he hesitates momentarily as if unable to believe what he's about to say, but perseveres onwards)... walk through solid walls.

Sherlock: Inspector, do you seriously believe that Eddie Van Coon was just another City suicide?

(Dimmock squirms, not meeting his eyes. Sherlock looks up, exasperated, and sighs pointedly.)

Sherlock: You have seen the ballistics report, I suppose?

Dimmock (nodding): Mmm.

Sherlock: And the shot that killed him: was it fired from his own gun?

Dimmock(reluctantly): No.

Sherlock: No. So this investigation might move a bit quicker if you were to take my word as gospel.

(Dimmock looks back at him silently. Sherlock leans forward over the desk and speaks quietly but intensely into his face.)

Sherlock: I've just handed you a murder enquiry. (Louder, nodding towards the picture of Lukis on the computer) Five minutes in his flat.

(Y/N): Dimmock please....how many more murders is it gonna take for you to get up your ass and listen to us?

(Dimmock looked startled by my reply but nodded his head anyway. Sherlock looks at me and back at Dimmock)

Sherlock: That's all it took for you to be encouraged by HER?

(I shrug at Sherlock and he sighs deeply)

LUKIS' FLAT. Sherlock ducks under the police tape at the bottom of the stairs inside the door of the flat. He goes upstairs, followed by Dimmock ,John and I. Looking around at everything as he goes, he walks into the living room. There's an open empty suitcase on the floor. Nearby on the carpet is a black origami flower, similar to the one that Sherlock pulled from Van Coon's mouth. There are books everywhere on the desk and on bookshelves and scattered about on the floor. Several open newspapers are also lying on the floor. He walks over to the kitchen area and I follow him and looks through the window at the nearby rooftops of lower buildings. Pushing back the net curtain for a better look, he smirks.

Sherlock: Four floors up. That's why they think they're safe. Put a chain across the door and bolt it shut; think they're impregnable.

(Y/N): Oh wow...of course

(He walks into the middle of the room again.)

Sherlock: They don't reckon for one second that there's another way in.

(He turns back towards the stairs and sees a skylight above the landing.)

Dimmock: I don't understand.

Sherlock (going out onto the landing): You're dealing with a killer who can climb.

(Y/N): So...our acrobat...

(He hops up on something - maybe a step stool or a box - to get closer to the skylight which is high up on the angled roof.)

Dimmock: What are you doing?

Sherlock: He clings to the walls like an insect.

(He unhooks the latch and pushes the window upwards.)

Sherlock (softly): That's how he got in.

Dimmock: What?!

Sherlock: Climbed up the side of the walls, ran along the roof, dropped in through this skylight.

Dimmock: You're not serious! Like Spiderman?!

(Y/N): Um..yes and no...

Sherlock: He scaled six floors of a Docklands apartment building, jumped the balcony to kill Van Coon.

Dimmock (laughing in disbelief): Oh, ho-hold on!

Sherlock: And of course that's how he got into the bank. He ran along the window ledge and onto the terrace.

(He steps down onto the landing and looks around again.)

Sherlock: We have to find out what connects these two men.

(I made my way down the stairs of the flat and saw some books lying around. I pick.one up and turn the pages to find something interesting)

(Y/N): Sherlock!

(He hears me and comes down the stairs. I show him the book and he raises his eyebrow too, clearly agreeing that it is interesting. The date the book was purchased from a library was the same day Van Coon died)

Sherlock: Good job

(Sherlock muttered and I nodded back reassuringly)

(The three of us made our way to the West Kensington Library)

(We finally made it to aisle of books from where Lukis got his book)

Sherlock: Date stamped on the book is the same day that he died.

(Checking the reference number stuck to the bottom of the book's spine, he goes to the correct place along the shelves and starts pulling out books and examining them.)

(I start to examine some of the books as well when John called us out)

John: Sherlock.

(Sherlock turns and so do I and see John staring into the gap left by the books he removed)

Sherlock pulls out another huge handful of books with his hand, he reveals that spray painted on the back of the shelf are the same two symbols that were sprayed across Sir William Shad's office.)

221B. Photographs of the shelf have been added to the earlier photos stuck around the mirror in the living room. The boys and I are standing at the fireplace looking at the pictures.

Sherlock: So, the killer goes to the bank, leaves a threatening cipher for Van Coon; Van Coon panics, returns to his apartment, locks himself in.

John: Hours later, he dies.

(Y/N): The killer finds Lukis at the library; he writes the cipher on the shelf where he knows it'll be seen; Lukis goes home.

Sherlock: Late that night, he dies too.

(Y/N) (softly): Why did they die, Sherlock?

(Sherlock runs his fingers over the line painted across Sir William's face.)

Sherlock: Only the cipher can tell us.

(He thoughtfully taps his finger against the photo as his expression sharpens. Apparently he has had an idea.)

