Opening with a tense sequence, former FBI agent Carter Morstan [Barry Morse] is visited by a man named Small. In the struggle that follows, a gunshot rings out, and a body is wrapped in a carpet and set alight.
Jane Watson [Margaret Colin] is a Boston private detective who tries to run a humane, people-first operation, even as her approach leaves her financially strained and irking her secretary, Ms Houston [Lila Kaye]. Facing ruin, she is forced to sell the English country estate of her ancestor, John Watson, to make ends meet. A lawyer delivers an envelope with detailed instructions, and curiosity pulls her to the old house one last time, where she uncovers a hidden basement containing a primitive cryogenic capsule with a man lying inside, whom she thaws.
That man turns out to be Sherlock Holmes [Michael Pennington], her ancestor’s longtime friend and partner. He had been infected by a booby-trapped gift from a lost brother of his old foe, James Moriarty, and, in a desperate bid to survive, he and Watson had planned to put Holmes into suspended animation. Although she cannot yet explain the plague’s recurrence, Jane finds a way to administer a cure, and Holmes emerges into a world that has changed immeasurably since his time. With few options, he agrees to accompany Jane to America, where they are drawn into a mysterious case.
Someone has ransacked Jane’s office and left a message signed Small, and soon Violet Morstan [Connie Booth], the daughter of Carter Morstan, seeks their help, insisting the note was meant for her. They consider reporting to the FBI, but higher ranks stall their inquiry, and Holmes and Jane quickly find themselves under the close scrutiny of a young agent named Tobias [Nicholas Guest]. As they backtrack, they discover that three of Morstan’s former colleagues have died, while a fourth survives long enough to point them toward a buried cache and a stolen fortune.
With help from Tobias, they uncover the core truth: before retirement, Morstan and his colleagues were involved in a hijacking tied to the disappearance of several millions in counterfeit money. The perpetrator behind the hijack was Peter Small, but Morstan’s quartet were suspected of keeping the counterfeit cash and refusing a lie detector test, ultimately quitting the FBI. Small appears to be the scapegoat, but the real motive is far more tangled. The trail grows colder as the ransom vanishes from the hidden stash, and the investigation tightens around a cunning scheme.
In the end, Holmes pieces together the full ruse: Morstan siphoned the ransom for himself, silencing his partners and framing Small for the murders. The burglary at Jane’s office had been staged to drive her deeper into the case and to hide a bug meant to monitor their progress and outpace them. Holmes uses a deft ruse to draw Morstan out of hiding and into FBI hands, effectively closing the case. The film ends on a note of cautious optimism, with Jane contemplating a possible relationship with Tobias and the continuing partnership with Holmes.
