Below we present the complete text of The Warren, episode 3 (and final) of Scarlet.
ACT 3
SCENE 10: INT. — THE GHOUL WARREN — DAYBREAK (YOUNG HOLMES, MARTHA)
- MUSIC: OPENING THEME – LET IT FINISH.
- NARRATOR: Sherlock Holmes’ investigation into the disappearance of Damien Nugent and his fiancee Scarlet Hope has resulted in the kidnapping of his friends, Dr Watson and Martha Hudson. And now, Holmes himself has been kidnapped by a mysterious American Cab Driver and taken, unconscious, to a secret location somewhere in Highgate .
- SOUND: [13] (WALLA) SHRIEKS OF GHOULS — FADE IN, ESTABLISH, THEN FADE OUT.
- YOUNG HOLMES: [CUE] (GROANS)
- MARTHA: Oh yes. Now ’e wakes up! All this time I’ve been tellin’ the other prisoners: “Not to worry, the great Sherlock ’olmes is on the case and e’ll soon find us ’n get things sorted”… ’n then you turn up ’ere as much of a prisoner as the rest of us?
- YOUNG HOLMES: You know, Martha, I rather suspect you were waiting a significant amount of time to deliver that chastisement.
- MARTHA: Possibly, Mr ’olmes.
- YOUNG HOLMES: Do you feel better for it?
- MARTHA: Not particularly, no.
- YOUNG HOLMES: Then would you mind keeping it down to a dull roar. It’s the second time I’ve been rendered unconscious in twenty-four hours and I have to say it’s given me rather a pounding headache. (BEAT) Do you happen to know where we are?
- MARTHA: I’m in the dark as much as you, Mr ’olmes — if you’ll pardon the pun. Underground, of a certainty, but where I couldn’t tell you.
- YOUNG HOLMES: Hmmm. The clay in the walls is instructive. I would hazard we are most likely under Highgate Cemetery. Probably a fair way under if the caterwauling of the ghouls is anything to go by.
- MARTHA: I ’ave to agree with you on that last point. The ruckus they make when they goes to sleep! They’re like the birds. It’d wake the dead if’n we weren’t buried so far beneath ’em.
- YOUNG HOLMES: Is Watson here?
- MARTHA: Yes! But ’e’s in a bad way. The monsters have a sense about weak targets. Ruddy cowards! They singled Dr Watson out fer special treatment right from the start.
- YOUNG HOLMES: Have they eaten him?
- MARTHA: No. Not yet. They just enjoy tormentin’ ’im. I’m sure ’e’s fer the larder eventually, but there’s plenty to choose from down ’ere — nearly fifty prisoners in all. But many of the prisoners seem tagged fer conversion.
- YOUNG HOLMES: What do you mean?
- MARTHA: I’ve seen two people turned already. ’alf starved they were ’n suddenly they started twitchin’ and cryin’ and then they changed and turned into ghouls.
- YOUNG HOLMES: Someone’s deliberately trying to expand the population, create a ghoul colony under London.
- MARTHA: I figured as much as well. Some of us are for the pot; the weak and the small, or the old. But those of us ’oo are young and strong are bein’ kept for the change.
- YOUNG HOLMES: How does Jefferson Hope figure into all this?
- MARTHA: ’oo’s ’e?
- YOUNG HOLMES: The large American cabbie. He would have been the one to drop me off.
- MARTHA: Oh ’im. ’e’s a queer one, ’e is. The ghouls seem to leave ’im alone. ’e feeds ’em, see. ’n one in particular. She seems to be ’is special pet.
- YOUNG HOLMES: A girl, or she was before she took the change? About seventeen years old?
- MARTHA: ’ow’d you know that?
- YOUNG HOLMES: Just some small pieces of the puzzle falling into place. The first person to go missing was Mr Hope’s daughter. She’d returned from Paris where she had been sent to see a specialist because of a sudden illness to which she had succumbed. Whether this illness was the beginning stages of the change or whether she was turned in Paris I’m not prepared to guess. However, when she returned it was clear, to Mr Hope at least, what she had become and he hid her away in Highgate Cemetery, bringing her companions and food — sometimes both — as opportunity arose.
