48 - The Red Circle - Part Two
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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. Previously on Sherlock and Co. We simply must ask ourselves who planted the idea in Lord Harmson's head that he was stung by a bee. Dr Sir Michael Wynne Stanley. Deep.

Oh, please, you're too kind. Praise must go to my companions and the whimsical idiom. What did you call me? This is our best adventure yet. It was like a novel. This is going to be an eight or a ten parter, honestly. Oh, yeah, I think it has to be. Excellent. Oh, my God. What? It wasn't recording. I'm going to be sick. Oh, what? Stupid, stupid Mike. But that was the best adventure yet. Yeah, I know that.

So, House Street House is a new tower block building, like new builds. So I'm stood out there, out the front of the building and I notice on the hoarding that the builders put up there's this QR code. So I just scan it. It takes me to this basic one page site. It's a map, like a map of Italy.

like a region or something in Italy, and it's got this red circle over this one town. There's a picture of this guy above the map, right? Next day, I'm at our offices, and on Sky News, there was the same picture of that guy in... in, er... in Sherbourne. Frank Calla. Right! Sorry, rewind. Who is Frank Calla? Italian male found dead in Sherbourne.

Two weeks ago. Did you see any more on that street? No. And you are certain, Imani, you are certain that it was the same man? Certain. What are you thinking? And what does that mean? The game is afoot. Mariana, it's me. I've left you a load of voice notes too. Sorry, but there's another one. Literally just scanned it. Um, yeah...

call me. Please just call me. Back to the adventure of the red circle. First of all, can't apologise enough for all the technical issues. Second of all, please see the episode description for disclaimers and such. And back to suffering through this adventure in three, two, one.

Shout out to... Happy 20th birthday to Alan in Bakersfield, California. Can you not do this now? I thought you said you weren't going to put an adventure together. Yeah, but I can just cut this and put it into another episode. But people can clearly hear we're in a police station. Shout out to Isaac in Scotland. Shout out to 13-year-old Pearl in Alberta, Canada, and their friend Frankie, who listened to the show together. Shout out to Aveline...

Shout out to Ash and Kai. Happy birthday, Hey Hey, in New York. Ah, now my phone has crashed. Wonderful. That's wonderful. The police are taking their time. How long does it take to give us details on a dead man? I said to call them. Waiting at the station doesn't speed things up. But it means I can stare at them disapprovingly. And tut on occasion. Please don't. Maybe I should turn off the mic.

Why, you never turn off your mic. Yeah, but it's in a bad way and there's not much happening, is there? You're saying it's a bad adventure. I am not saying it's a bad adventure. What are you saying then? I'm saying the last adventure was incredible. The last adventure being the one you didn't record. Excuse me, it was a technical fault. And?

Have you fixed it yet? Oh, yeah, I forgot that I graduated with a first-class degree from Microphone College. OK, then buy a new one. Ah, this one has sentimental value. And besides, a YouTuber said it could be an SD card thing. It's not a teddy bear, John, it is a faulty microphone. And we have another adventure on our hands. Get it fixed before you mess it up. I've got it booked to be fixed. This red circle thing probably won't even pan out. We're just seeing how we can help. Sure. Besides, I mean, this is...

Yeah, this is already looking like a complicated case in terms of blowback. Blowback? What are you talking about? Hello? Italian gangsters. Yeah, so? I can't just go and put out a case that feeds into ignorant cultural generalisations about people. John, this is the case. It doesn't matter about cultural implications. I'm just saying, you don't get the emails. I do, and I have absolutely no intention of stereotyping Italians as lawless mobsters and hitmen.

Frank Calla was murdered in a classic hitman execution. I have spoken to officers on an investigation level and they are looking into the Frank Calla murder in conjunction with their Italian counterparts. Yes, but we're here to talk about this man. What are we looking at here?

Okay. And now we have this, courtesy of Imani Warren, our operative on the ground.

This is from a new QR code that's been scanned. That's correct. Somebody is communicating with a hitman in this very city. Let me see. Who's this man in the picture? We don't know. A new target. You see the red circle there, over a similar region a couple of hundred miles southeast, focusing on the town of Trevelyo. Sorry, Steve, just a while. We don't know who the man is or the significance of Trevelyo. That's...

