Rob started off by noting that "The Adventure of the Empty House" was published in 1903, presumably in conjunction with Holmes's retirement.
Ronald Adair has been murdered after a big winning with Colonel Moran at his club, playing against Godfrey Milner and Lord Balmoral (who is also mentioned in NOBL and SILV). Adair had been shot in the head, but he was locked in his second-story room and the door was locked. Stacey and Randy gave us a good historical context for the card scandal that was cited in this story.
There was a good deal of debate about Adair's name between Randy, Tom, Joe, and Bill because it went back and forth between "Ronald" and "Robert" in the manuscript.
Watson was puzzling over the case and goes to look around outside Adair's house with lots of other gawkers. A man with colored glasses is sharing his thoughts on the case. Some commentators thought it was Holmes's rival, Barker from RETI. Others have posited that it was Moran returning to the scene of the crime.
Watson bumps into an old man and knocks books out of his hands. Randy talked about these books, saying that no such book is called The Origin of Tree Worship. The bibliophile follows Watson to his office under the guise of apologizing and offering to sell books to Watson to fill the gap on his shelf. After Watson turns to look at the shelf, the bookseller turns out to Sherlock Holmes.
Surprise!
Stacey found this whole scene hard to believe, thinking both Holmes and Watson acted oddly. Beth said that even if Watson had been furious, he wouldn't publish it in The Strand. Tom figured that there was some strong language used, but Watson wouldn't write that up. Brad pointed out that so many people point to the BBC Sherlock reaction, but that Watson still had his wife in that show and in the Canon, one of the two most important people in the world was still alive. Chris argued that her initial reaction would be joy and the annoyance would come in later. Kristen pointed out that Holmes purposely tricked Watson and thinks Watson punching Holmes was the correct response.
Watson quickly came to and asked "How did you come out of the chasm?" to which Holmes responded, "I never was in it." Moriarty allowed Holmes to write the note, they walked to the cliff, Moriarty rushed him, and using Baritsu (or Bartitsu), Holmes threw him down the falls, making Moriarty "the first Reichenbach cliff diver" as noted by Bill.
Rob wondered why Watson was able to observe Holmes and Moriarty's footprints, but not the outline that must have been left by Holmes's body as he laid and looked over the cliff.
Holmes decides to fake his death because three other men want him dead. He climbed the rock wall to hide and watched Watson's "sympathetic and inefficient" search of the scene. After Watson left, someone started hurling boulders at him. Rob shared a theory that Moran used his one shot to kill Moriarty, making him the head of the organization, and was left to use boulders to kill Holmes.
Randy asked why didn't he use the rifle to kill Holmes, and Srini, Toby, and Michael all noted that they were single shot rifles. Toby said she had seen a can rifle like Moran's at an antique shop before, but couldn't justify paying such a high price. Elaine also said that Moran wouldn't have had a good angle to fire from on top of the cliff. Andy said it was just because bullets cost money but rocks were free.
Holmes escapes and "did ten miles over the mountains in the darkness" and was in Florence a week later. He spends two years in Tibet, visited Lhassa, spending some days with the head Lama, passed through Persia, looked in at Mecca, and paid a short but interesting visit to Khalifa at Kharoum. Ed had a great paper on Holmes's visit to Khalifa that was posted on our blog.
Srini kicked off a discussion about the possibility of Holmes visiting Mecca. Mecca was closed to outsiders at this time. Elaine said it was because he was in disguise. Randy joked that he could've used Basil Rathbone's disguise from The Spider Woman. Ed said that the disguise would have had to have been unbelievably good to pass as a Muslim. Toby cited a precedent that Sir Richard Burton made it in to Mecca around this time.
Brad pointed out that Holmes's old college friend was living in India and could have influenced Holmes's original set of travels before Mycroft got involved. Randy cited a paper written by Gordon Speck where it was theorized that Holmes's travels had been planned out months in advance. Olivia wondered if Holmes was actually in London the whole time and the stories of Holmes's travels were just stories.
Holmes moved on to France, researching coal tar derivatives, came back to London, threw Mrs. Hudson into violent hysterics, and found that Mycroft has preserved his rooms and papers. Adam wondered why Mrs. Hudson was complicit in keeping those rooms untouched for so long. Olivia said that money can quiet a lot of questions. Stacey talked about the mourning process of Victorian times. Rob cited a paper that Joe had written on Mycroft's role in keeping the rooms and Holmes sneaking back into London to see Watson, but Joe admitted that the paper was so long ago that he didn't remember it!
