The Sign of Four - Part Five

Speaker 1 Charlie Sheen is an icon of decadence.

Speaker 2 I lit the fuse and my life turns into everything it wasn't supposed to be.

Speaker 3 He's going the distance.

Speaker 4 He was the highest paid TV star of all time.

Speaker 5 When it started to change, it was quick. He kept saying, No, no, no, I'm in the hospital now, but next week I'll be ready for the show.
Now, Charlie's sober. He's gonna tell you the truth.

Speaker 2 How do I present this with any class?

Speaker 1 I think we're past that, Charlie.

Speaker 2 We're past that, yeah.

Speaker 6 Somebody call action.

Speaker 2 Yeah, aka Charlie Sheen, only on Netflix, September 10th.

Speaker 8 I'm Scott Hanson, host of NFL Red Zone. Lowe's knows Sundays are for football.
That's why we're here to help you get your next DIY project done, even when the clock isn't on your side.

Speaker 7 Whether that's a new Filtrate filter or Bosch and Cobalt power tools, Lowe's has everything you need to feel like the MVP of DIY.

Speaker 12 So get it done and earn your Sunday.

Speaker 9 Shop now in store and online.

Speaker 1 Lowe's, official partner of the NFL.

Speaker 2 Bundle and safe with Expedia.

Speaker 5 You were made to follow your favorite band and from the front row, we were made to quietly save you more.

Speaker 2 Expedia, made to travel. Savings vary and subject to availability, flight inclusive packages are adult protected.

Speaker 17 For just £6 a month, binge ad-free adventures in full and have access to so much more over at patreon.com forward slash Sherlock and Co.

Speaker 19 Previously on Sherlock and Co.

Speaker 13 Hello, mate.

Speaker 18 Four of us, sorry.

Speaker 13 And this luggage to the

Speaker 18 White Eagle Hotel.

Speaker 6 Nobody moves. We're not moving.

Speaker 11 Okay. Put your hands on your head.

Speaker 18 Feast out.

Speaker 15 Agent Athelney Jones.

Speaker 2 In the early 2000s, this gang appears on the scene. They start breaking into diamond stores, vaults, collections.
Then it gets more brutal.

Speaker 2 They start kidnapping dealers and collectors, beating them up for information. They interrogate scholars and experts for everything they know.

Speaker 13 Jonathan Small, he's a friend of ours, an expert in the field.

Speaker 18 His leg was amputated after a beating.

Speaker 2 It spills out from the industry to smaller communities, oldie world-type places, where the stories were the most coherent and consistent.

Speaker 2 Everything pointed

Speaker 2 to Pondicherry. Thus, the last photo ever taken of Captain Arthur Morstan alive.

Speaker 13 Who's that he's at the table with?

Speaker 2 Sholto.

Speaker 4 I'm gonna go on a date with my father's murderer.

Speaker 13 Sholto is pretty much surrounded if he tries anything.

Speaker 20 Mary, how are you?

Speaker 4 He has one of your diamonds.

Speaker 20 I send everything to you.

Speaker 14 Do you have it?

Speaker 4 Ah, thank you.

Speaker 6 Mary,

Speaker 6 look at me.

Speaker 6 Do you have it or not?

Speaker 6 Have what? what?

Speaker 6 Oh, no.

Speaker 6 No, no, no, no, no, no.

Speaker 3 You did this.

Speaker 5 You have to try and vomit.

Speaker 6 Someone call an ambulance.

Speaker 6 The sign of poor.

Speaker 21 Give it up, you murderer.

Speaker 15 And you see how it reflects on the enormous man-made pool that surrounds it.

Speaker 6 Yeah.

Speaker 22 Wait, the man-made what?

Speaker 3 The man-made pool!

Speaker 6 Okay, out you come.

Speaker 3 There you go.

Speaker 15 I think

Speaker 18 he may have got away from us.

Speaker 6 Yeah.

Speaker 7 Yeah, I think you might be right.

Speaker 18 It's nice to watch the world go by, I suppose.

Speaker 4 Yeah, I guess so.

Speaker 13 How far away is he?

Speaker 4 He sees he's looking for us right now.

Speaker 24 Morning. Morning, Mariana.

Speaker 14 Uh, hi.

Speaker 15 Hello.

Speaker 13 He's deep in thought.

Speaker 4 Ah, I'm not surprised.

Speaker 4 Are you okay, Mary? How are you doing after last night?

Speaker 24 Uh, yeah, uh, I'll be okay, honestly.

Speaker 4 Don't worry about me.

Speaker 4 I just feel sorry for Sholto, I guess.

Speaker 4 Never thought I'd say that.

Speaker 13 Speaking of feeling sorry for Mary, Jonathan is coming up.

Speaker 4 Oh, that's so sweet.

Speaker 14 I know.

Speaker 4 Oh, there he is.

Speaker 22 Hey, Jonathan.

Speaker 18 Ah, I was halfway to another cafe.

Speaker 2 Goodness me. Ah, Mary.

Speaker 4 Hi.

Speaker 2 I'm sorry.

Speaker 23 It's okay.

Speaker 2 How are we doing?

Speaker 23 I um I feel

Speaker 2 I don't know. I I feel responsible somehow.

Speaker 4 Don't be ridiculous.

Speaker 2 I misguided you. I gave all this talk about the shadow and his nasty motives, and uh

Speaker 19 I'm sorry.

Speaker 2 Goodness,

Speaker 6 before I bore my eyes out over all of you,

Speaker 6 how are we?

Speaker 11 How are we doing?

Speaker 13 We're okay, thank you, mate. Sherlock and I ended up taking a bit of a dive last night.

Speaker 2 A dive?

Speaker 13 Yeah, we fell into the um the Golden Temple Pool.

