Sherlock & Co. - The Six Napoleons - Part Three

Episode Date: March 24, 2026

THE STORM AFTER THE CALM - The events of Mr. Harker accelerated the urgency of our case. We had to find the remaining buyers and intercept the deranged Beppo. That was the aim of our company. That was what the case demanded. Yet events, as they so often do, took a course of their own. Part 3 of 4 This episode contains swearing, violence, gore, blood, deathListener discretion is advised. A new clothing store has opened: www.sherlockwear.com For merchandise and transcripts go to: www.sherlockandco.co.uk For ad-free, early access to adventures in full go to www.patreon.com/sherlockandco To get in touch via email: [e-mail] Follow 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 Doyle Paul Waggott as Dr. John Watson Harry Attwell as Sherlock Holmes Marta da Silva as Mariana Ametxazurra Joel Emery as Simon SandefordDarcey Ferguson as Jessica SandefordRomy Emery as Maisie SandefordAdditional VoicesThomas MitchellsRob DeanSteven WhiteJoel EmeryAdam Jarrell Written by Joel Emery Directed by Adam JarrellEditing and Sound Design by Holy Smokes Audio Produced by Neil Fearn and Jon Gill Executive Producer Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Getting ready for a game means being ready for anything. Like packing a spare stick. I like to be prepared. That's why I remember, 988, Canada's Suicide Crisis Hubline. It's good to know, just in case. Anyone can call or text for free confidential support from a train responder any time. 988 Suicide Crisis Helpline is funded by the government in Canada. Audio books, advery early access adventures, mailbag episodes, case file episodes,

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Yes, well, tell Aunt Gwen that I have plenty of low-ranking offices to deal with on a weekly basis. I don't need another one. She said she dumped you. She did not dump me. She used me to crack a case her officers couldn't even fathom, and now she's fretting about some PR nonsense. So she dumped you.

She did not dump me. I have a case. I will be playing my violin in my bedroom. It's a vandalism case. Huh? Well, it isn't. And it is. They use something to smash it open first.

Something heavy. What? A bust of Napoleon. Not quite for us, is it? Yeah, I don't think we've ever done vandalism cases before. Because, like John says, they're always random, destructive. I agree with you, I completely agree with you. Or at least I did agree with you until two hours and 14 minutes ago.

What happened two hours and 14 minutes ago? Another vandalism incident. Right. Another scene, other side of London, totally untouched. everything in order, but for one item, a plaster bust of Napoleon Bonaparte. Fine, fine. I'm intrigued. Goodness sake. You're kidding me. Another one. Smash to pieces. Six Napoleons. So there's others to get to.

Her brother, a sculptor, had a reliable buyer of most of his work, who then lost their job and stopped buying his products. So, Mr. Barnacott's wife was given the last finish pieces her brother had when he went out of business, which were the busts of Napoleon. Two out of six. Two of six? Identical, do we think?

I've seen pictures of the Morse one and the interior pub I saw on Instagram before they were broken. They're identical. Sherlock, I found it. The order book? Yeah, look, right here. The Morse landscaping, Kensington.

Then two unsolved. They must have gone to his sister at the pub. So that's three of the six. H. H. Harker, Chelsea, gets bust number four. Jay Brown, Lower Grove Road, Redding with number five. S. Sandford, Park Road, Chiswick, number six. Next stop, Chelsea. All right, out of the way.

No, Mr. Harker! Oh, my God. Holy shit. Oh my God, there's blood everywhere. Mr. Harker. I think he's gone. I think he's gone. Hey, I didn't know you were back here.

As are you now? Yeah, I, um, there was nothing they could do. Poor Mr. Harker. Yeah, Oris Harker, 58 years old. Deep stab wound. In the back. Mass of hemothorax, rapid hypoxia, then cardiac arrest. All from his own kitchen knife.

So our guy didn't come armed? It doesn't look that way. Ah, I agree. Not a professional job in the slightest. Random, just stick it in him, especially if he was behind the guy. He could have slashed his throat if he was a cold-blooded killer. No signs of a struggle on his person.

Looks like he didn't even know the intruder was there. Ran for the door and was... Yeah, stabbed. That was... Did Napoleon Bonaparte, at least? Make it out alive? He did. Oh, okay, that's...

Good? Until he was smashed to pieces outside in a private park. Oh, shit. Which is interesting, at the very least. The day was a number of things. Not sure interesting would make it into my top five descriptions, to be honest. Busts 1, 2 and 3 were destroyed at night. And what did our vandal...

