My hands shook and I almost dropped the gun. 'It's
over, Holmes,' I said. 'I've been to the empty house. I
know everything.'
He laughed. 'Dear fellow! Nobody knows everything!'
I seemed to hear voices coming to me from the
water, and I could now see two Holmeses- one on
the path and one standing on air.
'I've found the jars,
Holmes, and the
papers. I know you
killed them.'
'I killed them? Which?
The jars or the
papers?'
Nothing seemed real.
It was getting harder
and harder for me to
speak. Holmes
watched me, smiling.
'I know you did it, Holmes,' I shouted. 'J watched you
cut Mary Kelly to pieces. You killed them! Let me
hear you say that you did!'
'What is it you want me to say?' 'Say you killed them!'
'You killed them.'
'I am going to shoot you, Holmes!' I screamed. 'Before
you die, tell me that you understand what you have
done!'
'You're mad, doctor,' he said. 'And you're talking
rubbish.
Go on, shoot me!'
I shot him. I shot again and again, but still he stood
there. Finally, I fell to the ground. I could not move. It
seemed a long time before I could say, 'Why aren't
you dead?'
I stared up at him as he stood above me, calmly
inhaling snuff from his snuffbox.
'I took the bullets from your gun and put in blanks,' he
said conversationally. 'Tell me, Moriarty, when did
you kill Watson? You are very clever. You look almost
like him, but I know who you are. When I saw you
injecting cocaine three times a day, I knew then for
sure that you were not my dear friend. Dr Watson
would never, never take drugs. Your cocaine is