Speaker 19 Oh, goodness, no.

Speaker 13 Yeah.

Speaker 6 Yeah.

Speaker 25 But nearly caught the guy, didn't we, Shelves?

Speaker 2 Hmm. You seem...

Speaker 9 unsure, Sherlock.

Speaker 6 Watson is right.

Speaker 15 We did nearly catch the guy.

Speaker 15 But as we know, we're dealing with a group. The sign of four.

Speaker 15 Yeah.

Speaker 13 Sorry, Jonathan.

Speaker 11 I know what you've been through, and if we

Speaker 2 don't you dare.

Speaker 2 I'm made of sterner stuff.

Speaker 2 The second I heard something was wrong out there.

Speaker 2 I tell you, I haven't moved that fast in a while.

Speaker 2 And still,

Speaker 2 it's not like I need any excuse to come back to this place.

Speaker 2 Truly the soul of the earth.

Speaker 2 Wouldn't you agree?

Speaker 13 Oh, it's amazing. Yeah, was kind of hoping to have a better crack at the local cuisine, though.

Speaker 13 And also wish I hadn't watched an old man die, so.

Speaker 2 Of course, course, yes, but you will see it.

Speaker 2 The beauty of this place.

Speaker 2 It will find a way inside you and glow for a hundred years.

Speaker 4 I don't want to be boring, but um...

Speaker 4 What do you want to do? We have work piling up at home.

Speaker 18 I feel

Speaker 15 this city cannot offer us much more.

Speaker 4 Well, Jonathan and I were going to head back tomorrow if you want to rearrange your flights. Uh, yeah, we we could do that, sure.

Speaker 24 You've only just got ah, don't you worry.

Speaker 2 My fourth trip this year. And I plan another, believe me.

Speaker 23 Plus, I'm here for Mary.

Speaker 11 Of course. Yeah, yeah, but but we've we've we've got her back, haven't we?

Speaker 4 Nobody needs my back. Sholto needed help, not me.
True.

Speaker 13 True.

Speaker 17 Speaking of, where is our Interpol agent?

Speaker 15 That is a good question.

Speaker 6 Interpol?

Speaker 4 Yeah, we had Agent Jones from Interpol fill us in on Sholto. Yeah, he's been dragging him for some time.

Speaker 2 This.

Speaker 7 This has stepped up a gear or two, hasn't it?

Speaker 4 It's definitely getting a bit dicey.

Speaker 4 So

Speaker 4 we think the sign of four killed Sholto.

Speaker 13 We do.

Speaker 4 Do we think they took Tonga, the boy?

Speaker 18 Well, Sholto didn't know who he was.

Speaker 15 Is that correct? Correct. And the boy had been intercepting the diamonds, we believe.

Speaker 4 That seems to be the case, yeah.

Speaker 15 So somebody knew about the diamonds and knew about Sholto

Speaker 15 and knew about yourself.

Speaker 15 Two out of three have been eliminated.

Speaker 2 I know what these people can do.

Speaker 2 And

Speaker 2 this is exactly why we're flying home. We fight again another day.

Speaker 15 It would appear the targets are not safe in London either, Mr. Small.

Speaker 2 I, uh, well, yes, I suppose that's true.

Speaker 19 However,

Speaker 2 he's a 14-year-old and Mary is ex-Army, so good luck to whatever stupid bastard tries anything.

Speaker 2 I would offer my bodyguard services, but I'm not quite sure a one-legged pensioner is what you're looking for.

Speaker 4 You're helpful in other ways.

Speaker 15 What do you know of Pondicherry? Why is it significant?

Speaker 2 Ponder Cherry, right?

Speaker 2 Boodoo Cherry, of course, now. In the southeast, yes.

Speaker 2 Beautiful place. A region that has publicly heralded the diamond for some time.
It's on various crests and designs from that area. Always has been.

Speaker 4 It's funny.

Speaker 4 My story times with dad at

Speaker 4 Pondicherry.

Speaker 4 Pondicherry.

Speaker 4 Oh yeah, you said he would tell you stories about the princess of Pondicherry? Yeah.

Speaker 4 It...

Speaker 4 I was the princess of Pondicherry in the story. I'd be off on these adventures, but the one he would tell a lot, I think, or maybe just the one that's sticking in my head.

Speaker 4 I had ventured over the high seas back to Pondicherry after beating some dragon or something, probably. Of course, yeah.
And the sacred jewel

Speaker 4 was missing. No, wait, I think it was my jewel.
Yeah, no, it was mine. And it had been taken despite my wolf that guarded it so fiercely.
I liked wolves a lot, so yeah.

Speaker 4 And then I'd go on this quest through,

Speaker 4 oh, what was it?

Speaker 4 A jungle of fire. Then,

Speaker 4 oh, then there was this flying fox that would show me the way.

Speaker 6 Yeah.

Speaker 4 And then a snake pit. That was always a creepy bit that he loved.
And I had to fight this big, like,

Speaker 4 beast thing called, oh, God, what was it called? Um.

Speaker 6 Bost?

Speaker 4 Was it? No, uh, Dost. Dost.

Speaker 14 Dost.

Speaker 4 Yeah, Dost.

Speaker 4 All hell dost. Or something.
My dad used to do a voice, like a chant thing, and I'd fight him for the jewel. And he'd

Speaker 4 stab him or whatever, I can't remember. And he'd spit it out.

Speaker 4 It was in his mouth. He'd spit it out of his mouth and it was mine again.

Speaker 4 Yeah.

Speaker 13 Oh, that's gripping stuff. I think my bedtime stories involved coming off the bench for Swindon Town.

Speaker 4 Your bedtime stories, where anything could happen,

Speaker 4 you didn't even start in the team. You were on the bench.

Speaker 14 Oh, yeah.

