years he was one of the most important men in the world of mathematics. Then he disappeared from university life. Soon after that I began to realize that crime in London was changing. Someone was telling criminals - who are usually stupid and uninteresting little men - what to do. They were obeying the orders of a mastermind. It could only be Moriarty. But I could never catch him. I hate his crimes, but I recognize his intelligence. He is the only criminal who interests me, because he is the only criminal who is as intelligent as I am.
'Then, in August, everything changed. Criminals became stupid again. In the middle of all his success, Moriarty had disappeared. Why?'
'Holmes!' I cried. 'The reason is clear. The Whitechapel murders began in August. It must be .. .'
'No, Watson,' Holmes said. 'It is not clear. Someone like Moriarty does not break locks and climb through windows himself. He gave orders to others. He was the commander-in-chief of the criminal world, not a foot-soldier.'
'Then why ... I mean, how ... ?'
'Success is too easy for him. He needs change and danger as others need drugs. He was the best at mathematics, then the best at crime. Now he has chosen murder.'
'Do you mean that he kills just to amuse himself?' I asked. 'Yes. He enjoys the danger. But there is another reason. He wishes for a battle with me - the most successful criminal against the most successful detective. It will be a fight to the death.'
'Then these women that he kills .. .'
'They mean nothing to him. He just uses them because they are necessary to his plan.'
'His plan?'
'Yes. I have said that he kills because he is bored and because he wishes for a fight to the death with me. There is a third reason. He wishes to destroy the world we know.'
'He is mad!'
'No. He is not mad. He is evil itself. He wants to bring fear into our lives, to make everyone in London afraid to go out at night, afraid of every sound and shadow. London will become a city of strangers, seeing danger in every neighbour. How can people live like that?'