Canon Discussion: The Bruce-Partington Plans

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

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

"It is fortunate for this community that I am not a criminal." "It is, indeed!" said I heartily. Of course, Holmes and Watson do break the law on occasion—they actually break the law later on in this very story when they first search Oberstein’s lodgings. So could this exchange be a joke between friends?

“Once, and only once, [Mycroft] has been here.” This presumably refers to when he came to Baker Street in GREE. I think it’s the Annotated Sherlock Holmes that points out this implies Mycroft managed to keep 221B exactly the same during the Hiatus without ever coming to Baker Street and having contact with Mrs. Hudson. But then, Holmes may simply mean his brother has visited him at Baker Street only once before.

“As to the Admiralty — it is buzzing like an overturned bee-hive.” In light of Holmes’ later interests this is rather an intriguing simile from Mycroft. Could the brothers have grown up with beehives around?

His wild eyes, stained cheeks, and unkempt hair all spoke of the sudden blow which had fallen upon the household. I can’t really feel sympathy for Colonel Valentine Walter but I do pity him. The fact he betrayed his brother and was indirectly responsible for his death feels to me to be an even worse sin than committing treason.

"I wonder if the death was natural, or whether the poor old fellow killed himself!” Any thoughts?

"What's this, Watson? Eh? What's this? Record of a series of messages in the advertisements of a paper.” As the New Annotated points out—why does Oberstein keep these advertisements? The recipient keeping them would be a foolhardy thing but still understandable—however, Oberstein was the one who put the messages in the paper.

One of the most remarkable characteristics of Sherlock Holmes was his power of throwing his brain out of action and switching all his thoughts on to lighter things whenever he had convinced himself that he could no longer work to advantage. Is this just during cases? Or has Holmes managed to train himself to do this between cases as an alternative to drugs?

...and it was necessary for me, as Mycroft Holmes absolutely and indignantly declined to climb the railings, to pass in and open the hall door. I love this moment because of the emphasis on the difference between Mycroft and Watson (and also between Mycroft and Holmes). Mycroft is the dignified “adult”; Holmes and Watson are the grown-up little boys who climb over railings and break into houses and generally have brilliant adventures.

"You can write me down an ass this time, Watson," said he. "This was not the bird that I was looking for." So who was Holmes expecting?

'I must keep them,' said he, 'for they are so technical that it is impossible in the time to make copies.' 'Then they must all go back together tonight,' said I. There’s a certain poignancy in thinking that if Cadogan West hadn’t seen Valentine Walter and gone after him, everything would probably have turned out all right. Cadogan West wouldn’t have been murdered, there would be no dead man to blame, so Walter would have insisted on returning all the papers and would probably not have attempted a second theft.

Oberstein… came to the lure and was safely engulfed for fifteen years in a British prison. But he was a murderer—why wasn’t he hanged? Last time we discussed BRUC laurose8 suggested that Oberstein’s lawyer may have managed to convince the jury that Valentine Walter was actually the murderer, and she also suggested that this may have been the truth—Walter may have indeed been the murderer.

Next Sunday, 22nd November, we’ll be having a look at The Devil’s Foot. Hope you can join us then.

(PS I'm not going to be able to reply to comments and posts today until late on this evening (GMT). But I will get to them all.)

Comments

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure everything would have turned out all right if Cadogan West hadn't followed Walter. The papers would have been copied and sold abroad (still treason) and the deception wouldn't have been found out until much later, by which time the drawings would have been in enemy hands. So maybe Cadogan West was the true hero.

My new book (you do realise I shall be quoting it for the next year!) suggests Oberstein may have bought his life by giving the authorities secrets from another power.

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

But Valentine Walter says: "But first he examined the papers which I had brought. He said that three of them were essential, and that he must keep them. ’You cannot keep them,’ said I. ’There will be a dreadful row at Woolwich if they are not returned.’ ’I must keep them,’ said he, ’for they are so technical that it is impossible in the time to make copies.’ ’Then they must all go back together to-night,’ said I. He thought for a little, and then he cried out that he had it. ’Three I will keep,’ said he. ’The others we will stuff into the pocket of this young man. When he is found the whole business will assuredly be put to his account.’"

