#even tho im sure he loves mary very much
To prepare for their heist, John enthusiastically gathers all the tools Sherlock took from his previous criminal cases, such as crowbars, diamond glass cutters, a lantern with a shutter to turn off the light fast, among other things.
He even prepares different colored eye masks for both of them and tennis shoes with rubber soles to make it easier to sneak around without noise.
John says he’s doing all these things so Sherlock won’t be caught, since many people in London depend on him.
Sherlock gets back to Baker Street at this moment with lunch for John and Ms. Hudson. He had apparently looked up a map around the area where Milverton’s villa is. The villa is located in east of Brighton, up at the Seven Sisters cliffs along the coast.
From its location, it is easy to spot at a glance when someone approaches it. John is relieved that they found out when Milverton won’t be present so they can sneak in easily. He then tries to think of other things he needs to prepare, but Sherlock asks him to take a break and eat lunch with him up on the roof.
As they were eating their sandwiches, Sherlock asks John why he was getting married, and the latter explains that Mary has all he wants in a wife.
Sherlock doesn’t really object to her, but he doesn’t understand why John needs to marry her to be with her.
To this, John replies that he wanted a “result” wherein he is being acknowledged by someone.
John has always been insecure of his own abilities. Unlike Sherlock, he is not a genius who can solve difficult cases by himself. All the cases they have worked on up until now were Sherlock’s achievements. They are Sherlock’s “results”.
Meanwhile, John feels as though he has not achieved anything yet in his life. He wanted to be acknowledged by someone, and marriage would mean the other person is acknowledging him. They would be acknowledging each other.
Sherlock feels a bit exasperated when he heard this, because he claims he’s been acknowledging John this whole time.
Sure, he’s quite capable alone, but Sherlock has had way more fun solving cases with John around. He’s been happy having John as a partner who could appreciate solving mysteries the same way he has, so he feels a little lonely now that John will be leaving Baker Street.
Sherlock then admits that he has been testing and appraising Mary, and he has finally realized why. He wanted to see if she can make John happy. Sherlock supposes that this much be what friendship is like.
John is touched and shocked that Sherlock considers him as a friend, and reassures Sherlock that he does not plan on quitting being his partner after he has gotten married.
Sherlock asks John to promise that whatever happens this point out, John should prioritize this own happiness. If John is happy, then Sherlock is happy as well. John acquiesces.
The next night, Sherlock and John arrive at east of Brighton. The weather is windy and a storm could come at any moment. The perfect weather for sneaking.
As they went through the forest and arrive at the coast, they could finally see Milverton’s villa. Sherlock and John decide to go around the back to the west side of the villa since there is nowhere to hide at the right side.
At that moment, they saw a light and heard a couple of gunshots coming from the villa. Sherlock comes to a conclusion after a bit of thinking, and realizes there had been some miscalculations.
He then orders John to call for the police. Meanwhile, he will try recovering the evidence in the midst of the chaos.
If he can’t manage it, he will meet up with John and the police and search for the evidence while everyone is preoccupied.
When he approached the villa, there were more signs of a fight inside. He rounds the villa and climbs to the second floor. The room he went into happened to be Milverton’s room, but there was no safe inside it.
As he heads to the next room, Sherlock hears voices from the other side of the door.
He peeks through the half-open door, and saw Milverton’s back. Then he was shocked when he saw who Milverton was talking to.
As Sherlock enters the room, Milverton comments that Sherlock arrived right on time.
It seems Milverton had been planning to get the three of them together this whole time. He was going to explain further, but Sherlock beat him to it.
He calmly deduced that Milverton had threatened Mary all along to get her to approach him with this case, and he must have done something similar to the other person in this room to get him to come here.
Milverton confirms it, and says he must understand why Milverton has called him here– To catch the Lord of Crime, the person in front of Milverton.
Lightning strikes, and a glimpse of William pointing a gun to Milverton could be seen on the other side of the room.
