It all came down to love and worms.

The murder victim was both a sleaze and a romantic on Elementary Season 6 Episode 17.

It was another educational episode featuring items you usually don't think about brought together into a new whole.

I don't usually consider worms and body armor simultaneously. Or at all, for that matter.

Who knew that insect fibers are the next frontier for bulletproof clothing? Or that spider's webbing could be used as a protective substance?

I guess Spider-Man was right all this time using his webs to shield himself. But I digress.

Related: Elementary Season 6 Episode 16 Review: Uncanny Valley of the Dolls

The biodegradable murder victim, William Velnick, was quite the contradiction.

With a nickname such as "The Worm Hunter," I'd expect an 80-year-old guy who never leaves his lab, just spending his golden years with his specimens.

But instead, Velnick was that stereotype, the horndog professor, bedding students and colleagues alike. That makes him slimy, right, like his worms.

But then he'd turn around and name the exotic worms he discovered around the world after his lovers, which is kind of sweet in an odd way.

Mostly, in what would prove to be his downfall, Velnick was mercenary, seeking ways to sell his scientific knowledge to supplement his academic salary.

No wonder Sherlock, Joan, and Marcus had a hard time deciding in what direction to take their investigation.

The spurned lover angle certainly made sense. Imagine a professor who is hooking up so much that he has to bribe the campus security director with chemicals (what an odd currency) to edit the surveillance footage to cover up his dalliances.

Related: Elementary Season 6 Episode 15 Review: How to Get a Head

None of the women seemed to mind sharing Velnick, so that was a suspect pool soon flushed. But fortunately, there was the cuckolded husband who admitted to shooting the horny professor. Too bad he didn't finish the job.

That's because Velnick had a magic, lightweight, bulletproof hoodie. Yes, that was the time to roll your eyes. At the concept, not the fashion statement by a 40-something man.

That flipped the switch to the really interesting concept, companies trying to incorporate insect fiber into body armor. Have the traditionally used materials become cost prohibitive? That's got to be cheaper than a warehouse full of worm cages.

And yes, it did make sense that worms or spiders were too slow to produce sufficient quantities for industrial use, so a synthetic version of a natural fiber would need to be developed.

As an aside, props to Marcus for the Hamilton reference while he was shooting the various bulletproof materials to develop a lead for Sherlock.

I suspect the science got a little sketchy in the sequence leading up to the murder. One scientist, Sepi, created a hybrid that's a cross between a spider and a silkworm, while the other, Velnick, devised a worm to attack one very specific breed of mulberry tree, the leaves of which the spider-worm fed.

I'm sure the writers researched that scenario, so just roll with it.

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For all the crap he pulled, Velnick truly deserved what he got, being stabbed with a screwdriver by a lover that he had tried to screw one too many ways.

You have to love Sherlock's inventive ways of testing out his theories. In the opener, he employed two handy lovers to figure out how a murder was committed in Morocco. Too bad he never got back to that.

That was because of the break-in at his neurologists' office, with his medical records among the items stolen. Naturally, he chose to investigate after he found out about the robbery.

Frankly, Sherlock didn't seem overly concerned about this crime, even after he discovered that he had become a victim of identity theft. What was amazing is the new Sherlock Holmes had an even thicker accent than the original one.

It's always more fun when Sherlock calls in one of his irregulars, Mason in this episode, to help provide him with specialized knowledge. Especially intriguing was the barter system involved, with each solving a problem for the other.

As soon as Sherlock found the thief and it was revealed that he was a recovering addict, it became apparent who his employer was. 

Related: Get CBS All Access via Amazon Channels for Hit Shows, Exclusive Originals & Live TV! 

Michael needed Sherlock's records to see if he was back in fighting form. Now that Sherlock's largely recovered, it's time for Michael to return to New York City, to resume the rivalry they had barely started.

I'm guessing the showdown will be spread over the last three episodes, and get tied up, rather than be a cliffhanger.

Also to be settled is what is going to happen with Marcus.

To freshen up about Michael, watch Elementary online.

How did you enjoy the case of the week? Did you sense Michael's hand in the robbery? What's his plan?

Comment below.

Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on X.