Vandal... murderer? What did our vandal slash murderer do, Watson? Smash the Napoleon? No. What did he do at night to compensate for the lack of visibility? Light. Light in the shop, light in the pub and... The alleyway, behind the beer garden. Street lamp? Exactly. Today he didn't require it. It was daylight, but he took the bus and did it outside because of... Noise? Exactly. In Morse, the alarm.

is already going off. Same for the pub. Noise is not a problem. Light was the problem on those occasions. So what did our perpetrator gain from the use of light in the darkness? So... so he can see? So he can see. But see what? Exactly that, Watson. Exactly that. There's something in them?

Not quite. Not quite. something in one of them. And we are in a race, my dear companion, to find which one? What, what do we do now? We act like our plaster-headed Emperor friends and break apart.

Hello, listeners. You join us in Berkshire, Reading. To be exact, we are currently... We are currently heading in the wrong direction, apparently. Sorry, mate, we are in Redding, headed as quick as we bloody well can to the property of Mr Josiah Brown at number 56, Lower Grove Road. Sherlock, you bought a ticket, you don't need to jump the barrier. I'm overstimulated.

God's sake. And, yeah, we've just got off the train. As Sherlock said, we have broken apart boys v girls. Well, boys working in conjunction with girls. Kind of, yeah, we'll still win. Mariana and our new friend Lily Lestrade have gone to the house of Mr Simon Sandford in Chiswick, southwest London, the owner of bus number six, and we are over here in Berkshire sprinting to a... Oh crap, way too crowded taxi around.

We can't wait for this queue. It's London commuters. Bloody Londoners. Shut up, move! Get out of the way! The Elizabeth line is... Oh, God, God, this is useless. Will you all piss off back to London?

The only one of our final mode is enough. Ouch! Excuse me! Bikes! Bikes! Bike hire. Sherlock, bikes. Go, go, go! Yes! Okay, bike acquired.

Ah, wait, QR code. Except cookies. Except terms of conditions. No, don't email me promotional stuff. Yes, do email me friends of... family discount to get 50% of my ride. Sherlock, I'm sending you a discount code. Will you just hurry up?

Approved. Yes. Let's go, baby. Oh, sorry, sorry. Number 44, number 46, number 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, we're here, we're here, Ah, ah. Ah.

Of course he's got stone lines on his front gate. Excuse me, Mr Brown, if you're in there. No time for niceties, Watson. His gate is locked, Sherlock. Then we open it. How? This interface here for the code entry. Yes, that's what we like, nice and cheap.

These have a service setting that allows for maintenance and repairs. All you have to do is hold down the... Whoops, no, that's the alarm. Hold down, cancel and end. Enter at the same time. Three, two, one. And there she goes. Why do you know this stuff?

For occasions like this, after you. Thanks. Hey, Mr. Oh! What are you doing? Saving Mr. Brown's life and possibly ours. We keep quiet. We cannot go through the front door. Why not?

Because the back door is open. I can see through this front room. window here, right to the back of the house. Oh shit, you're right, why's the back door open? Because somebody just broke into it. Not good. This way. Here, here, here, here, the door looks fine.

To me. Now, look, on the keyhole, traces of a resin. Reson, yes. Vital for a sculptor's work. So... He's replicated the key by making a fortified cast of the lock. and now he is inside with his victim. Are you talking about Napoleon Bonaparte or Josiah Brown?

Reflecting on the case of Mr. Harker, John, I fear I'm talking about both. Mike is recording, as is this. Ah, of course, body cam. Hi. Did you just wave? Oh, you could record your own adventures with that thing. Yeah, I'm sure Auntie Commissioner would be thrilled with that. That? Deep breaths.

Don't see any signs of intrusion. Lights are on. Cars are here. I think I hear kids inside. I'd say we're here just in time. Well, let's hope you're right. Hello there. Hello. Simon Sanford. That's, that's right. Yes. My name is D.C. Lily Lestrade. This is my colleague, Mariana and Metrazoora. We'd like to come in and have a look at your Napoleon bust if that's all right.

Oh. Would that be okay? But I didn't call you, the police I mean, I didn't call you. No, you didn't. We're just giving it a once-over due to some activity related to vandalism we're seeing. Oh, okay. Everything all right, sir? Yes, yes. Just this way.

My wife just here, say hello, Jessica. Hello. Like she's being held hostage, look. Like she's... Being held hostage. Being held... held hostage. Not quite. And if you come through this way,

these are the children, the girls, Aurelia and Maisie doing their lovely drawings, you see. Hi there. And just over here, see the bust of Napoleon. Right here on the mantelpiece, in the lounge, where he can see us all. Right, yeah, that seems to be all intact. And have you noticed anything unusual in your immediate area, Mr. Sanford?

Mr. Sanford? Yes? No, sorry, no, nothing. Nothing? No? What about you, Jessica? Nothing, no, not at all, no, nothing. You have a lovely home. Do you like it here, guys? Oh, I like your drawings.

