Discussion Post: The Adventure of the Red Circle

[spacemutineer.livejournal.com]

We are cruising along through 60 cases here at sherlock60! Now onto number 36: The Adventure of the Red Circle. What did you all think? As always, I have a few questions and thoughts of my own for the story -- please add your own!

- Lestrade may get all the attention by fandom, but let's hear it for Gregson, who is cool as a cucumber here. He is all bravery and business here, taking the lead without blinking and treating Emilia Lucca exactly like any other suspect. Very cool. And he keeps Holmes around when they come upon each other -- he's smart enough to know it's always good to have Holmes around on a case. Good man!

- It's funny how Holmes ends up backing into this case. The minor rental dispute Mrs. Warren shows up with is vastly different than the mafia related killing that ends the story. He has no idea he's actually dealing with Black Gorgiano of the infamous Red Circle, but he recognizes the name instantly when Mr. Leverton mentions him. Of course, by then, Gorgiano is already dead. I kind of liked it though, honestly -- Holmes and Gregson each have half the story. Together, the case comes together.

- Pinkerton's was a real detective agency in America, and very powerful in its heyday. According to Wikipedia, "Pinkerton's agents performed services ranging from security guarding to private military contracting work. At its height, the Pinkerton National Detective Agency employed more agents than there were members of the standing army of the United States of America. Pinkerton was the largest private law enforcement organization in the world at the height of its power." Pinkerton's National Detective Agency became well-known for union busting, and today lives on as Pinkerton Consulting and Investigations, a division of the Swedish security company Securitas AB.

- At the end of this case, everyone seems sure that Gennaro Lucca is going to have no trouble with the law for killing Gorgiano. Certainly, Gorgiano was a villain and seemingly no one will mourn his passing. But it seems like Gennaro at least has to stand trial even if it was self-defense, don't you think?

- The code with the candle in the window is a real problem from a logic perspective. If A=1 and B=2, that actually could be either the English or Italian alphabet. But Holmes deciphers it correctly with T=20, which means it's the English alphabet being used to form Italian words. Both the sender and the recipient are Italian. Doesn't it make more sense for them to use the Italian alphabet for messages sent in that language? So the question is, did the Luccas really have a reason to use a code like this, or did Watson (or Doyle) get it wrong?

- Finally, any idea why Watson seems to try to talk Holmes out of the case midway through? "Why should you go further in it? What have you to gain from it?" he says, just as the details start to come together into something truly interesting. Seems odd from him.

The Adventure of the Red Circle: Out

[spacemutineer.livejournal.com]

Canon Story: The Adventure of the Red Circle
Title: Out
Author: spacemutineer
Rating: PG

Wordlessly, the same thick hands that tossed Mr. Warren into the cab shoved him hard out of it. He landed roughly, rolling in the dust of the road and blinking into the angular sunlight at his captors' retreat, his eyes yet unadjusted from an hour blindfolded. Flaxen heath spread around at all sides and Mr. Warren found himself again alone.

The Adventure of the Red Circle: In the Closet

[shadowycat.livejournal.com]

Canon Story: The Adventure of the Red Circle
Title: In the Closet
Author: shadowycat
Rating: PG

Crouched in the dark with Holmes’s chest pressed against my back, I found it hard to remain focused on our task. His long fingers rhythmically tightening on my shoulder and his thumb constantly caressing the base of my neck betrayed my friend’s restlessness and set my pulse to racing. Was I wrong to wish that our quarry might never appear?

The Adventure of the Red Circle: Mrs Hudson's Viewpoint

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

Canon Story: The Adventure of the Red Circle
Title: Mrs Hudson's Viewpoint
Author: thesmallhobbit
Rating: G

“I don’t know what Mrs Warren has to complain about.  Footsteps day and night; why, it could be a violin at 3am or gunshots.  Meals taken in secret; at least they are eaten and not returned stone cold, having been forgotten.  Never being seen; when I think of the number of dubious characters that go up and down my stairs.”

Catchin' up post 1: The Noble Batchelor: Secret, G

[tweedisgood.livejournal.com]

The Adventure of the Noble Batchelor
Author: tweedisgood
Title:: Secret


I shall never speak of it again. I owe him that: not to remind him of drunken, shocking, forbidden words, a clumsy hand that he would never, save for the fatal admixture of drink and cocaine, have dared to put on my knee, that last night before my wedding.

“We can’t command our love, but we can our actions.”

Catchin' up post 2: The Norwood Builder, 1950, G

[tweedisgood.livejournal.com]

The Adventure of the Norwood Builder
Author: tweedisgood
Title: 1950


The doctors now say it is tobacco, and not my old friend asthma, that has robbed me of the breath even to rise from my bed. Well, I have had a long, full life, and I had a cigarette once from a man without whom I should be long dead and disgraced.

Perhaps, there is always a price to pay.

The Priory School & The Red Circle

[flawedamythyst.livejournal.com]

Canon Story: The Priory School
Title: A Poor Man
Rating: G
A/N: And what answer do you think Watson gave? Anyone?

“A poor man?” I repeated as we left Holdernesse Hall. “Holmes, we both know that your situation is comfortable and every case you take makes you increasingly so.”

“But I shall not always be taking cases,” replied Holmes. “This will go towards funding my retirement.” He paused. “Or, if you wish it, our joint retirement.”


Canon Story: The Red Circle
Title: Lavish
Rating: G
A/N: "Why, Watson, even your modest moustache would have been singed."

I should like it on the record that there is nothing modest about my moustache. Certainly there are men with more plentiful hair upon their lip, but I have always held that sort of over-abundance as rather vulgar. My moustache has precisely the right level of fullness, and you may disregard all that Holmes has to say on the matter.


*

The Adventure of the Red Circle - Education

[methylviolet10b]

Author: methylviolet10b
Rating: PG
Character(s): Inspector Gregson, Sherlock Holmes
Summary: Gregson reflects on some hard-earned lessons of his own.
Warnings: Very mild spoilers for REDC.
Word Count: 60
Author's Notes: 60 words of my own inspired by one of the canon stories.
Disclaimer: I don't own them.

REDC -- The Adventure of the Red Circle

Education, Mr. Holmes said. Well, only a fool thinks he’s learned everything, and he’s no dunce. And I’m no simpleton, either. I’ve learned that it’s better to have him by your side on a case than not; that sometimes it’s best to ask questions before you start Justice’s wheel; and that occasionally it’s best to pretend I’ve a blind eye.