Canon Discussion: The Reigate Squires

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

This week we’re looking at The Reigate Squires (aka The Reigate Puzzle). And as usual I’ve typed up a few thoughts to get the discussion started.

…the Netherland-Sumatra Company and of the colossal schemes of Baron Maupertuis… So, we begin with an intriguing reference to another case (I’m ashamed to admit though that the reference to “politics and finance” does immediately make my mind wander), a case that Holmes has been investigating on his own. It perhaps isn’t surprising though that Holmes didn’t ask Watson to go with him. They don’t strictly speaking work together, not in the sense that Holmes shares the fees. Watson is there in the role of friend. Holmes probably wouldn’t have felt it was appropriate to ask Watson to take weeks out of his life, just to keep him company. But I wonder what Watson has been doing while Holmes was away. This case presumably takes place before his marriage, and he doesn’t appear to be working.

…when Holmes understood that the establishment was a bachelor one, and that he would be allowed the fullest freedom, he fell in with my plans… I suppose this could be interpreted as straightforward misogyny but I do have some sympathy with Holmes here. He’s been very ill and he doesn’t want to have to make the effort of being on his best behaviour and being polite. (He may not particularly like women but he seems to have perfect manners round them.) And I can understand him not wanting children running around and making a noise. I think a woman who was convalescing probably wouldn’t want to be thrust into the middle of someone else’s family either.

…an odd volume of Pope's 'Homer,' two plated candlesticks, an ivory letter-weight, a small oak barometer, and a ball of twine… The first time I read this story I was rather disappointed by the explanation for this strange assortment. I really thought the burglars had taken these items on purpose, for some definite end. Though I still can’t imagine what someone could do with that little lot.

But I held up a warning finger. "You are here for a rest, my dear fellow.” It’s rather endearing how protective Watson is of Holmes’ health. And that Holmes, though amused, does listen to Watson.

…William had secretly followed his two masters on the night when they made their raid upon Mr. Acton's, and having thus got them into his power, proceeded, under threats of exposure, to levy black-mail upon them. Holmes seems quite neutral here about Kirwan’s blackmail attempt though in CHAS he loathes Milverton. Has something happened in between the two cases? Or is it Milverton specifically he hates, rather than blackmailers in general? Milverton being the master blackmailer, a professional who has made his fortune out of his crimes. Perhaps Holmes doesn’t view some petty blackmail by a servant as being in the same class. And the Cunninghams aren’t victims you can really have sympathy with.

…William had secretly followed his two masters on the night when they made their raid upon Mr. Acton's…

"When do the servants go to bed?" "About ten." "I understand that William was usually in bed also at that hour."

We know that Kirwan was summoned by a note on the night of his death - it was odd for him to be up that late. And yet he was apparently up in the middle of the night when his employers were going to Acton’s on their burglary attempt and he followed them. I suppose they could have passed by the lodge where Kirwan lived and disturbed him from his sleep, but I would have thought they’d be taking great pains to be as quiet as possible. I wonder if Kirwan had been watching them for some time, rather than just happening to follow them on that particular night.

…be of the greatest service to you and also to Annie Morrison. Perhaps Kirwan’s blackmailing wasn’t to do with money – perhaps it was more personal than that. A theory: Annie Morrison is his sweetheart. We know Alec Cunningham is a violent, dangerous man – he murdered Kirwan in cold blood, and almost murdered Holmes when there was no chance of getting away with it. So, he made advances to Annie, she resisted him and he killed her. Kirwan knows that Alec Cunningham and Annie were seen together before she disappeared. He respectfully asks Cunningham if she said anything to him and Cunningham dismissively tells him she was going up north to live with relatives. Kirwan suspects Annie left because she was ashamed of something that happened between her and Cunningham, and he also thinks that Cunningham knows exactly where she is. He asks again but Cunningham threatens to dismiss him. So, Kirwan keeps a discreet eye on his employers and realises in desperation that he can use the burglary to his advantage – if Alec Cunningham will tell him where Annie is, he will keep his mouth shut. Obviously, Cunningham can’t give him Annie’s address – the only way to keep him quiet is to kill him too. He sends the note, implying that at last he’ll say where Annie is, and naturally Kirwan comes.

Next Sunday, 9th Feb, we’ll be looking at The Crooked Man. Hope to see you then!

