Sherlock & Co. - The Crooked Man - Part Two

Episode Date: September 29, 2026

HIS TRAGIC SPELL - The contest between Mariana and myself was heating up. The game was on. Such competition - although inconsiderate in the circumstances - spurred our investigation on. To hunt for clues. To find answers. To learn what happened in the death of James Barclay.Part 2 of 2This episode contains swearing, death, animal sufferingListener discretion is advised.A new clothing store has opened: www.sherlockwear.comFor merchandise and transcripts go to: www.sherlockandco.co.ukFor ad-free, early access to adventures in full go to www.patreon.com/sherlockandcoTo get in touch via email: [e-mail] me @DocJWatsonMD on twitter and BlueSky, or sherlockandcopod on TikTok, instagram and YouTube.This podcast is property of Goalhanger Podcasts.Copyright 2026.SHERLOCK AND CO.Based on the works of Sir Arthur Conan DoylePaul Waggott as Dr. John WatsonHarry Attwell as Sherlock HolmesMarta da Silva as Mariana AmetxazurraAdam Jarrell as Inspector MackinnonHannah Melbourn as Sarah MorrisonAdditional Voices:Adam JarrellJoel EmeryLauren HallDarcey FergusonWritten by Joel EmeryDirected by Adam JarrellEditing and Sound Design by Adam JarrellProduced by Neil Fearn and Jon GillExecutive Producer Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Audio books, ad-free early access adventures, mailbag episodes, case-fire episodes, AMAs, behind-the-scenes, micro-adventures, authored by Watson himself, a Discord channel with nearly 2,000 chatter little members, merchandise discounts, exclusive events, and, yes, done. Yeah, miss the most important bit, mate. Oh, patreon.com forward slash Sherlock and Co. Thanks. Previously on Sherlock and Co.

Do you believe in magic? What's this? What? Aha! Ah, pulled a coin from my ear, very impressive, mate. It is not a coin. No? No, look at it. Follow the sparkle.

As if by magic, the case shall appear. In short, I have a case for you. You have a case for me? I do. And these are... Pictures. Yes, of... Of one of our victims.

One of our victims, indeed. Well put, Mariana. Her name... is Edna. Sherlock? Yes, Watson. This is a cat? Yes, yes it is.

John versus Mariana. Yeah, in a game of what? Sorry? Crime solving. It's fun and educational. And it's also work. Oh, great. Hey, beautiful girl.

Oh, so cute. Is she well looked after by her owners, usually? Oh, definitely, yeah. What do you think these injuries are from? Um... Not another cat? No? She's got a mean stare on her. That could have been taken the wrong way.

Well, that's the expected opponent in Edna's little scrap. What? But... But... I'd say the claw marks don't match. And it's the biting for me. It's quite different from a cat fight. So, have you solved this case, or what? Oh, me?

I require a few final furnishings, with access to early police reports on the matter and a little browsing on my phone. I have nearly all of it. Right, it's a race between me and Mariana, is it? A rather slow race, but a race nonetheless. We haven't even seen the crime scene yet. Then let's go take a look. Sir James was on the back foot in the doghouse, do we reckon?

Well, right now, Watson. He's in the morgue. What? No. Our loving couple had a ferocious argument. Nancy demanded for her life back. What the hell? Her life? Then a thud.

Of the French doors, a scream, another thud, then silence. The neighbour opposite believes the security light came on, then off. Moments later, it came on one final time. Then? What? Blood. His blood. That's right. Nancy was gone, but James was lying. over there. He had a wound on the back of his skull and a broken neck. Struck from behind. Looks that way. Aye. Okay. The game is afoot and indeed underway. Your time starts now.

The game is a closely fought contest between me and Mariana. If you're team John and I assume you are, then thank you for your support. We can do this. If your team Mariana, then you can get lost. This episode contains gore, general sort of eerie dread, the mystical too, I suppose, and... Heartbreak. Yeah, I'll see you at the end.

Team John on three. One, two, three. Hmm. If I was Sherlock, would I spot? What clue would I find? What about this? You a clue? I'm going to crawl under the table, see if there was anything. So, it's a bit wobbly, these table legs.