Speaker 3 Oh, that's rubbish.

Speaker 4 Right, okay. Jonathan, you've got the get with flight, right?

Speaker 2 Yes, I bloody well do. For my sins.

Speaker 2 Right, we reconvene in London and we get to the bottom of this bloody mess. I've got my research with me for this horrid flight.

Speaker 2 Do you have my notes on Pombichip?

Speaker 8 I do.

Speaker 21 Yes.

Speaker 15 Thank you so much again, Jonathan.

Speaker 2 Oh, my goodness, it's a pleasure. Don't worry.

Speaker 6 Right.

Speaker 11 Love to you all. Bye now.

Speaker 14 Bye-bye.

Speaker 2 Bye-bye. Bye.
Bye-bye.

Speaker 18 Mary, be bloody safe, for goodness sake.

Speaker 2 I'm

Speaker 2 going to go explain how prosthetics work to the security staff for the billionth time in my life.

Speaker 19 Well, wish me luck. Bye, mate.

Speaker 9 Have a good flight.

Speaker 11 Bye. See you tomorrow.

Speaker 24 Bye, bye, bye, bye.

Speaker 4 Right.

Speaker 4 Okay.

Speaker 4 So I'm actually at the terminal over there, so I.

Speaker 13 Oh, of course, we're different flights,

Speaker 13 yeah.

Speaker 25 Yeah.

Speaker 13 Okay, well, I'll um, I mean, I mean, I'll we'll I'll see you tomorrow. Of course, yeah, safe flight, yeah.

Speaker 15 Yeah,

Speaker 15 me too. Let go, you'll see her tomorrow.

Speaker 20 Yeah, yeah, all right.

Speaker 26 Um, see you then. Have a good one, you too.

Speaker 4 Bye, guys. Have a good flight.
Joy first class.

Speaker 6 I know, I will.

Speaker 4 Yeah, I know, right? Back to economy for the rest of my life after this.

Speaker 24 Bye, guys. Bye-bye.
Bye.

Speaker 24 I'm not bad.

Speaker 4 You okay? Yeah.

Speaker 4 You worried about her. Hmm.

Speaker 13 And Jonathan, actually.

Speaker 13 I feel like

Speaker 13 somebody does not like the fact that they're alive.

Speaker 4 Hmm, I agree.

Speaker 13 Don't worry about this guy as well, by the way. You alright?

Speaker 2 Yes.

Speaker 13 You seem a bit absent.

Speaker 13 You're just avoiding eye contact with the bum bag.

Speaker 26 Huh?

Speaker 13 Go on, look at it.

Speaker 26 Marvel at it.

Speaker 11 Aye, John.

Speaker 4 Why couldn't you have left that at the bottom of the temple port?

Speaker 13 Uh, excuse Excuse me, mate. The inner waterproof lining saved our passports and his sunflower lanyard.

Speaker 4 Well, they should have been in the hotel safe.

Speaker 13 Yeah, but Athelney Jones said don't trust those hotels. So.

Speaker 6 Stop it.

Speaker 3 Agreed.

Speaker 13 Let's go. I'll have my curry at the airport.

Speaker 15 I don't quite

Speaker 18 feel like it.

Speaker 13 Oh, don't worry, I'll get naans and onion bargees and stuff.

Speaker 6 No.

Speaker 2 The journey home.

Speaker 13 Yeah, it's a 12-hour flight, mate. No one feels like that.

Speaker 15 No, for goodness sake.

Speaker 18 I'm trying to process everything and I just don't feel

Speaker 16 resolved.

Speaker 4 Hey, hey, that's normal. We came all this way, right, for this

Speaker 4 amazing trip. I mean, work, too.

Speaker 4 But

Speaker 4 it got cut short. And

Speaker 19 yeah,

Speaker 4 you're just sad.

Speaker 4 Sometimes going home can be sad.

Speaker 20 No.

Speaker 15 I have somewhere else to be.

Speaker 25 Sherlock!

Speaker 15 Take the flight!

Speaker 14 I will see you in London!

Speaker 22 Sherlock, no!

Speaker 23 The driver says he went that way.

Speaker 22 Jesus Christ, this is insane. Sherlock! Out! Sorry, excuse me.

Speaker 22 Sherlock!

Speaker 13 I can't see anything.

Speaker 22 Well, I mean, I can see loads, just

Speaker 22 too much stuff everywhere.

Speaker 4 There's so much noise.

Speaker 22 Why would he choose to do this? This is like his worst nightmare. No.

Speaker 4 No, I know, right?

Speaker 21 So...

Speaker 18 I mean, where would he go for...

Speaker 14 Oh. What?

Speaker 13 That sign up there.

Speaker 4 Where?

Speaker 24 Look.

Speaker 4 Oh, train station. Go, go, go.

Speaker 14 Excuse me, sorry. Excuse me.

Speaker 22 Um, excuse me. Sorry, sorry, thank you.
Thank you.

Speaker 4 Why can't you

Speaker 22 take the big case? Just leave it.

Speaker 4 Uh, no, this is all of our clothes.

Speaker 13 Well, we'll buy new ones. Mine are all from Primark anyway, to be honest.

Speaker 6 Ugh, fine.

Speaker 27 Bye, my wheelie big case.

Speaker 14 Farewell!

Speaker 6 I feel so free.

Speaker 22 Yeah, see, this is why I don't buy clothes.

Speaker 10 Okay, okay, okay.

Speaker 11 Ah, here we are.

Speaker 26 Um,

Speaker 13 is there like a viewing platform? Maybe he just wants to look at the trains.

Speaker 4 There's hardly any trains. Okay, um, there's uh I don't see a viewing area or uh much seeping.
Um

Speaker 26 down this way.

Speaker 14 Can you see anything?

Speaker 23 Uh no, nothing.

