2
Sherlock Holmes was busy with other cases for the next three weeks. There were no new murders in Whitechapel, but people were frightened and angry with the police, who were no nearer to finding the killer than before. My own life was happy enough. I visited my dear Mary Morstan, and kept this visit a secret from Holmes - something which made me feel unusually clever!
One day Holmes and I had just finished breakfast together.
He was standing by the window, when suddenly he gave a cry. 'What is it, Holmes?' I asked. 'What's the matter?'
He turned towards me. His face was white and the look in his eyes was terrible.
'May I have an hour of your time, Watson?' he asked in a low voice.
'Of course, but .. .'
'Then get your hat and coat.'
He ran out of the house. I followed him quickly and the next two hours passed in a wild chase all over London. We jumped into a cab, out of it again and onto a train, ran down narrow streets and in and out of a big hotel. Finally we came to rest in the peace of a London park.
'You are a true friend, Watson,' Holmes said at last. 'You came with me without a question. Did you realize that someone was following us?'
'I thought so. But who?' 'Can you not guess?' 'No.' 'He calls himself Jack the Ripper.'
'Holmes!' For a moment I found it difficult to speak. Then I asked, 'Did you see him through the window? Where was he?'
'In the empty house opposite ours. He was watching our rooms, Watson. He knows that I am looking for him. We must be very careful. He is one of the most dangerous criminals in Europe.'
'But who is he?' I cried.
'Have you ever heard of Professor Moriarty?' 'Never.'
'That is the strangest and most terrible thing about him.' Holmes laughed angrily. 'He is everywhere, but nobody knows him. Like his crimes, he is fantastic.'
I listened in silence as Holmes told me about Moriarty.
'He is an extraordinarily intelligent man. At the age of twenty-one he was a professor of mathematics. For
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?'