All right, there's some blood, or there was like pooling of blood under here. How would blood have time to settle under the table if he was struck over there? But then McKinnon did say he was moved. Otherwise, there's not much else under here. Oh, just... Oh God. Yeah, um... Right.

Next. Let me just take a peek at Mariana outside. Make sure she's not cheating. I can see you looking. I'm just checking your playing by the rules and not asking Sherlock for answers. You, sir, are cheating. No, I'm not. And how are we doing in here?

Yeah, good. Good, finding lots of clues. Lovely. You want a cup of tea, mate? I can run into town, grab you some biscuits too, if you want. Ah, thank you, John. Much appreciated. No problem, mate. No problem at all. I'll make sure they've got some bourbons.

I know you love those. I'll even get a selection box. You're not getting any points for that. They're from crime-solving only. God's sake, well, I won't bother then. Wait, oh, it's working. Okay. Um, I thought I should probably record my process, and definitely include you guys too, of course. So I was thinking about the security light and the French doors at the back of the house. If Nancy did kill James and the front door was locked from the inside, then why did the security light come on after

the thud. Well, she must have run out this way, but we know it came on twice. What was the second? And the answer, I think, could be this. I found a little scruff of ginger fur. And I know who this belongs to because I met her today. Edna. So what about last night made her owners have a big fight, one of them killed the other, and then Edna get in a fight of her own? In old age, Do cats fight in old age? Ah, go away, AI. I didn't ask you. Okay, okay, okay.

Oh, male cats might. Female cats will withdraw from domination this place and conflict in old age, reasons for conflict, may be symptoms of underlying condition, or in defense of self, territory, or loved ones. How are we getting on? Yeah, just trying to make some connections.

Hmm. Why does Nancy's mood change so suddenly and then... She kills? Well, yeah, but also her house is under threat, I think. That's... that's what Edna is telling us. Interesting. You think I'm onto something, maybe? Possibly.

Do I get a point? No. Oh, okay. I'm gonna... Okay, okay, I'm gonna go to the Facebook post of her day out with her old friends, and I'll message and see if they can give me a call. Warmer? Really? I'll go check on John.

Wait, wait, Sherlock, am I winning? Sherlock? The French doors aren't, like, damaged. There's also no blood on them, not even, you know, tiny specks. she went out this way yet and yet Sherlock thinks that Nancy

didn't kill James because it was out of character yes but also because the thud of these doors described by neighbours and the double security light issue but how

Sherlock podcast Holmes do you explain a killer that leaves no blood on the door handle but blood everywhere else. That answer resides with the weapon. Jesus Christ. What? I didn't know you were there. You just spoke to me. I was talking to the version of you that's in my head. I see. But what John do you see? On the French doors. Close? Really? How close? Do I get a point?

Every time someone asks for a point, they will lose one. Right, okay, okay. Uh... Close to the French doors. Close to the French doors. The... Curtains. The curtains for the doors? No more clues?

To help me find my clue? Great. Silence. Thank you. Oh. Oh, hold on, voice. There's, um... Little... Little what?

In the... Like the net curtains here, there's little holes, tiny tears in the fabric. This is why Edna matters. Mm-hmm. What got Edna was in here, too? Good, John. Very good. Well, if something happened in London, she still had time to get the train and come home, so how much danger was she in?

Not much, I guess. Or she had a head start on... whoever was chasing her. Okay, she got in at 9.15, so that's... Oh, she must have got the 7.42 from Clapham Junction, unchanged. That would get her to Aldershot at 9-10. Five-minute walk-up here.

But, oh, she could have waited and gone direct on the 8.30 and got in nine minutes later at 9-19. She couldn't have been in that much of a hurry. Oh, oh crap, phone call. Wait a sec. Hello, this is Mariana. Hi, this is Sarah Morrison. Hi, Sarah.

You saw my reply on Facebook? I did, yeah. I was with Nancy last night, all of yesterday, actually. In London. And you're an old friend of hers? Yeah. I'm so sorry about everything. but I just have a few questions.

