Canon Discussion: The Missing Three-Quarter

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

This week we’re having a look at The Missing Three-Quarter. I’ve typed up a few thoughts and questions to get the discussion going—please leave your own ideas in the comments!

We were fairly accustomed to receive weird telegrams at Baker Street, but I have a particular recollection of one which reached us on a gloomy February morning some seven or eight years ago and gave Mr. Sherlock Holmes a puzzled quarter of an hour. Why doesn’t Watson immediately grasp what it means and explain it to Holmes? We know from SUSS that he used to play rugby himself. Though I suppose Holmes may not have showed him the actual telegram at the time.

...and looked from one of us to the other with a comely face which was haggard with anxiety.
"Mr. Sherlock Holmes?" Overton may be surprised that Holmes doesn’t know who he is, but it appears he doesn’t know who Holmes is either. Odd… And has Watson heard of Overton and Staunton before this meeting? It would seem the sort of thing he would know but he doesn’t give that impression.

"There is Arthur H. Staunton, the rising young forger," said he, "and there was Henry Staunton, whom I helped to hang…” Any thoughts on these minor Stauntons?

It argues the degree in which I had lost touch with my profession that the name of Leslie Armstrong was unknown to me. Now I am aware that he is not only one of the heads of the medical school of the University, but a thinker of European reputation in more than one branch of science. We were just talking last week re GOLD about whether or not Watson was actually working as a doctor post-Hiatus. And here we have it confirmed that he isn’t. This story probably takes place in 1896 or 1897: it was published in 1904, and at the beginning, Watson states I have a particular recollection of one which reached us on a gloomy February morning some seven or eight years ago… So, it’s been a while since Watson sold his practice and came back to Baker Street. Has he been living on the proceeds of the sale? Or does Holmes share his earnings with him? Watson isn’t publishing any stories at the moment—HOUN isn’t published until 1901.

Now I am aware that he is not only one of the heads of the medical school of the University… Watson does seem to eventually go back to being a full-time doctor, rather late in life. Any thoughts?

"I have not seen a man who, if he turned his talents that way, was more calculated to fill the gap left by the illustrious Moriarty.” This comparison with Moriarty is a bit out of the blue, and perhaps tells us more about Holmes himself than Armstrong. Any thoughts on this?

“You are not familiar with Cambridgeshire scenery, are you?” Looking back to 3STU, does this mean then that the “great university town” can’t have been Cambridge..? Or did they just never go outside the town itself?

"So, gentlemen," said he, "you have attained your end, and have certainly chosen a particularly delicate moment for your intrusion. I would not brawl in the presence of death, but I can assure you that if I were a younger man your monstrous conduct would not pass with impunity." I always feel with this story that someone reading it for the first time, who knew nothing else about Sherlock Holmes, would come away thinking, ‘Gosh, what a gauche idiot,’ rather than finding him a heroic character. There seem to be two separate stories going on here—a tragic love story and a detective story. And in the light of the poor young woman’s death, the detective story feels hopelessly trivial. It’s not his fault, but Holmes at the end almost comes across as an interfering fool.

“I knew the lad well, and I loved him for his many excellent qualities.” How have Staunton and Armstrong become friends? Is Staunton a medical student? I don’t think we’re ever told what he’s actually reading at Cambridge.

“That is all, Mr. Holmes, and I am sure that I can rely upon your discretion and that of your friend." I wonder if Staunton will carry on keeping his marriage a secret from his uncle—if he’ll have the heart to now. I said in the previous MISS discussion post that I thought Staunton might have wanted to be open from the start but his wife insisted that they didn’t tell Mount-James—not because she cared about the money but because she didn’t want to be the reason her husband was disinherited. laurose8 also suggested they may have been thinking of their future children—which I agree with. They may have felt it would have been selfish to reject the bequest—they had to think of future generations too.

Next Sunday, 25th October, we’ll be having a look at The Abbey Grange. Hope you can join us then.