Speaker 22 What the hell? Is he answering his phone yet?

Speaker 22 My battery sucks.

Speaker 13 Okay.

Speaker 14 Ah. Um.

Speaker 13 It's just it's just ringing out again.

Speaker 13 God, this is like that Dev Patel film, you know, where they lose their kid at the railway station and he turns into an Australian.

Speaker 4 He doesn't turn into an Australian, John. He gets adopted.

Speaker 6 Yeah, whatever.

Speaker 13 That's just how the Aussies get you. You know, the amount of mates I've had.

Speaker 22 Oh, I'm just going on a holiday.

Speaker 11 Bang.

Speaker 13 Next thing you know, they've emigrated.

Speaker 14 Hey.

Speaker 11 And it's like, okay, I get it.

Speaker 13 You can go to the beach and eat big prawns, but it's just the big prawn mate.

Speaker 22 Get over it. John.

Speaker 13 Is it worth the. Oh, they'll let me see.

Speaker 18 The spiders, sharks, kangaroos look pretty confrontational, to be honest.

Speaker 4 John!

Speaker 10 What?

Speaker 11 Look!

Speaker 13 I, yeah,

Speaker 13 yeah.

Speaker 11 What am I looking at?

Speaker 4 That platform, the train.

Speaker 14 Train.

Speaker 13 Train to.

Speaker 13 Pondicherry.

Speaker 14 Do you think.?

Speaker 13 I do think. Come on, go, go, go.

Speaker 4 We figured it out. I figured it out.

Speaker 13 We did it.

Speaker 24 Sherlock?

Speaker 6 Sherlock?

Speaker 4 Are you in here?

Speaker 13 Must be another carriage. Come on.

Speaker 2 Where are you, you big stupid genius? God's sake.

Speaker 13 Why can't you he go missing in like Bristol? Why does he have to go missing in one of the biggest countries in the world?

Speaker 4 Oh, I can't see much in here.

Speaker 13 No, me neither.

Speaker 4 How long do we have until the train leaves?

Speaker 13 Oh man, like two minutes.

Speaker 4 Oi, this is not good.

Speaker 13 No, it is not.

Speaker 4 What do we do? Do we stick it out or I don't know?

Speaker 17 And to make matters worse, what?

Speaker 11 I really need a we.

Speaker 4 So?

Speaker 18 You check the carriage up that way. I'll quickly use this toilet, then we'll reconvene on the platform.

Speaker 4 What a terrible use of your final couple of minutes searching for your friend on this.

Speaker 22 I need to go, Mariana.

Speaker 13 It's better than bickering here with you.

Speaker 22 Right, this is that locked or unlocked?

Speaker 11 Oh, sorry.

Speaker 9 Can't you knock, for goodness sake?

Speaker 15 Sherlock. What?

Speaker 12 The hell are you doing?

Speaker 13 Trying to have a wee in peace on a fucking train to Ponder Cherry.

Speaker 11 The airport had toilets, mate.

Speaker 11 Okay, fine.

Speaker 15 I will apologize.

Speaker 11 You will apologize?

Speaker 6 Yes.

Speaker 13 Well, where is it then? You can't just forecast an apology and then go quiet.

Speaker 15 Well, if the trip proves fruitful, I won't need to apologize, will I?

Speaker 18 So let's just wait and see.

Speaker 4 So, we're really doing this, huh? You really think Pondicherry is the key to finding Tonga?

Speaker 16 Indeed.

Speaker 15 It's time to locate this fabled diamond and see what its hallowed temple can reveal about this most peculiar case.

Speaker 11 Right, let's do it.

Speaker 13 Uh, okay, train is only 49 minutes to Pondicherry.

Speaker 18 Fab, lovely, John.

Speaker 23 Yeah,

Speaker 4 that says 49 hours.

Speaker 24 What?

Speaker 13 No, you're.

Speaker 13 No, that's wrong, because it's 1 p.m. now.
It says it gets in just before 2 p.m., see?

Speaker 23 Mm-hmm. 2 p.m.

Speaker 4 On Monday? It's Saturday?

Speaker 12 Sherlock!

Speaker 12 Gold the line

Speaker 6 force through the blinds

Speaker 23 Wash away the worries like a winding Whoa,

Speaker 6 yeah,

Speaker 4 pretty

Speaker 6 yesterday

Speaker 20 Let farm be snap nope wait snap you can't just keep saying snap snap

Speaker 14 oh my god I won't

Speaker 4 we're stopping for the elephants guys guys

Speaker 25 Hello you

Speaker 4 now I miss Archie.

Speaker 13 He looks like an elephant.

Speaker 4 No, no, but he kind of smells like one

Speaker 15 Goodbye, lovely fellow.

Speaker 23 He wanted to feed the ducks, and they just came

Speaker 6 sprinting towards it.

Speaker 14 And the panic wasn't panicked.

Speaker 14 Oh, I can't live anymore. Stop

Speaker 2 That's a beautiful country.

Speaker 9 Like a whole world.

Speaker 15 Tigers.

Speaker 10 What? Look.

Speaker 6 Tigers.

Speaker 6 Tigers. Tigers.

Speaker 17 It's a sanctuary.

Speaker 4 Quick, quick, take photos.

Speaker 6 You take the photos.

Speaker 22 I'm busy looking at you.

Speaker 17 Don't take photos.

Speaker 4 If somebody doesn't take a photo, I swear swear to you.

Speaker 4 With you,

Speaker 11 no need for words to say you're

Speaker 14 incredible.

Speaker 4 You finally got your food you wanted.

Speaker 18 Greatest food in the world.

Speaker 18 Greatest.

Speaker 4 You do know that a lot of white people get a bad bite on their first trip out here.

Speaker 11 Yeah, this is worth it.