- MARTHA: That sounds about right. He comes by twice a day. Once at sunrise — just as they’re all goin’ to sleep — and once at sundown when they’re waking up. He brings body parts — stolen from an ’ospital most likely — from time to time, but also new prisoners, and a steady supply o’ pies for those already in cages.
- YOUNG HOLMES: (SHARPLY) You haven’t eaten any, have you?
- MARTHA: Cor, no! They smelled rancid. I’d ’ave to be fairly starvin’ to eat that stuff.
- YOUNG HOLMES: Thank goodness for that.
- MARTHA: Why? What’s the matter with ’em?
- YOUNG HOLMES: You’ve not had much to do with ghouls before, have you?
- MARTHA: (SCOFFING) What? And you ’ave?
- YOUNG HOLMES: I’m not being deliberately insulting, Miss Hudson, it’s just that on this occasion you appear to be failing to join the dots.
- MARTHA: Well, I’d ’ate to see you when you were bein’ deliberate about it then. Come on, explain the situation.
- YOUNG HOLMES: Alright. I’ll make it plain for you… people are turned into ghouls by feeding on rancid human flesh.
- MARTHA: (FEELING SICK) Oh, Lord!
- YOUNG HOLMES: Easy, Miss Hudson.
- MARTHA: So that’s ’ow they’ve been doin’ it. Feeding the prisoners pies made from… Oh, it’s truly ’orrible.
- YOUNG HOLMES: Yes. It is. But we must not lose our heads. I believe the solution to this case is now at hand.
- MARTHA: What? ’ave you got somethin’ up your sleeve, Mr ’olmes?
- YOUNG HOLMES: Several somethings actually. For a start I’ve got my skeleton keys and, if the general decline in caterwauling from the undead is any indication, now, while they are asleep, might be a good time to use them.
- MARTHA: (VERY HAPPY) Oh, Mr ’olmes, I never doubted you for a second!
- YOUNG HOLMES: And once that’s done, we’ll have to look to cleaning out this nest of the creatures.
- MARTHA: They’re uncommonly fast and agile. They don’t like sunlight. And they’re fairly cowardly. But in numbers like this, you’ll need an army to deal with them.
- YOUNG HOLMES: Actually, Martha, you’d hit upon the way to deal with them back in the curio shop.
- MARTHA: The Cheirosiphon (KI-RO-SI-FON)? But it’s back at the house.
- YOUNG HOLMES: Actually, when I realized what we were dealing with I went back to 221B (TWO TWO ONE B) and picked up your little purchase. I also went to the curio shop and picked up the spare. The two of them are wrapped around my body and fully loaded.
- MARTHA: Well, Mr ’olmes, I take back what I said earlier. You really ’ave got it sorted, ’aven’t you?
- YOUNG HOLMES: I think it remains to be seen. We are not home free yet!
- MUSIC: [5] (BRIDGE) OMINOUS SCENE ENDER — LET IT FINISH.
SCENE 11: INT. — THE FINAL CHAMBER OF THE GHOUL WARREN — LATER (ELDER HOLMES, MARTHA, YOUNG HOLMES, DR WATSON)
- SOUND: [14] (WALLA) FROM “and setting alight” BY ELDER HOLMES. SOUND OF FLAME AND SHRIEKS OF DYING GHOULS — PLAY UNTIL THE END OF 396 AND FADE UNDER.
- ELDER HOLMES: [CUE] And so began a dark night of work. I freed us from the cages with the aid of my skeleton keys and Martha — Miss Hudson as she was then — and I proceeded to move from chamber to chamber freeing prisoners and setting alight the sleeping ghouls, wrapped as they were in the ragged blankets and rags they had collected together to form the nests in which they slept. Their screams were hideous and the streams of Greek Fire that spewed from the weapons we had procured were particularly effective against them. At last we stood over the remains of the young woman who had been, effectively, the primary patient in this outbreak of undead. She had gasped hideously at the end and fallen still.
- MARTHA: (PANTING WITH EXERTION) Is that it, Mr ’olmes? ’ave we done with ’em?
- YOUNG HOLMES: Not quite. The creatures will regenerate if left to themselves. We’ll need to remove the corpses into the sunlight if they are to be kept from coming back.
- MARTHA: That last one was a bit different from the others.
