Maybe this week we are going back to the Odin story line. I hope so.

Last week it was interesting with Cassie.  I wonder if she will become a Sherlock protégé?  Anyway, click here if you want to know what happened last time.

And now, back to business – this is Elementary 07×09 “On the Scent.”

We open with Joan is playing with toy cars, recreating a crime in Arizona because she believes it was caused by Odin Reichenbach.  Sherlock tells her to disengage and leave it to the NSA since they have power and resources like Reichenbach. (Sure, Sherlock is trying to keep her safe, but he should tell her what he knows.)

Then we have a lady welding when she is interrupted by barking dogs.  She goes to look and sees that they have been given steak.  She then is hit in the head by a person wearing her same clothes and welding helmet.

Very weird . . .

And speaking of weird, Sherlock is trying to open a safe that is submerged in the bathtub when an angry Joan walks in.  She found the file that Sherlock was supposed to give to the NSA Agent McNally and wants to know why he hasn’t delivered it.  Holmes is saved by the bell when the 11^th precinct calls – they need their help finding a ghost!  (wait what?)

Captain Gregson explains to Holes and Watson that there was a serial killer known as the “ghost of Brooklyn,” who hadn’t surfaced in years, but they think the murder of the metal sculptor is tied to him too. Bell explains that the body was found because the dogs wouldn’t stop barking and that the murder weapon was scrap metal.  Gregson gives Joan and Sherlock the files from previous murders plus the evidence they have in this most current case.  This includes a bit of cloth probably tore off by one of the dogs.

 Bell and Sherlock talk to the father of Meghan, one of the earlier victims of the ghost of Brooklyn. He tells them that originally, he thought his son in law had killed Meghan.  However, the ghost of Brooklyn’s DNA was found plus the son in law, Dean had alibis for the other murders.  Additionally, the father tells them that the son in law killed himself on the one-year anniversary of his daughter’s murder.  And that he left a note that said: “I’m sorry.” Sherlock thinks something doesn’t sound right. Bell suggest they look at the case again. 

Joan goes to talk to Carson Mayfield, an artist who had a fight with the dead sculptor, Caroline Gibbs.  He tells Joan they fought as a publicity stunt and that they are best friends.  He even shows her pictures. Mayfield agrees to have his DNA tested but tells Joan there is someone else who needs to take the test too.  He then shows Joan a video Caroline’s neighbor, Benjamin Long, who was fighting for real with Caroline about an affair.

Joan is giving her update to Gregson when Sherlock interrupts them to say that he and Bell have the ghost.  In interrogation Joan and Gregson see a middle-age Asian man, Mr. Wu – not what anyone expected as a serial killer. He works for the company that makes the DNA kits used by the department.

Apparently, Sherlock tells them Mr. Wu was unaware that he was contaminating DNA kits (because he has a condition that make him sweat a lot). He got promoted at the same time the murders stopped so he was not working on the kits until a few days ago when they needed help and he packed the kit used for Caroline Gibbs murder. Sherlock says that he thought Meghan was murdered by her husband (like her father did).  Bell tells them they looked at the other cases and they ended up with Mr. Wu.  So, that was the ghost (crazy, right?)

Gregson tells the gang (Holmes, Watson and Bell) that the other ghost cases will be given back to the original precincts to be closed – they all had suspects that were ruled out originally due to the DNA. But what about Caroline’s murder? They only have two leads – the piece of cloth bitten by the dog and the neighbor. They split up to find out more information.

Gregson and Joan interview the neighbor, Benjamin, about the affair.  He says he is insulted, and he’s married. He shows them his arms to prove he was not bitten by her dog and says he was at a business dinner for his alibi.  Benjamin tells them that he thinks her murder was a drug deal gone bad.  He tells them that Caroline was probably dealing drugs since they would see strange people go to her house at weird hours for a few minutes and then leave.  

The cloth only had canine DNA, so Holmes and Bell go to talk to people who were treated for dog bites on the night of the murder. They find a man, Fowler, who claims he got bitten by a golden retriever, but they also find a lot of stolen phones.  Marcus takes him to the precinct while Holmes goes to meet Joan at Caroline’s house.