Yes, that's correct. Okay. Where is Tom? Who's Tom, sir? Gregson. Inspector Gregson. He's working the case. Where is he? Ah, no, no. You can leave that with us. Where is he? We can't just reveal that kind of information. Where is he? Ah, I don't know, Mr. Holmes. He's busy, and so should we be. We can't sit here all day playing Find the Italian. Okie dokie. Understood. What are you doing?

Emailing. Ah, out of office. Let's look at his Facebook then, and yep. Tagged in an album in Surrey. Ben and Vanessa. Ridiculous suit. So he's one of the groomsmen then. Ben. Ben. Ah, here we go. He's at his brother's wedding. Purple branding. Napkins seem to say. D. E. Looks like a wine glass on the logo.

Googling vineyard in Surrey. D-E-R. He's at his brother's wedding at Denby's Wine Estate in Surrey. Thank you kindly. Can we hold on a second? You cannot just go and interrupt his annual leave. Human resources are... Stupid mic, for God's sake. And let's not forget the beautiful bridesmaids.

If any of you lot are thinking of chatting them up, just remember two of them are cops and one's from Liverpool. So best of luck to you. Now, right, onto the main event. Onto Ben. Benny boy. Everybody knows that you only ever pick your brother to be your best man.

When you've got no friends. We've all got that established, yeah? We actually have to go way, way back to find his old friend. Stop waving. To him. He remembers me.

Out the cubicle. How do you know I'm in here? Science of deduction. Out. Turn it off. Oh, God, that's tight.

Couldn't we have taken a cubicle each? We were hiding from security staff. It doesn't mean we can't go cubicle each. Mariana would have her own cubicle. Turn the microphone off. It's okay. It's not working. Flush it then, for all I care. Can you leave the venue, please, gents? And we can chat on Monday. Oh, but I've... I've made a few deductions, Tom. I don't care. The first is that you are giving me a rather frosty reception. Oh, yeah? How'd you get to that one? No handshake.

A firm and restrained tone in your voice, that rising vein just there, and the general sense of seething hatred. You shouldn't clench your teeth so hard, by the way. It can wear away the enamel and cause tooth decay. Like, just there. Shut up. Hey, that's enough. Now. See? You're angry. I'm not getting involved with you again. We're not doing this. Sorry, can I just... I just... I just want to ask, what's the issue here? I mean, we just want to know a few things about the Red Circle. That is a...

Police matter. Yeah, that we can help with. That is a police matter. Yes, well, it's become a matter for me, I'm afraid. Well, it shouldn't be. Given the mission statement of Sherlock and Co. Ltd., this actually falls well within... This is not your case! It's barely even ours. Now please, please go, Sherlock. Sherlock.

Tom, I just want to say how deeply, deeply sorry I am for my professional actions and their consequences to you. A fine officer and a credit to London policing. You still don't remember what you did, do you? Not quite, but I'm sure it was just a misunderstanding. Bye, Sherlock. Bye-bye. Bugger. I caught you smiling

I caught you smiling back at me If this is the way love starts Then please start it continuously Good turnout. They will remove you from the building. No, I know. I just wanted to apologise and just let you know that if you ever need anything, we're always here. Of course. Yep.

I know we're just a little outfit. No, I didn't mean it like that. Thank you. Thanks. Just to bounce ideas. Of course. Yep. What does he know? About the Red Circle. Enough to bring us to you. So what does it mean? I don't know. It's a problem that was, for the most part, an Italian problem. And now it's ours. Why? Why?

Giuseppe Georgiano, known as Rosso Georgiano, vanished off the face of the earth 10 years ago. Convenient, seeing as he was suspected of blowing up a cafe in Palermo, killing seven people. Man. Yep, it seems some sort of mob war following that event has been exported to the UK. The Italian blocs that entered the country roughly the same time, Rosso included, back in 2022, start dying. Eesh, what is...

What is that? That'll be Gennaro Luca. And that's apparently where he threw himself out the 19th floor of his hedge fund offices. There's a red circle around his body. Rosso. Red. The red circle. Back in Italy, they'd find these things everywhere. Little targets from the gang to their contract killers. Anyway, Gennaro dies and the whole thing goes quiet for a bit. Until Frank. Where did they find him?