- YOUNG HOLMES: Yes, she didn’t fight against it. In fact she almost looked grateful.
- MARTHA: She was ’ope’s daughter. You don’t think the care she was receivin’ ’elped ’er ’ang on to ’er ’umanity?
- YOUNG HOLMES: The girl was dead… and whatever humanity she had died with her. But I suppose, like any base creature treated with kindness, she may have been able to respond in kind. I doubt it would have lasted, however. A ghoul’s nature is essentially wild and bestial. There was nothing human left to exert any control over it.
- MARTHA: Lor’, where’s Dr Watson. I’d quite forgotten about ’im.
- YOUNG HOLMES: We didn’t pass him in any of the other chambers during this grisly business.
- MARTHA: Then ’e must be ’ere, or there are some chambers we missed. Take a look over ’ere. This wall is wetter and more damp ’n the others.
- YOUNG HOLMES: You’re right. I think we’d best dig.
- SOUND: [41] GRUNTS AND SPLASHES OF MUD BEING PULLED FROM WALL AND DUMPED ON GROUND — LET IT FINISH.
- MARTHA: ’ere. There is a chamber back there.
- DR WATSON: Oh, my Lord! Thank God you found me. It’s so dark… so dark and cold. Help me. Please… help me!
- YOUNG HOLMES: He’s in shock. We’d need to carry him out even if his legs were working to begin with.
- MUSIC: [3] (BRIDGE) NEUTRAL SCENE ENDER — LET IT FINISH.
SCENE 12: EXT. — HIGHGATE CEMETERY — MORNING (YOUNG HOLMES, MARTHA, LESTRADE, PRISONER #1, PRISONER #2)
- SOUND: [15] (WALLA) BIRDS, MILD BREEZE BLOWING ETC. MURMUR OF VOICES MILLING ABOUT — ESTABLISH AND UNDER.
- YOUNG HOLMES: (COUGHING) My, but it’s good to be out of those tunnels.
- MARTHA: Can we put Dr Watson down now? ’e seems to ’ave passed out again?
- YOUNG HOLMES: Assuredly.
- SOUND: [27] BODY SLUMPING TO GROUND — LET IT FINISH.
- LESTRADE: (AT A DISTANCE) There ’e is! Arrest that man!
- SOUND: [21] FEET RUNNING TOWARDS HOLMES — ESTABLISH AND UNDER.
- YOUNG HOLMES: Oh dear. Lestrade does like to get the wrong end o’ the stick, doesn’t he?
- MARTHA: Now, ’old on, Inspector. Mr ’olmes just rescued all these folks.
- PRISONER #1: (ALSO AT A DISTANCE) It’s true, Inspector. You can’t arrest Mr Holmes.
- PRISONER #2: (ALSO AT A DISTANCE) ’e’s the only reason we’re any of us alive.
- YOUNG HOLMES: Inspector, the real kidnapper is a cabbie by the name of Jefferson Hope.
- LESTRADE: (APPROACHING) What? Wasn’t ’e the American bloke ’oo reported ’is daughter and young Mr Nugent missing.
- YOUNG HOLMES: That’s right. And, if you can keep this out of the papers for a day, he’ll return here this evening with infected food for the prisoners.
- LESTRADE: Well, well, Mr ’olmes. It looks like the reputation you’ve bin buildin’ fer yerself is not so exaggerated after all.
- YOUNG HOLMES: I’ll take that as a compliment, Inspector, but there is still work to be done here. There are a great many corpses down in the tunnels behind me. They will need to be brought up into the sunlight…
- MARTHA: To aid in the identification o’ course.
- YOUNG HOLMES: Er, yes. It’s imperative that the work get underway immediately. You’ll be wanting to organize your men for the task right away.
- LESTRADE: Right you are, Mr ’olmes.
- YOUNG HOLMES: And I’d like to be present when you make the arrest this evening, Inspector. I believe Mr Hope has a confederate. One who may be even more dangerous than he is.
- LESTRADE: As you say, Mr ’olmes.
- YOUNG HOLMES: A number of those imprisoned in the tunnels were fed contaminated pies. They will need to be taken to a hospital for observation, preferably one which can set up a quarantine and handle infectious diseases. I’ve taken the liberty of listing a couple of suitable locations on this note.
