I just took it that it was a regularly used book, so it would be the most prominent.

Well, the only parallel I can see is that possibly Mycroft didn't know Moriarty was the one behind the sabotage.
He also should have told Sherlock, if he knew Irene was a leak.

I don't think Mycroft worked with sticky notes :-) I thought of something more subtl like: its a bit odd that there are so many books on the stairs, that had to mean something or like the the many bottles of champaign with nothing else in the fridge.
I don't think the bottles alone could be a clue that he had a affair with his secretary, but in combination with the handcreme.
Sure, this would mean that Mycroft would prepare the crime scenes in co-working with the police for Sherlock only and this is a bit unrealistic. But to be honest, the whole episode seems absurd to me so that I could imagine something like this too :-)

By the way, there is something else I didn't understand: Why wrote the newspaper about the second murder, that the perpetrator went through the wall? When the journalist came back from the library you saw that someone broke into his flat i.e. the door was already open as he arrived. So it looked to me like a normal burglary.

Furthermore it seemed odd to me, that the journalst saw the signs in the library, get panicky but still loaned the book out.
Thats one of the thing I mean with "absurd". As well as a full-grown man could pass through such a tiny roof window.
I am not sure how seriously I could take "Sherlock", therefore are my theories a bit odd too :-)

"I'm sorry, I simply don't know what this signifies. But are you also suggesting that Mycroft set up the Lucky Cat Emporium just to entertain Sherlock?"

No, I thought of something simple like paying the woman to show Sherlock the cat. But you are right, it would be a big coincidence too.

What else I wonder, maybe someone has an answer for me, Soo Ling saw the signs at the beginning of the episode, hide herself in the museum (where she found the signs) because she was scared about her brother. But as far as I understood he was the one who sprayed the signs. So I think he already found her, or did I missunderstand something? Isn't the museum a really bad place for hiding in this case?

I think it is a pity, that there are only a few explanaition of Sherlock thoughts in this episode, thats why its hard for me to follow the story/plot. But I refuse to believe that someone took great care to write such a lousy story :-)

Last edited by Danielle80 (June 27, 2016 9:04 pm)

Danielle80 wrote:

But to be honest, the whole episode seems absurd to me so that I could imagine something like this too :-)

Two words: Steve Thompson.

A large majority of this entire episode makes no bloody sense, and it's all down to the stupid scriptwriting.  For instance, why did the Black Lotus kill Lukis and Van Coon when they desperately wanted the hairpin back and knew that one of them had it? Dead men can't tell anyone where they've hidden stolen goods.

Danielle80 wrote:

When the journalist came back from the library you saw that someone broke into his flat i.e. the door was already open as he arrived. So it looked to me like a normal burglary.

No, the door wasn't open.  The door to his flat was at the bottom of the stairs where he had scattered his books.  He unlocked it to get in and then deadbolted it before scurrying up the stairs and dropping the all-important library book on the way up.

Danielle80 wrote:

Furthermore it seemed odd to me, that the journalst saw the signs in the library, get panicky but still loaned the book out.

And again, those two words: Steve Thompson.  There is a brilliant fanfic called The Partially Sighted Postman which cleverly - but hilariously - sums up the idiocy of the plotlines in this episode.
 

Steve Thompson is probably an awesome guy, but I really don't like his episodes either. Same with TRF. When John suggest they could go to Mycroft for help when they run from the police, Sherlock just replies: "A big family reconciliation? Now's not really the moment." (Thanks, Ariane!), which must be the lamest cop-out I've ever seen in a show.

Although he makes up for it all with the rooftop scene. That scene is amazing.

Oh dear, I actually think both TBB and TRF were immensely clever in so many ways and I love Steven Thompson's writing. The champagne in Van Coon's fridge indicates he's a very successful trader who likes to celebrate his successes. Then why do the smuggling? Well, because as the fall of Lehman Brothers  thought us enough is simply never enough, not if you're a banker. And the book was carelessly thrown down by Lukis as he hurried upstairs. Exactly the kind of detail someone with Sherlock's capabilities at observation would notice.

Secretly I'm convinced that if they'd made more use of Thompson in S3 I wouldn't have been so massively disappointed with it.