Dead Clade Walking

"Dead Clade Walking"
Season 2
Season 2
Episode 14
Episode 14
Directed by	Helen Shaver
Written by	Jeffrey Paul King
Aired	January 30, 2014
Viewers (millions)	10.34
Episode guide
Previous	"All in the Family"
Next	"Corpse de Ballet"

Cast

Main cast

Jonny Lee Milleras Sherlock Holmes

Lucy Liuas Joan Watson

Aidan Quinnas Tommy Gregson

Jon Michael Hillas Marcus Bell

Featured cast

Ashlie Atkinsonas Gay

Stephen Tyrone Williamsas Randy

Jeremy Risheas Emerson

Jonno Robertsas Dr. Jerome Thomas

James Martinezas Diego Salcedo

Christina Pumariegaas Uniform

Adam McNultyas Detective Park

Ross Degrawas Officer Wolfe

Jane Alexanderas C.

Francesca Choy-keeas Waitress

Joel Hatchas Andrew Donnelly

Jack Dimichas Ivan Kershavin

Annika Petersonas Charlotte Klemmer

Kate Levyas Lawyer

Jim Watkinsas Reporter

Plot

"The odds are reasonably good that none of this would have happened without you. Allow me to return the favor by releasing the evil humours from your skull." — Holmes to Watson

At The Brownstone, Holmes is surprised to find a guest in the library, Gay. Watson explains that while examining Holmes' box of unsolved cases, she found the murder of Doug Newberg, in which a picture of his backyard had an unusual rock. A geology fellow, Gay has identified that the rock was dug up from well beneath the earth's surface. Planning to visit the site, Holmes is disappointed he cannot accompany them as his sponsee, Randy, is undergoing a crisis that requires his help. At a coffee shop, Randy tells Holmes that an ex who is a drug addict, Eve, has moved to NYC and wants to live with him while she gets sober. Holmes believes that Randy shouldn't see Eve at all. Without permission, Watson and Gay enter Newberg's backyard and find the rock still there. Gay says the rock is from the dinosaur era and likely contains an archaeological specimen.

That's 65 million years ago.

Holmes meets Watson at the Morgue where a technician performs a CT scan on the rock. A complete skeleton of a small dinosaur is discovered inside it. At the Triboro Museum of Natural History, they meet with Dr. Jerome Thomas by a Dimetrodon skeleton which he indicates is the only complete one in the world. He's amazed at the CT scan and tells them the skeleton is a Nanotyrannus, the rock is likely from Mongolia, was taken from there illegally and is worth about $10M. At the Brownstone, Holmes builds an evidence wall of Newberg but is constantly interrupted by texts from Randy. He leaves to help Randy and returns late. In the morning, Watson wakes Holmes to tell them they are going for ice cream, even though it's winter. She explains over breakfast that Newberg's best friend, Diego Salcedo, has a record and operates a fleet of ice cream trucks which she believes he's using to transport smuggled goods.

The dinosaur did escape my notice.

After staking out Salcedo and catching him selling Cuban cigars, he's brought to the 11th Precinct as a suspect in Newberg's murder. Denying he killed Newberg, he admits to taking delivery of the rock three years before, but didn't know it had a valuable fossil inside. The buyer backed out and believing he was being watched, he gave it to Newberg in his garage. After Newberg was killed, he thought the rock was probably the reason but figured the killer took the rock and didn't know it was in Newberg's backyard. During the questioning, Captain Gregson, Detective Bell, Holmes and Watson are interrupted that ICE agents have arrived for the rock. After Salcedo's questioning, they're told that a single ICE agent just arrived for it. Suspicious, they head to the evidence locker and find the first ICE agents were imposters who left with the rock.

Did you confirm their credentials?

While Gregson works with ICE to try and recover the rock, Holmes tries to find the potential buyer. He reaches out to a contact in the auction world, a woman he knows only as "C.". Holmes knows C from a forum in which erotic letters are exchanged but has never seen her. Arranging a meeting in a park, Holmes identifies her from a scarf she described. C informs him that a man known only as the "Magpie" buys rare, expensive items and that if Holmes posts such as item on a website, the Magpie will reach out to him. At the Brownstone, Holmes prepares a fake draft of Martin Luther's 95 Theses for posting. He also mentions that in order to free Randy of Eve, he's found Eve has arrest warrants in Chicago. Contemplating notifying the NYPD of her location, he sees Watson's expression and talks himself out of turning her in.

