Tuesday, September 05, 2006

What if Holmes Actually Caught Moriarty?

Allow me to throw in a "what if"? What if Holmes captured Moriarty at Reichenbach Falls? How would Holmes bring him back to England? He brought nothing to tie him with in his meeting. Maybe without knowing it he was hoping Moriarty would kill him. Holmes would have feared the boredom and Moriarty was his ultimate challenge.

Would Moriarty (as he feared) be bound by Holmes as Caesar bound Vercingetorix and paraded through London? Imagine the reception. Now imagine what the trial would be like. The threat of witnesses disappearing, for example. Too many people have their livelihoods connected to the Professor to just allow him to go down the tube. Would the subsequent conviction and hanging become a political event? Would Moriarty be thought of as common criminal or Irish matyr?

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