Okay. And I hope that it could really help her. And James, so, yeah, so the investigators here are talking about how her mood changed. Mm-hmm. Did you see anything? I did. What did you see? I saw it flip.

Right in front of me like a light switch, just. a light switch just all the light in her eyes just click when when she saw him who James in London no no no no oh sorry who did she see the crooked man what did you say Sarah brookied put her on speaker it's my witness it this is not a game he said it was a game he always says stuff is a game adjudicate his decision put her on speaker phone Oh, sorry about that, Sarah. I was just, uh, consulting with my colleagues.

That's okay. Have they heard from her, from Nancy? Um, no. No, they haven't, Sarah. I'm sorry. Are they going to charge her for killing James? It's impossible. It's all just impossible. They're so in love and they're kids.

James and Nancy's children? Ashley's 20. Bo's 23 Okay And we don't know if they've been informed No They messaged asking if I could get hold of Nancy And I don't know what to say

We may be able to find the words But we must know the details first Sarah Tell us Of the man Nancy saw yesterday We were at Sorry We were at the blackstead

just been to see a show. We're doing a Thames walk all the way down to Tower Bridge. We stopped there for a drink. Nancy is, honestly, she's on top form. And we're in there, chat, chat, chat, catching up, talking about the restaurant later and all this sort of thing. And then the lights in the pub, they all start flickering. The speakers playing the music crackle and then just stop.

There's silence and people go quiet and all because it's very like, it's disconcerting. Then the front door of the pub slowly opens and this hooded man walks in. He's hunched over. It goes to this fellow who's sat near his the door and, um, Yeah, that's it. He reaches his hand out to shake the guy's hand. This guy has no idea what's going on. He reaches back out to him and the second they touch hands.

This hood, this whole cloak just collapses into the ground. The man inside has completely vanished. And all of a sudden he's behind the bar. He says nothing. He's just staring at everyone. You can just see pale skin and these dark eyes inside. And it points to the chalkboard. There's like, I don't know, it's got like food and drinks on it.

And all the chalk disappears. And then, I swear, writing, chalk writing starts to appear on it. Out of nowhere. What did it see? Just the crooked man. Then he clicks his fingers. and there's a rose in his hand. And he gives it to one of us, because we're near the bar,

gives it to Fern, I think it was, asks her to name a card, like a playing card. She says, three of hearts. And I swear, he pulls the card out of his mouth and puts it down on the table. He says, is this your card? She kind of gasps, and that says everything, really. And then he pulls a little wallet out of his mouth

and goes, is this your wallet? And it was, it was literally her wallet from her purse. But he's been nowhere near us. She's on the other side of the table. People clap and stuff, because they know it's magic now, but he looks around the group of us and then bang. He fixes on Nancy. And she is locked onto him. I mean, locked. They just stare at each other. What happened then? Yeah, he quickly moves on and she is bright white. I mean, she's green really. She just goes after him.

Did she hit him? No. She went to talk and they kind of ushered themselves outside and next minute she comes back, grabs her bag and leaves. She didn't say anything. Anything at all? No. We messaged her in that, but nothing.

Nothing back. If I made trouble you. Oh, my God, you scared the shit out of me. What do you? Any card you like, or any card at all. Oh, come with him. Crooked over.

Crooked man is it? You have your card? Who is that guy? Yeah. Oh, I love it. Show the card to your friends and place it back in the day. All right, just,

it's like that. Yeah, one final look at the deck. Yeah. And now please have a look underneath your pint glass, sir. That is unbelievable. That is magic.

How is he does that? It may be unbelievable, but this is your watch on my wrist, sir. Good is me. You have all been privy too, the crooked man. Wow. Whoa, fantastic. It's okay. Yeah, yeah, just, that made me jump.

This is him? The crooked man, yeah. Looks like it's, well, I mean, judging by the account, it's a pretty new thing. Only a couple of followers, three videos, and all from this past month. Hmm. That she knew him. Mm-hmm, she did. Yeah, he's cloaked in the other videos too, so I can't actually get a look at his face.