You have a rare gift madam.

Meeting Randy at a coffee shop, Holmes is exasperated to hear he's still involved with Eve and bluntly tells him to end it. As Randy excuses himself to use the bathroom, Watson calls to report that there's been a response to his 95 Theses posting that appears to be from the Magpie. The waitress tells Holmes that Randy left. On the way to the "Magpie's" home, Holmes tells Watson that Randy isn't answering his phone. Finding the door open, they enter and discover a dead man and the nanotyrannus rock smashed on the floor. Gregson and police arrive on the scene and discover the killer's DNA on Malcolm Turner (the Magpie). Holmes is puzzled why the killer would smash a fossil worth millions. At the Brownstone, Holmes wakes Watson by blasting music while Gay sleeps on the couch. (♫ Mozart - The Marriage of Figaro (Overture) ♫) He believes he's found the motive for smashing the fossil, a theory called "Dead Clade Walking" (DCW).

Someone destroyed the fossil.

The prevailing theory of dinosaur extinction is that a comet hit the earth and created the "KT boundary", under which all dinosaur skeletons are found. DCW proposes that dinosaurs lived longer than the extinction event and it will be proven if a complete skeleton can be found above the KT boundary. From analysis of the nanotyrannus rock fragments, Gay has found that the rock proved DCW. The most strident opposers to DCW are called to the precinct. Watson briefs them on the fossil discovery and Turner's murder. Bell asks them to provide DNA with wheel-chair bound Andrew Donnelly agreeing and Ivan Kershavin refusing. Later to their disbelief, the DNA found on Turner matches Donnelly's. Donnelly is called back to the precinct and waits in "the box" for his lawyer. Bell reports that Donnelly's DNA isn't a match for that found in Newberg's murder. Donnelly is released when his lawyer shows pictures of him giving a tour when Turner was murdered.

You think one of us did it?

At the Brownstone, Holmes tells Watson that Bell managed to get Kershavin's DNA and it did not match that found on Newberg. With no suspects, they review a ledger that Turner kept of his sales. Noting a client nicknamed "Snipes Houlihan" had four transactions over several months, including "A toe, an arm, top of the spine", Holmes strives to discover why they are linked by a "D'd". In the morning, Watson awakes to find a copy of an archaeology textbook and a ticket to the museum where they saw the Dimetrodon skeleton. At the museum, Holmes carries a sign that the Dimetrodon is a fake. Watson arrives and he explains that he's trying to get the attention of "Snipes Houlihan". He's deduced that the "D'd" stands for "Dimetrodon" and recalls that Dr. Jerome Thomas indicated that the skeleton was found complete in a dig he supervised. The textbook he left Watson was co-written by Thomas and Donnelly. Confirmation of DCW would send sales of the textbook plummeting, and prove that the Dimetrodon skeleton wasn't complete which would totally discredit Thomas.

I'm guessing there's a good reason for all of this.

Thomas arrives and demands they both leave. Explaining the situation, Holmes indicates that Donnelly's DNA on Turner's body was probably from a dig tool they both shared. Thomas used the tool to finish Turner off and smash the nanotyrannus rock. He informs Thomas that a warrant is being drawn up for his DNA, which Holmes is sure will match that found on both Newberg and Turner, and asks Thomas to confess. At the Brownstone, a newscast shows Thomas' arrest as Holmes prepares to trepan a skull. Watson brings him a package with the remains of the nanotyrannus rock and he thanks her for bringing the case to him. Randy arrives and glumly tells Holmes that he got high with Eve the previous evening. (♫ The Vespers - Better Now ♫) He's cut Eve out of his life and understands if Holmes doesn't want to be his sponsor anymore. Holmes asks if he'd like to go to a support group meeting.

You brought it with you to destroy the fossil.

Music

• Mozart - The Marriage of Figaro (Overture) plays as Watson discovers Gay asleep on the library couch.
• The Vespers - Better Now plays at the episode end as Randy confesses to Holmes that he got high the night before. They leave for a meeting.

Trivia

• The events of this episode are shown to have happened in January 2014. ("Over a Barrel")
• Watson finds this case in Holmes' box of unsolved cases which he gave to her. ("An Unnatural Arrangement")

Quotes

The parts of you that keep my imagination occupied are fully clothed at the moment.

— C. to Holmes

Gallery