Comments

[okapi1895.livejournal.com]

I thought it was kind of a strange story. More sad tale than mystery. And paralleling Doctor Armstrong and Moriarty did seem a little bit out of nowhere and hyperbolic. I mean, the doctor bested Holmes surveillance methods once but does that make him a possible criminal mastermind automatically? And Cambridge lost the match. :( And Holmes says he doesn't know anything about amateur sports, but didn't he box? And didn't Watson say he played rugby in The Sussex Vampire? So he would know, I think who Overton and Staunton were.

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

It's possible Watson had heard of Overton and Staunton. The telegram is sufficiently cryptic and sent from the Strand, Overton is a reasonably common name, and he was only an international reserve, so making sense of it would not have been as easy as in hindsight.

Once Overton arrives I think Watson watches, possibly understands more than Holmes, but he's quite happy to let Holmes use his brain power to work it out.

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

Just swinging through -- I'm enjoying everyone's thoughts and observations! The beginning of this story actually has one of my favorite passages in the whole canon, in that paragraph where Watson talks about Holmes's gradual recovery from drugs and the fear he feels whenever he is left idle too long.

I blessed this Mr. Overton whoever he might be, since he had come with his enigmatic message to break that dangerous calm which brought more peril to my friend than all the storms of his tempestuous life.

Love that line!!

[laurose8.livejournal.com]

I think this strongly implies Cambridge isn't Holmes' alma mater. I think he would have gone into the country, and also he would have had some acquainttances from his university years.

I don't really think Holmes comes across as a fool. He could have explained more to Armstrong, but it's more excusable than some of his secrecy.

I have to say, I do think Mount-James would make an excellent character for a work of fiction.

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

The telegram is a bit cryptic but I just feel that to someone familiar with rugby the combination of "right wing three-quarter" and "Overton" would have been enough to make things clear. But it's possible that Holmes told Watson that he'd received a cryptic message from someone called Overton but didn't actually show the telegram to Watson at the time.

But I absolutely agree with you that Watson is deliberately standing back and letting Holmes work it out once Overton arrives - even though I would assume Watson has realised who Overton is.

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

Always a pleasure to have you swing through ^^

It is indeed a great line - it stood out to me too when I was rereading the story last week. It's a perfect description of Holmes' personality - Watson has a profound understanding of his friend.

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

To be honest, Holmes' statement of You are not familiar with Cambridgeshire scenery, are you? It does not lend itself to concealment rather suggests to me that though Watson doesn't know Cambridgeshire, Holmes does. Though he could be just referring to what he'd learnt of the Cambridgeshire countryside that very day.

It's just that final scene when Holmes is trying to explain to Staunton that he's a detective who'd been asked to trace him, and poor Staunton hasn't the foggiest what he's going on about - his grief makes everything else unimportant: Holmes comes across as a clumsy intruder in a tragic love story, doggedly trying to uncover the truth when it would have been best to leave things alone. As I've said, I don't think it's Holmes' fault but the situation makes him seem like a fool.

Mount-James is a wonderful comic character, isn't he? He would be great in a more lighthearted, humorous story.

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

Yes, it feels like the tragic romance is more important than the detective aspect - Holmes comes across as a minor character in his own story. It's an odd one certainly.

I think it's mentioned in one of the previous discussion posts (not one of mine) that it's perhaps wishful thinking on Holmes' part with regard to Armstrong - he wants to find another major opponent.

And you're quite right that Holmes plays amateur sports himself. It does mention in the New Annotated the theory that as Holmes knows nothing about rugby specifically, perhaps his early education occurred abroad. But it does seem strange that Watson doesn't appear to understand the telegram, or to know who Overton and Staunton are. I wonder if maybe Holmes hadn't actually shown the telegram to Watson at the time. And then when Overton arrived, as Small Hobbit says, Watson did realise who Overton was but thought it best to stand back and let Holmes work it out.