Sherlock Series 3: 20 Canonical References You May Have Missed

6. System Of Japanese Wrestling

In The Empty Hearse, Sherlock says that he calculated thirteen possibilities upon inviting Moriarty onto the roof. The first involved him hurling himself into a parked hospital van, but the angle was all wrong. He then begins to say something about a system of Japanese wrestling but is cut off by John. The system of Japanese wrestling that Sherlock mentions is a fictional martial art, Baritsu, and is a reference to The Adventure of the Empty House, where Sherlock tells John that his knowledge of Baritsu helped him defeat Moriarty and survive the fall.

5. The Giant Rat Of Sumatra Road

In The Empty Hearse, Lord Moran is nicknamed "the giant rat of Sumatra Road", by Sherlock because of his status as a mole and his target of an abandoned section of the London Underground called Sumatra Road. The codename is a reference to a case briefly mentioned by Holmes in The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire, though only the name of the case is mentioned because Holmes believed the world to not be ready for the story.

4. John As The 'Dummy'

Mary thinking Sherlock placed a dummy at the end of the alleyway, though it turns out to be John and not a dummy after all, is a reference to The Adventure of The Empty House. In The Adventure of the Empty House, Holmes uses a dummy of himself to trick and capture Colonel Sebastian Moran. Holmes also used a dummy in The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone.