The mystery unravels in Malta when Enola Holmes discovers that Sherlock’s disappearance is linked to a familiar enemy, a hidden conspiracy, and stolen Afghan gold buried beneath decades of secrets. Image credit (Instagram)
Spoiler alert: This article details major plot points of the recently released version “Enola Holmes 3” . If you have not seen the film yet, the reader is encouraged to appreciate it. “Enola Holmes 3,” which premiered on the streaming platform on July 1, concludes with a shocking reveal of the identity of the person who kidnapped Sherlock Holmes. The third part of the series follows Millie Bobby Brown as Enola Holmes, an amateur detective and younger sister of Sherlock Holmes, played by Henry Cavill, as she embarks on a dangerous mission across Malta to rescue her brother.“Adventure follows detective Enola Holmes to Malta, where personal and professional dreams collide in a case more tangled and treacherous than any she has faced before,” according to the film’s synopsis. The film reunites an ensemble cast including Louis Partridge as Lord Tewkesbury, Helena Bonham Carter as Eudoria, Sharon Duncan Brewster, Susan Wokoma, Himesh Patel, Jason Watkins, Hattie Morahan and Joe Azzopardi, with the film based on Nancy Springer’s book series.
Who kidnapped Sherlock and revealed his identity?
On the morning of her wedding, Enola learns from Dr. Watson that her older brother has been kidnapped. She immediately abandons her wedding to search for clues about his whereabouts. At the Sherlock Hotel in Malta, Enola discovers a piece of lace and the word “Khost”, which relates to a city in Afghanistan, written in Morse code on the mirror.
Just one day later, Lord Tewkesbury’s mother, Lady Tewkesbury, was also kidnapped. The kidnapper sets the hotel on fire, perhaps to destroy evidence. Despite the devastation, Enola discovers a war medal and contacts Mikkel Mizzi who suggests that Professor Adeline Rathe may be the culprit.Enola returns to Malta and sees a woman wearing the same lace from Sherlock’s hotel room. As she pursues the woman, she is shocked to learn the truth: Professor Rath is actually Moriarty, her former enemy from the second film who had previously managed to escape from police custody.
Moriarty’s escape and his motives
Moriarty, also known as Mira Troi, served as the criminal mastermind in the second “Enola Holmes” film. After Sherlock and Enola succeed in arresting her, she unexpectedly escapes from police custody.
It was later revealed that Moriarty made a deal with corrupt officers, one of whom was the soldier Enola encountered.When he confronts Enola Moriarty, the villain keeps both Sherlock and Lady Tewkesbury imprisoned in a dungeon. Moriarty expresses her motivations as two-fold: to seek revenge on the Holmes family while simultaneously showing frustration at what she sees as the family’s hypocritical and “corrupt” actions.
However, both Enola and Sherlock feel that there is more to the story than simple revenge.
The real conspiracy involving Afghan gold
Through their investigation, Enola and Lord Tewkesbury discover that the war medal found in the fire matches a medal that belonged to Tewkesbury’s godfather. When they met the godfather, they learned a shocking fact: British soldiers stole Afghan gold during the Battle of Khost. To hide their crime, these soldiers deliberately sank a Maltese ship and falsely claimed that the gold came from that ship.This revelation leads Enola to understand that Moriarty’s dual mission involves uncovering the Tewkesbury family’s darkest secrets and locating the stolen gold herself. Enola realizes she has fallen into Moriarty’s carefully laid traps, as the villain orchestrates events to ensure the truth is revealed.Based on previous conversations with Lord Tewkesbury about the treasure hidden in the Maltese cliffs, Enola deduces that the gold must be hidden there.
She heads to the cliff site and discovers Moriarty in a cell next to Sherlock and Lady Tewkesbury. After an intense confrontation, Enola and her allies overpower and capture Moriarty.
Resolving the gold and family scandal
Even with Moriarty’s arrest, the Holmes family’s work remained unfinished. Lord Tewkesbury makes the brave decision to return the gold to Afghanistan and hand over everyone else involved in the robbery plot including his godfather.
This decision demonstrates his commitment to justice despite the personal cost to his family’s reputation and standing.
The wedding of Enola and Lord Tewkesbury
The film ends where it began, with the wedding of Enola and Lord Tewkesbury. At their originally scheduled wedding before the kidnapping, Enola was reluctant to marry him due to her brother’s disapproval and his concerns about losing her independence and her detective career.However, after the events in Malta and everything the couple went through together, Enola realized that she could continue her work as a detective while also being married. The couple eventually married, and Sherlock gave his clear consent to the marriage. Since Tewkesbury relinquished his title as a result of the scandal and his decision to expose the crime, Enola was able to retain her title for the duration of the marriage.