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
finished, isn't it? Poor Moriarty! Did you not realize that
my snuffbox contains cocaine, not snuff?'
I felt sick and weak. Before my eyes Holmes was
changing colour - red, then green, then blue. I shook
my head to clear it, but he was still talking.