A study in pink: doesn't Sherlock know it's not a real gun?
I have a question regarding Sherlock's first season's first episode.
Towards the end, Sherlock says to the serial killer:
I know a real gun when I see one.
The serial killer (i.e, the cab driver), actually shows Sherlock the gun, when they arrive at the destination (where the serial killer intends to kill Sherlock). At this moment, Sherlock asks how the cabbie makes the victims follow him and for that the cabbie shows the gun.
At this point, Sherlock tells the cabbie:
You don't take people's lives at gun point.
So, my question is, at this point, doesn't Sherlock know it's not a real gun?
Or, is it just intended for the serial killer to think Sherlock is not as intelligent as himself?
Best Answer
I think there is nothing to ponder about this action at that instance you're referring too, however it could be that Sherlock was very much interested in seeing how he killed his victims he didn't refer to the fact that gun is a fake until later, it's just that he must've observed it but didn't want to focus on that because his mind was occupied by what the cabbie was going to show him.
I wish i could write a more descriptive answer but to me it just feels that's all to it.
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What does Sherlock confess in a study in pink?
Sherlock reveals that he knows that John is an army doctor invalided home from Afghanistan who has a brother of whom he disapproves because of his drinking habits, because he walked out on his wife, and that his therapist rightly thinks that his limp is psychosomatic.How did Sherlock know which pill to take?
The poison pill trick is his way of showing he has control through his skill. His victims can make the choice but as they are choosing, the cabbie manipulates them. He knows which of the bottles is poisonous and will manipulate his victims into taking the bad bottle.Who is the killer in a study in pink?
Holmes tortures the cabbie to force him to say whether the pill taken was correct and who the sponsor is. He eventually reveals the name "Moriarty". The police arrive, and Holmes deduces the shooter is Watson but hides the truth from the police.What are two things that Sherlock knows about Watson upon their first meeting?
he knew people who trained at Bart's could be army doctors. so when he heard it he could identify the possibility. then he mentions "his haircut and the way he holds himself" which fall in line with the normal behavioral patterns of ex and current military.Sherlock Deduction - A Study in Pink, Sherlock BBC
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Answer 2
As already stated on a comment in the question, this is very much speculation, since there is no canonic evidence to base give a pinpointed answer.
However, with that being said, we are able to use logic and deduction to get to an answer. Which will still be subjective to who's reading it. But it's as close as I think we'll be able to get with this question. But bare with me.
Sherlock is the world's greatest detective (take that batman). As many people before me have already said, of course he knew from the very start that it was not a gun. But he wanted to know the entire process by which the cabbie wen't before "convincing" people to kill themselves. If he pointed out that the gun was not real, two things would happen (although they are linked) which would get in the way of Sherlock's little study.
- As you said, the cabbie might feel like he's inferior to Sherlock, which would make him act out of the ordinary, once he always believed himself to be superior to his victims. And with that, Sherlock wouldn't be able to observe how everything really went.
- But even if you take the superior/inferior out of the question, pointing the gun out as a fake would still make the cabbie feel like he had lost an upper hand (even if he still felt superior to Sherlock), and that would cause him to act differently (not use the gun to try and force him to play, for example).
Answer 3
Here is a simpler explanation for a simple question.
The moment Sherlock saw the gun he got to know it was fake, since he's a deduction pro. He then remarks, "you don't take people's lives at gun point", simply because you cannot kill a person with a fake gun. Also, he was curious to know about the cabbie's plan of action(Pills in the Bottles).
Had Sherlock confronted about the fake gun at first, the cabbie wouldn't have shown him how he killed his passengers. And Sherlock hates not knowing. Therefore, he be-musingly watches the cabbie unveil his ploy.
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