The Sign of Three

"The Sign of Three" is the second episode of the third series of the BBC television series Sherlock. It was written by Stephen Thompson, Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat, and stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman as Dr John Watson. The episode's title is inspired by The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It is set six months after the series opener "The Empty Hearse" and is primarily centred on the day of Watson's wedding to Mary Morstan. It garnered a viewership of 11.37 million, and received mostly positive reviews. Plot In the opening scene, DI Lestrade (Rupert Graves) and Sergeant Donovan (Vinette Robinson) are on the verge of arresting the criminal Waters family that has evaded the police several times. However, when Lestrade receives a text for help from Sherlock, he abandons the case and races to Baker Street, assuming the worst and calling for full backup – only to discover that Sherlock is simply struggling to write a best man speech for John's upcoming wedding to Mary Morstan (Amanda Abbington). On the morning of the wedding, Mrs. Hudson (Una Stubbs) reminds Sherlock that marriage changes people. At the reception, John is delighted to see Major James Sholto (Alistair Petrie), his former Army CO. Sholto (the name is a reference to a character in The Sign of Four) lives in seclusion, having received death threats and media scrutiny after losing a unit of new soldiers in Afghanistan. Sherlock calls Mycroft (Mark Gatiss), who repeats Mrs. Hudson's suggestion that John and Mary's marriage will change his life. Sherlock rises to give the best man speech, but he initially hesitates. After reading from the wedding telegrams, Sherlock expresses his deep love and respect for John and launches into a rambling narrative, describing John's role in an attempted murder case, "the Bloody Guardsman"; a Guardsman named Bainbridge (Alfred Enoch) contacted Sherlock, fearing he was being stalked. When Sherlock and Watson got into the Guards' quarters, Bainbridge was presumed dead in a shower room from a stab wound, but no weapon and escape route were found. When questioned by Lestrade, Sherlock reluctantly admits the case wasn't solved but cited it as an example of John's compassion; instead of trying to solve the murder as Sherlock did, John examined Bainbridge's body and discovered he still had a pulse, thus requesting an ambulance and saving his life.