I think Irene is in Sherlock's room while he's asleep/unconscious, returning his coat.   It's hanging up when he wakes, and she's changed his text alert sound (and there's possibly a lipstick mark on his face!).   I imagined that the hiker deduction was going on in Sherlock's mind, as he hears Irene talk to him while he's asleep.   It's her deduction (he already knows the answer).  So I think we're hearing Irene's actual words and seeing what's going on in Sherlock's mind while he hears them - the conversation seems to fit with that.  For instance, she says "Don't get up" to him, when (in his imagination) he's not lying down (but in "real life", he is).  He tries to talk to her and can't speak. 

Last edited by Liberty (May 14, 2015 5:43 pm)

That would make sense, Liberty.  Unfortunately I don't remember it well enough to say one way or the other at the moment, though.  It does make sense.  I'm sure that they are Irene's actual deductions, because it shows how Irene has similar powers to Sherlock.

Liberty, I think you've "got it" (which is what Irene says when she comes back to the deduction)  . Your explanation fits perfectly. Thanks!

I nearly mentioned the kiss-mark, too! But I think she kisses him after she says " I'm only returning your coat", so I wasn't really taking that into account.

I don't remember a kiss mark, but I do remember the cut on his face.  Maybe we're thinking of two different things?

Now that you've described it, I think I remember it now.

But if you see the next scene, with Sherlock and John reading their newspapers and talking to Mycroft, Sherlock has a clearly visible scar on his cheek. 

Oh, wait. As I typed this, I realised - that scar was probably from John punching him, wasn't it?

Have a look at this:
http://johnnlocked.tumblr.com/post/120859382806/57circlesofhell-tonnaree-monikakrasnorada

I'm reposting this from elsewhere in the forum so that I can discuss it further in the correct thread - which seems to be this one

I really do like the theory, but I'm not 100% convinced. I had to re-watch the relevant scenes in ASiB, and the timeline is messing with my head, but I think John is there for real, not in Sherlock's mind palace. I think the scenes when the client tells his story in 221B (where we see John on the sofa behind him) and later when John is talking to Sherlock on the laptop, occur on the same day, the day after John has returned from his trip to Dublin. Here's my long and inconclusive explanation.

If you watch the episode, go back to just before the client appears. It's daytime, and Mrs H. is cleaning out the boys' fridge. She is wearing a dark-coloured dress with a lacy collar and puff-shouldered sleeves. The client arrives and collapses in front of her, and she calls out "Boys! You've got another one!" This tells me that both Sherlock and John are at home (unless Mrs H. doesn't know that John is in Dublin, but this is surely unlikely). Then we cut to the client sitting in the chair, and John is sitting on the sofa behind him. Sherlock, off screen, says "Tell us from the start. Don't be boring". That seems to indicate that both Sherlock and actual John are in the room, listening the the client tell his story, but it's not conclusive proof, as Sherlock talks to John even when he's not there. The theory that it's Mind Palace John is based on John apparently wearing the clothes he wore in the pool scene (which is what Mind Palace John wears in TSoT), and the assumption that John is in Dublin and Sherlock hasn't noticed he's not at home. John is out of focus (possibly a clue that it's MP John), and he could be wearing the same clothes as in the pool scene. We can't really tell what shirt he is wearing, but he has a cardigan, dark blue jeans and hiking boots on (in the pool scene he wears different shoes).

We then flashback to 14 hours earlier, when the car backfires and the hiker dies. It is daylight, so it must be the previous day, although the client is wearing the same clothes as he wears later in Baker Street. I guess he's too agitated to get changed. The scene then transitions to many hours later (but when exactly? This is where the timeline confuses me). The police are investigating the crime scene and John arrives, wearing the same blue jeans and boots, but now he is wearing a black jacket over a shirt. He talks to Sherlock on the laptop, and we see that Sherlock is yawning and wrapped in a sheet. Sherlock tells John they agreed he won't leave the flat for less than a 7, and John mentions that he was in Dublin the day before and wasn't aware of the discussion. During this conversation we realise that the client is still in the room, sitting behind Sherlock, but later when the men in suits from Buckingham Palace arrive, we don't see the client at all (is he still there or not? Perhaps he's in Sherlock's mind palace, like the Mayfly Man's dates in TSoT). We do see Mrs Hudson in the same clothes we saw her wearing earlier though, so it must be the same day. How long would it take for John to travel from Baker Street to the scene of the hiker's death, could it still be the same morning? He surely wouldn't go out to the crime scene straight from his Dublin trip without first returning home to Baker Street, and hearing the client's story. Has Sherlock been in his sheet all day? We don't see him when the client tells his story, so it's quite possible that he's wrapped in his sheet all that time until getting dressed later at Buckingham Palace. There does appear to be a lot of hours in this day.

I think the client interview scene and the laptop conversation happen the same day, and that John was in Dublin the day before the client arrived at Baker Street (i.e. the day the hiker died), therefore it really is John sitting on the sofa and not Mind Palace John. But like I said, I'm still not 100% sure. The only way I can get the MP theory to work in my head is if John was at the crime scene talking to Sherlock on the laptop two days after the hiker died, having just returned from Dublin the night before or early that morning. Which would mean that more than a day has gone past since the hiker died and the police are still collecting forensic evidence two days later. So the client goes to Baker Street the day after the death, but the day before John goes to the crime scene. If Sherlock has only just got out of bed when he starts talking to John on the laptop (he's yawning and drinking tea or coffee), perhaps it's early morning of the second day and he has sent John straight out to the crime scene. That would mean the client is in Sherlock's Mind Palace while he is talking to John on the laptop, as he obviously wouldn't still be in 221B a whole day later, in the same clothes. But I don't think this is the case, because the humour of the scene lies in revealing that the client is sitting there hearing Sherlock say a bunch of mean stuff about him, and then saying "Don't worry, this is just stupid".

There's another possible clue later when Sherlock deduces John, while Irene is sitting inscrutably naked in front of him. We see the words "two day shirt" which would maybe indicate that John has returned from Dublin that morning and hasn't had a chance to change his shirt (and by the way, it's not the shirt from the pool scene as you can see clearly in this scene). Despite being a different outfit to what Mind Palace John wears in TSoT, would that confirm that it's Mind Palace John sitting on the sofa during the client interview? Then again, we still have the problem of Mrs H. wearing the same clothes in two different scenes, proving that it is the same day.

I dunno, I'm talking myself round in circles now. What does everyone else think? It would be so cool if John was appearing in Sherlock's mind palace as early as ASiB. I definitely believe in Mind Palace John in TSoT

Thanks to Ariane DeVere's transcript where I checked the dialogue, and discovered the client's name is Phil.

Last edited by ukaunz (June 7, 2015 12:39 pm)