The Sherlock Society

Saturday morning, Grandpa bluffs past the yacht club’s security guard by pretending to seek a children’s sailing camp. He confirms Pettigrew’s truck isn’t in the parking lot. Carrying an ice chest and dive gear to blend in, they slip through the marina gate.

They first board Kane Sugar, the sailboat. Inside, Zoe trips over a scuba tank at the bottom of the stairs. Finding nothing suspicious in the three cabins, they move to Sweet Caroline, the yacht. On deck, they discover three red gasoline cans for the Jet Skis. While searching, Zoe finds dishware and wonders if these are the plates mentioned in the recording. Alex notices Zoe left her name-labeled mask and flippers on the sailboat.

Searching the yacht’s lower deck, Zoe observes that the ceiling does not seem as high as it should be. Grandpa realizes Kane customized the boat. He knocks on the floor, finds a hidden latch, and opens a smuggler’s hold containing approximately one million dollars in stacked bills. As they prepare to leave, they hear voices and the yacht’s engines start. They are trapped.

With escape blocked, the group hides as the yacht departs. Through a ceiling hatch, they see two muscular men—one with curly blond hair, the other bald—who mention completing a job for Aaron and having dinner with their father. Realizing one man will retrieve cargo below, Grandpa decides they must hide. Alex and Zoe squeeze into a shower stall while Grandpa takes a closet.

While they are hiding, one man makes three trips below decks as heavy metal music blares. Eventually, the engines and music stop. They hear Jet Skis start and fade. Through a porthole, they see they’re still in Biscayne Bay.

Heading for the stairs, they discover fires blocking both exits. Grandpa instructs them to soak blankets to run through the fire, but Alex then remembers the hatch in the rear cabin, providing a safer route. They climb through onto the deck and see the cash piled up, doused with gasoline, and burning. An explosion erupts from the front. Grandpa orders them to jump. Alex and Zoe plunge into the water and swim away as a massive explosion destroys the yacht.

The narrative returns to the opening scene with the trio in the water. At Marine Patrol headquarters, they recount events to Mom while awaiting Special Agent Tyree. He returns without immunity papers, postponing the formal interview until Monday morning at the federal courthouse. As persons of interest, they cannot leave Miami-Dade County. Tyree notes he kept their rescue out of the system and media to protect them.

They leave Grandpa’s car at the yacht club. At home, Lina and Yadi wait anxiously. The friends explain they saw news coverage, couldn’t reach anyone, rode to the yacht club after Lina restored the audio file on Grandpa’s phone, and found Grandpa’s car. Touched by their loyalty, Zoe embraces Lina.

Mom takes command. They have until Monday morning to solve the case and ensure the guilty parties, not the children, face prosecution.

After watching news coverage of Kane playing victim, Mom initiates a brainstorming session using colored index cards for the five Ws. Lina theorizes Officer Gonzalez might be connected to Pettigrew, as both are former police officers.

The group identifies a key timing discrepancy: The yacht was destroyed hours before Kane’s speech, which explains how they got caught onboard. Grandpa clarifies the men did it early for dinner plans with their father, which leads Alex to deduce that the two men are brothers and must be the Thompsons from the recording.

When Mom questions Secret Service involvement, Alex suggests tax evasion like Al Capone. Mom explains that one of the things the Secret Service handles is counterfeiting investigations. Lina connects this to budget items: printing press, special ink, and paper.

Alex requests security footage from a bait shop they had visited earlier. He shows that a counterfeit bill the owner, Bailey, later displayed wasn’t yet visible on the wall when Pettigrew left the shop, proving Pettigrew gave Bailey the fake money. The group concludes Kane is counterfeiting and the printing supplies were for that operation.

Late that night, Zoe invites Lina to sleep in her room.

Sunday morning, Dad arrives early from Honduras. At breakfast, Grandpa reveals he grabbed a stack of counterfeit bills he found on the deck while getting life preservers during their escape from the yacht. Mom outlines a plan: Grandpa will take Lina and Yadi to revisit key locations for evidence while Mom visits the yacht club with a club member client. Alex and Zoe must remain home under house arrest.

Grandpa assigns chores before leaving on an unexplained errand. Mom returns, reporting that federal agents seized Kane’s sailboat that morning, likely finding Zoe’s labeled dive gear.

Alone with the children, Mom confronts their reckless decisions. Zoe tearfully confesses her motivation was proving she wasn’t shallow—that she could fight for justice and the environment like her parents. Mom reassures Zoe of their pride, then shares she once tried cheerleading to attract boys. They laugh together, and Alex quietly leaves them alone.

Monday morning, the family meets Special Agent Tyree at the federal courthouse. He warns Mom he must follow orders, then states they’ll receive immunity only if their evidence leads to convictions. They present everything over the next hour.

Though impressed, Tyree explains the counterfeiting case is collapsing because raids found nothing, and his agency lacks jurisdiction over environmental crimes. After consulting superiors, Tyree returns with immunity papers—only for Alex and Zoe. With the counterfeiting case dropped, the three of them are viewed as the sole suspects in the yacht’s destruction, and Zoe’s dive gear on the sailboat is incriminating.

Grandpa reveals he secretly negotiated to take full responsibility. As Alex panics, Zoe realizes the importance of the plates. She asks about their counterfeiting role, and Tyree confirms they’re the printing source agents sought but didn’t find.

Zoe notes the out-of-place scuba tank. Using the five Ws, she and Alex deduce that Pettigrew brought the plates to the yacht club and dove with the scuba gear. Recalling the technique of jewel thief Murf the Surf, they conclude that Pettigrew attached the plates to the sailboat’s hull in a waterproof container to hide them. Zoe proposes a new deal: full immunity for all three of them in exchange for the plates’ location. She asks Tyree to convince the EPA to prosecute Kane for the illegal dumping.

One month later, federal agents have recovered the counterfeit plates from the sailboat’s hull and arrested Morris Kane, Aaron Pettigrew, and other Kane Crystals employees. The EPA launches an investigation into illegal dumping on the Miccosukee reservation.

The Sherlock family, with Grandpa, Yadi, and Lina, vacations at the Banyan Lodge in the Florida Keys. The trip is filled with swimming, diving, meals, and board games.

On the third evening, Dad shares the lodge’s history—it was used by rum-runners during Prohibition. Locals call the nearby inlet Bootlegger’s Bay. Grandpa mentions Al Capone used the area; Dad confirms this. When Dad notes the presence of alligators and wild animals, the kids realize the clues point to a new potential treasure site.

All four kids rush toward the door. Dad calls that shovels are in the utility shed. Alex declares that the game is afoot.