TRAFALGAR SQUARE. The boys and I are walking through the centre of the square, heading towards the National Gallery.

Sherlock: The world's run on codes and ciphers, John. From the million-pound security system at the bank, to the PIN machine you took exception to, cryptography inhabits our every waking moment.

John: Yes, okay, but ...

Sherlock: ... but it's all computer-generated: electronic codes, electronic ciphering methods. This is different. It's an ancient device. Modern code-breaking methods won't unravel it.

(Y/N): Where are we headed? Why are we in Trafalgar Square?

Sherlock: You don't want to come with us?

(Y/N): Ah...I didn't say that

(He smirks, satisfied with my answer. Oh shut up Sherlock Holmes)

Sherlock: I need to ask some advice.

John: What?! Sorry?!

(Y/N): What did you say?!

(Sherlock throws us a black look as John and I look at each other and smile in disbelief.)

Sherlock: You heard me perfectly. I'm not saying it again.

John: You need advice?

Sherlock: On painting, yes. I need to talk to an expert.

(He leads us towards the entrance to the National Gallery ...

... and straight around it to the rear of the building where a young man has spray-stencilled onto a solid grey metal door the image of a policeman holding a rifle in his hands. The image has a pig's snout in place of a human nose. A large canvas bag is at the man's feet and he is holding spray cans in both hands. With one of the cans he has sprayed his tag, "RAZ", below the image and he is now adding the finishing touches to his 'artwork.' He continues spraying, unperturbed, as we approach.)

RAZ: Part of a new exhibition.

Sherlock (disinterestedly): Interesting.

Raz: I call it Urban Bloodlust Frenzy.

(He chuckles.)

John: Catchy!

Raz (still spraying): I've got two minutes before a Community Support Officer comes round that corner.

(He looks at me from up and down and starts to smirk)

Raz: Oi cutie...you free tonight?

(Y/N): *Smiles* Yeah...as free as bashing your nose if you say a word to me again...

(Sherlock and John looked surprised and Raz looking a little startled and scared but I continued to smile)

(He looks round to Sherlock.)

Raz: Can we do this while I'm workin'?

(Sherlock has taken his phone from his coat pocket and now holds it out towards Raz, who turns around and tosses one of the spray cans at John. John instinctively catches it, and looks at Sherlock and Raz in bewilderment. Raz takes Sherlock's phone and scrolls through the photographs of the yellow ciphers from Sir William's office and the library.)

Sherlock: Know the author?

Raz: Recognise the paint. It's like Michigan; hardcore propellant. I'd say zinc.

Sherlock: What about the symbols: d'you recognise them?

Raz (squinting at the pictures): Not even sure it's a proper language.

Sherlock: Two men have been murdered, Raz. Deciphering this is the key to finding out who killed them.

Raz: What, and this is all you've got to go on? It's hardly much, now, is it?

Sherlock: Are you gonna help us or not?

Raz: I'll ask around.

Sherlock: Somebody must know something about it.

VOICE (offscreen): Oi!

(The four of us look round and see two Community Support Officers hurrying towards them. Sherlock instantly grabs his phone from Raz and grabs my hand as well and runs off taking me with him while Raz drops his spray can, kicks his bag towards John and also scarpers. John, the blithering idiot, meekly turns towards the officers, and he didn't run)

(Sherlock keeps on running while taking my hand and he finally stops when we were at a considerable distance from the gallery)

(We both stop and let go of each other and start panting hard as I
touch my knees, bending down a little and breathe heavily)

(Y/N): OH GOD HAHAHA John didn't run...I haven't done something that stupid in a long time *pants*

Sherlock:*pants* Do you like him?

(Y/N): Huh? Who?

Sherlock: John?

(Y/N): What?? No..not like that, I mean he's a great friend but not like that. Never....

Sherlock: Good. I'd like it to be in that way

(Y/N): Why??

Sherlock: It's a distraction and I don't want any sort of intimate relationship happening among my colleagues

(Y/N): You mean....even I'm-?

Sherlock: Aren't you? My colleague?

(Y/N): Yeah....I guess

Sherlock: Fine I'll make it more simple

(He straightens up and looks at me)

Sherlock: Do you want to solve crimes with me (Y/N)?

(Y/N): Yes....I think it's abt time that I stop loving the normal domestic life

Sherlock: And chase after criminals?

(Y/N): Haha ...sounds like fun...

(He smiles a little and looks out on the street. Wow...this time he legit smiled in front of me)

Sherlock: I think we'll get a cab from here. Let's go

(I nod at him and we walk down the street to get a cab)

221B. Sherlock is standing at the fireplace again. The mirror is now almost completely covered because he has added several sheets of paper with various ciphers and pictograms on them. He has his head lowered and is consulting a book. A slamming door announces John's return to the flat but since John immediately walks into the living room, I can only assume that he slammed the kitchen door shut as he walked past it - presumably the only way he can think of to signify that not only is he home but he is Mad As Hell.

