BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 / Mary has a secret child

**Posted by OpalJade** December 29, 2016 12:09 am

I think that Mary has two game-changing secrets that explain all of the plot holes in S3.

First: She’s a double agent.
Second: She has a secret child.

The Secret Child is the invisible thread that connects everything together.I have an abundance of ACD canon facts supporting this premise, but first here’s a visual to highlight my point.

I believe that Mary is based on Effie Munro; the suspicious wife in The Yellow Face.Here’s a quick numeral summary of the parallels.
* Effie moved to the UK five years ago.
*She hides her past from her husband.
*She is obviously involved in something shady.
*Her husband catches her sneaking off and she refuses to explain herself or defend herself.
*Her dear husband forgives her without further explanation. Okay, this is important: not only does her husband forgive her… but he forgives her using almost the same speech John used to forgive Mary (the essence of the message is exactly the same even if the wording is a bit different).

You are at liberty to preserve your secret, but you must promise me that there shall be no more nightly visits, no more doings which are kept from my knowledge. I am willing to forget those which are past if you will promise that there shall be no more in the future.

* It turns out Effie was hiding her child from a previous relationship.
* It is a locket with the picture of the child that reveals the secret.Now remember the necklace Mary was wearing?

Well, Moffatt, Gatiss, and Sue have said in the DVD commentary of HLV that the necklace has meaning and explains something.

Sue: She’s got a necklace there, hasn’t she?
Mark: Yes, we’ll have to explain that at one point.
Steven: There’s quite a lot of things we’ll have to explain, Mark.

I think just like in canon, the necklace represents the secret child. Instead of a locket with a photo (not really worn present day), it is a 5 petal redish-purple flower. I surmise that the flower is an actual violet and that the secret child is named Violet. (There are a tons of females named Violet in ACD canon!

)ETA: And now we know the name of the little sister is Rosie. Two flowers!

I knew Mary had a secret child almost after viewing HLV but didn’t see it in the deductions until later on in 2014. I decided to write my theory in a fanfic instead. You can read it here if you like Johnlock: Mixed Messages.http://archiveofourown.org/works/1245769/chapters/2560720

Tumblr link: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/opaljade

**Posted by Liberty** December 29, 2016 7:15 am

Mary having a child previously is one of the things I've speculated about, partly because of CAM's message about her "family" (could be parents, could be another sort of family, but could also mean she had a family of her own at one point). She's old enough that she could have an adult child, which could be interesting. I think John (or the midwife?) might have picked up on it not being her first, though, as a GP - but possibly it could be missed.

**Posted by Lis** December 29, 2016 10:55 am

I read the tread title to the tune of Mary had a little lamb

It does seem possible but I wonder what impact a secret child, unless like you say Liberty the child is an adult, would have on the story. I suppose it would emphasise that she's not above abandoning her child/children though.

Last edited by Lis (December 29, 2016 10:56 am)

**Posted by SusiGo** December 29, 2016 11:16 am

Very interesting thoughts, OpalJade.
A question: Where would you place the word "only" from the deductions which before has been connected with "child"?

**Posted by Whisky** December 30, 2016 10:04 am

Maybe it would explain a bit better why she had to keep her past secret. Maybe it wasn't just about her crimes, but also about protecting someone she loves but had to abandon for his\her own sake. That would also explain her character a bit better.

**Posted by SolarSystem** December 30, 2016 10:08 am

Of course "Secret Child" could also mean that Mary herself is the secret child of someone.

**Posted by Whisky** December 30, 2016 10:38 am

Someone we know? Sadly there aren't many characters around who would be old enough to be a father/mother of Mary.

Last edited by Whisky (December 30, 2016 10:39 am)

**Posted by SolarSystem** December 30, 2016 10:42 am

I have absolutely no idea. I'm just saying that "Secret Child" can work in both directions: Mary having a secret child and Mary being a secret child. Sherlock's parents would be old enough to be her parents.

**Posted by Liberty** December 30, 2016 6:08 pm

That's very true (Sherrinford! The other one!). But I'm still wondering about Susi's question about "only".

**Posted by SusiGo** December 30, 2016 6:14 pm

Yes, so do I. And I have some other reservations:

- It would put the focus very much on Mary. It would do nothing for John's character development and redeem Mary in a way I find doubtful after what she did in HLV. IMO having a child who is used as a pressure point still does not justify almost killing someone who is your friend.
- And then we would have to deal with two children instead of one who would have to be integrated into the story. This is not really what SH is about if you ask me.
- The yellow face is a remnant of the time before Sherlock's death. So the clue we get in MHR is from a time during or before TRF which means that Mary would have been in play years before she officially appears in the show.

Last edited by SusiGo (December 30, 2016 6:14 pm)

AO3 · **Posted by GimmeCat** December 30, 2016 7:09 pm

Well, if Mary turns out to have worked for Moriarty, possibly as his "Sebastian" or right-hand-man/sniper, then we've long been theorizing that she's been in play since as far back as the Pool scene.

Totally agree with your other points there though, SusiGo.