- LESTRADE: I see! (IMPATIENTLY) Is there anything else I can do for you, Mr ’olmes? Only I’ve something of a mess to clean up ’ere and I need to be getting along.
- YOUNG HOLMES: (OBLIVIOUS TO THE SARCASM) Not a problem, Inspector. That will be all.
- LESTRADE: (DEPARTS MUTTERING UNDER HIS BREATH).
- MUSIC: [3] (BRIDGE) NEUTRAL SCENE ENDER — LET IT FINISH.
SCENE 13: EXT. — HIGHGATE CEMETERY — SUNDOWN (YOUNG HOLMES, LESTRADE, CABBIE, MARTHA)
- SOUND: [9] (WALLA) CRICKETS CHIRPING, AN OCCASIONAL OWL ETC. — ESTABLISH AND UNDER.
- SOUND: [18] HORSE AND CARRIAGE APPROACHING — ESTABLISH AND UNDER.
- YOUNG HOLMES: Alright, Inspector. Your man approaches.
- LESTRADE: Right, men. Upon ’im. Now! Halt! Halt I say!
- CABBIE: What’s going on ’ere?! Jes whut do you varmints think ye’re doing?
- LESTRADE: Mr Jefferson ’ope, you are ’ereby under arrest for kidnapping, public endangerment, and murder on numerous counts, under the authority and in the name of the Crown.
- CABBIE: What? No! Git yer hands offen me!
- YOUNG HOLMES: I’d come along quietly, Mr Hope. It’s all in the open now.
- CABBIE: You? ’e warned me you were more dangerous than ye looked.
- YOUNG HOLMES: Who warned you? Who have you been workin’ for?
- CABBIE: Where’s my daughter? Where’s Scarlet?
- YOUNG HOLMES: I’m sorry, but she’s dead! She has been for some time.
- CABBIE: No! Let me see her! Please!
- LESTRADE: If she’s one of them corpses we brought up earlier today there’s nothin’ left. They all turned to dust in clear light of the sun.
- CABBIE: Murderers! Snakes! Yellow-bellied varmints! This is your fault, Holmes. I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you!
- MARTHA: He has a knife. Mr ’olmes, look out!
- SOUND: [42] A SINGLE GUNSHOT — LET IT FINISH.
- SOUND: [27] BODY OF JEFFERSON HOPE FALLS TO THE GROUND — LET IT FINISH.
- LESTRADE: I’ll be takin’ that, thank you.
- SOUND: [43] SCRAPE OF KNIFE BEING PICKED UP — LET IT FINISH.
- LESTRADE: That was well spotted, Miss Hudson. Without your shout he might’ve done for our Mr ’olmes.
- YOUNG HOLMES: And a rather good shot on your part, Inspector. Have you killed him?
- CABBIE: (GROANS)
- LESTRADE: Not quite, but a bullet in the chest at that range means ’e won’t be long for this world.
- YOUNG HOLMES: I must speak with him before it’s too late. Jefferson? Can you hear me, Mr Hope?
- CABBIE: Whut?
- YOUNG HOLMES: Who set you to capturing people off the street? Who was supplying you with those pies?
- CABBIE: (GASPING) He’ll kill you, you know? He… already knows all about you… and you don’t… you don’t even know who he is.
- YOUNG HOLMES: Don’t be a fool, man. You’re dying. Is this the way you want to go out?
- CABBIE: (GASPING) All I ever wanted… was for my Scarlet to get better. Now she’s gone… and it’s your fault. I’ll never help you.
- YOUNG HOLMES: Is that so? Then I guess there’s no point in holding back.
- CABBIE: (SCREAMS) Aaah!
- LESTRADE: Mr ’olmes!
- YOUNG HOLMES: (IGNORING LESTRADE) Believe me, Mr Hope, when I tell you that if I can’t stop the madman behind this from trying again I will at the least ensure that your last moments are an experience of extreme pain… like this!
- CABBIE: (SCREAMS) Aaah! (SOBBING AND GASPING) No. No more! I’ll tell you. I don’t know ’is name. ’e just goes by the initial “M.” The pie shop… is in back of the abandoned millers on… Carlisle Street. He… he… (GASPS HIS LAST).
- YOUNG HOLMES: Did you hear that, Inspector. We must get to Carlisle Street post haste!
- MUSIC: [7] (BRIDGE) ACTION SCENE ENDER — LET IT FINISH.
SCENE 14: EXT. — THE BACK OF THE ABANDONED MILLERS IN CARLISLE STREET — LATER (YOUNG HOLMES, LESTRADE, MARTHA)
- SOUND: [16] (WALLA) FLAMES, BELLS ETC. — ESTABLISH AND UNDER.
- YOUNG HOLMES: It looks like we’re too late. Our quarry has cleared the premises and set it to the match.
- LESTRADE: If ’e existed at all.
- YOUNG HOLMES: Oh, our mysterious “M” exists alright. The fire should be proof enough of that.
- LESTRADE: But, Mr ’olmes. Isn’t it more sensible to assume that the late Mr Jefferson ’ope was simply tryin’ to use ’is last moments to divert suspicion away from ’imself?
- YOUNG HOLMES: Don’t be a fool, Lestrade. Sometimes I fear our London Police are too stupid to be allowed.
- LESTRADE: Now, steady on!
- YOUNG HOLMES: You explain it to him, Miss Hudson. I am too disappointed to bother.
- MARTHA: Sorry, Inspector, ’e gets like this. Mr ’ope didn’t have the time or skills to be involved in the manufacture o’ them contaminated pies. ’e had to ’ave a confederate… and since ’ope’s own daughter was sufferin’ from the contamination ’erself, you can be reasonably sure ’e wasn’t the mastermind behind it.
- LESTRADE: So ’e really was just a pawn in this?
- MARTHA: Looks like. (BEAT) I’d best be getting’ Mr ’olmes back to ’is lodgings. ’e doesn’t like to lose and takes it fairly ’ard when ’e does.
- YOUNG HOLMES: (FROM A DISTANCE) Where did you send the infected kidnappees?
- LESTRADE: (CALLING BACK) St Bart’s initially. But I’m informed that a chap from Whitehall had them transferred somewhere else.
- YOUNG HOLMES: (RAPIDLY APPROACHING) Where?
- LESTRADE: Doesn’t say. But the order was signed by a Mr Mycroft Holmes. Any relation?
- YOUNG HOLMES: Mycroft? I guess it only makes sense that he’d be keeping a close eye on things like this. Thank you, Inspector. I shan’t be taking up any more of your time.
- LESTRADE: Case closed then, Mr ’olmes?
- YOUNG HOLMES: It would seem so for now, Inspector.
- MUSIC: [3] (BRIDGE) NEUTRAL SCENE ENDER — LET IT FINISH.
SCENE 15: INT. — 221B BAKER STREET — LATER (MARTHA, DR WATSON, YOUNG HOLMES, ELDER HOLMES)
- MARTHA: [CUE](STRAINING WITH THE EFFORT OF ASSISTING DR WATSON INTO HIS WHEELCHAIR) Well, Dr Watson, you’ll ’ave to forgive me. I’m not used to luggin’ a grown man about. Not for any reason.
- DR WATSON: It’s quite alright, Miss Hudson. Just help me into that wheelchair and I’ll get to assisting with the straightening of the premises.
- MARTHA: (GRUNTS) There you go, Doctor. Cor! Those monsters surely did make a ruin o’ my ’ouse, didn’t they?
- DR WATSON: I fear it’ll be some time before the smell is gone.
- MARTHA: And I think it’ll be some time before I’ll be able to sleep without a lamp on. (BEAT) Oh, what a mess! I guess I’ll have to have that hole in the cellar bricked up as soon as may be too.
- DR WATSON: Do you think our acquaintance with Mr Holmes is always going to be like this?
- MARTHA: It wouldn’t surprise me. I doubt I’ll be getting’ my other tenants back though. And I guess you’ll be wantin’ to move on also, Doctor?
- DR WATSON: No. You needn’t have any fear on that account.
- MARTHA: Really?
- DR WATSON: Miss Hudson, you are the first person to have shown me any kindness since I returned from military service. You also saved my life down in those tunnels. I am certainly not going to repay that kindness by abandoning you.