As Joan is filling in Sherlock on the evidence she found that confirms that Caroline had drugs, Holmes tells her that he gave her information on the Arizona case to the NSA.  Joan confronts him saying that she’s probably the only person who can tell when he is lying.  He finally tells her the truth – that McNally, their NSA contact, is working for Reichenbach and that he was not telling her not to protect her but spare her since it is a burden.  Joan tells Sherlock they will talk about the Odin bit later because she notices a hairbrush with long, pink hair on it.

Sherlock and Joan call on the neighbor, Diana Long, Benjamin’s wife who has long pink hair.  Joan deduces that there was an affair but not between Benjamin and Caroline but rather between Caroline and Benjamin’s wife.  Diana (Mrs. Long) tells them that she loves Caroline and that the last time she saw her was at 9pm the night she died.  Sherlock says the medical examiner said time of death was earlier.  They deduce that someone, probably the murderer, was wearing Caroline’s welding clothes.

Diane asks them if it wasn’t Caroline she saw, why was she with Ollie, her German Shepard. She saw her walking him on the leash.  Sherlock and Joan tell her they took 5 dogs from the house and none was a German Shepard.  Joan also looks in the kennel and sees six bowls.  Apparently, the murderer took the dog who is the reason for the murder.

Bell fills in Gregson on Ollie, the German Sheppard.  Turns out he was a police dog that retired a few months back.  They call in his former partner to find out more.  He tells them Ollie specialized in marijuana and that it is ironic that a drug dog would be adopted by a drug dealer.  Bell thinks it may not be a coincidence.

At the brownstone, Sherlock and Joan go back to the Odin discussion.  Joan is upset.  She tells Sherlock she knows how powerful Odin is but doesn’t want them to roll over for him.  Sherlock tells her he has reached out to his contacts in analog ways and gives her an encrypted phone where they are supposed to call with information.  Additionally, Sherlock promises not to lie to her again.

Bell calls and fills them in on Ollie.  They have a lead to Caroline’s drug supplier; a gang named the Santiagos.  They think maybe Caroline was killed for Ollie who could help them test ways to pass their product undetected.

They go interrogate the leader of the Santiagos, Enrique Ruiz.  He is not very cooperative and has a very good lawyer, Daniela Olivera, who sends our trio packing.  At the brownstone, Joan shows Sherlock a picture she took at Ruiz’s place when everyone was distracted.  She thought it was typical bookie stuff, but since the teams of the cities in the picture didn’t play for a while, she thought it was a shipping schedule.

Joan thinks that marijuana is being shipped between states since it is legal in some and not in others.  From the numbers, they determine the picture is of shipments by rail.  They are about to see when the next train comes in when Bell calls and tells them they found Ollie at train yard.

Sherlock finds a secret compartment in a train car and says the Santiagos shipment was stolen.  They believe that whoever took Ollie and murdered Caroline wanted to steal the drugs.

Joan uses Sherlock’s bee outfit to determine that the killer had to be at least in similar shape as the victim.  They look at those who would know about the shipment and rule out others who would not pass for Caroline.  That leaves Ruiz’s lawyer, Daniela Olivera.

Sherlock spots a bookcase in the picture of Olivera and connects it to Fowler, the guy who had the stolen phones that Marcus had booked earlier.  He turns out to be Olivera’s brother. 

Daniela told the police she had given him her old furniture and he picked it up from her office.  That’s how he found out about the shipments.  She also told her brother about Ollie since it was funny that a dealer had a drug sniffing dog.  She said she would never steal from the cartel.  So, that left him as a suspect.  As he is denying having anything to do with the murder or the drugs, a dog barks.  Sherlock tells him its Ollie who found the weed stash in Fowler’s garage.  He is arrested.

The episode ends with Odin going over what he calls the “threat list” with his assistant.  He pulls the trigger on two cases and asks her to find a “hero” to be ready.  She then tells him that Joan has been looking into Phoenix and that she probably suspects them (which she does).  Odin tells her that he will take care of it himself.  Oh boy!  Now its going to get good!

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Questions for this episode:

• Will Joan continue her investigation in Arizona and not tell Sherlock?
• Will Sherlock’s contacts give him the information that they need to bring Odin down?
• What will Reichenbach do to “take care of it”?