Sherlock (without turning round or looking up): You've been a while.

(John walks a few more paces into the room, his shoulders rigid and his fists clenched. He stops, blinking as he fights to hold onto his anger, I gave him a small shrug to signify that I was completely innocent, then he turns to Sherlock.)

John (tightly): Yeah, well, you know how it is. Custody sergeants don't really like to be hurried, do they?

(He starts pacing, an angry half-smile half-grimace on his face.)

John: Just formalities: fingerprints, charge sheet; and I've gotta be in Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

Sherlock (absently, having clearly not heard a word): What?

John (angrily): Me, Sherlock, in court on Tuesday. (He puts on a rough London accent.)They're givin' me an ASBO!

(I smile a little hearing him getting so frustrated, John looks at me so I immediately put on a poker face)

Sherlock (still not paying any attention): Good. Fine.

John (tightly): You wanna tell your little pal he's welcome to go and own up any time.

Sherlock (slamming his book shut): This symbol: I still can't place it.

(Turning and putting down the book, he walks over to John who has just started to take off his jacket, and pulls the jacket back onto his shoulders.)

Sherlock: No, I need you to go to the police station ...

John (indignantly as Sherlock turns him around and steers him towards the door): Oi, oi, oi!

Sherlock: ... ask about the journalist.

John (exasperated): Oh, Jesus!

Sherlock (grabbing his own coat from the back of the door): His personal effects will have been impounded. Get hold of his diary, or something that will tell us his movements.

(Y/N): Whoa hey...what am I supposed to do?

Sherlock: Stay here till we get back

(Y/N): What???

Sherlock: You don't need to come with us, you'll slow us down

(Y/N): Excuse me? But you just hired me and now I'M going to slow you down?

Sherlock: Just stay here ..

(Sherlock walks out the door but John turns to me and whispers)

John: He doesn't want you to come because it could be dangerous. You never know...

(Y/N): John...I did win a black belt once so if there is any danger...I think I can handle myself

John: Yeah well...still...stay here alright? We'll be back soon

(Y/N): What? No..John!

(John heads out the door as well)

(I can't believe this...I'll slow them down? What do they expect me to do? Sit around and have tea with Mrs.Hudson? Not that mind but...we've come this far in the case and now Sherlock wants me out? Hell no...)

(I go up in front of the fireplace and look at all the pictures.)

(I walk over to the window and see John getting in a can and Sherlock walking down the street)

~Half and hour later~

(Ugh ..I can't watch anymore crap telly..)

(I turn of the television and sulk on Sherlock's chair. Hope he doesn't mind I'm sitting on his chair...besides...it's just a armchair ..)

(Suddenly I got a text and it was from Sherlock)

"Eddie Van Coon bought lunch from the Piazza Espresso Bar Italiano then went on to deliver some package" - Sherlock

(Some package he was delivering?? That shop is on China Town in London...China?? Was he delivering some kind a of a Chinese showpiece? Was he in any other kind of business?...Makes sense if he was involved with the Chinese...he was the head of the Hong Kong Desk Head...so he must have had connections all over China)

(I pick up my court and scary from the couch and head out. There's no way I'll sit around here and let them have all the fun)

(I was walking on the streets on China Town, looking attached he different small shops when the "Piazza Espresso Bar Italiano" caught my eye.)

(Okay ..so Eddie Van Coon got his lunch from here and then...went on somewhere to drop a package for delivery? But where ?)

(I was looking around to see if Sherlock was anywhere nearby, since he should be in front of the shop as well. Suddenly I bumped into, looked up and saw it was Sherlock after all)

(Y/N): Oh hey....

(Suddenly a short man bumped behind Sherlock as well. Sherlock turns around and we see that it was only John. Wow...we all coincide here at the same time)

John: (Y/N)? What are you doing here?

(Y/N): Well Sherlock texted me

Sherlock: I didn't text you to come

(Y/N): You told me your location and you don't expect me to show up?

Sherlock: Fair enough

(Y/N): What's in your hand John?

John: Oh ...Lukis's diary, I was trying to see what exactly he did on the day he died. Got it from the station

(He hands me Lukis's diary as I flip the pages to see if China Town was mentioned anywhere)

John: It says he came here but doesn't tell us where he went

Sherlock (quick fire): Eddie Van Coon brought a package here the day he died - whatever was hidden inside that case. I've managed to piece together a picture using scraps of information ...

John: Whoa calm down...

Sherlock: ... credit card bills, receipts. He flew back from China, then he came here.

John: So..where did they two go? Must be somewhere specific

Sherlock: We could search all the shops

John: All of them? Are you mad? There are Abt a hundred small shops on this street, it'll take us days!

Sherlock: Well do you have any better idea? I'm all ears

John: Don't show your sarcasm with me! Why are you even talking to me like I don't have any point?! We can't search all the shops!