- MARTHA: Oh, Dr Watson, we make a fine pair. And what are we going to do now? You know ’e didn’t get paid fer this one neither? Young Nugent what ’ired ’im ended up a corpse.
- DR WATSON: Where did Holmes disappear to, I wonder? After it all, I mean?
- MARTHA: ’e said ’e ’ad some business to attend to. Probably just sulkin’ over the one that got away. That ’n tryin’ to avoid the clean up, I’ll be bound.
- SOUND: [44] DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES — LET IT FINISH.
- YOUNG HOLMES: (JOVIAL) Ah, you’re here. Good, good. I believe a celebration is in order.
- MARTHA: You what?
- SOUND: [45] CORK POPS. CHAMPAGNE BOTTLE IS OPENED — LET IT FINISH.
- YOUNG HOLMES: Why are you all looking so glum?
- DR WATSON: We’ve just been discussing the fact that your latest case has resulted in you not getting paid, significant damage to Miss Hudson’s home, the scaring off of the remainder of Miss Hudson’s tenants, and a hideous clean-up job. And you want to celebrate? Are you insane?
- YOUNG HOLMES: Oh, there’s no need to worry about all that. I’ve been having a chat with my brother and it appears I have a new case. No more boredom for me!
- DR WATSON: You selfish blighter! Have you no consideration for Miss Hudson?
- YOUNG HOLMES: Why on earth should I? Weren’t you listening? I’ve been speaking with my brother.
- MARTHA: Do you want to ’it ’im or shall I?
- YOUNG HOLMES: Miss Hudson, you need to forget about your petty financial concerns for a moment and concentrate on what is most important.
- MARTHA: (ANGRY) Oh yes, Mr ’olmes? And what’s that?
- YOUNG HOLMES: For a start, as trustee of my family estate, my brother has restored my allowance. You will not need to worry about where you will find tenants any longer as I intend to lease the whole building from you, or at least those parts of it that you do not reserve for the use of yourself and Dr Watson. I will also be able to pay for any repairs that are required as a result of my most recent engagement.
- MARTHA: (SUDDENLY THRILLED) Oh, Mr ’olmes! That’ll do very nicely, that will.
- DR WATSON: So you’ve made a rapprochement with your brother. That’s wonderful.
- YOUNG HOLMES: I most certainly have not. He disapproves of me thoroughly. But he has come to see that my resolve to continue working as a consulting detective has not been dampened by my year cut off from the family nest egg and has chosen to “reinstate” me. He has also arrived at the conclusion that what I do may be of benefit to the Crown after all. Apparently he has taken a particular interest in this most recent case and feels it may well have had implications for the safety of the realm.
- DR WATSON: Good Lord!
- YOUNG HOLMES: Quite! Anyway, it appears that in his capacity at Whitehall he has been hearing rumors regarding our mysterious “M.” The Diogenes club have even gone so far as to create a task force, but my brother has decided to take me into his confidence on the matter. It seems he wishes me to investigate personally.
- MARTHA: Oh, yes? And ’as ’e given you anything much?
- YOUNG HOLMES: A puzzle, Miss Hudson. A conundrum, and a name.
- MARTHA: And what name would that be, Mr ’olmes?
- SOUND: [46] SOUND OF CHAMPAGNE BEING POURED INTO GLASSES — LET IT FINISH.
- YOUNG HOLMES: Come now, drink up! The name is… (BEAT) Moriarty!
- MARTHA: And ’oo’s ’e when ’e’s in ’is cotton socks?
- YOUNG HOLMES: (TAKES A DRINK) Mmmm! (BEAT) He is, Miss Hudson, our quarry. (BEAT AND QUOTING) It would seem that “the game is afoot!” Do you remember the rest of the quote?
- ALL TOGETHER: “Follow your spirit,
and upon this charge
Cry ‘God for Harry, England, and Saint George!’” - SOUND: [47] GLASSES CLINK IN TOAST — LET IT FINISH.
- ELDER HOLMES: And with that, the affair was ended and a new phase of my career began. Little did I realize just how dangerous this new phase was to become.
- MUSIC: [2] CLOSING THEME AND CREDITS — LET IT FINISH.
Scarlet
- Scarlet – Episode 1 – The recently missing
- Scarlet – Episode 2 – On the run
- Scarlet – Episode 3 – The warren
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