Enola Holmes 2 ending explained

The case sees the pair introduced to all sorts of colourful characters – including a very iconic villain – and if you need a little help unpacking how it all ends up, read on to have the Enola Holmes 2 ending explained. Though beware, there are spoilers for Enola Holmes 2 ahead.

Enola Holmes 2 ending explained

During Enola's investigations, she begins to suspect that something has been going very wrong at the match factory where the missing girl – Sarah Chapman – had been employed, and realises that Sarah had stolen some important papers before her disappearance.

Meanwhile, while she's looking into it she happens to bump into Sherlock – who is rather drunk – and when she takes him home, she sees some information about his latest case, which she realises somehow ties into her own.

During their exchange the following morning, Sherlock notices something odd about her fingernails – which seems to imply that a dangerous chemical is being used at the match factory.

Things become more urgent when Enola discovers another matchgirl, Mae, has been murdered – especially when Enola herself falls under the suspicions of the rather nasty Superintendent Grail (David Thewlis), who is leading the case.

Enola finds her way back to 221b Baker Street and she and Sherlock both realise that a clue could be waiting for them at the Match Makers Ball – with Enola suspecting that William Lyon, the son of the match factory owner could be a person of interest.

Enola tries to question him at the ball but finds it rather difficult, with William telling her to leave him lest she "ruin everything" and telling her to meet him at midnight. At the ball, she also finds herself introduced to Ms. Troy (Sharon Duncan-Brewster) the private secretary of Lord McIntyre, who is a wealthy benefactor of the factory.

Before Enola can meet William again, she finds herself arrested and in the custody of Superintendent Grail – who Enola is now deeply suspicious of. Thankfully, with help from her mother Eudoria (Helena Bonham Carter) and Edith (Susie Wokoma), Enola is able to flee prison, and her mother asks her to get to the bottom of some papers Sarah had stolen – telling her that this could indicate why she's gone missing.

Enola is soon able to deduce something vital: where the matchstick factory's official line has been that several of its employees had been falling ill with Typhus, Sarah had realised that it was actually because they had been working with dangerous phosphorus.

Not only that, but she realises Sarah is not actually missing but has instead disguised herself as Cicely – a girl who had been at the ball and was working with William Lyon. Together they had actually been trying to expose the secrets of the factory, with Lyon's father and Lord McIntyre having been part of a major cover-up.

She is soon reunited with Sherlock, and in trying to locate William they find him apparently killed – seemingly by Grail and another mystery person, although Sherlock reckons it's more complicated and that someone is trying to play with them.

Together with Tewkesbury, they follow a secret map that leads them to a music hall and they find Sarah – no longer disguised as Cicely – who reveals that she had indeed stolen a list of names of girls who had been killed because of their exposure to phosphorous at the factory.

She tells them that William was meant to meet them there, but the news of her partner's death is revealed just in time for Superintendent Grail to appear on the scene. A major fight then occurs as Grail and his accomplices try to get their hands on the list of names, with the heroes managing to see off the challenge.

Only, then Lord McIntyre appears and tells Lestrade – who has also appeared on the scene – to arrest Sarah, whom he says has been blackmailing him for a long time.

At this point, Sherlock goes into full Sherlock mode and explains that the real culprit had been someone else all along: Ms Mira Troy, whose name, of course, is an anagram of Moriarty.

It was Mira who had been blackmailing McIntyre because of her knowledge of the phosphorous poisonings and, realising that her money was going to be cut off when William and Sarah stole the list of names and exposed the secret, she hired Grail to get it back, before trying to place the blame on McIntyre when things got out of hand.

Moriarty is arrested – although she promises that she'll be back for more at some point – and while no one is looking, McIntyre burns the list of names.

Although this puts a stop to Sarah's initial aim of publishing the list of names, with encouragement from Enola she walks into the factory and tells her fellow matchgirls the truth – that the phosphorous was killing them, not Typhus – before leading them in a strike.

At the very end, we see McIntyre arrested by Lestrade after an intervention from Tewkesbury, who has used his position of power for good.

Enola Holmes 2 is streaming now on Netflix. Sign up for Netflix from £6.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

Looking for something else to watch? Check out our TV Guide or visit our Film hub for all the latest news.

The latest issue of Radio Times is on sale now – subscribe now to get each issue delivered to your door. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the Radio Times View From My Sofa podcast.