#Thor Bridge

[thefisherqueen]

"See here, Mr. Holmes. I came to you on a question of evidence, not on a question of morals. I'm not asking for your criticism."

"It is only for the young lady's sake that I touch your case at all," said Holmes sternly. "I don't know that anything she is accused of is really worse than what you have yourself admitted, that you have tried to ruin a defenceless girl who was under your roof. Some of you rich men have to be taught that all the world cannot be bribed into condoning your offences."

Some of you rich men have to be taught that all the world cannot be bribed into condoning your offences. What a great line

[teacup-captor]

HIS FINGERS ARE HERE. ATTACHED TO HIS HAND. DOCTOR.

[dathen]

Watson thinking “aw Holmes is gonna have seasonal depression now :( “ and gearing up to assist him through it before going downstairs is SO….

Once again To know is to Love with these two!!

(and then he’s bouncing off the walls and (gasp) already ate some breakfast when Watson sees him because THERE’S A CASE!!) (which Watson is able to guess right away because To know is to Love)

[eirinstiva]

"She was a creature of the tropics, a Brazilian by birth, as no doubt you know.” “No, it had escaped me.” “Tropical by birth and tropical by nature. A child of the sun and of passion. She had loved him as such women can love, but when her own physical charms had faded—I am told that they once were great—there was nothing to hold him."

Me, a latinx:

(Sorry, I don't speak Brazilian memes)

[Translation: If you comment tropical again I'll go to your house and stab your trachea 58 times]

[devoursjohnlock]

Sherlock: A Scandal in Belgravia | The Problem of Thor Bridge

'Well, if dollars make no difference to you, think of the reputation. If you pull this off every paper in England and America will be booming you. You'll be the talk of two continents.'

'Thank you, Mr Gibson, I do not think that I am in need of booming. It may surprise you to know that I prefer to work anonymously, and that it is the problem itself which attracts me.

[jolieblack]

Jolie's thoughts on

The problem of Thor Bridge (Sherlock & Co. podcast)

(Hear me gush about the show in general.)

So this is one of my favourite original ACD cases, in spite of the somewhat anticlimactic solution. And I wasn’t disappointed by this version. I love it when Holmes does his dramatic recreations of the crimes. You can imagine how I squeaked with delight at how Sherlock hijacked the police press conference in this episode!

The "time is against us" aspect of the original that adds extra pressure and suspense was rendered perfectly in the morgue scene. "On behalf of the Federal Republic of Brazil, I'd like to see the body." YES!

Sherlock really gets extra points for cool lines in this one. "Watson, I was hoping that when I said 'The game is on'…"

Sherlock speaking Cornish, Portuguese and every other language under the sun is lovely, too.

"Would you like to hold hands and talk about your emotions?" 🥺

"I like you as you are, Watson." 🥺🥺

MARIANA: Where are your shoes?

JOHN: Where are my shoes?

SHERLOCK: What time is it? Seven thirty. Probably in the North Sea.

MARIANA: Oh. OK.

The sheer unflappability of this woman. She’s brilliant.

More, please!

[skyriderwednesday]

I suspect this whole physics demonstration bit is done as a monologue by Holmes because in reality Watson was screaming at him the whole time.

About pointing a loaded gun at his own head, about flinging his revolver into a river, etc.

I do have a slight problem with it though: Watson's revolver might produce a similar chip in the stone, but it definitely won't produce one 'of the exact size and shape of the first'. That would require Watson's revolver to be coincidentally the exact same model as owned by Gibson, which I find highly unlikely.

Holmes does ask the sergeant to get Watson's revolver back though, probably because he turned around to see Watson murder-glaring with intentions of making him swim for it.