We spent some time talking about Holmes's sad bereavement. Rob thought that Holmes's comment about work being the best antidote to sorrow was callous. Beth wondered if Holmes had read William Blake's comments on sorrow. And what exactly was the bereavement? Did Mary die? Did she have a mental breakdown? Was it the death of a family member? Randy argued for Mary's death because there was no more mention about her after that. Bill suggested that Mary had died in child birth.
Three hours later, Holmes and Watson are in a Hansom cab. The get out at Cavendish Square and make sure not to be followed. They eventually arrive at a deserted building. Bill told everyone about Gray Chandler Briggs's work in locating 221B Baker Street based off his finding the empty house. It was told in the great book, Dear Starrett, Dear Briggs, which Randy showed off to everyone. Michael said that Briggs once told Conan Doyle about this, and Doyle claimed to have never been to Baker Street.
Holmes has Watson peek out of the window across to their rooms. Watson sees an outline of Holmes in the window, a wax bust he had made.
Soon, Moran sneaks into the house while Holmes and Watson wait in the dark. Rob cited the great prose here. Such great description of their wait, Moran's look, and his settling in for his shot all in the same paragraph!
Bill cited an article by Tom Stix saying that Moran was not very bright. He walked right into an unlocked trap. He said that maybe the "a" in his last name should have been an "o" instead. Chris found it hard to believe that such an experienced hunter would be deceived by the outline in the window. Elaine argued that Watson was fooled by the dummy, so it must not have been that bad. Srini pointed out that Moran would not have had much time. He came in, set up, and took the shot. If the blame should fall on anyone, it should have been his lookout. Beth cited plenty of times that Holmes would sit immobile.
Rich said he always worried about Mrs. Hudson's safety when she was moving the wax bust. Ed and Tom acknowledged that many points in the Canon can be implausible, but they take the assumption that everything in the stories are true and as Sherlockians, they see it as their roles to make those facts fit. Randy said that he enjoyed looking at different annotated versions of the Canon to see what holes they poke in the stories.
Moran's walking stick is his air gun, he fires and Holmes leaps! Moran seizes Holmes by the throat and Watson buffaloes him with his pistol. Lestrade and company are soon there. Stacey pointed out that in FINA, Holmes was in a game theory match with Moriarty, but she didn't see him follow that train of thought in this adventure.
Holmes introduces "Colonel Sebastian Moran, once of Her Majesty's Indian Army, and the best heavy game shot that our Eastern empire has ever produced."
Moran is arrested for the attempted murder of Sherlock Holmes, but S. Tupper Bigelow pointed out years ago that an attempted murder charge would not hold, as Moran had fired at an inanimate object.
And anyway, Holmes says that Moran should be arrested for the murder of Ronald Adair and that he should not be mentioned in the case. Why the hesitancy? Surely there would be legal complications if Holmes did not appear. Toby and Kristen thought that it was because Holmes enjoyed the chase, but not all of the red tape associated with the legal process.
Back in Baker Street, Watson admires the wax dummy. Ed wondered why Holmes didn't have the waxen image made from Madame Tussaud. Rob pointed out that in Doyle's play The Mazarin Stone, the villain was Colonel Moran and he was fooled by a wax dummy in that story as well.
Holmes and Watson settle into their old chairs, Holmes in his mouse dressing gown. This led to a discussion of how to pronounce mouse (like the rodent) and what color it is (grayish-brown).
Watson says he has never heard of Colonel Moran in EMPT, but he was told about him in VALL, just like the confusion around whether or not Watson knew about Moriarty.
Holmes gives Moran's biography to Watson, and Rob wondered if Moriarty met Moran through being his Army coach. Bill said hat FINA and EMPT are two parts of the same story and he felt that they should be read together as a novella.
Holmes conjectures that Moran killed Adair because he discovered the cheating and was going to call him out. Holmes also predicts that Moran will hang for murder, but he is still alive when Holmes mentions him again in ILLU. Adam pointed out that the crime is more of an afterthought because this story is how Sherlock Holmes comes back to London, and not how he is solving this crime, his explanation of the crime is loosely structured.
We finally wrapped up our meeting, and announced that our next one will be for "The Norwood Builder." Hopefully this one can be in person!
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