Professor Moriarty's Secret Lair
Home Moriarty's Background "The Final Problem" The Valley of Fear Links
Moriarty's Background
Professor James Moriarty was extremely smart, very well-educated, and very good at math. He wrote a paper on the binomial theorem (a rule in math) that earned him a position as a professor at an English university. For some reason, however, he remained attracted to crime, and his career as a criminal was only helped by his mental powers. He eventually had to resign from his position at the university because of rumors about him there. He returned to London, where he became an army coach and set up a huge network of criminals. Holmes believed him to be the organizing power behind most of the crimes in the city. He calls Moriarty "the Napolean of crime," and dedicates a lot of his time to trying to bring the professor to justice. Catching Moriarty is very difficult even for Holmes, because Moriarty is just as smart as the detective.
"The Final Problem"
In the story "The Final Problem," Sherlock Holmes figures out a way to catch Professor Moriarty and his whole gang of criminals. He visits Doctor Watson, who has just gotten married, and leaves the country with him while he waits for the London police to finish the job. While on vacation, he receives a telegram from the police telling him that they captured all of the criminals but one. Professor Moriarty had escaped. Holmes and Watson continue their tour of Europe and arrive at a cliff near a waterfall. While there, Watson is tricked into returning to their hotel. Moriarty appears while he is gone. Holmes and Moriarty fight and fall over the edge of the cliff together.
The Valley of Fear
In The Valley of Fear, one of the four Sherlock Holmes novels, Holmes and Watson are called to investigate a murder in the United States. They follow many clues and eventually end up back in London, where they find Professor Moriarty behind the mysterious murder.
More Information about Professor Moriarty
Sherlockian.Net: Professor Moriarty
Professor James Moriarty: Did He Really Exist?
Professor Moriarty - Wikipedia
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