[thatlittledandere]

"Look at us Watson we're starting to pick up each other's habits 💖 bestiiies"

[agoddamneddelight]

two things to say abt this. first of all, holmes has seasonal depression confirmed. he’s just like me fr.

second of all, their house?? proof right here that they retired together, there is no space big enough to house a tree behind any flat on baker st

[johnlockifconvenient]

Watson is about to start barking at this guy

[thefisherqueen]

Business is a hard game, and the weak go to the wall. I played the game for all it was worth. I never squealed myself, and I never cared if the other fellow squealed. But she saw it different. I guess she was right. She believed and said that a fortune for one man that was more than he needed should not be built on ten thousand ruined men who were left without the means of life.

Miss Dunbar is a socialist icon

[red-umbrella-811]

👀👀👀

physical affection spotted

[dathen]

Some, and not the least interesting, were complete failures, and as such will hardly bear narrating, since no final explanation is forthcoming. A problem without a solution may interest the student, but can hardly fail to annoy the casual reader.

Among these unfinished tales is that of Mr. James Phillimore, who, stepping back into his own house to get his umbrella, was never more seen in this world. No less remarkable is that of the cutter Alicia, which sailed one spring morning into a small patch of mist from where she never again emerged, nor was anything further ever heard of herself and her crew.

The casual reader may not be interested, but I know a place who’d love to hear these stories, Watson—are you familiar with The Magnus Institute, London?

[mariana-oconnor]

Thor Bridge pt 3

Back to the Gold King again.

But first we have to go and see the young governess who he claims thinks she can fix him.

I had expected from all that we had heard to see a beautiful woman, but I can never forget the effect which Miss Dunbar produced upon me. It was no wonder that even the masterful millionaire had found in her something more powerful than himself—something which could control and guide him.

Watson, rein it in, she's been a victim of sexual harassment from her employer and she's now in jail for allegedly murdering his wife. There is a time and a place for your horniness, now is not it. But, I suppose, at least you are consistent.

"After seeing you, I am prepared to accept Mr. Gibson's statement both as to the influence which you had over him and as to the innocence of your relations with him."

I really hope that this is because of an indent on the little finger of her left hand and a shiny patch on the inside of her elbow, because if this is just because she's pretty, Holmes, then I am disappoint.

"I would not wish to wrong her, but she loved so vividly in a physical sense that she could hardly understand the mental, and even spiritual, tie which held her husband to me, or imagine that it was only my desire to influence his power to good ends which kept me under his roof."

Oh boy, she's really believing the nonsense, huh? Sure, you have a mental and spiritual bond. I'm sure his intentions are entirely chaste. Yup, yuhuh.

"I can see now that I was wrong. Nothing could justify me in remaining where I was a cause of unhappiness, and yet it is certain that the unhappiness would have remained even if I had left the house.”

Which means the only thing gained by you staying was your own unhappiness. So that was pointless. But yes, you should absolutely have left and not tried to use your married employer's crush on you to manipulate his actions. Like, I get that you were trying to do something good, and I understand you're a victim in all of this, but that was still a bad idea.

"I saw no reason for such secrecy, but I did as she asked, accepting the appointment. She asked me to destroy her note and I burned it in the schoolroom grate."

Oh boy. Always keep the receipts. You were being framed so hard.

"Never did I realize till that moment how this poor creature hated me. She was like a mad woman—indeed, I think she was a mad woman, subtly mad with the deep power of deception which insane people may have. How else could she have met me with unconcern every day and yet had so raging a hatred of me in her heart?"

Yeah, little weird that the person we have been repeatedly assured was incredibly emotional and open about her emotions somehow managed to smother them to that extent on a daily basis until this point. Almost like there was some catalyst for her outburst (or this is a lie).

“Mr. Gibson is a very strong, self-contained man. I do not think that he would ever show his emotions on the surface. But I, who knew him so well, could see that he was deeply concerned.”

The more you talk about him, the more I think you were taken in by him. You're being very nice about the man...

“It could only have been at meal-time, or else at the hours when I would be in the schoolroom with the children.”

So... almost any time of day then?

It was as well for him that I did so, for he took little care for his own safety when his mind was once absorbed by a problem, so that more than once my revolver had been a good friend in need. I reminded him of the fact.