(Finally I saw something interesting in Lukis's diary while they were fighting but I failed to get their attention)

(Y/N): Guys...

Sherlock: Maybe if you can stop complaining constantly and get to work, then we can actually find the shop

John: You can't be serious-

(Y/N): Guys....ahh...

Sherlock: I need to know where they went John! Even if it takes me days! I need to find it!

John: Yeah good luck with that, Sherlock Holmes, the consulting detective who only prefers to work alone and now you dragged her into this!

Sherlock: Me?? I dragged her??

(Y/N): Guys ...........

Sherlock: She volunteered to work with me, John! The last thing I need is another distraction so no I didn't drag her! I was the one to tell her to stay home!

John: Yeah when you-

(Y/N): GUYSSSS!!!!!!!

(They both stopped arguing and looked at me at the same time)

(I sigh and point at a shop that was right in front)

(Y/N): It's that shop, over there

(They both look at the shop and look back at me)

Sherlock(disbelief): How can you tell?

(Y/N): Lukis's diary. He wrote down the address. Now if you guys want to continue your lovely conversation, please do so
but I'm going over there.

(I started walking towards the shop and they came with me as well)

CHINATOWN. We walk into a touristy shop which consists largely of decorative cats which are sitting up on their hind legs with one front paw raised. The paws on some of the cats are waving back and forth. John greets the female Chinese shop keeper politely.

John: Hello.

(They look around at all the items on display. The shop keeper lifts one of the cats from the desk.)

SHOP KEEPER: You want lucky cat?

JOHN: No, thanks. No.

(Sherlock looks round at him and smirks.)

SHOP KEEPER: Ten pound. Ten pound!

JOHN: No.

(He smiles awkwardly.)

(Sherlock observes all the items on the shelves as I walk with him. The old lady turns to me and asks)

SHOP KEEPER: Do you want Lucky Cat, Miss?

(Y/N): Oh no....thank you....

SHOP KEEPER: No! Your boyfriend, he will like *giggles*

(She points at Sherlock)

(Y/N): Oh no ....we're not ....

(I can see John smirking)

(I look at Sherlock but he doesn't even bother to correct her. That's strange....he corrects everyone, he's like....Mr.Punchline)

John: Sherlock.

(Sherlock, who has picked up one of the statues, puts it back on the shelf and comes over to him and so do I)

John: The label there.

Sherlock: Yes, I see it.

(It was the same label that looks like a eight that was sprayed on Sir William's office)

John: Exactly the same as the cipher.

(John clears his throat awkwardly, he puts the cup back. Sherlock lifts his head as it all starts to make sense to him.)

Shortly afterwards we left the shop and are walking down the street.

Sherlock: It's an ancient number system! Hangzhou. These days, only street traders use it. Those were numbers written on the wall at the bank and at the library.

(Sherlock walks over to a greengrocer's which has some of its wares on display outside the shop. The various boxes have handwritten signs on them giving the names of the vegetables in both Chinese and English, and underneath is the cost of that particular item in both Hangzhou and English. He picks up various signs, checking the symbols.)

Sherlock: Numbers written in an ancient Chinese dialect.

(I spotted a sign with the upside down eight and slash above it and its English equivalent beneath.)

(Y/N): It's a fifteen! What we thought was the artist's tag - it's a number fifteen.

Sherlock: And the blindfold - the horizontal line? That was a number as well.

(He shows us a price tag which has the almost-horizontal line at the top, and "£1" written underneath.)

Sherlock (grinning triumphantly): The Chinese number one.

John: We've found it!

(Y/N): Finally ...

(We were Abt to walk away when I noticed a woman dressed all in black taking pictures of us. I tried to look closely but she was gone....that's strange)

(We were now in a small restaurant, the three of us sitting together, getting some food in our system. Plus....I was starving. The waiter gave us our food. I ordered some pasta and John was having some fried rice but of course Sherlock wasn't eating, apparently eating while he's on a case slows him down)

John: Two men travel back from China. Both head straight for the Lucky Cat emporium. What did they see?

Sherlock: It's not what they saw; it's what they both brought back in those suitcases.

(Y/N): And you don't mean duty free.

Sherlock: Think about what Sebastian told us; about Van Coon - about how he stayed afloat in the market.

John: Lost five million ...

Sherlock: ... made it back in a week.

JohnN: Mmm.

Sherlock: That's how he made such easy money.

(Y/N):Oh gosh.... he was a smuggler

(I say as I take a mouthful of food.)

Sherlock: A guy like him - it would have been perfect.

(Y/N): Business man ...

John: Mmm-hmm.

Sherlock: ... making frequent trips to Asia. And Lukis was the same ... . a journalist writing about China.

John: Mmm.

Sheelock: Both of them smuggled stuff out, and the Lucky Cat was their drop-off.

