4"
Moriarty"is"dead"
As a soldier and a doctor, I know that a man who is
very badly hurt in battle often feels no pain. If he
lives, he remembers nothing about what has
happened to him. After that terrible night in
Whitechapel, I was like that man. The next day, I
woke up and found myself lying in a park. My watch
and my money had gone, and I was cold and dirty. I
knew that I had spent many hours drinking, but I did
not know where I had been, or what had happened
to me.
I did not want to go to Baker Street, because I was
afraid that Holmes would be there, but I needed a
bath and dry clothes. In the end, I paid a cab-driver
to knock on the door. The house was empty, so I
went in.
There was a telegram from Holmes. 'M has escaped
us,' it said. 'He is trying to leave the country, but I am
following him.' I did not know what to think. Was I
mad, or was my best friend, the man who I had
worked with for so many years, a murderer?
That evening, the murder in Whitechapel of a young
woman called Mary Kelly was reported in the
newspapers. This murder was more bloody, more
horrible than any that had happened before. It was
clear that it was the work of Jack the Ripper.
I was still reading the newspaper reports of the
murder when Lestrade arrived.
'Good evening, doctor,' he said. 'I'd like a word with
Mr Holmes.'
I did not know what to say. Did the police already
know what Holmes had done?
Then Lestrade saw the telegram, picked it up and
read it. 'Running off for a little holiday, is he?' he said.
'Some of us have to work for a living. We've had
enough of Mr Holmes and the kind of help he gives
the police