The Phony War (221B)
BBC Sherlock
Rating: PG
Spoilers: For Scandal in Belgravia
Summary: Mycroft and Irene have a little chat
"There's nothing here," Mycroft told Irene Adler, six hours after her phone had been unlocked. "So where is the information?"
"When you say nothing-"
"Nothing of security importance. Oh, I see now why the newspapers gave you such mealy-mouthed obituaries, but the intelligence material is all low-level."
"How many spies have a Twitter account? Security matters aren't my field. It's why I needed to call in a specialist to handle my MoD find."
"Moriarty?"
"He knew who to sell to. And Sherlock, of course, knew how to decipher the message. I knew that he wouldn't care about his country, just about showing off."
"But wrong about his family attachments," Mycroft said, smirking. "He gave the unlocked phone to me, not you."
"But I had you fooled," Irene replied. "So now I'll settle for £100,000 and a fake passport."
"Why should I give you anything?"
Irene smiled. "Almost all intelligence is time-sensitive. Yet you were prepared to pay, sight unseen, for a phone that had been out of my hands for six months. What would your masters say about that lapse of judgement? Or your other mistakes concerning your brother? I know one of your superiors to talk to. Well, to scold."
He'd let Sherlock overhear about "Coventry", Mycroft thought guiltily. Now was not the time to call Ms Adler's bluff.