Canon Discussion: The Resident Patient
Jun. 28th, 2015 08:15 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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sherlock60This week we’re having a look at The Resident Patient. I’ve typed up a few thoughts to get the discussion going—please leave your own ideas in the comments!
Before we begin: as I expect most of you know, RESI has two different beginnings. Its own original beginning, and a borrowed beginning from CARD. When the Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes was first published, the decision was made not to include CARD (I gather no-one knows for certain why, though it’s probably to do with the story’s contents) but that first sequence was spliced into RESI.
“...and finally to win the Bruce Pinkerton prize and medal…” The name does rather make you think of Bruce-Partington and his plans. Cousins, perhaps..?
“I have a few thousands to invest, d'ye see…” A “few thousands” would be a heck of a lot of money at that time. Where did “Blessington” get this money? Surely it can’t be the proceeds of the robbery, can it? I’m assuming, even though he turned informer, Sutton wouldn’t have got away without punishment if the money hadn’t been recovered. Or at the very least, the police would be keeping an eye on him.
"And the catalepsy?" “It is a very easy complaint to imitate. I have done it myself." Any thoughts on the circumstances?
“It just happened, however, that this hour coincided with Blessington's constitutional, which seems to show that they were not very well acquainted with his daily routine.” Isn’t it more likely they did know Blessington’s routine and were making themselves familiar with the layout of the house? Surely they can’t have been planning on murdering him during the day, with Trevelyan down below and the servants moving around? Why doesn’t this possibility occur to Holmes?
"Good-morning, Lanner," answered Holmes; "you won't think me an intruder, I am sure.” Any thoughts on Lanner? He and Holmes obviously seem to know and like each other.
“...arrest the page, who, as I understand, has only recently come into your service…” Any thoughts on how the page was recruited by the gang? A relative of one of them perhaps? Did he know he was going to be party to a murder? And what became of him after the “proceedings against [him] broke down”?
“...they brought with them some sort of block or pulley which might serve as a gallows… Seeing the hook, however they naturally saved themselves the trouble.” Why didn’t the gang member notice the hook the first time he was in Blessington’s rooms? But then, I suppose he may have only gone into Blessington’s sitting room.
Holmes and I returned to Baker Street for breakfast. "I'll be back by three," said he… Our visitors arrived at the appointed time, but it was a quarter to four before my friend put in an appearance… “This so-called Blessington is, as I expected, well known at headquarters, and so are his assailants…” Why does Holmes’ investigation to find their identities take so many hours then?
“This Blessington or Sutton, who was the worst of the gang, turned informer.” “Worst of the gang…” Yet he turned informer when “the evidence against them was by no means conclusive” (I assume if they’d all kept their nerve they might have got away with it) and he’s terrified once he knows his former associates have been released from prison. Doesn’t seem to quite add up.
Such were the singular circumstances in connection with the Resident Patient and the Brook Street Doctor. What becomes of Trevelyan? I assume he will be all right and will continue to be a successful doctor, but “Blessington” was the one who was renting the building. After having a murder on their property, perhaps the landlord might not be too keen on Trevelyan taking over the lease.
Next week, 5th July, we’ll be meeting Mycroft Holmes, in The Greek Interpreter. Hope you can join us then.
Before we begin: as I expect most of you know, RESI has two different beginnings. Its own original beginning, and a borrowed beginning from CARD. When the Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes was first published, the decision was made not to include CARD (I gather no-one knows for certain why, though it’s probably to do with the story’s contents) but that first sequence was spliced into RESI.
“...and finally to win the Bruce Pinkerton prize and medal…” The name does rather make you think of Bruce-Partington and his plans. Cousins, perhaps..?
“I have a few thousands to invest, d'ye see…” A “few thousands” would be a heck of a lot of money at that time. Where did “Blessington” get this money? Surely it can’t be the proceeds of the robbery, can it? I’m assuming, even though he turned informer, Sutton wouldn’t have got away without punishment if the money hadn’t been recovered. Or at the very least, the police would be keeping an eye on him.
"And the catalepsy?" “It is a very easy complaint to imitate. I have done it myself." Any thoughts on the circumstances?
“It just happened, however, that this hour coincided with Blessington's constitutional, which seems to show that they were not very well acquainted with his daily routine.” Isn’t it more likely they did know Blessington’s routine and were making themselves familiar with the layout of the house? Surely they can’t have been planning on murdering him during the day, with Trevelyan down below and the servants moving around? Why doesn’t this possibility occur to Holmes?
"Good-morning, Lanner," answered Holmes; "you won't think me an intruder, I am sure.” Any thoughts on Lanner? He and Holmes obviously seem to know and like each other.
“...arrest the page, who, as I understand, has only recently come into your service…” Any thoughts on how the page was recruited by the gang? A relative of one of them perhaps? Did he know he was going to be party to a murder? And what became of him after the “proceedings against [him] broke down”?
“...they brought with them some sort of block or pulley which might serve as a gallows… Seeing the hook, however they naturally saved themselves the trouble.” Why didn’t the gang member notice the hook the first time he was in Blessington’s rooms? But then, I suppose he may have only gone into Blessington’s sitting room.
Holmes and I returned to Baker Street for breakfast. "I'll be back by three," said he… Our visitors arrived at the appointed time, but it was a quarter to four before my friend put in an appearance… “This so-called Blessington is, as I expected, well known at headquarters, and so are his assailants…” Why does Holmes’ investigation to find their identities take so many hours then?
“This Blessington or Sutton, who was the worst of the gang, turned informer.” “Worst of the gang…” Yet he turned informer when “the evidence against them was by no means conclusive” (I assume if they’d all kept their nerve they might have got away with it) and he’s terrified once he knows his former associates have been released from prison. Doesn’t seem to quite add up.
Such were the singular circumstances in connection with the Resident Patient and the Brook Street Doctor. What becomes of Trevelyan? I assume he will be all right and will continue to be a successful doctor, but “Blessington” was the one who was renting the building. After having a murder on their property, perhaps the landlord might not be too keen on Trevelyan taking over the lease.
Next week, 5th July, we’ll be meeting Mycroft Holmes, in The Greek Interpreter. Hope you can join us then.
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Date: 2015-06-28 07:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-06-28 08:13 am (UTC)I read somewhere but now can't remember exactly where (sorry to be so vague) that though it's assumed CARD wasn't included because of the subject matter, there's no clear evidence to say that was definitely the case. ACD doesn't refer to the situation in his autobiography, for example.
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Date: 2015-06-28 06:09 pm (UTC)One thing that does rather surprise me, is Sutton staying in London. Maybe he had a suspicion a sea voyage doesn't turn out that healthy in Homlesverse.
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Date: 2015-06-28 07:07 pm (UTC)I'd never thought about that - yes, it would have made more sense for Sutton to go abroad. But perhaps he got complacent, knowing his former colleagues were going to be in prison for a long time - he thought he would leave nearer to their release date. And then they were released early, catching him on the hop. Also of course, his heart was weak and "he needed constant medical supervision". He may not have been well enough to travel anyway.