Comments

[darkest-alchemy.livejournal.com]

"I suppose this could be interpreted as straightforward misogyny but I do have some sympathy with Holmes here. He’s been very ill and he doesn’t want to have to make the effort of being on his best behaviour and being polite."
Yes, Holmes isn't a misogynist, he's just uncomfortable I think not only around women in a more 'intimate' (rather than business) setting but also with the rather strict rules and standards of the day that dictated how men and women (and the different classes etc etc) were meant to behave. Plus he just doesn't seem that good with friendship and social interaction generally, even with men. He knows how to put it on and he can ramble about things of interest to him (although not necessarily of interest to anyone else) sometimes but he's seemingly not someone who makes real friends easily. But I guess men, especially single men, are easier to deal with because they're expected and encouraged to behave in a different way to women, being less open and emotional. Plus he is ill and in recovery, as you say, so more than ever he's not going to want the hassle of being social or making polite conversation suitable for women or being pestered by children or whatever.

"Or is it Milverton specifically he hates, rather than blackmailers in general?"
I've always had the impression that he does hate blackmailers especially the big league ones but also Milverton is more than just a blackmailer, so he despises him above most others. Milverton works on a seemingly very large scale and is consistently cruel and ruthless and he seems to want to cause harm. He's not even just in it for the money, he's in it for the pleasure of wielding power over incredibly vulnerable people; he seems even to get sadistic pleasure out of controlling and manipulating and even financially ruining or otherwise destroying them. Also I think it's in the New Annotated Sherlock Holmes that it suggests (and I also got that sense) that maybe Milverton wasn't only blackmailing people for money, that *maybe* he was interested in blackmailing people in other ways, like coercing them into his bed. (I just think it's interesting the way Holmes regards Milverton contrasted with the way Holmes regards Moriarty. He knows he has to destroy Moriarty but he still respects him and laments his demise when he's gone, whereas with Milverton he expresses great distaste for him, he happily lets him die and almost treats his murder as a bit of a joke afterwards (when he makes the comment about "Why, it might be a description of Watson!"), which would strongly suggest that even though Moriarty was worse and more dangerous in terms of intellect and the scale of his operations, Milverton was in himself a much more loathsome individual with much nastier personal habits).
Whereas the blackmail here seems like it's more a one-off thing by someone who probably was only motivated by money, so in Holmes's eyes it's a fairly trivial thing.

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

And of course Milverton paid servants to bring him compromising material and made a living out of it. Kirwan's is as you say, minor by comparison.

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

Maybe Kirwan and Annie Morrison were planning on getting married. If Cunningham gave him money then they could bring the wedding forward.

I too am intrigued by the possibilites of the burglars' haul.

[laurose8.livejournal.com]

That's a great idea, and a good story, about Annie Morrison. I never thought about her being dead. (I thought up a couple of ideas where AM was someone who wouldn't go to the police about Kirwan's death: say, the proprietress of an inn highly successful in fencing poached game and other stolen goods. Kirwan, knowing young Alec, would have tried to screen his identity by working through her, but Alec would have nothing of it. Or the Cunninghams' or Acton's old servant, who had sparked the Cunninghams' recent burglary.)

Also, Hayter describes Acton as a good servant, so it seems likely that something had turned him against his masters.

I agree about the contrast between Milverton and Kirwan. As a reader, I sympathise with Milverton's victims so much more. Perhaps if Alec hadn't done something, we would feel more sympathetic to the Cunninghams, especially the elder.

I'd just like to add I think making the son, rather than the father, the dominant and leader, was a brilliant touch, and makes them much more solid and original villains. I like how Hayter says something nice about the elder, but not the younger.

[laurose8.livejournal.com]

Thanks for that interesting contribution, full of good stuff. I was especially struck by the idea of Milverton blackmailing sex from his victims.

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

That's a definite possibility. I suppose the Cunninghams wouldn't have been pleasant people to work for - Kirwan would have seen his opportunity to get away once and for all, get married and start again somewhere else.