Speaker 14 Okay.

Speaker 15 You're sleeping in a different cabin tonight.

Speaker 4 Big mountains.

Speaker 4 Do you feel absolutely tiny right now?

Speaker 15 Ant-like.

Speaker 4 I know, right?

Speaker 15 Stunning.

Speaker 4 Still worth it?

Speaker 17 Oh, yeah, 100%.

Speaker 2 Yes, yes, I washed my hands.

Speaker 13 Wow, that is yet another beautiful sight out of our little train window.

Speaker 21 It's sure

Speaker 20 we should open a Sherlock and Co.

Speaker 21 branch in India.

Speaker 6 I agree.

Speaker 11 Me too.

Speaker 11 I give up the world, the moon, the sky.

Speaker 6 For you, for you, I

Speaker 6 for you.

Speaker 6 you I

Speaker 15 If you thought goldenly breaded McDonald's chicken couldn't get more golden, think golder because new sweet and smoky special edition gold sauce is here.

Speaker 15 Made for your chicken favorites at Participate in McDonald's for limited time.

Speaker 5 Tires matter. They're the only part of your vehicle that touches the road.
Tread confidently with new tires from Tire Rack.

Speaker 5 Whether you're looking for expert recommendations or know exactly what you want, Tire Rack makes it easy.

Speaker 5 Fast, free shipping, free road hazard protection, convenient installation installation options, and the best selection of BF Goodrich tires.

Speaker 5 Go to tireraack.com to see their BF Goodrich test results, tire ratings, and reviews, and be sure to check out all the special offers. TireRack.com, the way tire buying should be.

Speaker 27 This podcast is supported by Progressive, a leader in RV Insurance. RVs are for sharing adventures with family, friends, and even your pets.

Speaker 27 So if you bring your cats and dogs along for the ride, you'll want Progressive RV Insurance.

Speaker 27 They protect your cats and dogs like family by offering up to $1,000 in optional coverage for vet bills in case of an RV accident, making it a great companion for the responsible pet owner who loves to travel.

Speaker 27 See Progressive's other benefits and more when you quote RVinsurance at progressive.com today.

Speaker 27 Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates, pet injuries, and additional coverage and subject to policy terms.

Speaker 11 Hello there, listeners.

Speaker 6 Say hello.

Speaker 4 Hi, listeners.

Speaker 21 And you?

Speaker 21 Hello.

Speaker 18 Oh, all right, mate.

Speaker 13 Jesus, swallow the mic, why don't you?

Speaker 15 You put it towards my mouth.

Speaker 13 Yeah, but just you don't need to be that that close.

Speaker 13 Welcome to Pondicherry or Puducherry, as it's known these days. But just about everyone we've bumped into so far has used both.

Speaker 13 We are following our new best friend, Chuck, Chakrapani, our guide to all things Pondicherry. Say hello Chuck.

Speaker 18 Hello listeners.

Speaker 13 Where are we going Chuck?

Speaker 1 We are currently walking alongside the Sangrabani River on the Puducherry side. Tamil Nadu is on the other side over there.

Speaker 13 See?

Speaker 6 Oh yeah.

Speaker 1 And we are walking to the hidden temple.

Speaker 13 So it's actually called the Hidden Temple?

Speaker 1 Guptmandir.

Speaker 13 Yes, Gupta Mandir.

Speaker 1 Yes, which it means sort of cryptic. Temple basically.
Oh, yeah.

Speaker 13 Yeah, hidden temple.

Speaker 21 But as I warned you, it is not...

Speaker 1 not easy.

Speaker 19 No, I know.

Speaker 8 We just have to

Speaker 15 observe some things.

Speaker 1 Some secret things.

Speaker 6 Yeah, secret things.

Speaker 13 You're not in the least bit curious, chuck. God, it's humid, isn't it?

Speaker 1 The people in this area have always spoken of the thieves, the jewel barons, the wars, and battles for the gemstones.

Speaker 1 That

Speaker 1 I have learned that it is best to let people follow their heart.

Speaker 16 If

Speaker 1 your heart is wanting these kinds of things, then I have no wish to join you on your journey of

Speaker 16 greed or desire.

Speaker 13 Well, Well, I mean, we don't want any jewels.

Speaker 1 I've heard that before, too.

Speaker 13 No, yeah, of course, I get it, but we just want answers.

Speaker 1 And I hope you find them, Doctor.

Speaker 1 Down there.

Speaker 11 Where?

Speaker 6 You see?

Speaker 1 The bend in the river? Where the farmed fields stop and the land begins to rise.

Speaker 13 Yeah, yeah, I see it.

Speaker 1 That is your temple.

Speaker 4 Um, but there's nothing there, it's it's just a hill.

Speaker 18 On the outside, yes.

Speaker 15 The temple is cut into the hill.

Speaker 6 Come,

Speaker 15 Chack,

Speaker 5 thank you.

Speaker 13 Yeah, thanks, Chuck.

Speaker 13 You sure you don't? You don't want to join the quest?

Speaker 1 I'll skip this one. Good luck.

Speaker 3 Bye.

Speaker 13 Bye, Chuck. I will miss our football chats, Chuck.

Speaker 3 Me too.

Speaker 1 Up the swindon down.

Speaker 7 Ha ha ha, yes.

Speaker 27 Spread the word.

Speaker 12 Oh, that was Chu.

Speaker 13 We We got chatting to him on the train, and instead of going straight to the hotel, we got our trekking boots on.

Speaker 11 That's not true.

Speaker 13 We are all in the same footwear.

Speaker 18 Unfortunately.

Speaker 18 You think yours are bad?

Speaker 11 Look at mine.

Speaker 4 Yes, but it wouldn't be an adventure unless your shoes got destroyed.

