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Later in the box, Gregson apologizes to Newell and his attorney for accusing him of the drug killings. Sherlock notices one tree is larger than the others and believes Jed is buried beneath it. Berg brings them to where Jed slept which was turned into a park just after he disappeared. However, he disappeared and left many bottles of his stolen wine behind. In Denning, they question the retired Sheriff, Miriam Berg, who suspected a drifter nicknamed "Straw Dog Jed" of the burglary. Why are you poking me with your single stick? Aguilar also knows, hence his actions of revenge. Mason mentions they are the first to discover her deception which Sherlock disagrees with. She bought his brother, changed his appearance and kept some hair and blood from Silver Blaze for genetic testing requests. Accusing her of studding an imposter (for large fees), she admits that Silver Blaze died shortly after she gained his ownership.
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At Diogenes, Sherlock explains that whorls are a genetic trait which Nutmeg didn't exhibit in the right place to have been Silver Blaze's offspring. He asks Mycroft to arrange a meeting with Mason as he knows why Aquilar is angry with her. Sherlock examines a picture of Silver Blaze's head beside Nutmeg's and mentions he's looking for "whorls", small cowlicks of hair.
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At the stables, the owner shows them the foal, Nutmeg. The next morning, as the three of them drive to the stables, Sherlock pettily tries to use Watson's admission to embarrass them and claims Mycroft slept with her as revenge for Sherlock having slept with Mason. At the precinct, Mason swears to Bell and Captain Gregson that she has no connection with the Robles cartel and will provide access to all her records. As she starts to move, a bullet smashes the window and just misses her. Discovering she is looking out her window, he asks her to go into another room. Sherlock calls Mason and calmly explains that Dalton's killer is targeting her. Asking Mycroft to contact Mason, they discover she's staying in a hotel, room number 2501. At the 11th Precinct, they examine the contents of the bag the killer left at the stables which includes a map with an impression on it reading "2501." Detective Bell informs them the prints match the those of an assassin named " El Mecánico" who works for the Robles drug cartel and has committed mass killings. Holmes deduces that the killer climbed a tree to evade capture and applying powder to a branch of the most likely tree, is able to get a set of prints which also reveals the killer is missing the ring finger of his left hand.
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