Yeah. We could go to the Black Friar and ask how they know him. I know him. I already called. They said he came in the day before, wowed the bloke behind the bar, and they booked him for the next day. The clue is in here. What? Just rather dusty. In here, knees a good vacuuming. Right. If we go back to London, we can at least go back to the pub and get more information? Yeah. Yeah, maybe... Over that. Clue is over that. What are you doing? Nothing. I'm doing nothing.

There's more clues in here. Oh, are there? I hadn't noticed. All right, enough from you. A clue, a clue, clue, clue. Okay, okay, okay. We need to connect James' murder to the crooked man. Plus the creature.

The curtain and cat-attacking creature, yeah, but... But the man is what drives James and Nancy apart. The second he appears, everything changes. Hmm. What? I'm looking at the pictures See anything Nothing weird

No but he keeps looking over here My eyes betray me once more Mary come and stand here Right Look at the pictures on the wall from this spot There's like 12 of them Yeah I know but which one sticks out That one

Yeah same Why Why does it stick out It's Wonky I think crooked some might say let's have a look here thumbprint

I can't see thumbprint on any of the others it's been tampered with is this the clue he nodded it's a clue point for Watson crap ha ha ha but whose thumbprints are they those of a heartless twisted murder room he thinks they're mine actually oh I'm a few steps ahead

you see oh all right rub it in So, this is James and Nancy And then a guy between them Let me try something I'm excuse me, that's my clue You're fiddling with my clue My parents They used to write on the back of pictures like this

James and Nancy are old enough to be my parents So let's see if they do the same Oh look Sherlock is smiling You did the same to this picture right But when? When we were outside? Oh, come on. Careful of the glass. Please, more than enough blood has been spilled in this room.

Oh, my God. I'm right. Ah, bollocks. He's nodding again. What does it say? He still haunts me. Nineteenadeate. It was Russian.

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He still haunts me. How exciting, eh, young crime solvers? Eich. Yeah. Well, that's Nancy's writing, I'd say. Yeah. Okay, okay, okay, let's assume this is the guy. The crooked guy?

The crooked guy. He haunt her, right? Maybe she's seen him before from afar, or blink and you miss him type thing. But who is he? Don't look at me. Look at the photo. Sorry, when exactly did you figure all this out? The moment I walked in. Oh, of course. Okay, okay, okay.

at the photo. Three of them. Looks like they're in a theatre. Yeah. Middle guy is well-dressed. Very well-dressed. Top hat, tails, like a magician. I agree. Wait, wait. I've been there. I've been there. No, we all have. Yeah, that's, um, the creeping man. Where was... Apollo? That was the Apollo, remember? Oh, I do, I do. Oh, my God. Can... Can the creeping man lead us to the crooked man? I have no idea, but I like it. Okay, okay, okay, okay. Look up, um, look up Hammersmith Apollo, live shows. Uh, 1988.

Exactly. Very good. Oh, God, it's like the whole year, this. Hundreds of performances. Go to Christmas time. In the picture, there's decorations on the upper circle. Oh, yes, Mariana. Don't give her a point for that, though.

What? It... The Phantom. The Phantom? That's a show? The Phantom, dark magic, two-hour show, doors at seven. Okay, let me look up the Phantom Hammersmith, Apollo, 1988. Holy shit.

Whoa. The greatest vanishing act. The Phantom, aka Henry Garrick Wood, was lowered into a.k.m. at 8.45pm during the sold-out show. Onlookers gasped in disbelief as he then failed to reappear. Stagehand struggled at the scene for some time before closing the show. Punters streamed home in their thousands a mixture of bemusement and frustration. Click that next one, look. Oh yeah, search for Henry Wood enters, Jesus, third week.

He disappeared. Yeah, look, all these videos? No ones. researching it, I found a story that is literally too crazy to even believe. Like, this is real magic. Like, I was saying to Sarah, this is possibly actually real magic. So in 1988, England, this guy, Henry Garrick Wood, called The Phantom, right? He disappears live on stage.

And this is like the celebrity magician. He vanished and they never saw him again. Until yesterday. Mm-hmm. Well, they knew him. Are they fans of his? Or friends of his? The photograph has more to tell.