Speaker 2 Yeah, that's true.

Speaker 13 That's true. But anyway, we um well, I think we kind of kept our cards close to our chest with Chack, didn't we?

Speaker 5 I tried that, yes.

Speaker 27 But you didn't fare so well.

Speaker 13 No, come on.

Speaker 13 anyway we told him

Speaker 13 we thought something had gone down at a temple in in putucherry slash pondicheri and we think it may have involved westerners maybe not we asked about captain moreston and he kind he kind of

Speaker 13 well he knew uh no one said Surakula, but it just goes to show how tuned in the locals are to the story, the myth of it all.

Speaker 13 And now the trek trek continues. The hill is probably about a mile away.
It's a really warm night. No signs of rain though.

Speaker 26 Starry and moony.

Speaker 13 And we met a backpacker on the train. Well, Mariana did.
She was chatting him up.

Speaker 12 Shut up.

Speaker 13 He was Spanish. So, you know, they talked about Spanish stuff like omelets and

Speaker 2 shut up.

Speaker 13 Anyway, he was heading home and he gave us a tent. So we're going to get right outside the spooky temple and pop the tent up and spend the night.
Should be fun.

Speaker 13 Well, not fun, um, but hopefully, we will get answers on the Surakula and why that means Tonga and Mary are in danger.

Speaker 2 So, yeah.

Speaker 14 Oh, morning.

Speaker 10 Hey, morning.

Speaker 6 Oh,

Speaker 23 God Almighty.

Speaker 14 Back. Yeah.

Speaker 6 Oh, I think I slept on a rock.

Speaker 4 Yeah, shame.

Speaker 6 Coffee?

Speaker 7 Hey, there's coffee.

Speaker 4 I took some sachets from the train, made a fire.

Speaker 25 Here, look.

Speaker 3 Oh,

Speaker 11 and I boiled some water.

Speaker 25 Oh, you are.

Speaker 11 I like you.

Speaker 6 Thanks. I like you.

Speaker 7 Oh, cheers.

Speaker 5 Cheers.

Speaker 24 Wonder what Archie's doing right about now.

Speaker 4 Let's see. It's 7 a.m.
here. So what, like

Speaker 6 2? 2 a.m. at home?

Speaker 18 Yeah, so snoring and drooling, do we think?

Speaker 4 Yeah, I'd say so.

Speaker 3 I'd say so.

Speaker 19 Come a long way, haven't we?

Speaker 4 Yeah, yeah, we have.

Speaker 19 Proud of us.

Speaker 4 Me too.

Speaker 13 But you worried the adventure's gonna be like 15 parts long and totally incoherent.

Speaker 4 Oh, totally. It is the end of the podcast.

Speaker 13 Yeah.

Speaker 19 Yeah.

Speaker 13 Had a good run, though.

Speaker 10 Are we ready? Hey, Indiana Holmes.

Speaker 7 What are we thinking?

Speaker 26 Indian who?

Speaker 13 Never mind.

Speaker 4 Careful there. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm okay.

Speaker 15 This slanted floor leads down into the first chamber.

Speaker 15 Then we have a door.

Speaker 18 Okay, and where does the door go?

Speaker 2 I have no idea.

Speaker 13 I was kind of hoping for a play-by-play there, but alright.

Speaker 13 That's a weird smell. Is there?

Speaker 25 Yeah, I think so.

Speaker 10 Maybe it's just.

Speaker 18 Yeah, maybe it's just very old.

Speaker 14 Look at the walls.

Speaker 21 Hold on, let me get my phone light.

Speaker 21 Inscriptions.

Speaker 25 Yeah, but what does it say?

Speaker 4 Don't know, but it's pretty.

Speaker 13 Excellent penmanship, but or carvedmanship.

Speaker 15 No hidden codes as such.

Speaker 15 But look here.

Speaker 24 Is that a man being burned alive?

Speaker 6 It

Speaker 15 would seem that way.

Speaker 13 Oh, look, after opening a door, lovely.

Speaker 14 Shall we?

Speaker 25 I mean,

Speaker 13 unfortunately, we probably shall.

Speaker 19 Yeah.

Speaker 19 Now,

Speaker 2 how does this

Speaker 3 open?

Speaker 23 Come on.

Speaker 6 Need a hand, please.

Speaker 13 Okay, here we go.

Speaker 14 Ah, man.

Speaker 14 Come on.

Speaker 22 Oh, Jesus, this is heavy.

Speaker 22 Who made this door? The crusade?

Speaker 23 Let's just exercise caution.

Speaker 15 This door has trapped trespassers before.

Speaker 2 Totally severed from the knee.

Speaker 15 Just using your backpack, John.

Speaker 5 Hold still.

Speaker 4 No, no, wait.

Speaker 4 It's an instruction. It's not a warning.
And

Speaker 4 the fire isn't on the other side of the door. It's on this side.

Speaker 4 Look, we.

Speaker 14 Okay.

Speaker 4 The entrance to the temple is here.

Speaker 18 Then, the slope.

Speaker 4 Then, it's fire. Then, door.
Okay, so we said something alike, I guess.

Speaker 13 Oh, yeah, let's just burn the ancient temple.

Speaker 25 Sure.

Speaker 4 No, no, no, no. I see it.
I see it. I here.

Speaker 25 What are you doing?

Speaker 23 Starting a fire.

Speaker 15 Splashes of oil. Where?

Speaker 2 Here.

Speaker 15 By the seam.

Speaker 19 And...

Speaker 14 Ah!

Speaker 11 A bowl beneath it.

Speaker 4 Can you see? Yes, yes, yes, yes. Okay.

Speaker 13 Okay, great. Now what happens?

Speaker 6 Don't you see?

Speaker 3 Vines.

Speaker 15 Vines have sealed the door on the other side.