The Bishop of Sherbourne Abbey called in a local Dorset police unit after she noticed there was some disturbance on the ground of the graveyard. No. There was a new tombstone in memory of a traditore, a traitor. They dug down and found a casket and there he was. That

Wasn't on the news. No. We tried to keep the details scarce, but things trickled out and now the other two guys that hung out with Frank and Gennaro have gone missing, hiding somewhere in the UK. How did you know to look for two guys? Tip-off from Athelney Jones at Interpol. Interpol? I... I mean, this... I can't believe it. I mean, I can't believe this is happening. In Sherbourne, for God's sake. Exactly. Exactly.

What do you mean, exactly? Frank picked Sherbourne because of that exact hunch. This is their own witness protection programme, except it's conspiring mob boss protection. Quaint little locations, inconspicuous. Augustus Amber and Carlo Castellotti are the remaining two. Same stunt from then.

What, Sherbourne? No, they're in hiding in the UK. All this is right under the surface. Nobody wants to stick their head out, even Rosso. Did you hear about the QR code? I did. The station messaged me when you guys showed up. We think there's another. You do? Yeah. MUSIC PLAYS

Baker Street, please. Mate, what did you learn? The next target. The guy in the picture is Carlo Castellotti. Gregson doesn't know what exactly would connect him to Trevelyan and why the mapping with the red circle keeps coming up, but he did say that Carlo could be instrumental in a coup, maybe against Rosso. The attempt to get Gennaro Luca on top of the Rosso family tree, everything that would entail. Why does that matter?

Because the Italian courts were never able to legally retrieve and sanction the property and finances of Rosso after he fled the country following the cafe bombing. That meant there was a window of opportunity to fill the vacuum, but now what's happened? This whole family feud has been exported to the UK. But the matter at hand is simple. We have to track down Carlo Castellotti and try to work out what the hell the connection with this map and the town of Trevelyo is. I meant what did you learn about why Gregson doesn't like me?

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With Uber Reserve, good things come to those who plan ahead. Family vacay? Reserve your ride as soon as you book your flights. To all the planners, now you can reserve your Uber ride up to 90 days in advance. See Uber app for details. Polizia Locale Treviglio. Yes, hi, I want to know if you have any records for a Treviglio male named... Carlo Castellotti. Carlo Castellotti.

We have nothing under that name. Oh, um, oh, do you know where I could find the list of Trevillo residents? We could tell you and our system says we have no one residing in Trevillo under the name Carlo Castellotti. Ah, okay. Grazie. Ciao. Ciao. Not everyone is so good at speaking English, aren't they? I mean, it makes you feel so guilty. You're talking to yourself right now, right? Yeah, of course.

Any word from the Trevillo authorities? Nothing that helps us. No record of him being in Trevillo. And Frank was unconnected to Bellagio. But still, it made sense to somebody. To a hitman. Maybe... maybe it's two commands, right? They said he blew up a cafe, this Rosso guy? Yeah. What if the QR code scan reveals first who to take out and second where to bomb? That's...

Not bad. I've contacted the authorities in Bellagio. Frank was a name that meant nothing to them, and I'm fairly certain they would have mentioned a bomb. What are you doing? Looking up Bellagio and bomb. Um, comedian bombs at Bellagio. No, right. Uh, what's explosion in Italian? Esplosione. Esplosione Bellagio Italia. Yeah, nothing. This is a code, and if we don't break it in time, Carlo dies.

Why does Bellagio in Italy near Milan translate to Sherbourne in Dorset? Like he... Frank is Frank. There's no code there but the Bellagio thing... Sorry just brain farting here. Not productive, just confused.

Oh, I'm going to make a cup of tea. Now you're talking. That'll get us thinking straight. This is not something that is going to be solved by a cup of tea. Hey, will you calm down? You want to kill off some Italian gangsters? You could show them the state of that pasta you make five times a week. We're losing time. The only advantage we had after gaining hold of that information so early. What use is it, Watson, if we can't act on it? We are acting on it, aren't we? We're sat here trying to figure it out. We can't just click our fingers and Carlo is safe. I need to go and hang upside down. Of course you do.

Right, well, just me, Archie and the listeners. If the mic is working this time, I should probably do some shout-outs, as I've really neglected those. Oh, and by the way, I do read every email I receive. It's just, um...

It's quite rare for me to reply these days. Right, here we go. Hi to Maya in upstate New York. Hello to Manas in Rajkot, India, who is going to be a doctor just like me. That's wonderful stuff, Manas. Katerino in California. Hello there. Shout out to Tori from Nigeria. Happy birthday to Leo. Love from Rose. Hello, Sabrina in Ontario. Hello.