If Cadogan West hadn't followed Walter and been murdered, then there would be no-one to blame for stealing the 3 important papers. There wasn't time to copy them - and Walter wouldn't have allowed Oberstein to keep them. He would have insisted on taking them all back that night - and I can't really see him making a second attempt. Also, Johnson says: “It would take considerable technical knowledge to copy the plans in an effective way.” Valentine Walter wouldn't have had the technical ability himself to make a copy. So if Cadogan West hadn't seen Walter on his way to the theatre, then he'd still be alive and the papers would have gone safely back to the office, with no secrets being passed on to any enemies. Cadogan West was a brave man but his death made things worse.

I do like the theory from your new book though ^_^ It does make sense that Oberstein would have been able to bargain with the authorities in that way.

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. I have a hard time imagining Oberstein letting Walter just pack up all the plans and chicken out on the exchange. It seems possible that Oberstein might have instead decided to kill Walter, keep the necessary plans, and dump Walter's body on the passing train roof with the remaining plans stuffed in his pocket to take the blame, just as they wound up doing with poor Mr. West. A lot depends on what kind of spy Oberstein was, but I wouldn't necessarily assume that he was unwilling to murder a recalcitrant informant rather than let him ruin an important espionage mission.

Of course, all of this bother could have been easily avoided if Oberstein had simply kept a camera around to photograph sensitive technical documents. Given that he was apparently one of the leading international spies in the country, it seems surprising that he is lacking the basic tools necessary for this kind of information theft. Maybe Mycroft only allows him to continue to operate because he knows how incompetent he is! :)

Also, am I right in thinking that this is a rare instance of actual continuity between Doyle's stories? Didn't Holmes list Oberstein alongside Eduardo Lucas as one of the known international spies capable of high-level treason schemes back in Second Stain?

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

I agree entirely, although Walter's death would have been more deserved.

And yes, actual ACD continuity - who'd have thought it!

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

Oh, crikey - a camera. That never crossed my mind ^^" This is why I identify with Watson rather than Holmes - I always tend to accept things in the stories at face value and not take a step back to look at the bigger picture. Everyone kept talking about needing technical knowledge to copy the papers, so I never thought about someone simply photographing them. Can I just say that I love your mind? ^_^

And if Oberstein had had a camera, he probably would have got away with everything. Walter would have brought the papers, Oberstein would have made his copies, poor Cadogan West would have confronted them and been murdered - but because they wouldn't have needed to plant anything on him, his death wouldn't have immediately been connected with his work. Walter would have taken the originals back that night and no-one would have known the information had been stolen. Holmes might have eventually traced the murder back to Oberstein (a spy happens to live in a place where the body of a government worker could be lowered onto a train) but the connection isn't so clear cut.

You may well be right about Oberstein being prepared to kill Walter, rather than let the papers go. Obviously he carried a weapon and was prepared to use it. The only small argument I can give is this phrase after Cadogan West is dead: ...we were at our wit’s end what to do. That rather suggests neither man was calm and collected after the murder - maybe Oberstein wasn't a natural killer and would have baulked at killing Walter in cold blood.

[laurose8.livejournal.com]

A suggestion about Oberstein keeping the adverts. He could have thought he just might have needed to refer the exact wording that he'd put in the paper. Also, the exact wording that had appeared, not always the same thing.

I wonder if, when Watson wrote this, he knew the irony that Bruce-Partington's plans were duds, as we know now?

edit: and thank you for pointing out that about the bee hives. I like that idea!

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

He could have thought he just might have needed to refer the exact wording that he'd put in the paper. Also, the exact wording that had appeared, not always the same thing.

Maybe... But I'm not really convinced.

...he knew the irony that Bruce-Partington's plans were duds, as we know now? I suppose whether he knew or not he'd suppress the information in order to make a better story ^^

I like the idea too that bees were part of the Holmes brothers' childhood ^^

[Apologies for the two edits ^^"]

[okapi1895.livejournal.com]

Nice catch with the bees. Maybe its a Holmes thing, the fascination, summers in the country, perhaps?

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

Maybe its a Holmes thing, the fascination...

It's an interesting thought - both Mycroft and Sherlock spending their latter years on the study of bees ^_^