All good questions. All I can say is that I smell a Rat.
Exactly. Much as Eddie Redmayne and other rivals of his backing SoFail would have liked? Benedict’s career isn’t quite dead…yet. His star has faded but he’s still under contract with Marvel Studios for at least a year and a half more. Phase 4 is hinging on DS2 so they are worried about how the massive scandals up ahead will affect their investment. OP seems to forget that the general public does care about the terrible crimes that Epstein’s network has committed. Let’s face it, SoFail makes Benedict look guilty AF by association but the Rat prefers to end the ShamWow with as little drama as possible. That being said, they will blow it wide open if the parties involved don’t cooperate. In their own words, the Rat is so legally insulated that they could survive in outer space! As an aside, the BBC also wants the Sherlock franchise to continue but S5 won’t happen until this mess is completely resolved.