sherlock60 | Canon Discussion Post: The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter (Reply)

Hello everybody! Your substitute mod here again this week, pinch-hitting for our awesome

spacemutineer. Let's have some canon Sherlock Holmes discussion, shall we? What did you all think of The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter? I've written up a few of my own random thoughts and questions, which are behind the jump. And please, add your own in the comments!

There's no Granada episode to discuss this week.

Maybe it's because we just finished The Sussex Vampire last week, which also mentions Watson's rugby career, but I couldn't help but think Watson likely recognized Cyril Overton's name, and must have known Geoffrey Staunton's. After all, Overton was on the team for the England v. Wales match, and Staunton played for the same team Watson did - Blackheath! I have to wonder if he simply didn't tell Holmes for some reason - maybe because Holmes was intrigued by the 'mysterious' message, or possibly because he feared Holmes might disdain a much-needed case if he learned his prospective client was a rugby player!

Watson reports Holmes as having been weaned off of cocaine here, although 'the sleep is but a light one." It's a remarkable achievement, well ahead of its time. What do you think Holmes thought of it? Was he largely humoring Watson, or do you think he recognized how dangerous his "drug mania" was?

Lots of 'cant' or specialized terminology this week, both sporting and otherwise, and period terminology. For example, I had to look up 'three-quarter' to confirm that Staunton plays what I would call a 'right wing' in rugby. There's day porters and night porters, undertaker's mute, draghounds, and John o' Groat's, and a host of others. Did you have to look up any, or find any particularly interesting?

'It argues the degree in which I had lost touch with my profession that the name of Leslie Armstrong was unknown to me.' Watson strongly derides himself for not knowing who Dr. Armstrong was, yet it has only been two years (or so) since he was a practicing doctor, one who regularly saw patients - unlike the largely academic University man. Is Watson really that far removed from medicine, or is this more of his typical modesty?

...on the other hand, apparently Watson really is full partners with Holmes in the consulting detective business at this juncture. Nice to know!

And then there's the character of Dr. Armstrong himself, who gets the better of Holmes twice in two days. No wonder Holmes thinks that here is a man who might fill the 'gap' left by Moriarty, if so inclined! It would be interesting to know what becomes of him.

Holmes on a bicycle! Holmes fending off an irate groom and his dog! Holmes confronting Armstrong in the countryside! There's an awful lot of action in this story that we only hear about afterwards, as poor Watson is relegated to the sidelines for all of these events. Do you think Holmes told him everything that occurred? And what exactly did Watson do in that day and a half he was left to his own devices, other than procure 'the necessities'?

Alas, the poor Light Blues did indeed go down to defeat. *sniff*

Holmes gains the upper hand at last with the aid of a syringe full of strong-smelling stuff and a scent-hound. Hm, where have we seen that before? And how does this chase hold up in comparison?

All this trouble, and yet the resolution of the mystery isn't at all what you might expect. What did you think of this outcome?

'"Come, Watson," said he, and we passed from that house of grief into the pale sunlight of the winter day.' One of the most striking ending lines of any canon story, I think, and haunting.

A sad tangle of a case in the end, with a miserly (and yet comic-relief) Lord, a virtuous and ill-fated girl, a father with only vaguely-explored motivations, a curmudgeonly, intelligent, and well-intentioned doctor, and a bereaved young man. What do you think happened to the characters after this story ends - at least those that survived?