SusiGo wrote:

I prefer not to speculate but to keep what is there. And we get no proof that Mary called the ambulance or that John knew someone else had called before. My reading is still that Sherlock tried to keep himself and John safe by telling this story about Mary saving his life. They are in a room with an armed assassin and he knows he will collapse any moment.
 

You think Mary posed a threat to Sherlock and/or John in that scene? I don't see that at all, to be honest. She seems very timid and silent. I don't see any reason she would hurt any of them. She loves John and would never hurt him. And hurting Sherlock in front of John (when everything is in the open and she can't hide behind wanting to protect her past) would definitly make her lose John. And even if she did, ambulance was on it's way so they would have witnesses/help/meical aid. Neither is she portrayed as any threat in that scene. So I don't see it myself.

Last edited by Vhanja (May 10, 2015 12:45 pm)

The “who called the ambulance” scene is quite obviously a deduction, not an observation. Sherlock might have gotten more data by simply asking if a male or a female had called it, but we are not told if he did or not (I would assume in the case of gunshot wounds those records would be kept for later police investigations). When they enter CAM’s office, Sherlock smells a woman’s perfume. He even consults John about it. But John (understandably) seems to forget about it. It seems to come back to him when he sees the perfume bottle in 221b. The thing is, it is only in that scene that is seems to become clear to him that Sherlock must have seen who shot him. So apparently John Watson – doctor, soldier and part-time assistant to the world’s only consulting detective – forgot to ask the simple question: Do you know who shot you? Or take in the implications of the position of the entrance wound. I can only assume that Sherlock was too drugged up on morphine for John to ask even the simplest questions and that the talk we see with Janine is only what it is because she lowered the dose. But on longer term, there would have been an investigation (I assume Lestrade came to the hospital to try and get some information from Sherlock, not just to get a funny home video) and it would have said if the caller of the ambulance was male or female, even if they did not give a name. So for me it seems very risky for Sherlock to make up that Mary was the caller if it could have been disproven so simply (Mary might be ruthless, but I don’t believe she is stupid, she would not base her alibi on something so fragile, would she?)

I don't know whether John neglected to ask, but we do know that until he was going to make the reveal later on, on the phone with Mary, that he was probably being secretive about the whole thing.  Also, he probalby knows it wasn't Magnussen and when he first sees Mary at the hospital he doesn't think it was her either.  Therefore, if John were to ask, he might not have known who the person was anyway.  I don't know whether that is a good enough reason not to find out, but paired with Sherlock probably not being able to tell him while he's in the hospital, it could have been overlooked, or just deemed unimportant at the time? Or he didn't want to push? Or maybe for the time Sherlock said he didn't know because he wanted to reveal the truth - that it was Mary who shot him - later on, in a more dramatic or interesting way?
Also, if Lestrade and the Yard were then to begin an investigation, like you believe could have happened, then maybe even John was not privy to the information that they were collecting or what their suspicions were.
It could be a fragile alibi, but perhaps even for Mary that was the best she could come up with in the situation.  It seems she knew she wouldn't actually kill him, anyway, so it was a last resort kind of action.  I don't know if what I just said makes any sense, since I haven't thought about this before.  But even if it could be disproven, I think the information that Sherlock has and his subsequent deduction could fall under "whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."  Possibly.

I have to think that Mycroft was more involved in the events of S3 than we were lead to believe.

One thing Mary could have done was just dial 999 and allow the call to be traced.  Or she could have disguised her voice.   She was putting herself at risk a little, making the call.  And yes, the police could have contacted the base and found out that there were two calls, that one was from a woman, etc. and told Sherlock - maybe that was how Sherlock found out, rather than the ambulance timing (but I'm guessing it was the ambulance timing, simply because that's how he says he knew).  But we don't know anything about the police investigation. 

The big difficulty that I have, is that Magnussen and Sherlock's stories have to match, and neither of them were going to give the correct information.  But I think we've just got to assume that whatever they said, the police believed it.   Given the trauma to Sherlock it would be believable that he didn't know who shot him, and that would have been the easiest way out, leaving it to Magnussen to give the details.   Neither of them need to have seen the assailant's face (could have been masked), or even whether it was a man or a woman.   Magnussen was knocked out so could also claim to have seen very little.   And there's no reason to connect Sherlock to the assailant (he wasn't supposed to be there), and no obvious information to connect Mary to Magnussen (he kept that in his head).   (Possibly Mycroft is suppressing information ... we don't know yet ... but on the surface of it, the police have very little to go on - even if they knew about the two ambulance calls, it wouldn't really help identify the person). 

Lil, when I've called an ambulance they've just said that one is coming, not given details.   The information they give on the phone tends to be practical stuff, to do with access, airways, that kind of thing.    If they'd told John a call had already been made, he might have thought Magnussen had made the call (although I don't think so, because he sees Magnussen coming to just as he arrives, and he doesn't ask him if he's made the call).   I think it's just about plausible. 

tonnaree wrote:

I have to think that Mycroft was more involved in the events of S3 than we were lead to believe.

My thoughts exactly 



Also, it seems logical that CAM would have told them that there was someone else in the office. Otherwise he would have admitted to shooting Sherlock himself (interestingly, also there John forgets to ask “By whom?” after CAM tells him that Sherlock has been shot). So everybody involved would have known there was another person in the room at the time of the shooting. The risk of Mary being found out where really only minimally higher by calling the ambulance (she would not introduce herself with “This is Mary Watson, I just shot my husband’s best friend.”), all they would have known is that there was an unknown woman present. As a trained assassin she would have known how to leave no physical evidence behind that could be traced back to her. Leaving CAM (and even more Sherlock) alive was the real risk.
 

Last edited by Lola Red (May 10, 2015 5:55 pm)

nakahara wrote:

Mary, undisguised:

http://silentauroriamthereal.tumblr.com/post/117148595465/rizzlemarionette-asknerdymind-watching-hlv

 

I always interpreted that smirk as being pleased about her shot.

I do agree that it shows a bit of her darker side, just the kicking with or without the smirk. Normal decency would have her pick it up for him. However, these aren't normal circumstances with normal people. 

SolarSystem wrote:

Agreed, no normal circumstances and a pretty... 'special' set of people. Nevertheless you can analyze Mary's behaviour in this scene, and compared to other characters in the show and how they peobably would have behaved she is pretty vicious here.
 

Well, you can compare it to John. Neither in that scene nor the following "domestic" does he show any concern for Sherlock's pain before he actually collapses. Even threatening him. It's clear he never meant to go through with the threat, but it shows that he is aware of Sherlock's situation, but because of the circumstances he has no concern to give. I would say the same would go for Mary.

John is concerned because he is - again - being lied to by the one closest to him. 
Mary is concerned because she fears she will now lose John.

Slightly different, but still both valid concerns for me.