I mean, you killed a dog that one time. But usually he sort of... hits people himself? This feels like revisionist history. Holmes once bent a poker back to being straight.

“Do you know, Watson,” said he, “I believe your revolver is going to have a very intimate connection with the mystery which we are investigating.” “My dear Holmes, you are joking.”

Is Holmes about to throw Watson's revolver into a river?

“It all depends upon the behaviour of Dr. Watson's revolver,” said my friend. “Here it is. Now, officer, can you give me ten yards of string?” The village shop provided a ball of stout twine.

Well Watson's revolver is definitely going to be thrown somewhere.

Watson, why do you trust him with your things?

At the words he raised the pistol to his head, and then let go his grip. In an instant it had been whisked away by the weight of the stone, had struck with a sharp crack against the parapet, and had vanished over the side into the water.

🤣😂🤣

Bye bye, revolver!

You will also find beside it the revolver, string and weight with which this vindictive woman attempted to disguise her own crime and to fasten a charge of murder upon an innocent victim.

So the wife committed suicide to frame the governess for her death because she was jealous about her abusive husband? That's... utterly nonsensical of her.

Should have killed the governess and framed the husband (I mean, no, she shouldn't have, but it would have been a better plan).

Oh god. Oh no. Oh fuck me no. This is going to end with Miss Dunbar marrying the Gold King in order to fix him, isn't it? Isn't it?

I hate everything about that.

No doubt she blamed this innocent lady for all those harsh dealings and unkind words with which her husband tried to repel her too demonstrative affection. Her first resolution was to end her own life. Her second was to do it in such a way as to involve her victim in a fate which was worse far than any sudden death could be.

So the guy abuses his possibly already mentally ill wife to a point where she considers suicide the only way out? And she blames the other woman completely and not her husband. And Miss Dunbar isn't exactly blameless, using the guy's crush on her to her own ends, however altruistic they may be.

Just a whole lot of nope.

"Well, Watson, we have helped a remarkable woman, and also a formidable man. Should they in the future join their forces, as seems not unlikely, the financial world may find that Mr. Neil Gibson has learned something in that schoolroom of sorrow where our earthly lessons are taught.”

Just no. Just no... That poor woman. And yeah, what she did sucked. But what the actual fuck. Fuck everyone, honestly. None of this ended well. I hate it all.

Happily ever after because the love of a good (~British~) woman will change him and make everything from now on sunflowers and daisy chains. And no thought to the children who lost their mother or the fact that abusive partners can't just be 'fixed' and he's absolutely going to abuse his next partner when she doesn't live up to his standards. They're just going to be in this horrific manipulative relationship and the children are going to be trapped with them.

No thank you. This is not what I ordered.

But I did appreciate Watson's revolver taking a bath. Nice moment of comedy in amongst all the nonsense.

[stephensmithuk]

Thor Bridge

Most Holmes stories are "The Adventure of X". "The Problem of Thor Bridge", published in 1922 and forming part of the Case-book collection, is one of the exceptions. Others include "The Five Orange Pips", which is the full title.

This was originally published in two parts in The Strand, with a recap of the plot before the second part.

Cox & Co. was founded in 1758 as a military logistics company, getting money and other supplies to troops in India. Later Cox & Kings, the Indian company is now the process of liquidation after going bust in 2020, while the British arm is now a travel agent under the Abercrombie & Kent group.

The Family Herald was a weekly periodical that ran from 1843 to 1940.

The United States had 45 states in 1900; Utah had joined in 1896 and Oklahoma would be next in 1907. New Mexico and Arizona were the other two non-states at this time in the lower 48.

Senators were elected by state legislatures until 1912.

The city of Winchester is the county town of Hampshire and has been inhabited since before the Romans turned up. Traditionally seen as the capital of the old kingdom of Wessex - there was in fact no fixed capital, but it still was of major importance. Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles takes place in a fictionalised "Wintonchester".

