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January 16, 2014 7:57 pm  #41


Re: The memory stick

If she was set up with a false identity her financial arrangements would have been sorted out as well.


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Don't make people into heroes John. Heroes don't exist and if they did I wouldn't be one of them.
 

January 16, 2014 8:59 pm  #42


Re: The memory stick

Sherlock Holmes wrote:

I'm pretty sure Sherlock would have read the information on the stick. Even if John kept it hidden, or attempted to, we know by now that he can't keep ANYTHING secret from Sherlock.

Seeing as Mary gave up her old live five years ago though, I honestly do think that her and John met by chance and her love for him is genuine. I think the information on the stick will involve things that she's done in her career, possibly the amount of people she's killed and some of the methods she's used, things she believes will put John off her for life (but in reality, probably wouldn't)

As for whether Sherlock took a copy, that would depend on whether he knew John was planning to throw the stick onto the fire or not.

I think, Mary is genuinely in love with John, no doubt about that, but I don't believe for one moment, that she met John by chance (that would be a very uninteresting story line, btw)
She might have given up her incarnation as a CIA agent some years ago, but according to CAM, she was freelancing,  And I think, CAM knew way more about that and Mary's 'wicked ways'. She might've been freelancing right to the time TRF takes place. Maybe, it was her love to John, which made her change this 'wicked' life. In this case, John saved her as well as she saved John.
As to John destroying the stick eventually... I think, Sherlock knows John well enough to anticipate such a romantic gesture.

 

January 16, 2014 9:08 pm  #43


Re: The memory stick

It may have beem pragmatic, rather than romantic.


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January 16, 2014 9:09 pm  #44


Re: The memory stick

Davina wrote:

If she was set up with a false identity her financial arrangements would have been sorted out as well.

But people who are set up with a new identity don't do things which draw attention to themselves, and managing to live in London on a part time nurse's pay is the sort of thing which instantly draws attention.

Even where the new identity is provided by the state, for example witness protection schemes, the person involved is expected to earn their own living wherever possible; working part time is not normal for a woman of Mary's age...
 

 

January 16, 2014 9:16 pm  #45


Re: The memory stick

Who says?


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January 16, 2014 9:22 pm  #46


Re: The memory stick

besleybean wrote:

Who says?

The Office for National Statistics 
 

 

January 16, 2014 9:23 pm  #47


Re: The memory stick

Well, we all know what they say about statistics!


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January 16, 2014 9:26 pm  #48


Re: The memory stick

Swanpride wrote:

perhaps she couldn't afford living in London itself before she meet John and they moved in together.

 
If she couldn't afford to live there then she couldn't afford to commute there either; it is mindbogglingly expensive to do so. That is why the vast majority of Civil Service jobs were moved to much cheaper parts of the country years ago...

 

January 16, 2014 9:27 pm  #49


Re: The memory stick

besleybean wrote:

Well, we all know what they say about statistics!

Yes. They are facts.
 

 

January 16, 2014 9:30 pm  #50


Re: The memory stick

Wasn't exactly what I was thinking of.
But ok, so do these statistics say that not one woman of that age in Britain, works part time?
I know several who do.


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January 16, 2014 9:31 pm  #51


Re: The memory stick

There must be nurses in London. Don't tell me they can't live there, they must or london hospitals would be a disaster. (Maybe they are but that's a different discussion.)

I'm wondering about this thread, why does everyone suddenly believe that Sherlock read the stick? He never had access to it, Mary gave it to John in Baker street, then Sherlock went back to hospital. John still had it at Christmas, nothing suggests that it was in Sherlock's posession in the meantime. 

 

January 16, 2014 9:48 pm  #52


Re: The memory stick

besleybean wrote:

Wasn't exactly what I was thinking of.
But ok, so do these statistics say that not one woman of that age in Britain, works part time?
I know several who do.

No. But we are not talking about a woman of that age in Britain; we are talking about a specific woman of a specific age in a specific place ie the most expensive part of Britain, who most certainly could not afford to either live in, or commute to, London on the salary of a part time nurse.

It may be that the women you know who work part time and have no other sources of income manage to survive on their income, in which case congratulations on living in Shangri La.

