Sherlock..........Who?

The Final Problem Part Four

SHERLOCK: I dug and dug and dug and dug. Sixteen feet by six; sixteen yards; sixteen metres – and I found nothing. No-one.

JENNY (over earpiece): Sherlock?

EURUS (on the screen): It was a clever little puzzle, wasn't it? So why couldn't you work it out, Sherlock?

(Sherlock raises both hands to cover his mouth.)

JENNY (over earpiece): Sherlock? There's something you need to know.

(Sherlock lowers his hands, breathing heavily.)

EURUS: Emotional context. And he-e-e-e-re it comes.

JENNY: Sherlock? (She's standing up  leaning against the wall in the water staring in anguish at something we can't yet see.) The bones John found.

SHERLOCK (turning and walking back into the nearby room to look at the other screen): Yes? They're dogs' bones. That's Redbeard.

JENNY: Mycroft's been lying to you; to both of us.

(Sherlock frowns in confusion.)

JENNY ( tears falling from her eyes): They're not dogs' bones.

EURUS: Remember Daddy's allergy? What was he allergic to?

(Sherlock stares towards the screen, which is presumably now showing her rather than John.)

EURUS: What would he never let you have all those times you begged? Well, he'd never let you have a dog.

(Inside Sherlock's mind, a dog barks. He screws his eyes shut and sees his younger self running through the shallows on the beach.)

YOUNG SHERLOCK's VOICE (offscreen): Come on, Redbeard!

YOUNG JENNY'S VOICE (offscreen): Sherlock wait for me!

(Nearby, young Eurus runs around, smiling. In one hand she has a plastic toy aeroplane and she holds it up and 'flies' it through the air as she goes.)

ADULT EURUS (offscreen): What a funny little memory, Sherlock.

(Little Eurus runs offscreen, revealing the Irish setter sitting on the pebbles with a purple bandana tied around its neck. Some distance away, young Sherlock, wearing his yellow jumper, raises his plastic sword and swoops it downwards, smiling towards his dog.)

ADULT EURUS (offscreen): You were upset ...

(Young Eurus runs around behind the dog.)

ADULT EURUS (offscreen): ... so you told yourself a better story.

(Still clutching her toy, young Eurus continues trotting around in a circle.)

ADULT EURUS (offscreen, emphasising each word): ... but we never had a dog.

(Eurus runs across in front of Redbeard, briefly obscuring him from our view. As she trots away, the Irish setter has gone. In its place a young boy is kneeling on the beach. The same age as young Sherlock, he has red hair and he is wearing a thick checked shirt and has the purple bandana tied around his neck. He is wearing a black plastic eyepatch over one eye. He stands up, wielding his own plastic sword. Young Sherlock turns to look at him. As young Mycroft continues trying to skim pebbles on the stepping stones some distance away, the red-headed boy runs towards Sherlock, who turns and trots away across the beach with the other boy following him. Little Eurus turns to watch them, and the red-headed boy stops and turns back to her. They look at each other for a long moment. There is no friendliness in their expressions.
In the well, Jenny lifts what she's holding in both hands. It's a small human skull.
In the house, Sherlock stares downwards towards the floor in front of him.)