John: But why did they die? I mean, it doesn't make sense. If they both turn up at the shop and deliver the goods, why would someone threaten them and kill them after the event, after they'd finished the job?

(Sherlock sits back thoughtfully for a few seconds, then smiles as he realises the answer.)

Sherlock: What if one of them was light-fingered?

John How d'you mean?

Sherlock: Stole something; something from the hoard.

(Y/N): Ahh....And the killer doesn't know which of them took it, so he threatens them both. Right.

(Sherlock looks out of the window towards the shop, then raises his eyes to the windows above it. Looking down to the ground floor level again, his gaze sharpens.)

Sherlock: Remind me ... when was the last time that it rained?

(Y/N): Huh?

(Without waiting for a reply, he stands up and leaves the restaurant. I sigh in a tiring manner, get up and follow him. John, who has probably managed only two mouthfuls of his meal, sits back in exasperation but then dutifully gets up and follows.)

Over the road, Sherlock bends down to some Yellow Pages kept beside the door. The plastic wrapper still has drops of water on it, and the top of it has broken open a little. Sherlock runs his fingers over the top of the wet exposed pages of the directory.

Sherlock: It's been here since Monday.

(He straightens up and presses Soo Lin's doorbell, probably the owner who lives here is named Soo Lin. He only waits a couple of seconds, then looks to his right and heads off in that direction. There's an alleyway beside the flat and we walk down the alley.)

Sherlock: No-one's been in that flat for at least three days.

John: Could've gone on holiday.

Sherlock: D'you leave your windows open when you go on holiday?

(Sherlock reaches the rear of the building and looks up to see a cantilevered metal fire escape above his head. Taking a short run at it, he jumps up and grabs the end, pulling it down towards him until it touches the ground, then runs up the steps towards the open window of the flat. I managed to get up the ladder as well as soon as he did. As he reaches the top, the ladder swings back to the horizontal position behind us.)

John: Sherlock! (Y/N)!

(Realising that he's far too much of a short-arse to be able to pull the ladder down again, he turns and runs back along the alley to the front of the building.)

(Poor John..)

Sherlock climbs in through the window into the kitchen, then cries out in muffled alarm as he almost knocks a vase of flowers off the table beside the window and almost giving me a heart attack. Catching it before it hits the floor, he looks down and sees a wet patch on the rug in the precise place where the vase would have hit if it had reached the floor. Straightening up, he calls out of the open window, unaware that John is no longer there.)

(He helps me to get down from the window pane by holding my waist, picks me up and makes me land on the floor in a second. He has surprisingly strong arms)

(Y/N): Thanks...

Sherlock: Hmm

(He let's go of my waist and investigates the flat)

Sherlock: Someone else has been here

(He puts the vase back on the table again and moves around the flat, while I follow him and look around as well)

Sherlock: Somebody else broke into the flat and knocked over the vase just like I did.

(Y/N): Clearly...

(He looks round the kitchen, then bends down to the washing machine and opens it. Taking out an item of Soo Lin's unmentionables, he sniffs it and grimaces.)

(What a reaction.....)

Downstairs, John rings on the doorbell. Sherlock puts the item back into the washing machine and pushes the door closed, then reaches for a tea towel hanging up nearby.)

John (from outside): D'you think maybe you could let me in this time?

(Y/N): Um...should I open the door?

(Sherlock doesn't pay any attention to me at all and he feels the tea towel, apparently finds that it's dry, and moves onwards)

(Y/N): Okay...

Sherlock: Move around the flat, see if anything catches your eye

(Y/N): Sure...

John: Can you not keep doing this, please?

(Sorry John...)

(I go to the kitchen and open the frigde to see a pint of milk there. I open the lid and sniff it and the other contents. These milk was in here for days and so are the fruits and other things in here )

(I close the fridge and go back to the living room where Sherlock was bending down observing the rug.)

Sherlock: Well?

(Y/N): Well you were right...whoever lives here hasn't been home for days. But all the clothes and everything is still here so it's highly unlikely that they're on holiday or something

Sherlock: Obviously. I'm not the first. Someone's been here before us

John: What are you saying?!

(Y/N): Yeah John! We're gonna come down don't worry!

John: WHAT?!

(I sigh, knowing it's no use to scream. He can't hear us)

(Sherlock has taken his pocket magnifier from his coat and looks down to where a foot has rucked up the rug, leaving an impression of the intruder's shoe.)

Sherlock (not as loudly): Size eight feet.

(He pushes through the beaded curtain between the kitchen and the bedroom/living room, bent forward while he examines the rug.)

Sherlock (now talking more to himself than to me): Small, but ... athletic.

(He straightens up, looking thoughtful)

(I find a small framed photograph of two children, a girl and boy and notice some fingerprints on them)

(Y/N): Sherlock?

Sherlock: Hmm?