I mean, if it does, I can't see it. See things how I see them, and you will. How do you see it? Clues, like this. This photo from 1988, they seem at first like lone twinkling stars in the darkness. Detached, adrift. But it serves us best to see them not in isolation, not to be pulled in by their brightness,

but to see them as part of their constellation. Look around and at those others. Take them all in. Follow the sparkles and draw them into this bigger picture. Draw it for me. Draw it. You can do it. The sparkles, the sparkles, the...

Yes. Her ring. Her engagement ring. Yes. It's different. In 88, it's a different. different, it's bigger, look, look. Yeah. The photos after that of Nancy and James, it's smaller.

It's a silver band and not a gold one. Follow the sparkles. Follow the sparkles. That's the big clue. People, I mean, people will, you know, maybe renew their vows and get bigger, more glamorous rings, but... Yeah. People don't go the other way, usually. That's from a different relationship.

It's a picture of Henry and Nancy. James is just on the end of it. She was with Henry Garrick Wood. They were engaged, and now she's with James Berkeley. Point to Mariana. Please, give her a round of applause. And she beautiful, ladies and gentlemen. You fear not.

For this next trick, I will not be cutting her in half. But I do require a lot. volunteer. The game, I'm afraid, is over. Wait, but where's Nancy? Where's... Where is Henry and who killed James? Did she do it and run away with him? As our friend Inspector McKinnon said, time is almost up, and that is what we wish for, for the last grain of sand to tumble down the glass and for the warrant to expire. The court will just issue a new one.

For her arrest? No, not with our evidence. Sirlock, they can't arrest her anyway. She's not even here. She will be. Mariana, congratulations. You win the game by four points to three. Ah, well, an absolute thriller. Well done, Mary. Spanish win, as usual. Hey, it was a good game. And it's not like I solved it in time anyway. Oh, I am merely closing the proceedings, I assure you. Yeah, sure you are. McKinnon, you're probably going to want to come see this. See what?

While on her London trip, Nancy spotted her late fiancé Henry Garrick Wood performing magic in disguise as the crooked man. White with shock, she returned home red with rage and bellowed until she was blue in the face as the neighbours tell us. Why? Why would she do that? Because James was also responsible. They were friends, yes, but a few more of those articles would have revealed he managed Henry. what they wouldn't reveal he loved Nancy Henry wanted notoriety James just wanted Nancy this stunt devised by both men

was evidently imparted to her by Henry outside the Blackfriar pub in London she dashes home so fast that she rushes onto a connecting train that gets at her Aldershot only nine minutes faster than the following train which Henry boards give me back my life

the verbal onslaught years of grief and heartache is finally unleashed as if the casket he descended into 38 years ago has now burst open like Pandora's box and now its monsters of pain and rage have re-entered the world. Moments later, Henry Garrick Wood, the crooked man himself, enters through that French window. She was right.

He must have haunted her if he knew their address. Wood bargained and threatened for their silence to reserve the dazzle of the greatest banishing act of all time. and we know that Henry didn't arrive alone. How do you cause a spooky interference in the pub lighting and speaker system? You simply arrange it with the staff. How do you seemingly vanish into your robes in a busy pub? Distraction, ideally, by a doorway.

It's a fairly simple trick. A self-writing chalkboard, you bring your own. Pick a card, any card, their ten a penny, as we know. But how do you nick a woman's purse from the other side of the room? room? You don't. But your trained pet you can fit into the sleeve of your costume does. Ideally a ferret, they're easy to train, but a ferret wouldn't have done that kind of damage to Edna the cat after rummaging up these curtains here. A mongoose, however. Long body, tick, short legs, tick, four pounds in weight, tick, trainable, evidently so, tick, predatory, yes. That's

why Edna defended her home and James defended his honour. Both came out a little worse for where. They say family dining tables could tell a thousand tales. Well, this one tells us the tale of James and Nancy, the tale of the final moments of his life. McKinnon's team may continue scouring the garden for the murder weapon. They can chuck the bedroom once again and even venture into the waste pipes like they did this morning. But it's right there. right before our eyes, 75 cm high, 180 centimetres long, four legs, and a surface of hard, solid oak. And there is where it tells its tail, not on its top, but at its foot, set half an inch back from its usual spot on the carpet. Why? Because the weapon here did not strike James. James struck the weapon.