Where have all my British shoutouts gone, by the way? Oh! Shoutout to Maisie and Jemima. Very British sounding names, them. So I'm assuming my home audience do still like me. Shoutout to Hannah in Saltsgitter, Germany. Hey! Saltsgitter, I know that. So, um... Swindon is the... Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Berber, Bellagio, Italy...

No, I will not donate Wikipedia. Piss off. Just let me scroll. Shit, it's a twin town. Sherlock! Mariana! What? What? It's a twin town! What's a what? Bellagio and Sherbourne. They're twin towns. I read a shout-out from Saltsgitter in Germany, and that is the twin town of Swindon. I used to see it on the sign all the time. And then I looked up... Sherlock! Where is he? He's hanging upside down. Sherlock! What? Bellagio in Italy. What about it? Listen...

Bellagio is a founding member of the Duselage, a unique town-twinning association of 24 towns across the European Union, blah blah blah, twinned with Granville in France, Bundoran in Ireland, Altea in Spain, and Sherbourne, England, United Kingdom. Good God. You okay? Yes, just a lot of blood in my head right now. What is the twin town of Trevelyo?

Hurry! Trefilio... errr... Twin... Town... is... Romsey! Romsey in Hampshire! Jubilee Line to Waterloo, get the 305 SW train service to Weymouth, change at Southampton Airport Parkway and get the 425 to Salisbury, six stops to Romsey, go go go! How do you do that?

Welcome, listeners, if the microphone is working, to Romsey in Hampshire. I have no idea what this town is known for, when it was founded or any of that, but I can tell you it is similar to Sherbourne. Ahem.

Quaint, pretty, we are currently running through a classic small town market square type thing. Lots of bunting about for no particular reason because that's apparently what we do in home counties now. That fucking antique shop's everywhere. Sorry, got to stick to the matter at hand. We are currently sprinting... Wait. What? Where are we going? To, um, to... Oh, bollocks. Yes, we need to locate him.

But we know he's here, at least. He could of course mean two people. Carlo and the hitman. Let's evaluate. You're an Italian immigrant. You are evading potential killers and you have chosen a small UK town a few miles outside of Southampton to conceal yourself. It's 5pm and it's a weekday. And unless we've missed something, you're still alive.

If you haven't secured funds and Gennaro, your benefactor, is dead, then you need a job. Small independent shops are closing around us as we speak. So you could well be leaving work right now. As many are. And this quiet market square begins to trickle with a little activity. A shopkeeper there. A part-time worker there. Charity shop volunteer walking across there.

But then there's UK employment law. It wouldn't allow you to simply walk into a position in most of these businesses. You're also trying to remain off the grid. If you're off the grid, you need one thing. Cash. Where can you get cash in hand? Well, there's construction, perhaps. But they finished at 3pm and Carlo is nearly 16 stone. No, you're not finishing work at all. You're starting work, aren't you? Sherlock, what are you getting at me?

That's it, yes. The Sherbourne investigation suggested that Frank was killed on Digby Road. Digby Road and Sherbourne. Look that up for me. Looking it up. What do you need to know? Is there a restaurant on that street? Yeah, Tamburino Gold, Italian restaurant. And there we have it. You need cash. You need to be safe. You pin your hopes on your compatriots. Come! Where are we going? To the spirit of Italy.

the local Italian restaurant to Romsey. Fortunately, just the other side of this market square. Wait, wait, wait, that's him. That's bloody him there. Stop, stop. Where? On the bench opposite the restaurant. Look. Come. Don't be alarmed. Carlo. Yeah, we're here to help you. Carlo? Carlo? Signor Castellotti, can you hear us? What's he doing? Carlo, mate. He's just sitting and smiling at us. Is there something... What?

He's, um... Cold. He's... He's dead. Oh, my God. Oh, shit. Shit! Get away from him. Let me just... John, don't touch him. What are you talking about? Meiosis. Meiosis? Oh. Oh, yeah. What is meiosis? His pupils have...

Almost vanished. Tiny, tiny pinpricks. Yes, but what does that mean? Poisoning. It means poisoning. Probably a nerve agent. Sherlock's right. We need to get away from him. He has a rash, too. Where? His arm. Look. That's not a rash. That's a blister. He's been branded. With a red circle. To binge this adventure in full and without ads, go to patreon.com forward slash Sherlock and Co.

Oh, my God.