(I show him the frame as he come near and examines it with his magnifier)

Sherlock (softly): Small, strong hands.

(Closing the magnifier, he puts down the photograph.)

Sherlock: Our acrobat.

(Y/N): So he was here? The killer? But there's no body?

(He frowns, looking round.)

Sherlock: But why didn't he close the window when he left ...?

(He stops as he realises the truth and rolls his eyes at himself.)

(Y/N): What is it?

Sherlock: Oh, stupid. Stupid. Obvious. He's still here.

(Y/N): WHAT?! *loudly*

(Sherlock looks at me giving me the signal to quiet down. I tip toe next to him and whisper?

(Y/N): *whisper* He's here?? Right now?? Like right here??

Sherlock: Must be

(He looks around the room and sees an ornately decorated free-standing folding screen shielding the bed. Putting his magnifier into his pocket, he walks carefully towards it and then grabs the edge of the screen and pulls it back.)

(There were only some dolls over there and we both sigh in relief. His back was turned on me so he couldn't see me)

(Suddenly someone wraps a long white silk scarf around my neck and pulls hard as hell making me choke and almost pulls me down to the floor. I was calling out to Sherlock but my voice couldn't escape and I was struggling to call out to him. He was still standing there and as he slowly turns he sees me getting strangled by a psychopath)

(Y/N): Sherl...

(My eyes were starting to close and that's when Sherlock pushed me away as I landed in the soft rug. I coughed hard, gasping for air as I saw Sherlock fisting a punch on the assailant but he manages to wrap the scarf around Sherlock as well and starts to strangle him. Sherlock tries to push him away but the assailant, dressed in black, continues to throttle him)

(I regain my strength and saw a old Chinese lamp on the table. I took the lamp and hit the assailant's head with all my strength)

(He shouts a little, holding his head in pain and Sherlock pins him down on the floor as I can hear John shouting from downstairs)

John: Any time you want to include me.

Sherlock (faintly, as he struggles against his attacker): John! John!

JOHN (pacing in irritation): "No, I'm Sherlock Holmes and I always work alone and managed to drag an innocent girl with me to play games because no-one else can compete with my MASSIVE INTELLECT!"

(The assailant manages to reach my foot and pulls it making me fall down and takes the lamp from my hand and hits it on Sherlock's head. Sherlock cries out and falls down on the floor too. The assailant tries to escape but I get up as quickly as I can and grab his hair, pulling it hard which made him whimper. He turned around grabbed the back of my head and hit it hard on the wooden table. The pain on my forehead was unbearable as little blood fell on the table. The assailant ran off thru the window as I trip and fall down)

(Sherlock crawls up to me and holds me up)

Sherlock: *worried* (Y/N)! (Y/N)! Hey open you eyes! Can you hear me?

(He lightly pat's on my left cheek. I open my eyes and hold my forehead)

(Y/N): Ow....that bastard hits hard...

Sherlock: Can you stand?

(Y/N): Yeah...

(He helps me stand up and I notice his scarf was on the floor)

Sherlock: Are you alright?

(Y/N): Yeah I'm fine...

Sherlock: *holds my face* It's bleeding a little....do you feel dizzy

(I hold his hands and reassure him)

(Y/N): Sherlock! I said I'm fine....really

(He gulps and gave a small look of guilt. Probably because I came here and almost died...but...so did he)

(Y/N): Srsly...I'm okay. And I knew the moment I signed up with you, there's gonna be trouble like this so it's not your fault

(We noticed that we were holding our hands for quite a while so we instantly let go and he begins to clear his throat)

Sherlock: Stay here ..I'll bring a bandaid

(Y/N): Okay..

(Later Sherlock applied a small bandaid on my forehead and we didn't say a word. I took the scarf from the floor and wrapped it around his neck, and he looked a little startled)

(Y/N): I'm just fixing it

(He didn't say a word and I could tell that he was avoiding eye contact with me. What's gotten into him all of a sudden?)

Sherlock: That...thing you did...when you hit him on the head that was....well....nicely done

(Y/N): Your welcome

(I smiled a little knowing that that is as far as he can get to say "Thank you")

(Y/N): We better go down to John

Sherlock: Yeah let's...

(Y/N): Your voice is a bit....

Sherlock: *coughs* I'm fine

(We both head downstairs and open the door to see John looking at us in anger)

Sherlock: The, uh, milk's gone off and the washing's starting to smell. Somebody left here in a hurry three days ago.

John: Somebody?

Sherlock (nodding, his voice still rough): Soo Lin Yao. We have to find her.

(He looks down and bends to pick something off the floor.)

John: But how, exactly?

(Sherlock picks up a folded envelope. On the back of it is written:

SOO LIN
Please ring me
tell me you're
OK
Andy

(He unfolds the envelope and looks at the front of it. Printed in the bottom right hand corner is:

NATIONAL
ANTIQUITIES
MUSEUM

Sherlock (croakily): Maybe we could start with this.