Winchester today hosts a Crown Court that sits in session all year round. HM Prison Winchester, built between 1846 and 1850, is still an active prison, although today male only. One of its most notable inmates was serial killer Rosemary West, who was held there during her trial.

Claridge's is a famous five-star hotel in Mayfair, frequented by celebrities and royals.

At the time, the British definition of "billion" was a million million i.e. a modern trillion. A milliard was the term for a thousand million, but we now use the US definition.

Brazil had gained its independence in 1825, three years after declaring it. It had ousted its monarchy in 1889 and become a republic after a coup.

[devoursjohnlock]

What do you think of Mrs. Hudson’s role in Sherlock tho? Like since Una Stubbs has (sadly) passed away, can her role be replaced by another character through mirror characters? Or would they need to have another person play that role?

Hi anon,

Of course it's devastating to lose Una Stubbs as Mrs Hudson, and it's much harder for those involved in the show, who knew her personally, than it is for us.

In the Sherlock universe, I think the most obvious way to deal with the loss of Mrs Hudson as a character would be to cast a new actress as Mrs Turner, and have her appear as the 221B landlady without explanation. This would mirror Doyle's occasional use of Mrs Turner instead of Mrs Hudson.

The 221B landlady is unnamed when she first appears in A Study in Scarlet (1887), and then named Mrs Hudson in the next novel, The Sign of Four (1890). Despite this, she is named Mrs Turner throughout the first short story, A Scandal in Bohemia (1891). Much later, Mrs Turner is lined out in an early draft of The Empty House (1903), and replaced by Mrs Hudson:

Interestingly, there are varied theories about how long Mrs Hudson remained at 221B. Many Sherlockians believe that the old woman named Martha in His Last Bow (1917), described by Sherlock Holmes as "the only servant I have left", is actually Mrs Hudson, even though her last name is not given, and bringing Mrs Hudson along for undercover work at the German spy Von Bork's house seems a bit presumptuous. In Sherlock, this story is largely incorporated into His Last Vow (hardly surprising, given the title), and several of Von Bork's traits are incorporated into Magnussen's character. In the ACD Sherlock Holmes universe, this would place Mrs Hudson at the latest point in the timeline, dated at 1914 (it will be the last story in Letters From Watson).

However, the mention of a "new cook" in the Case-Book story Thor Bridge (1922), which Sherlock also borrows from in His Last Vow, as well as in S4, has led some Sherlockians to speculate that Mrs Hudson is no longer at 221B by that point.

"There is little to share, but we may discuss it when you have consumed the two hard-boiled eggs with which our new cook has favoured us. Their condition may not be unconnected with the copy of the Family Herald which I observed yesterday upon the hall-table. Even so trivial a matter as cooking an egg demands an attention which is conscious of the passage of time, and incompatible with the love romance in that excellent periodical." (Holmes to Watson in Thor Bridge)

In Sherlock, the role of Jane, the inattentive maid in The Abominable Bride, appears to be borrowed partly from Watson's maid Mary Jane, who cuts his boots while scraping mud off them in A Scandal in Bohemia, and the new cook who can't boil an egg in Thor Bridge.

The thing is, in the ACD Sherlock Holmes universe, Mrs Hudson is the cook; this is not in dispute. So, the reference to a "new cook" suggests to some that Mrs Hudson may have passed away sometime before Thor Bridge, which would mean that Martha cannot be Mrs Hudson if you take the dates seriously.

None of this directly answers your question, but my point is, the Great Game presents some interesting considerations for addressing the appearance of a new landlady for 221B. They may choose not to address it at all, swapping in a Mrs Turner for Mrs Hudson without comment, as Doyle did, or they may choose to mention the death of the character directly, or they may choose something else. Their method is pretty flexible, and they have options because of the way that Doyle wrote and the way that his stories have been interpreted over time. There is some ambiguity around Mrs Hudson as a character in the later stories; I assume they will lean into that, though I could easily be wrong.