Speaker 4 The flame reaches through and burns off the vines that hold the door closed.

Speaker 13 Well, that's that's quite a system.

Speaker 14 Oh, hey, let's get it loose. Here, ready?

Speaker 14 One,

Speaker 14 two,

Speaker 3 three.

Speaker 6 Yes!

Speaker 14 Hey, good work, Marianne.

Speaker 3 Indeed.

Speaker 3 The door opened

Speaker 18 quite easily, though.

Speaker 25 Meaning.

Speaker 4 The vines haven't grown much since the last visitor?

Speaker 14 Correct.

Speaker 13 Someone has been recently there.

Speaker 14 Onwards.

Speaker 13 But we are now in.

Speaker 25 Feels like a tunnel.

Speaker 19 It's got quite cold quite quickly.

Speaker 13 There's.

Speaker 25 I feel like.

Speaker 18 Yeah, there's definitely a smell, isn't there?

Speaker 3 Death.

Speaker 14 Seriously?

Speaker 13 Yeah, got to admit, Frankie's right.

Speaker 4 That smell is death.

Speaker 11 It is.

Speaker 15 And we have a choice to make.

Speaker 11 We have arrived at our fork.

Speaker 15 Which tunnel do we take?

Speaker 25 Two tunnels.

Speaker 13 One isn't too dark from the looks of it, looks wider, and doesn't smell of death. Then there's that one.

Speaker 4 We're a detective agency. We're not tourists.

Speaker 16 Death it is.

Speaker 3 Oh,

Speaker 3 bats.

Speaker 7 They scared the crap out of me.

Speaker 5 The Indian flying fox.

Speaker 10 What?

Speaker 10 Look.

Speaker 3 Above.

Speaker 15 You can see them hanging.

Speaker 13 Yeah, gross, mate.

Speaker 15 You can see their colouring.

Speaker 8 That reddish breast.

Speaker 4 Oh, yeah, they look like foxes.

Speaker 13 Tiny upside-down winged foxes.

Speaker 11 Wait.

Speaker 6 What?

Speaker 10 Her father?

Speaker 7 Mary's father.

Speaker 15 His bedtime stories.

Speaker 18 The princess of Pondicherry.

Speaker 4 The flying fox, it would show her the way.

Speaker 6 Yes.

Speaker 15 And there was a jungle of fire.

Speaker 13 Oh, yeah, the vine, the vines we just had to burn to get through.

Speaker 15 So, the jungle, the flying fox,

Speaker 26 then.

Speaker 14 what?

Speaker 4 Wait, what was the next thing in her story?

Speaker 18 Snake pit. See you later, guys.
Watson, all the best. John.

Speaker 13 I mean, no wonder we can smell death. I mean, snake pit, for God's sake.

Speaker 6 Come.

Speaker 15 We cannot make a judgment until we see for ourselves.

Speaker 5 Mate, what? That's

Speaker 13 just like saying to a toddler, you'll enjoy it when you get there. It is snakes in a pit.

Speaker 15 We've come all this way.

Speaker 10 But for what?

Speaker 13 Tonga isn't down there, is he?

Speaker 4 Do you think that, Sherlock, that he's gonna be there?

Speaker 15 I don't.

Speaker 4 Then, what do you think?

Speaker 10 I think.

Speaker 15 I think we will expose the rot that has spread so far as to even reach into the walls of a 14-year-old boy's bedroom in West London.

Speaker 1 That's what I think.

Speaker 13 You think they're here? The sign of four?

Speaker 15 The question is not whether they're here,

Speaker 5 but whether they are still here.

Speaker 4 Oh, you think they've entered the temple?

Speaker 11 I do.

Speaker 4 It's just chasing any other bud guy, right?

Speaker 6 Right.

Speaker 2 Yeah, sure.

Speaker 11 On we go.

Speaker 13 Weird job, isn't it?

Speaker 14 Uh, what what?

Speaker 13 Our job, a bit weird, really.

Speaker 4 Oh, yeah, yeah, I agree.

Speaker 18 Like, someone asked me the other day what I did, and I said I'm a podcaster.

Speaker 13 And then they gave me that look that, well, you know, anyone that says I'm a podcaster should get, to be honest.

Speaker 18 But I mean, look, look at us now.

Speaker 25 I'm not really a podcaster, am I?

Speaker 24 I'm

Speaker 13 an adventurer. I mean, you can't say that at a garden party, can you? Oh, oh, me, yeah.
I'm an adventurer. I'm chief adventure officer.

Speaker 3 Oh, yep.

Speaker 13 That's a snake pit.

Speaker 10 Okay, great.

Speaker 3 Um,

Speaker 13 what do we do?

Speaker 4 There's a door on the other side of the room, see?

Speaker 14 Oh, yeah.

Speaker 6 Uh

Speaker 13 oh, oh, well, hey, look, look, look, look. If you go along the wall on the right, you can walk straight past the pit and get to the door.

Speaker 25 Come on.

Speaker 24 Wait.

Speaker 15 Put the light on that door.

Speaker 6 Uh,

Speaker 6 here.

Speaker 15 That's not the way through.

Speaker 13 Uh, see any other doors here, mate?

Speaker 15 No,

Speaker 15 not yet.

Speaker 4 Sherlock.

Speaker 4 Uh, this is quite obviously the way.

Speaker 15 Booby-trapped temples tend to structure their roots and pathways to the unobvious.

Speaker 4 Good point.

Speaker 15 But your second problem: we know someone has been here recently.

Speaker 16 But the cobwebs on that door over there, look at them.

Speaker 15 Rather dense and plentiful, wouldn't you agree?

Speaker 18 Cobwebs mean

Speaker 13 untouched. Correct.

Speaker 19 I would venture the door we need

Speaker 14 opens

Speaker 15 a different direction.