(Y/N): *coughs* Let's...get going then....*coughs*

John: You two alright, your voices are a little croaky? Getting a cold?

Sherlock: *coughs* We're fine

(We start to walk down the street when John noticed the bandaid)

John: Jesus (Y/N), what happened to your head?

(Y/N): Oh um..it's nothing I just hit my head on the window pane when I was getting in. That's all. Found a bandaid inside so made use of it

John: You sure?

(Y/N): Yeah...*coughs*

NATIONAL ANTIQUITIES MUSEUM. Sherlock is pacing around a display area while he interviews a boy name Andy.

Sherlock: When was the last time that you saw her?

Andy: Three days ago, um, here at the museum.

(Sherlock focuses briefly on a glass case showing some of the clay teapots. Most of them are dull but one is shiny.)

Andy: This morning they told me she'd resigned just like that.

(Y/N): Where'd she go?

Andy: She didn't tell any of us

(Sherlock looks at another case containing some jade figurines, and then at a piece of artwork.)

Andy: Just left her work unfinished.

Sherlock (turning to him): What was the last thing that she did on her final afternoon?

Andy has brought us to the basement archive, and now turns on the lights as he leads us in.

ANDY: She does this demonstration for the tourists - a-a tea ceremony. So she would have packed up her things and just put them in here.

(He leads us to the open stack and starts turning a handle at the end to widen the gap. John and I stand behind him and look into the stack but Sherlock has noticed something more interesting in the shadows further along the room. He walks closer to it. On a stand is a life-sized sculpture of a nude woman ... and yellow paint has been spray painted across the front of it. An almost horizontal straight line goes across the eyes, and over the body has been sprayed the open upside down eight with the almost horizontal line above it. Andy, John and I turn and see what he has found.)

(Oh gosh....Soo Lin Yao was also threatened)

Outside the museum, night has fallen as the three of us come out.

Sherlock: We have to get to Soo Lin Yao.

John: If she's still alive.

Raz: Sherlock!

(We turn as Raz runs over to join us.)

John: Oh, look who it is.

(Y/N): John...

Raz (to Sherlock): Found something you'll like.

(He trots off and Sherlock immediately follows.I start to follow as John heads off after us a little more slowly.)

Shortly afterwards the four of us are walking across Hungerford Bridge, heading towards the south side of the river.

John: Tuesday morning, all you've gotta do is turn up and say the bag was yours.

(Y/N): John not now....

Sherlock: Forget about your court date.

SOUTH BANK SKATE PARK. Raz leads us across the under-croft. A boy has just done some kind of clever jump on his pushbike.

GIRL: Dude, that was rad!

Sherlock : If you want to hide a tree, then a forest is the best place to do it, wouldn't you say? People would just walk straight past, not knowing, unable to decipher the message.

(Raz points to a particular area on the heavily-graffitied walls.)

RAZ: There. I spotted it earlier.

(Amongst all the other paint there are slashes of the yellow paint forming Chinese symbols. Some of them are already partially painted over by other artists' tags and pictures.)

Sherlock: They have been in here. (To Raz)And that's the exact same paint?

RAZ: Yeah.

SHERLOCK: John, if we're going to decipher this code, we're gonna need to look for more evidence. You go the other way, (Y/N) come with me

(He says quickly and runs off in the other direction)

(John looks at me suspiciously)

John: He couldn't even stand you this morning and now he's inviting you?

(Y/N): Ahh...yeah I guess

(John smiles)

(Y/N): Shut up John

(I smile at him and I go after the detective)

Sherlock and I walk along the end of a railway line and find an abandoned spray can on the tracks. Squatting down to pick it up, he throws the flashlight at me for me to hold it and runs a thumb over the yellow paint on the nozzle, then sniffs the nozzle)

(Y/N): You know I'll be honest. I thought you couldn't stand me

Sherlock: Hmm?

(Y/N): When we first met...you hated me didn't you?

Sherlock: You hated me, didn't you?

(Y/N): Well yeah...it's funny...I wasnt expecting some crazy Chinese murder spree to get us along

(Sherlock smiles a little and puts down the spray and gets up)

Sherlock: I suppose that is exactly what we needed. Come on.

(He says so and we continue to walk down the railway)

(After a few minutes of searching thru some tunnels we see John coming towards us)

JOHN (trotting towards him): Answer your phone! I've been calling you! I've found it.

(John turns around again and we run off into the night side by side, Sherlock's coat billowing behind him and my hair dancing in the wind)

(John leaves us towards a wall but it was a completely normal wall made of bricks)

John: It's been painted over!

(Y/N): What's been?

(Sherlock shines his flashlight around the area as John continues to stare at the wall in disbelief.)

John: I don't understand. It-it was here ... (he stumbles backwards) ... ten minutes ago. I saw it. A whole load of graffiti!

