- "I don't let murderers go free, you see? It's probably the only non-negotiable thing about me."
- ―Lestrade to his employer, Richard Balsille [src]
Detective Inspector Gareth Lestrade is a senior officer who works at New Scotland Yard. He used to be the mentor to Sherlock Holmes before Holmes became addicted to drugs and moved to New York City.
In the second season premiere, Gareth Lestrade has gone off the deep end. After investigating the death of a woman whom he believes was killed by her husband, Lawrence Pendry, who is extremely wealthy and uses his father's newspaper empire to smear Lestrade's name. When the father dies, Lestrade crashes his funeral and causes a scene, then flees and sets off a manhunt. Sherlock, feeling a degree of culpability in Lestrade's fall, since he allowed the DI to ride his coattails for so long, agrees, with prodding from Watson, to assist in trying to prove that he is not, in fact, delusional in his conviction that Pendry killed his wife. When the evidence eventually supports Lestrade's position, the DI ignores Sherlock's conditions for help, and proceeds to take all the credit.
This vainglory leads to Lestrade being hired separately by Richard Balsille, for a vast sum, to coordinate his security.
Behind the scenes
In an interview done with Red Carpet News TV on 20 June 2013, Sean Pertwee revealed he was going to be playing Lestrade in the upcoming season two premiere of Elementary. Pertwee described Lestrade as "the policeman [Sherlock] leaves behind" but also revealed he did not know much about his character because the premiere had not been written at that stage.[1]
References
- ↑ (2013-06-23). "Elementary Inspector Lestrade - Sean Pertwee Interview". Red Carpet News TV.