'Elementary' Season 1, Episode 17: 'Possibility Two' Recap

ZBZ Security employees have been shot. Bell asks for Holmes’ opinion but he defers to Watson, who is in training.

She decides the men have been shot in the chest once, and judging from scuff marks, chased up the man who killed them. She can’t decide where the man ran.

Holmes steps in, and notes that one of the guards is a fake guard. They probably wanted access to the parking structure since nothing was missing from the museum. He takes his wallet and points out he has been stealing registration from expensive cars, probably to let an associate know which house to break into.

The other guard is a real guard, and noticed the activities. He shot him, and the guard got shot in a scuffle.

Holmes tells Watson not to feel bad about what she missed.

A man beside a limo approaches them, named . He is an attache from Lydon Industries. Mr. Lydon has a proposal for him.

They go into the limo with Lydon, who tells them he has dementia. He asks if they know of Hereditary CAA. Watson recognizes the disease. Lydon believes someone gave him the disease. He has no family history of it.

Holmes won’t take the case.

Watson reads books Holmes is forcing on her, as he pours acid over a doll. The door rings, and it’s a rare bee as a gift from Mr. Lydon. Holmes is tempted but he won’t accept it.

Gregson calls and asks if Holmes knows Lydon. He is asking for him—he shot his driver, Crabtree.

Holmes goes to the house, where Crabtree is dead. Lydon’s sons try to get in and see him but are denied. Holmes goes to talk to Lydon, who is horrified by what he did. He says he doesn’t know why he thought that Crabtree was suddenly a threat to him. He pleads with Holmes to help him. Holmes takes the bee and the case.

They go to the genetic lab that confirmed Lydon’s diagnosis. Holmes calls it a “tower of ego.” They meet Natasha in research, and the president Raph. Holmes recognizes Natasha as having isolated a gene for sociopathic behavior, but she tells him her funding dried up.

They speak to Raph about Lydon’s beliefs. They ask if they’re possible. Natasha thinks with a great lab and lots of money. There might be about seven people who would possibly do something like give someone a hereditary condition.

Watson finds Holmes’ dry cleaning ticket on her door. She isn’t thrilled that Holmes now thinks she should be doing domestic tasks.

He tells her they are going to Norway to talk to Dr. Invald. He notes that he works for a public facility, but just bought an extremely expensive house. And his loan papers were co-signed by Carter Lydon, one of the sons.

The cell phone on the table dings with a picture of a molecule from a blocked number. Another comes up, and a note that says CAA can be induced. They are close to the thing itself.

Holmes gets up to find Natasha’s information on the warrior gene. He flicks to the back, where something is written about “the thing itself.”

Holmes realizes it is Natasha and texts her that he will protect her. They agree to meet. However, when they arrive, Natasha is dead.

Bell comes in, saying it looks like someone was going to rob the place and found Natasha working late, which Holmes shoots down. He notes that the portrait done by a famous artist remains—but its value is depreciated now by having the killer’s blood on it. Bell notes Natasha’s blood is everywhere, why is it from the killer?

Holmes has Watson step in. She points to splatter pattern. Natasha fought back.

Her fiance comes in to ID her. He is also a geneticist, but he wasn’t aware Natasha was working with the belief that Lydon had been dosed. He is more surprised they aren’t asking him about Benny. He was part of the warrior gene project and claimed Natasha took his blood against his will.

Holmes tries to build a molecule, but falls asleep without accomplishing matching it to the picture from Natasha. In the morning Watson comes down. She tells him she spoke to her old genetics instructor. It is a man-made chemical. It can be used to target and mutate the gene for CAA.

Watson goes to pick up Holmes’ dry cleaning because he declares he is too cold to thank her. She has a weird encounter with the rude cleaners.

Gregson talks to Benny, who says he was angry at Natasha. He signed up for her tests to get points with his parole, but she called him an incurable sociopath and says it added time to his sentence. He admits he went and yelled at her recently but didn’t kill her.

Watson comes in complaining about the dry cleaners. Holmes texts Gregson and Bell that Benny is innocent.

Watson and Holmes go to speak to one of Lydon’s sons. They ask for access to the computers. The second son comes in and dismisses them. Watson steals a pen of his that he chews on, and is excited about possibly taking DNA off it. Holmes outdoes her by showing his pick-pocketed comb with hair on it.

Bell calls to burst their bubble. Benny’s DNA came back as a match for the blood at Natasha’s murder scene.

Benny claims he was set up. He admits he may have an alibi… but it was taking blackmail shots of the neighbor cheating with the nanny.

Watson finds Holmes’ sweaters outside her door… apparently there was an ink mishap. He insists she go back to that specific dry cleaner. She goes back, where the woman just speaks Polish to her. Watson notes that the coat she saw yesterday hasn’t been moved—so no one must have picked up clothes. She also sees security cameras—six of them. The other man tells her they came with the place.

She goes home to triumphantly tell Holmes she knows she is being set up. He is in the process of chatting via video with the list of geneticists that Natasha gave them. One of the men tells them about manufacturing the 13 loci that police test for in a DNA match. That is what he happened with Benny—he requested a full work up on the blood sample, and found that only 13 loci were left. The rest of the blood was stripped of DNA.

They bring in Natasha’s fiance. He explains that when he and Natasha got engaged, they both had a work up. He was tested for the warrior gene, and he had it. She told him it didn’t matter, but she started pulling away… and cheating on him with a man named Lincoln. He says he started to manufacture the blood, and he killed her. He denies that he can induce CAA however. He says he doesn’t even remember what it stands for.

Holmes stands at index cards full of names. Watson comes to comfort him. He explains, however, when you split the name of Natasha’s lover—Lincoln Dunwoody—into two names, they are both wealthy families with histories of philanthropy. One of the Lincoln men recently retired after being diagnosed with CAA with no family history. On the Dunwoody family, a woman has also just retired from her health but no one knows why. However they did just donate a lot of money to a hospital.

They go to said hospital and bring Mrs. Dunwoody flowers. She has dementia and is confused.

Holmes is cleaning the fridge as Watson tries to work things out. She thinks that dosing wealthy philanthropists with CAA might induce the families to donate to help cure the disease. Watson thinks Natasha was a whistle blower.

They bring in the owner of Watt Helix, Natasha’s company—Mr. Watt. They note he has hereditary CAA. He got sick. Research wasn’t going fast enough. Holmes notes that all the victims had procedures at a hospital, and he induced the CAA through the IV.

Watson brings Bell to the dry cleaners. They are arrested as smugglers and money launderers. She goes home to tell Holmes she figured it out, while he traps his escaped bee.