Sherlock: Somebody doesn't want me to see it.

(He turns and grabs the sides of John's head in both hands.)

John: Hey, Sherlock, what are you doing ...?

(Y/N): Whoa um...boys?

Sherlock: Shh, John, concentrate. I need you to concentrate. Close your eyes.

John: No, what? Why? Why?

(Sherlock lowers his hands to hold John by the upper arms.)

JOHN: What are you doing?!

Sherlock starts to spin them slowly around on the spot, staring intensely into John's eyes.)

Sherlock: I need you to maximise your visual memory. Try to picture what you saw. Can you picture it?

John: Yeah.

Sherlock: Can you remember it?

John: Yes, definitely.

Sherlock: Can you remember the pattern?

(Y/N): Guys...dont wanna be a third wheeler here but...someone might see us

John: Yes!

Sherlock: How much can you remember it?

John: Well, don't worry ...

Sherlock(still spinning them): Because the average human memory on visual matters is only sixty-two percent accurate.

John: Yeah, well, don't worry - I remember all of it.

Sherlock (disbelievingly): Really?

John: Yeah, well at least I would ... (he pulls himself free) ... if I can get to my pockets!

(He rummages in his jacket pocket.)

John: I took a photograph.

(He takes out his phone and pulls up a flash photo he has taken of the wall which shows all the symbols clearly. He gives the phone to Sherlock, who takes it and looks embarrassed as John sighs and turns away.)

(Both of them look at me as if they want me to say something)

(Y/N): *shrugs* What?? You guys were having a little fun

(Both of them sigh at the same time as I giggle a little)

221B. The photograph has been blown up into small sections and then printed out and all the pictures are stuck on the mirror. The numerical value of each symbol has been written against it. Sherlock is standing at the fireplace looking at the pictures closely and has spotted a pattern.

Sherlock: Always in pairs, John.

(John is sitting at the dining table with his back to the fireplace and his head propped in his hands. Sherlock's voice wakes him up. He blinks and turns his head, squinting round at his friend.)

John: Hmm?

Sherlock: Numbers come with partners.

John (gazing around the flat blankly): God, I need to sleep

(Y/N): Same.....uggghh

(I touch my forehead where the bandaid is and caress it a little. I was lying on the couch with my eyes closed but my ears were still open)

Sherlock: Why did he paint it so near the tracks?

John (tiredly): No idea.

Sherlock: Thousands of people pass by there every day.

John (propping his head in his hand again): Just twenty minutes.

Sherlock (realising something): Of course. Of course! He wants information. He's trying to communicate with his people in the underworld. Whatever was stolen, he wants it back. Somewhere here in the code. We can't crack this without Soo Lin Yao.

(I open my eyes and see Sherlock running off...again)

(Oh God ..I don't think I'll get any sleep with this guy around)

(I get up quickly but also feeling tired and John also follows...I can tell by his posture that he was also exhausted)

NATIONAL ANTIQUITIES MUSEUM. We were back with Andy in the same display room when we met him earlier.

Sherlock: Two men who travelled back from China were murdered, and their killer left them messages in the Hangzhou numerals.

John: Soo Lin Yao's in danger. Now, that cipher - it was just the same pattern as the others. He means to kill her as well.

(Y/N): Does she have any family relatives? Friends she was close with??

Andy: Look, I've tried everywhere: um, friends, colleagues. I-I don't know where she's gone. I mean, she could be a thousand miles away.

(Sherlock has turned his head away in exasperation, but now his gaze focuses on the nearby glass case displaying the teapots.)

John: What are you looking at?

Sherlock (pointing at the case as he walks towards it): Tell me more about those teapots.

Andy: Th-the pots were her obsession. Um, they need urgent work. If-if they dry out, then the clay can start to crumble. Apparently you have to just keep making tea in them.

(Sherlock bends down to look more closely at the shelf.)

Sherlock: Yesterday, only one of those pots was shining. Now there are two.

(Later that night, we decided to stay inside the museum, hiding, so that when Soo Lin comes in to make tea in those pots then maybe we can catch her)

(We here hiding behind some desks when we say a figure in the distance holding the pots, assuming it was Soo Lin)

(Sherlock stands up and walks slowly over to Soo Lin)

Sherlock: Fancy a biscuit with that?

(Before he finishes the sentence she gasps in fright and turns towards him, the teapot dropping from her terrified fingers. Sherlock reacts instantly and bends his knees to reach down and catch the teapot before it hits the floor. He looks up at her.)

Sherlock: Centuries old. Don't wanna break that.

(He slowly straightens up and hands the teapot back to her. As she takes it, he reaches out and flicks a switch on the desk, turning on the lights underneath the surface. He smiles slightly at her.)

Sherlock: Hello.

(As the lights were turned on, John and I made our way towards Soo Lin as she looked at us in fear, knowing she was caught)