What's this? The scary statue. The statue here? This one? Looks a bit scary, yes. But guess what? In real life, he was very little. Don't be scared.

But, yeah, no, I really like... the look of the place. Super cute. Thank you. Very minimal. I like that. I like to be neat. Neat? That's just kids. Best keep the valuable things out of harm's way. He's right. He's right there. Sorry, who's right there? No, no, no, she means me. I'm right. There. You see, in that instance, I'm right. Not in many others. I see you have most of your sculptures in the front garden and your...

Oh, your rear garden. Oh, it looks beautiful out there. You like Beppo's work? Yes. Very much so. Very much so. Yeah, I'm with the kids on this one. Statues in the house would make me jump, I think. I mean, I see Napoleon here. Look at him. Quite overpowering, isn't he? For such a minimal space. Have you noticed anything strange about it, Mr. Sanford?

The Napoleon bus? No. No, not at all. And no one has inquired about it. They have not. No. I see. I see.

Would I be able to take... Oh, uh, hold that thought. It's John. Hey, how's it going? It's over. What? John? What?

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Okay. What are you doing? We're having a kitchen knife. I'm gonna return the favor on bar for the late Mr. Harker. That's a red knife. You plan on slicing our intruder up and putting him in the toaster? Oh, don't be disgusting. Don't be stupid.

Take that knife. Thank you. You're welcome. I suspect the bust to be in the lounge. It's just past the reception room and then an immediate left. How'd you know that? This house was listed seven years ago, looked at the floor plan. Conveniently, it has remained unaltered. Carol does the same. Right move addiction.

It's not healthy, mate. Shh. This is the lounge through here, yeah? Yes. Shh. Look, he's got a hammer. Hello, Bepo. You get back. Put the hammer down right now. You can't have it. Have what, Beppo. Tell us what you are looking for. Tell us after you've put the hammer down, maybe. Jesus Christ, Sherlock, are you okay? He missed. It's okay. I want to meet again.

I'll stick this thing in you, mate, just like you did to poor Mr. Harker. So do yourself a favour, put the hammer down and get on the ground. Fuck you! Ah, shan get him, Sherlock. Pepo! Sherlock, are you okay? Sherlock, I can't hold him. I don't want to do this.

Pepo, I don't want to do this. Just stop! I don't want to stab you! Abbot. Beppo. Hey, hey, hey, hey. Hey, look at me. I got you lower lateral quarter of your abdomen.

Okay, I'm a doctor. I had to disable you. You were going to do further harm and get away. I can't have that, okay? See, very little bleeding. Nonvascular. Yeah, no organs, just hold this with me. We're going to wait for the ambulance together.

Right. Sherlock, are we okay over there? A bit of a bump. But fine. Okay, you call the ambulance. I'll call Mariana. How's it going? It's out.

It's over. What? Mariana, it's... It's over. ...as much information as you can. Okay? And we can put your case together for you, for your defence. This isn't about prosecution, first and foremost, all right?

This is about... making sure that you are not going to be misrepresented in court. All right. Now I'm going to give you a few minutes to collect your thoughts, and there's a glass of water for you just there. Very unprofessional, Sherlock. How is that, exactly? You?

Getting hammered on the job. He laughed. He laughs at many things. Got you another ice pack. Thank you. Oh, quite the shiny you've got. Yes. quite the headache.

It's all coming out in there. Mr Harker an accident, apparently. He blacked out in panic and did it. Yeah, sure. But he is at least honest about the bust smashing. It's for money. So he claims. What's he claiming?

Beppo here says that in the construction of his plaster napoleon busts, he was asked to elicit some illegal behaviour. Which was what? A masked gentleman insisted the item went into Mr. Sandford. Napoleon bust. Beppo agreed. He says he thought it was a box containing money. That was the client that bought all his stuff. Yeah, I saw his garden, full of the stuff. Now I see why. But I don't know if I believe, Beppo. I reckon it was drugs. I bet he knew it too. Why did someone make him stuff drugs or cash into a Napoleon bust? Someone paying Sanford that way, maybe?

giving him a very generous gift, or they were getting some Class A product for a business. That's all those busts were, smuggling. He makes sense, ugly things, who'd want that? But it was what was on the inside that counts all along. Hey. Hey, I heard a big conversation between you guys. What was said in English, please? He hid something in one of the busts.

Did he confirm just one and just on this one occasion? Yes, exactly. He was paid off to make it happen. The day after it was sold and shipped, he got a tax bill that was impossible for him. He needed money. And, yeah, Pepo here says he had a crollo psychotic. Psychotic collapse or psychotic episode due to the stress of his business.

