Jennifer Wilson is the name of the 'pink lady' – a woman who was murdered by serial killer Jeff Hope and became his fourth victim. She, like the other victims, was forced to play the poison pill game with Jeff, and ended up killing herself by choosing incorrectly.[1]
History[]
She is Hope's fourth and final victim, as after entering the taxi, she was taken to a remote building and forced to play the pill game. She, like his other victims, chooses incorrectly; however, unlike the other victims, she manages to leave a message for the police, a fact that intrigues Sherlock Holmes enough to agree to go to the scene of the crime.[1]
Sherlock, along with Dr John Watson, arrives at the crime scene, where he looks over her body and formulates several deductions that amaze the police. These included:
- He notices the message "Rache" scratched by the dying woman's fingernails ("Rache" – German noun for revenge), then thinks again and completes the word into "Rachel" (lesson learned from the Harry/Harriet error).
- Her coat is wet, even on the inside of the collar, but the pocket umbrella is dry.
- Her jewellery is clean except for the well worn wedding ring (unhappily married for 10+ years) which is polished on the inside (frequently removed = serial adulteress) but dirty on the out.
His conclusions included:
- The victim was a professional woman, probably in the media (from all of the pink clothing), a serial adulteress (the jewellery), and was from Cardiff (wet clothes = rain two to three hours away from London, inside of the collar wet but the umbrella dry = heavy wind, meteorological information = Cardiff) and in town for one night by the size of the luggage (small mud splatters on right leg = small wheeled suitcase).
John cannot stop making comments on how brilliant he finds Sherlock's deductions (to Sherlock's surprised delight). Detective Inspector Greg Lestrade tells Sherlock that there was no suitcase, which triggers another set of deductions while Sherlock runs downstairs; the victim must have been accompanied by someone who took the suitcase. That means that she was driven here and somehow forced to commit suicide by a serial killer, and indicating that the killer took the suitcase. It also means that the other three victims were all murders.
It is later revealed that Rachel was Jennifer Wilson's stillborn daughter from 14 years earlier. Sherlock deduces that she deliberately left her telephone on her murderer, so that the police could trace it on him, via GPS, and that Rachel is the password.
Trivia[]
- The "Rachel/Rache" clue is a reference to "A Study in Scarlet", the novel in which Sherlock Holmes' debuted. While examining the crime scene, set at a location of the same name, another detective, Gregson, figures that the word "Rache" written in blood is a partial "Rachel", but Holmes figures that it is meant to be German for "revenge". In this episode, the exact opposite happens.
- Shares her name with Jennifer Wilson[2], director at The Project Factory, which produced the Sherlock: The Network app. Most likely a coincidence as the game was released over 4 years after season one.
Media[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Moffat, Steven (writer) & McGuigan, Paul (director). (25 July, 2010). "A Study in Pink". Sherlock (2010). Series 1. Episode 1. BBC One.
- ↑ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenwilsonsydney