1. Yes he would have probably meant teenagers, although it could have been younger children; they can run pretty wild in the city you know and abandoned buildings are always an attraction.
2. The cabbie actually says to Sherlock about how being a cabbie is useful because you get to know the quiet spots at certain times of the day.
3. Remember also that Mrs. Hudson is giving Sherlock a good deal on the rent of the flat as he helped her get her husband executed in Florida. Between them it might have been the same sort of cost for John. Also it makes it seem more appealing to him when he first goes in, compared to his dismal little room. Recall he says about how nice it could be...if it was tidied up a bit.
4. No idea. Maybe they help relax him.
5. Maybe it is because the cab has stopped.

Yes, he just moved in. He thought it was "very nice", so he immediately put all his stuff there. That was not long ago, you can still see some boxes. He wouldn't have moved in there without a flatmate because he can't afford the rent on his own - that was the whole point of having a flatmate in the first place.
I rather curious where and how he lived before, though, haha...

I akways assumed that John lived in some sort of VA hospital room or halfway house to get over his post traumatic disorder which turned out to be lack of action.

Moriarty is involved right from the beginning. He knows of Sherlock and is a "fan" of him long before Sherlock has ever heard the name Moriarty, which was why he arranged the cabbie to do the killings, knowing that Sherlock would get involved eventually...Why else would he sponsor a serial killer if not to get the attention of Sherlock Holmes?

As for the other questions, I think they've pretty much been covered. Question 5 about the signal on the phone. If the phone was out of range/signal at any particular point, then it might not have been picked up by the GPS. Also, these things sometimes take a long time to complete the search, they lag or get hung...kind of like a computer...

Sherlock lived on Montague Street before Baker Street. It was actually mentioned on his website. One of his very first entries is telling people not to send correspondence to his old address on Montague Street (and it's canon also). Apparently he was forced to move out after an argument with the landlord. He was obviously a lot less understanding of Sherlock's habits than dear old Mrs Hudson.

Even if John /was/ living in a fancier, flashier apartment, he might have been desperate to find somewhere cheaper because he really couldn't afford the rent anymore.

In the books , the sign of four, it is mentioned that john is staying in a hotel and stays there until he spent almost all of his money, then he started to look for a flat mate.To me it looked like a small cheap motel.

I came here to ask a quite random question that has been nagging on my mind for some time though. I can't understand john's cell phone analysis.I mean I can't understand to how extent sherlock had been wrong.Can somebody explain it? Does john have an alcoholic sister, or were all sherlock's deductions wrong ?

Last edited by immortal (January 1, 2013 12:18 pm)

Something which has been bothering me every time I watched the episode- when Sherlock goes to follow Lestrade to Lauriston Gardens, he says to Mrs Hudson "Might need some food, something cold will do."
It strikes me as odd, because he usually doesn't eat when he's on a case, and I don't think he wanted it only because of John.
So do you think this is just a slip, or has there been another purpose to it, such as giving Mrs Hudson the opportunity to emphasize she's not his housekeeper one more time? Or maybe Sherlock assumed he'd have solved the case by that night?

Kerkerian wrote:

Something which has been bothering me every time I watched the episode- when Sherlock goes to follow Lestrade to Lauriston Gardens, he says to Mrs Hudson "Might need some food, something cold will do."
It strikes me as odd, because he usually doesn't eat when he's on a case, and I don't think he wanted it only because of John.
So do you think this is just a slip, or has there been another purpose to it, such as giving Mrs Hudson the opportunity to emphasize she's not his housekeeper one more time? Or maybe Sherlock assumed he'd have solved the case by that night?

I think it's all about showing how Sherlock and John are on the same wavelength.
If John had listened carefully he would have recognized Mrs Hudson NOT being their housekeeper.
After Sherlock ran out of the flat John kind of absent-mindedly orders tea from her ("I'm not your housekeeper!") and  "a couple of biscuits" ("...not your housekeeper!"). At this point, we, the TV audience, already consider the two of them being cut from the same cloth.