But down here the world is somewhat harder; economic reality kicks in. And HMRC tend to get tetchy when people appear to be able to perform magical tricks which defy the age old precepts of there having to be income in order for there to be expenditure 
 

 

January 16, 2014 9:51 pm  #53


Re: The memory stick

Maybe she inherited money, or won the lottery,or had a rich sponsor...


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January 16, 2014 9:53 pm  #54


Re: The memory stick

silverblaze wrote:

There must be nurses in London. Don't tell me they can't live there, they must or london hospitals would be a disaster. (Maybe they are but that's a different discussion.)

There are indeed nurses in London hospitals; they work full time and they live in hospital provided accommodation, or social housing provided by local authorities for essential workers like nurses.

None of which has anything to do with a woman working as part time nurse in a GP's practise...
 

 

January 16, 2014 10:02 pm  #55


Re: The memory stick

besleybean wrote:

Maybe she inherited money, or won the lottery,or had a rich sponsor...

Indeed so, but she would have some difficulties inheriting money under an assumed name -lawyers tend to be twitchy about that sort of thing- and a lottery winning retired assassin stretches my willing suspension of disbelief beyond breaking point.

A rich sponsor who hands over money to an allegedly retired assassin is much more interesting, plot wise, don't you think?
 

 

January 16, 2014 10:11 pm  #56


Re: The memory stick

Swanpride wrote:

I don't follow the logic...if she shares the rent with John, she certainly should be able to afford a decent place. Perhaps John is even paying the main share of it. After all, he is working as a doctor again and has his army pension. And we don't know where she lived before she meet John.

But she wasn't sharing the rent with John when she first met him, was she?

And whether she lived in London or commuted she could not have done so, even flat sharing, on the salary of a part time nurse at a GP's practise. It's straightforward mathematics; she has to have another income in addition to the one we are told about.




 

 

January 16, 2014 10:45 pm  #57


Re: The memory stick

Willow wrote:

A rich sponsor who hands over money to an allegedly retired assassin is much more interesting, plot wise, don't you think?
 

Willow, I like your way of thinking: rational, but with an eye on potentially interesting plot lines! Let's face it: Mary as a former CIA agent in a witness protection program, who meets John just by chance in her new job as a part time nurse, just doesn't cut it with Mofftiss. You should know those devils better, by now, lol! And that would hardly be a past, she would have to hide from John, or kill for. She herself says, she could go to jail for the rest of her life (or a long time anyway), if her past gets discovered. Also, judging by CAM's reaction, when he 'opens' Mary's file, it must be really juicy.

Last edited by sherlocked (January 16, 2014 10:46 pm)

 

January 16, 2014 10:56 pm  #58


Re: The memory stick

Swanpride wrote:

If the guy with the bike could find a flat in London, even if it was an ugly one directly beside the rails, than Mary should be able to do so, too. All those people who work in a low-pay job have to life somewhere after all, statistics or not. Perhaps she didn't life directly in London but traveled into town everyday.

We only know where she lives now, and that is quite nice, but is not something she has to afford on her own, so I really don't see the problem.

 
The guy with the bike was a drugs dealer; are you suggesting that is what Mary was doing?

And as I keep pointing out, commuting into London is ludicrously expensive; it doesn't solve anything. Traveling into London each day costs an arm and a leg, and people doing low pay jobs work long hours, not part time.

None of this is an explanation for Mary having a lot more money than the one source of income we are told about; I do not think the writers are so dumb that they accidentally overlooked this when they were writing this season, which is why I think the question will be relevant to what happens next...

 

January 17, 2014 1:45 am  #59


Re: The memory stick

sherlocked wrote:

Willow wrote:

A rich sponsor who hands over money to an allegedly retired assassin is much more interesting, plot wise, don't you think?
 

Willow, I like your way of thinking: rational, but with an eye on potentially interesting plot lines! Let's face it: Mary as a former CIA agent in a witness protection program, who meets John just by chance in her new job as a part time nurse, just doesn't cut it with Mofftiss. You should know those devils better, by now, lol! And that would hardly be a past, she would have to hide from John, or kill for. She herself says, she could go to jail for the rest of her life (or a long time anyway), if her past gets discovered. Also, judging by CAM's reaction, when he 'opens' Mary's file, it must be really juicy.

Well, I'm glad that I'm not the only one who thinks that way; it's rather late on this side of the Pond, so some sleep would be good, but I shall really look forward to discussing it tomorrow. 
 

 

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