Clues to Appledore in HLV
Introduction - The Green Mirror
221b, John and Sherlock. Janine just left, and John is speechless. Sherlock is all business: CAM is the Napoleon of blackmail, Appledore is the Alexandrian Library of secrets and scandals. “…the personal freedom of anyone you’ve ever met is a fantasy.” Pretty scary stuff. But John keeps interrupting to catch up on the whole “Sherlock has a girlfriend” thing.
As they flip between topics, we get several shots where the fireplace mirror is over Sherlock’s shoulder. It should reflect the mind-work wallpaper opposite, and it does… EXCEPT when Sherlock’s talking about Appledore. Then it reflects flat green. Why? I have a theory that the mind-work wallpaper represents Mycroft’s looming presence in Sherlock’s life, which would make the green mirror a clue for the viewers: Sherlock’s subconscious refuses to associate Mycroft with Appledore.
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In the opening sequence, CAM is being questioned, and he sees Lady Smallwood’s details on his personal Appledore screen. It lists her name as “Alicia”. Lady Alicia Smallwood.
Later, when CAM pays a visit to 221b, Sherlock tells him he has been asked to represent Lady Elizabeth Smallwood. CAM hesitates, and Sherlock even invites him: “Something I said?” But CAM is busy reading Sherlock’s file, and he repeats Lady Elizabeth’s name twice before he leaves the flat. We’ve seen how people jump to fix others’ mistakes, Sherlock showed us in TGG; it’s a handy way to collect info from a reluctant suspect. In this case, the absence of a correction is just as illuminating. CAM didn’t remember/ didn’t have access to Lady Smallwood’s first name.
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With John and Sherlock at Appledore, CAM puts on a little show: how he accesses the Appledore vaults. He mimes opening a file drawer, taking out a folder, flipping through pages. Sherlock is frozen still, staring in disbelief.
I’ve done just a bit of Internet research, and as nearly as I can tell, file cabinets are NOT the way to organize a mind palace. Our minds are very good at retaining visual images, particularly unusual ones; so the best mind palaces look kinda crazy, because the information is stored in weird and impossible ways in every room. Sherlock would know this intimately, and would immediately suspect CAM was faking the Appledore vaults.
A moment later, CAM says “Sometimes I send for something if I really need it”. He glances at his watch (A receiver? His glasses and watch also figured prominently in the opening scenes of HLV. Tools of the trade?). Then the giveaway: “Mostly I just remember it all.” (We’ve seen that he doesn’t). And this is when Sherlock looks really sick. Earlier, Mycroft made it clear that CAM is under his protection; I think it’s here that Sherlock finally, reluctantly deduces that Mycroft is Appledore.
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At Appledore, Sherlock’s face is stricken, his eyes fall shut in dismay. His brother is the source of blackmail material on the entire Western World; balance of probability, he IS the disgusting creature that turns Sherlock’s stomach. Mycroft had a similar moment of despair earlier, in 221b. He tried to warn Sherlock away from CAM, but Sherlock dismissed him. Mycroft gazed blankly, calculating the endgame; then closed his eyes, knowing he’d be helpless to protect Sherlock from the truth. By the end of HLV, the Holmes brothers are lost to each other.
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tl;dr
1). Mycroft is Appledore.
2). Sherlock has deduced it.
3). Both are devastated.
Which leads us straight to The Abominable Bride. Yes, it’s about Sherlock, Sherlock and John, Mary, Mary and John, and of course it’s about Jim. But I think Sherlock is working on Mycroft’s case, too. What happened to Mycroft, and how did he come to this unholy alliance with the abominable Charles Augustus Magnussen?
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Thanks to Ariane DeVere for her magnificent transcripts.
Earlier Mycroft-CAM posts:
