This might be a stretch but I'm thinking bohemian grove and Sherlock mentions there being 17 steps into his library from the hall. Telling Watson that he sees but does not observe since he had been there hundreds of times yet did not know that. I wonder if the people behind Q might have also been Sherlock Holmes fans. Realizing people can see the things in front of them but do not deduce a pattern or actually really think about what is infront of them. Its like Sherlock is Q and the things unfolding now just pointing out how they see these things but do not yet understand them and Watson would be the normal populace.