Of course, Nancy, who was yelling in her husband's face, didn't strike him. How could she hit the back of his head anyway? No, he fell back. Possibly he was pushed back when confronting Henry, and down he went. The back of his skull smashed into the table so hard it shunted the whole thing back off its indented regular spot right here in the carpet. He slumped to the ground by the chairleg's blood pulled under it. She held him closely, and Henry, I suspect, was as pale in shock as Nancy had been moments earlier. He left.

She cradled James. Then it was her turn to vanish. That, Inspector McKinnon, is what you're going to want to see. I make you right. Magic is the art of distraction. And we were distracted by the obvious because it emits a dazzle of its own. The coin from this morning. McKinnon told me of one similar found in here yesterday, by the doors, and I couldn't get it out of my mind.

Minted in 1970, demonetized, no longer legal tender, irrelevant now, but in 1988, still of value. even if it was just used for Henry Garrett Wood's tricks. So, the Great Disappearing Act has now another star. But Nancy is not Henry. A callous departure from her life is not in her heart. Her children are long flown from this particular nest, but Edna is not. She's well-fed, well-looked-after from what I could see. She has a water bowl in the kitchen, and in here, and in the bedroom.

There's a bed in each of those rooms, too. vaccines are up to date, fleas, worming. No, no. She has no intention to leave her children behind. She has no intention to leave her Edna behind either. She will return. I'll get it. Well done, Sherlock.

Ah, you were still the winner, Mariana. That's the real magic. What happens in there? That is the real magic, Sherlock Holmes. Thank you, John. Sherlock, John, Mariana, this is Bo and Ashley Berkeley. Oh, hello, hi. Can someone please just tell us what's going on?

Please. Where's our mum? Where's our dad? This is an active investigation. All right? And I think if you can come down to the station... No. No. We can have a proper chat. I'm not coming to the station.

We can have a proper chat there with a trained professional. No. We're home. We're home. Where's mum? Um, you see it? Ashley and Bo. You're right.

This is home. And I'm telling you now it had a lot of love in it. Even I can observe that. Even I can conjure. up that deduction. I lost my dad when I was very young and no one ever explained it to me properly.

And I'm heartbroken to tell you that last night you lost yours. Some stupid local gossip is going to say your mum was something to do with it and she wasn't. Okay, she absolutely wasn't. She loved him and he loved her. He stood strong for her, for them, for you, for Edna, in his final moment. And he felt no pain.

No pain at all, right? Sherlock. None. You can't see him anymore. You can't hear him anymore, but I promise you, I promise you, you will always feel him with you. Right when you need him. Your mum is coming home. She's stronger than the person that hurt her. Just know that when she explains this.

Okay? Um, we'll give you some time. And I think if we... Hi, girls. Mom! I think we have a last-minute equalizer. Another point to add to this scoreline. Ah, yeah, I think we do too.

What? I make it four points to four. It's a draw, John. No, come on. Fair's fair. I didn't figure anything out. I just... Hey, you solved the part of the crime that really matters, John. Solved?

Grief is a long journey. Honestly, I just... Dick the damn point, okay? All right, all right, I'll take the point. That's the real magic. Hmm? What happens in there. That's the real magic, John Watson.

I enjoyed that game. Yeah, me too. I mean, I think with more sleep. You think you could have won? I got woken up. I was resting my brilliant brain, my magical mind. Ah, uh, uh, uh, he pointed to your heart, not your head. Uh, papa, he pointed to me as a whole, as a crime-solving master.

A genius... Voila, that is your adventure, my friend. friends feast on it, digest it and look onwards to the next. My esteemed opponent in 221A has sent me a link to a police report. Henry Garrick Wood was caught and questioned five days ago. There we are. He was in Buckinghamshire and it looks like he'd been living there for at least a few years. McKinnon can't reveal any info yet. I imagine he'll get some sort of charge in conjunction with what Nancy tells us and then we'll see if there was a push into the table or if James fell but that is yeah your postcase roundup thank you as always until next time now you

hear me now you don't