from flatirons to fishhooks. >> can you be more specific? >> well, can't be a very prosperous business. >> why not? >> because the general public are not allowed in. >> did you discover anything else? >> apart from being threatened by an unhelpful brute in an alley at the side, very little. he obviously works there, because he followed me back to the shop and threatened me again. though there was another fellow, sharply dressed. loud waistcoat, with a mustache. >> cheroot? >> yes, yes, he did. >> sounds like harry wilcox. more usually at soho square than the east end. anything further? no, not really. except the smell. there was a very odd smell about the place. >> of what? >> it's not easy to say. belonged to the animal kingdom. >> straw or stables? >> more like a zoo.

oh, hmm, you're still up. >> yes, sir, i thought i might finish these proofs. >> very conscientious of you, but, uh, no, no, you go to bed. >> oh, i'd rather not, sir. i should like-- >> get to bed. go on with you. >> yes, sir. very well. night, sir. >> good night. [faint tapping]

[clattering] [banging] [dramatic music] ♪ >> darling, wake up, it's me. [knocking] edith! >> who is it? >> it's me! open the door. >> what is it? >> i saw... i can't describe... >> the intruder? >> we must rouse your father. [knocking] professor presbury! >> father? [knocking] >> sir, sir!

>> both of you, what is it? >> jack thought he saw-- >> i fancied i-- i heard an intruder, sir. >> you did? >> yes, roy, too, was exercised, but when i looked out just now, there was nothing and he's since quieted down. listen. >> but you thought you saw-- >> well, yes, i thought i saw... >> yes? >> an animal. >> animal? >> no. must have been a trick of the light, sir. must have been. yes, sir. i was mistaken. my apologies. good night. >> bennett. >> yes, sir? >> get some sleep. there's a good chap. >> yes, sir.

[ominous music] ♪ >> of course. watson!

watson! [animal noises] >> manifestly a gang is at work. >> other zoological gardens have reported similar thefts? >> oh, yes. my colleagues in bristol are investigating the theft of two rhesus monkeys and a baboon, removed only last week. a traveling menagerie in oxfordshire have lost a prize chimpanzee, and matston their finest gorilla. >> big charlie? >> yes. >> delightful chap, i knew him well. >> well, they've all disappeared without a trace. >> and mr. holmes, what's his interest? >> he insisted to me that this may have relevance to another case he has in hand. we like to indulge him when we can, you know.

find anything to the purpose, mr. holmes? >> nothing much. >> oh, i warned you. my men have been through it with a toothcomb. the lock was released by swell jenkins of stepney green. the primate was quietened and with a pad of chloroform administered by someone who lavishes their hair with mr. brewster of german street's pomade. this would suggest that he also sports a waxed mustache. mr. brewster being celebrated for his cosmetic wax for gentlemen. if this was so, lestrade, you could do worse than have a word with harry "the 'tache" wilcox of soho. >> good lord, holmes. your "nothing much" would be anyone else's "a great deal." >> yes, well, i'm sure my men will arrive at the same conclusion once their reports are in hand. >> you will also naturally have noticed, lestrade, that this is the sixth reported theft of a mature male primate. >> is it? six? good lord, exceptional. >> the gender of the animals removed is, i suggest, of the essence. good day.

[monkeys screeching] [knocking] >> come in. >> my dearest alice. >> i'm not interrupting your work? >> no, no. i wasn't seriously engaged. just some notes for future enquiry, nothing more. shall we go through to the drawing room? this is hardly the place to entertain a young lady. >> no. >> oh, dear. >> my dear child, what is the matter? >> i ought to have said before. >> ought you? what? >> there. you must take it back. >> oh, but, alice.

>> i can't marry you. i shouldn't have said i would, but i was afraid to say no. please, take it back. nonsense, this is simply a-- >> no, you must take it. there, i'm sorry. >> alice! >> no, you're old. you're too old. >> so bennett actually saw the intruder's shadow inside the house. >> but upon investigation could find no further trace. you must get this to him by way of the butcher's boy. are you coming? >> where to? >> dorak's emporium. i expect that's why swell jenkins took such pains to guard against you. are you game? >> delighted. >> you go armed? >> always carry a firearm east of allgate, watson. [dramatic music] ♪

[glass breaking] [dramatic music] ♪

it's as i feared. [knife ratchets open] >> we was waiting in on a visit, mr. holmes. >> wilcox! [grunting and scuffling] and jenkins. [animal noises] >> my heavens, holmes. this is what i smelt. >> and these are dorak's patients, poor, abused creatures.