He couldn't remember which client had received the bust with the valuables inside, but he knew he wanted the... them for himself, so he went to every buyer and smashed their bust to look for his press. And Mr. Harker got in the way? Mm-hmm. Saw him, run to make a call, and Beppo grabbed a knife on the counter and stabbed him. Jesus. We must retrieve the final bust.

Do we think Simon Sanford of Chiswick is a drug dealer? He could be? What, really? I mean, he has a nice home, wife and kids. He was just... Unusual. His behaviours were shifty. He's a dedicated buyer of Beppo's stuff. But Beppo said he had never done this before.

So much so, he couldn't even remember what client did want to. Do you believe him? I mean, now, I don't know. Simon Sanford is hiding something. We go there and get smashing. Not that straightforward, but we will. Why not straightforward? We need Beppo's recollection of events, the truth about Simon Sanford, or at least we get as close as we can.

Then, it's a warrant, and we take more than just the Buster Napoleon. We take the lot. Indeed. Well, Lily Lestrade, thank you for our first ever vandalism case. First and last. This case is in the bag. It is in the bag indeed. So, what do we do now?

Well, Watson, we... A... Well, Watson, we... A... Um... This isn't good. Well, Watson, we... What?

Oh, what? That was... That was the SD card I was using. And it's like, that's mental. It's never even been remotely corrupted. You seem... Yeah, I probably do. It's because I'm agitated. Do you always get like this with your edits?

Well, no, I don't, actually, because this has never happened before. Never happened? So you finally cut together an insightful, high-quality narrative of a crime case? Ha, ha, ha, you're not funny, okay? I've just lost, like, nearly all of the Moran arrest. Like, I've got the police going in the room because they let me use the body cam footage, but I don't have hardly any of our build-up to it. Tracking him down, you figuring out what apartment he was, nothing. Nothing. yet nothing.

How very curious. Yeah, curiously shit, mate, that's what? God, what do we do? Um, um, how do I... I could get some extra content at the court case. Yeah, how do I get in to the courtroom for him being charged tomorrow? You wish to view the hearing? Yes.

The listings are public. Sebastian Moran's case will be no different, and you get there early to ensure you have a seat. How early? Normal case would be... 20 or 30 minutes. Something as juicy as this, I'd say three hours, four hours. I have to wait around for four hours.

Guess what? Wow. Oh, sorry, Lily, I thought... Thought what? That was Mariana? What a lucky neighbour she is. Yeah, we're just trying to figure something out. Actually, Lily, do you know if there's any more police footage of Moran's arrest?

Yeah, I'm pretty low rank. So... So what? Go ask Mariana. She knows more about Scotland Yard than I do. Thanks. Just the two of us then, eh? Old chum?

Just us and the thousands of listeners. He's left his emotional support microphone behind, does he? He must be very stressed indeed. I actually have a recording of my own, and I want you to see it. See it, not here. See. Let me... Put it on the big TV. Hold on.

This is your body cam footage. Yeah, from earlier today. At Simon Sanford's house in Chiswick. The man you believe to be our prolific dealer. Sure, how do we get his details sooner? Drug references and I tell Aunt Gwen, that's the rule. So, I was going over the events in my mind, and I know that he was hiding something.

I know that. You were always good at reading people. And you were as good at reading books. Yes, reading books about reading people. Yeah, well, call mine a natural talent. If you insist. Watch this. Watch the way he behaves.

Watch his children and his wife. This is my colleague, Mariana and Metra Zora. He's certainly not relaxed. What? You are in uniform. Would that be okay? I didn't call you. The police, I mean, I didn't call you.

No, you didn't. We're just giving it a once-over time. I didn't call you. What an absurd thing to say. Exactly. And watch his eyes when he says hostage. Say hello, Jessica. Hello.

Like she's being held hostage, look. Like she's... Now look at the wife, Jessica. Not quite. How curious. If you come through this way, these are the children, the girls. Aurelia and Macy,

doing their lovely... drawings you see. Hi there. And just over here, see the busts. And this is the bust up here on the mantelpiece. Hmm, mantelpiece in the lounge.

But the other busts and things are all gardenware, really. No other garish statues in the house. No. But if we believe him to be a drug dealer, or at least receiving illicit goods, then his behaviour would understandably be ill at ease.

But this, there. is terror. Dread. If he was scared of me, of the police, I'd see it in his body language. And hers, right? But look at them. Look at that body shape.

Open right up to me. Wife is right near me. They aren't afraid of me, Sherlock. They're reaching out for me. Pause it. Stop. The children's drawings. Yeah.

They said the bust was scary. What's under the drawings? There's something written on the papers underneath. Yeah, there is. I don't know if I can zoom. Oh, oh, I can. What does that say? Help us.

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