Jane Watson works as a private detective in Boston, Massachusetts, but faces financial ruin because she approaches her job from a more humane angle, much to the chagrin of her secretary, Ms Houston.

Holmes soon finds himself in a world which has changed a lot in his absence, and lacking an alternative, he accompanies Jane to America, where they are immediately drawn into a mysterious case.

Afterward, they receive a visit from Carter Morstan's daughter Violet, who asks her to investigate her father's murder and states that the message found in Jane's office was meant for her.

With some aid from Tobias, Holmes and Jane finally receive the information they need: Just before their retirement from the FBI, Morstan and his colleagues were involved in a hijacking case and the simultaneous disappearance of several millions of counterfeit money.

The perpetrator in the hijacking case was one Peter Small, and when the four agents were suspected of having stolen the counterfeit money, they refused a lie detector test and subsequently quit the FBI.

With a cunning scheme, partially inspired by the Watergate scandal, Holmes manages to lure Morstan out of hiding and right into the arms of the FBI, resolving the case.

[3] A 1993 television film, 1994 Baker Street: Sherlock Holmes Returns, starring Anthony Higgins and Debrah Farentino, had a nearly identical plotline.