have you observed the experiments that dorak performs on them? >> oh no, that's none of our business, he says. >> well, count yourself fortunate that the process has been kept from you. now, gentlemen, in you go. >> in there, with him? why? >> to await the police. in, gentlemen. we shall advise inspector lestrade at once. >> you can't leave us in here! >> remember the gorilla is a social animal. and if you both mind your manners, you will do well enough, i dare say. >> ah, mr. bennett and ms. presbury. >> yes. >> i decided i had to accompany jack, mr. holmes. >> have you brought the list of missing dates? >> yes. roy also barked on these nights. >> please, never mind that,

mr. holmes. we have far more urgent matters to impart. >> is that so? ms. morphy has renounced my father. >> she's returned his ring? >> today, since when he has remained locked in his study. >> every time i've knocked, he's shouted abuse at me. >> the logic of it, watson. of this progression, do you see it? >> please. >> the first three occasions are self-evident. we know of those. what happened on the 5th of october? >> roy barked all night. on the 12th too. also days upon which the professor received packages from london east central. >> this is the date on which the face appeared at the window four nights ago. >> yes. >> and this is where the shadow appeared last night. of course! the common factor is two. always the gap decreases by two days. numbskull, holmes. >> and today is the 21st of october. >> did...

>> yes, a package arrived this morning. >> my heaven, the crisis is upon us. last night was but the precursor. come, we must go at once. come along, come along. i'll explain on the way. >> the front door. it's open! bennett, examine upstairs. >> watson! [ominous music] ♪ i thought as much. [dog barking] >> did you hear, mr. holmes? >> too well, ms. presbury, too well.

up there. look! [monkey calling] >> by heavens, holmes. you were right. [screeching] [dog barking] [screeching] [snarling and barking] >> he's heading course to ms. morphy's house. bennett, stay here and protect ms. presbury. [screeching] [ominous music] ♪

he's aiming for that balcony. >> it's locked. >> then we must house break. [dog barking] go up, watson, go! [monkey screaming] [glass breaking] >> stay away. please, stay away. [dog snarling]

[screaming] >> it was a close thing. just missed the carotid artery. >> is he all right? >> he'll live. >> a reformed man, i have no doubt, after his experience. my dear lestrade, i quite intended you to have the credit, but to complete the case against dorak, wilcox, and jenkins, you'll need this. >> here is the incontrovertible proof. those animals you've rescued from degradation were stolen for the sake of their glands. >> the animal extract to be sold at enormous profit to those foolish or desperate enough to imagine that a course of serum could restore their lost vitality without any other effects. >> i am grateful to you, mr. holmes. thanks to you, we've traced

the evil to its source. >> perhaps. but poor presbury. when one tries to rise above nature, one is liable to fall below it. the highest type of man may revert to the animal when he leaves the straight road of destiny. >> yes, well, i'll leave the philosophy to you, mr. holmes. >> quite the best, lestrade. i always do. >> is the wolfhound to be destroyed? oh, no. no, it was the monkey that roy attacked, not the man. the dog will be himself again quite as much as his master. >> well, thank you both. good day, gentlemen. >> good day, lestrade. >> if i may say so, holmes, i think you went a little too far in allowing lestrade all the credit. >> not all, watson. you can file it away in our archives. one day the entire truth can be told.

[tinkly theme music] ♪

captioning by captionmax www.captionmax.com

all kinds of rubbish in there, i'm afraid. anything you like. ( chuckles ) all right. there it is-- oh, that's a good start. - what do you reckon? - do you know what it is? it-- it's a piece of beau isn't it?

- yeah. - yeah. is it an egg cup? it's jolly large for a hen's egg, isn't it? one wonders whether it's not actually a drinking cup. - right, yeah. - after a chinese blanc-de-chine original. - uh-huh. - about 1755, 1760. so a nice and early one. - yeah, yeah. - and rare, but... - slightly damaged. - where did it come from? well, it came originally from a boot sale. a friend bought it and i bought it off him. - purely 'cause i liked it. - are you a frequenter of boot sales? - quite so, yeah. - have you ever been to the market here? - yes, many times, yeah. - bought? oh, yes, yes. yes, there's always a good market here. what'd that one cost you? ( laughs ) well, i had to pay a few quid for it. - he-- he knew it was something good, but-- - did he? - we didn't quite know what it was. - i think probably, - in that state, about £30, 40. - yeah, that's good. that's fine, that's good. well, yeah, that's not worth much. piece of-- piece of glass, yeah. do you know what that is? uh... i got a vague idea. it's-- it's oil lamp, isn't it? - it's a lacemaker's lamp. - lacemaker's.