Speaker 4 What direction?

Speaker 15 Down.

Speaker 18 Sherlock. Oh my god.

Speaker 13 He is wading in snakes. He is wading in bloody sleep.

Speaker 15 Don't be afraid of the pythons. They're not your problem.

Speaker 15 They're vipers and crates. A much more dangerous threat.

Speaker 23 Okay.

Speaker 10 Okay.

Speaker 13 Embrace the pythons. Cool, lovely.
Here we go.

Speaker 23 Oh, God. Oh, God.

Speaker 14 Oh, God.

Speaker 3 Oh, God. Oh, God.
Oh, God. Oh, God.

Speaker 7 Yep.

Speaker 13 Now it feels as weird as I thought it would. Oh, no, no.

Speaker 13 Get off. Off, you big slithery twat.
Oh, my God.

Speaker 11 Don't kick them, John.

Speaker 13 That one went for me.

Speaker 16 Feel for any looseness in the floor.

Speaker 15 Feel for changes in height

Speaker 13 or texture.

Speaker 4 Wait, wait.

Speaker 23 I feel something.

Speaker 9 What? It's.

Speaker 6 It's

Speaker 4 rattling slightly. Um

Speaker 4 it feels like a door. Uh like a like a trap trapdoor, cellar door.
Let me see.

Speaker 4 Come, come, hold my hand.

Speaker 5 Thank you.

Speaker 14 Where?

Speaker 4 Just here.

Speaker 18 He's put his hands in with the snakes. Come and kick that one.
He's done nothing but hiss at me since I came in here.

Speaker 2 You're right.

Speaker 15 It's a door.

Speaker 19 And

Speaker 8 I feel a latch.

Speaker 6 Okay.

Speaker 5 Mariana, step back.

Speaker 25 Well, what are you doing?

Speaker 15 Heading into the next room.

Speaker 3 Sherlock!

Speaker 14 Oh.

Speaker 4 Sherlock?

Speaker 12 I'm all right.

Speaker 25 Now, quick.

Speaker 23 Jump through before more snakes fall in.

Speaker 22 Okey-dokey.

Speaker 18 Kiss off your slimy wankers.

Speaker 4 Uh, ladies first.

Speaker 25 Nope.

Speaker 14 Whoa.

Speaker 23 Let me close it back up.

Speaker 2 There we go.

Speaker 13 That smell.

Speaker 18 I think I see where it's coming from.

Speaker 14 Where?

Speaker 19 Look.

Speaker 14 Oh, oh, no. There's

Speaker 13 there's bodies everywhere, Sharlock.

Speaker 13 Good

Speaker 13 God.

Speaker 4 It's it's a it's a massacre.

Speaker 13 Most look shot, from what I can tell.

Speaker 13 Yeah,

Speaker 13 few rounds of magazines here on the ground.

Speaker 14 But why?

Speaker 4 What what

Speaker 4 what happened here?

Speaker 15 The stone wolf.

Speaker 6 Look,

Speaker 15 just like Mary said, the protector of the stone.

Speaker 2 Then where's the stone?

Speaker 15 There's a plinth.

Speaker 11 Well, that'll be it. That'll be it.

Speaker 14 Go. Go.

Speaker 14 What?

Speaker 14 Where is it?

Speaker 4 It's not here.

Speaker 21 It's been taken, but not recently.

Speaker 15 Dust has collected in this basin here.

Speaker 4 Then, who are these people?

Speaker 15 Could be thieves. Could be just some poor locals that had come to protect the Suricula upon hearing of the threat.

Speaker 19 I think you may be right.

Speaker 15 What makes you say that?

Speaker 25 The blood,

Speaker 19 the writing on the wall.

Speaker 4 Here, some light.

Speaker 15 It was written in haste.

Speaker 4 Haste

Speaker 4 from what?

Speaker 2 Death.

Speaker 13 The sign of four.

Speaker 13 Mohinda Singh.

Speaker 11 Abdullah Khan.

Speaker 19 Dost Akbar.

Speaker 13 I think he tried to write another name here.

Speaker 15 But he didn't make it.

Speaker 11 Wait, shh, shh. No, no, stop.
Wait.

Speaker 18 I wasn't doing anything. Stop.

Speaker 14 Fine. It.

Speaker 19 She.

Speaker 11 Mary, she was...

Speaker 13 When she was in Afghanistan on her first tour, she was kidnapped and held hostage in a cave.

Speaker 15 The Barakan hostages.

Speaker 11 Yeah, that was her.

Speaker 13 She said that the soldiers that had her, they were telling her that Abdullah Khan was coming.

Speaker 2 Curious.

Speaker 4 And her dad, in the stories, the bad guy was called the monster, I mean, or whatever.

Speaker 4 He was called Dost.

Speaker 4 So, Abdullah Khan, Dost Akbar.

Speaker 18 They're in the sign of four.

Speaker 13 They're hunting her, and Captain Morstan knew they would come for her. But who? Tonga.

Speaker 6 What?

Speaker 15 When we first met Prisha, she she claimed his friends had mentioned he'd been meeting a man named Mohinda Singh.

Speaker 23 Oh, there we go.

Speaker 6 Nice to see the sky.

Speaker 15 And the trees.

Speaker 13 Nice to not smell corpses, really.

Speaker 4 What next?

Speaker 13 Well, that would be a question for the Master Detective.

Speaker 14 We

Speaker 15 head back to London. There's a boy who needs us.

Speaker 4 Yeah, you're right.

Speaker 13 Yep.

Speaker 25 Yep.

Speaker 13 And I bet Wiggins has been overfeeding him as well.

Speaker 15 I meant the missing child.

Speaker 14 Oh, God. John.

Speaker 6 Jeez.