The items feel significant, even though the whole point is that they are things just grabbed at random. I suppose we could try psychoanalysing the Cunninghams - see what the choice of items says about their unconscious minds ^^

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

That's an interesting thought - so the blackmailing would ostensibly come from Annie Morrison but Alec Cunningham worked out who was truly behind it? Or Annie Morrison was an equal partner in the blackmail because she'd been a former servant in Acton's house and had actually helped the Cunninghams. I wonder though in the former case, if Kirwan would have gone to the meeting - he would have been uneasy at being found out. But I suppose he might have assumed Annie was going too and have been worried about her safety.

It's a curious relationship between father and son, isn't it? Hayter appears to genuinely believe that the father is a decent man. I suppose the elder Cunningham is a little weak. Desperation about his financial position and the pressure put on him by his (frankly psychopathic) son made him go through with the burglary and then the murder plot.

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

I absolutely agree with you that Holmes isn't good with social rules. I don't think he's truly a misogynist either - he can be lovely with women. And I think he has the ability to make friends but he doesn't often have the urge to do so. He doesn't need people, and would rather be on his own. He does seem to get on well with Hayter though. But from Hayter's reaction to the murder, we know he's a calm unemotional sort. Which would suit Holmes very well ^^

I was greatly intrigued about the way you compared Milverton and Moriarty. It's true, isn't it? Holmes seems to view Moriarty as a worthy adversary but just despises Milverton. I suppose Milverton is simply ruthless. There's no complexity to his evil - he has seen a way of making money and taken it to its extreme. He must have some intelligence - he waits until the perfect moment before using his blackmail material - but he's not in Moriarty's class.

And that's an interesting view of Milverton - someone who delights in having power over people, to the extent he might blackmail people into his bed. It's a convincing idea. But I'm not sure I personally agree with that portrait. I think he is interested mainly in the money. It's not particularly that he likes power - he just has no concern for other people at all. He does make the skin crawl though. Moriarty frightens me; Milverton revolts me.

Incidentally, thank you so much for taking the time to leave such a long and thorough comment. I do hope we see you again ^^

[darkest-alchemy.livejournal.com]

Holmes seems at one point or another throughout the canon to form at least something approaching friendships with other people (including various police inspectors) so he's certainly not incapable of becoming attached to others besides Watson but it seems like work is always his main interest and priority and when there is no work then he can't actually be bothered to make friends because people aren't that interesting to him anyway. So he tends to become friendly mostly only with people who he encounters in the course of his work or occasionally with others when he's pretty much forced to take the time off to relax and to be a bit more social (as he is here).

This is going off at a bit of a tangent I guess but I find the contrast in Holmes's attitudes towards Moriarty and Milverton (and one or two other canonical villains) really fascinating, and highly suggestive that it's not simply money Milverton is after. Moriarty is the most dangerous man but Milverton is the "worst", and Holmes is frightened of Moriarty but he's seemingly repulsed by Milverton. I do get the feeling that if money (rather than enjoying exercising his power over people, or *maybe* something else) was Milverton's main motivation then Holmes would simply find him rather boring and not repulsive.

(Incidentally I'm sure I've read a pastiche story referring to "the colossal schemes of Baron Maupertuis" where Baron Maupertuis turned out to be Moriarty. I don't think that's an implausible interpretation and if we took that to be true then that could also explain why Holmes didn't involve Watson in that investigation, because he didn't want to put Watson at risk.)

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

"...this man, who methodically and at his leisure tortures the soul and wrings the nerves in order to add to his already swollen money-bags?"

I realise it's splitting hairs but... I think Holmes is revolted by Milverton because the man calmly tortures people with his blackmail demands. However, I think Milverton is amused by his victims' suffering but I don't think he gets any major enjoyment out of it. I truly believe it's simply the money he's after.

By the way, I followed your AO3 link from your journal, and I realised I'd read one of your stories, "Protectors of Pigeons". (With the very greatest of respect, I don't generally read Moriarty/Moran stories. I'm more of a Holmes/Watson kind of girl. And I'm not kidding when I say Moriarty frightens me.) You're such a good writer ^^" (I assume you already knew that ^^) I was taken aback that you had relatively few hits and kudos, but I suppose it's because your pairing isn't as popular as others.

And now I've read "Christmas Kisses". Most amusing ^_^

[darkest-alchemy.livejournal.com]

Well... it's not an interpretation I buy but we'll leave that there.

Moriarty/Moran is a depressingly unpopular pairing (unless of course it's BBC!Sherlock versions, which I can't stand).
Thank you. :)