it should be... mid-18th century. all right. - what do you think? - you know that wonderful review... of-- in a newspaper of a play called "i am a camera." - oh, yes. - somebody wrote a review of this play which said "me no leica," - which i think is really rather wonderful. - ( laughs ) and it applies to this object. i... don't trust that an inch. that is a reproduction worth very little money. well, there you go. - bad one, i'm afraid. - win a few, lose a few. oh. oh. you like that one? - do you like it? - i like it, yeah. that's really very nice and rare, with this pie-crust rim. this is a piece of english delft, probably bristol. - right. - i'm not good on the english delft factories.

and i have this slight fear that most-- most other people aren't either. we seem to change our opinion - of where a piece of delft was made... - yeah. - ...every other week. - oh, right. somebody digs up a shard in wincanton and they find out there's another one in liverpool and is it halfway between? um, that's sort of 1760. ( clears throat ) a rare thing. how much was this? i didn't pay very much for it. i bought it at a boot sale again. how much is not very much? £1. ( laughs ) will you take two? ( laughs ) no, no, no. i'd need more profit than that. well, you'd be mad to. i think we're pushing the upper hundreds here. - really? - yeah. i think 600, 800, no problem at all. all right. well, big money then. - you did well there. - good heavens. man: right, so this telegram ooh.

where did this come from? same sort of place, i'm afraid. boot sale, yeah. what do you do as a job? building is my job. it's what i do, but, uh-- - really? - --but on the weekends, i go to the boot sales. you have an amazing eye, you know. - ( laughing ) - no, you do! - really. - yeah, you do. i mean, okay, you get it wrong occasionally-- - oh, yeah, i did there, didn't i? - but th-- that doesn't matter. i mean, basically, you're honing in on the real thing. - yeah. lucky. - um, and of course you're going to make mistakes. we all make mistakes. but this is a really very nice south staffordshire box. hmm. there's a transfer print under here, and then hand coloring on top. - mm-hmm. - date, about 1770. and i tell you, the extraordinary thing about this one ( clears throat ) is that it's in perfect condition. - hmm. - these enamel boxes-- - this is a layer of enamel on copper. - right. and they always bust.

they're always chipped or cracked, and this one - isn't. - yeah. go on, how much? uh, that one-- i think i paid £50 for that one. oh, no. sorry about this. what's the housing market like down here? - ( chuckling ) - ummm... i think you wouldn't have any trouble getting - 700. - how much? ( clearing throat ) you wouldn't have any trouble getting £700 for that. good grief. - that shocks me. - give up the building. that shocks me. well, i'm probably better at this, by the sound of it. good grief. i'm-- i'm amazed. well, so what-- how old is it? - 1760, 1770. - good grief. ( clearing throat ) well, it would have been nice to go out on something good, wouldn't it? oh. - we did. - oh!

( laughing ) all right. - that's a corker, isn't it? - you like it? and this was local, again? i bought it in here, in this building. they have things on the weekend and... - how long ago? - oh, that was a few years ago. - that was about-- about six years ago, i think. - that's not very long, is it? - no, no, but, uh... - how much? it was on a store with a pile of junk and i gave him, like, £35 for it. - makes me weep. - ( laughs ) i think it's a lovely, lovely dish. - right. - that wonderful bird in the middle here... - right. - ...um... ...stylized flowers around here, terrific palette, um, again, i think probably bristol; a few nibbles - around the rim... - yeah. ...um, and an odd, curious firing thing here, - which is not a problem. - no, i thought it was-- i thought it was a crack. yes, i did too, but it isn't. - right. - the back's not... little crosses and ticks on the back, exactly what i would expect-- beautiful, clean, back there to it.

yes. well, your 30 quid has turned into £1,000. 1,000? good grief. really? i had no idea. give up the day job. thank you very much indeed. that's absolutely fantastic. - ( chuckling ) - you've made my day in tavistock, - i have to say. - good. it's a fantastic group of things. you've got a great eye. you're very kind. - thank you very much indeed. - thanks much indeed.