Free The Last Sherlock Holmes Story by Michael Dibdin Page B

‘Moriarty, as you perhaps heard me say, was an organiser merely. He was, so to speak, the Napoleon of crime. You do not expect to find Napoleon leaving his maps and spy-glass to carry a sabre in the line. Moriarty was a man who acted indirectly for the purpose of gaining power and wealth. The Whitechapel killer acts in the most direct manner imaginable, but for no apparent purpose whatsoever. The two cases could hardly be more sharply contrasted.’
    ‘Then why –? I mean, how –’
    ‘Not so obvious now, eh Watson? Nevertheless, I think we can arrive at a fairly accurate notion of what it is that has induced this Bonaparte to start ripping flesh apart. Consider his university career. There, too, he found himself in an unrivalled position, enjoying an absolute and unclouded success. To be sure, various dark rumours circulated at the time of his resignation, but I have been ableto show that these were started by none other than the Professor himself, as a smoke-screen to cover his withdrawal . We are therefore forced to the conclusion that there is something in Moriarty’s disposition which abhors absolute and unclouded success. He has a strain in his blood which craves challenge as other men crave drugs. No sooner has he mastered a profession than he abandons it in disgust. His book The Dynamics of an Asteroid was so abstruse that no one could be found who was competent to offer an opinion upon it. Thereupon, he turned his hand to crime. But here again he soon proved himself hors concours . Even I, the foremost criminal agent in Europe, could not overthrow him. So once again he changed his tack. But this time he made sure. He chose the most dangerous trade of all – murder!’
    ‘You mean to tell me this beast kills merely to keep himself amused?’ I exclaimed in horror. ‘That he murders and mutilates to stave off ennui ?’
    ‘Partly, yes! Certainly in undertaking these hideous crimes his first thought, I believe, has been to bring into being a set of circumstances he cannot stabilise; a situation of ever-increasing personal danger. Formerly he ran no risks. He might as well have been director of a limited company. Whatever came to pass, Moriarty was untouchable. But these killings are another matter. Public opinion is galvanised, and each time the killer ventures out his path is fraught with greater peril. But there is more to it than that. For one thing, Moriarty has clearly determined to make these murders the occasion for a duel to the death with me.’
    ‘With you!’
    ‘Yes, Watson, I am his intended opponent. Of that there can be no doubt. The man wishes to test his mettle. Lestrade and his bobbies are clearly incapable of that. A man like Moriarty might murder the entire female population of London for all the police could do about it. But Ihave crossed his path, Watson! I have incommoded him. He has felt my check. A lesser man might have been warned off, but not Professor Moriarty. He has thrown down the gauntlet, and from now on we meet face to face. It is an encounter from which only one of us will come away alive.’
    ‘Then these women he kills –’
    ‘Pah! They mean no more to him than counters on a board. He uses them as he uses everyone with whom he comes in contact. Previously it was live thugs; now it is dead drabs. Moriarty sees no difference. He is concerned only with furthering his dread design.’
    ‘His design?’
    Holmes nodded grimly.
    ‘I said there is more to these killings than a mere desire for stimulation. To overmaster me is part of his plans, but I fear they go further still. What he intends is nothing less than the overthrow of civilisation as we know it.’
    ‘The man must be mad!’
    ‘If only he were. But he is as sane as myself, and as capable.’
    I shook my head emphatically.
    ‘That I cannot believe, Holmes. I saw what he did to that woman in Aldgate. No sane man could have wielded that knife. And then you say he dreams of overthrowing civilisation. Why, what is