Editing Professor Moriarty (section)

==Appearances in works==
Professor Moriarty's first appearance occurred in the 1893 short story "[[The Adventure of the Final Problem]]" (set in 1891).<ref name=":0">Klinger, Leslie (ed.). ''The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes, Volume I'' (New York: W. W. Norton, 2005). p.&nbsp;xxxv. {{ISBN|0-393-05916-2}}.</ref> The story features consulting detective Sherlock Holmes revealing to his friend and biographer [[Doctor Watson]] that for years now he has suspected many seemingly isolated crimes to actually all be the machinations of a single, vast, and subtle criminal organisation. After investigation, he has uncovered Professor Moriarty as a mastermind who provides strategy and protection to criminals in exchange for obedience and a share in their profits. Moriarty realizes Holmes is aware of his operation and confronts him in person, threatening death if Holmes interferes any further.

Holmes describes Moriarty's physical appearance to Watson, saying the professor is extremely tall and thin, clean-shaven, pale, and ascetic-looking. He has a forehead that "domes out in a white curve", deeply sunken eyes, and shoulders that are "rounded from much study". His face protrudes forward and is always slowly oscillating from side to side "in a curiously reptilian fashion".<ref name="cawthorne" /> Holmes mentions that during their meeting, Moriarty remarked in surprise, "You have less frontal development than I should have expected," indicating the criminal believes in [[phrenology]].<ref name=":0" />

Holmes ignores the threat and delivers appropriate evidence to the police so Moriarty and those who operate his network will face justice in a few days. Knowing the mastermind and his trusted lieutenants intend to kill him before they hide or are arrested, Holmes flees to Switzerland, and Watson joins him. The mastermind follows, his pursuit ending when he confronts Holmes at the top of the [[Reichenbach Falls]]. Watson does not witness the confrontation but arrives later to find signs of hand-to-hand combat occurring at the cliff edge near the waterfall, indicating the battle ended with both men falling to their deaths. Watson also finds a goodbye note left behind by Holmes that Moriarty allowed him to write before their battle.

Moriarty plays a direct role in only one other Holmes story, ''[[The Valley of Fear]]'' (1914), set before "The Final Problem" but written afterwards. In ''The Valley of Fear'', Holmes attempts to prevent Moriarty's men from committing a murder. A policeman who interviewed Moriarty tells Holmes that the professor has a painting by [[Jean-Baptiste Greuze]] hanging on his office wall. Learning this, Holmes mentions the great value of another painting by the same artist, pointing out such works could not have been purchased on a university professor's salary. The work referred to is {{lang|fr|La jeune fille à l'agneau}};<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wikigallery.org/wiki/painting_389102/Jean-Baptiste-Greuze/Girl-With-A-Lamb |title=Girl With A Lamb}}</ref> which some commentators<ref name="NYT">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/97/08/24/reviews/970824.24mortimt.html |title=To Catch a Thief |author=John Mortimer |newspaper=The New York Times |date=24 August 1997}}. A review of ''THE NAPOLEON OF CRIME&nbsp;— The Life and Times of Adam Worth, Master Thief'' by Ben Macintyre.</ref> have described as a pun by Doyle on a famous [[Thomas Gainsborough]] painting, the ''[[Portrait of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire]]'',<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.damforstmuseum.org/images/stolen/gainsborough_duchess.jpg |title=A portrait of Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire by Thomas Gainsborough}}</ref> which was taken from the [[Thomas Agnew and Sons]] art gallery. The gallery believed [[Adam Worth]] (the criminal who helped inspire Doyle to create Moriarty) was responsible, but was unable to prove the claim.<ref name="NYT" />

Holmes mentions Moriarty in five other stories: "[[The Adventure of the Empty House]]" (the immediate sequel to "The Final Problem"), "[[The Adventure of the Norwood Builder]]", "[[The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter]]", "[[The Adventure of the Illustrious Client]]", and "[[His Last Bow (story)|His Last Bow]]" (the final adventure in Holmes's canon timeline, taking place years after he has officially retired).

[[Doctor Watson]], even when narrating, never meets Moriarty (only getting distant glimpses of him in "The Final Problem") and relies upon Holmes to relate accounts of the detective's feud with the criminal. Doyle is inconsistent on Watson's familiarity with Moriarty. In "The Final Problem", Watson tells Holmes he has never heard of Moriarty, while in "The Valley of Fear", set earlier on, Watson already knows of him as "the famous scientific criminal."

In "The Empty House", Holmes says Moriarty commissioned a powerful [[air gun]] from a blind German mechanic surnamed von Herder, a weapon later used by the professor's employee/acolyte [[Colonel Sebastian Moran|Colonel Moran]]. It closely resembles a cane, allows easy concealment, is capable of firing revolver bullets at long range, and makes very little noise when fired, making it ideal for criminal [[sniping]]. Moriarty also has a marked preference for organising lethal "accidents" to befall his targets. His attempts to kill Holmes include falling masonry and a speeding [[horse-drawn vehicle]]. He is also responsible for stage-managing the death of Birdy Edwards, making it appear the man was lost overboard while sailing to South Africa.<ref>Epilogue, ''The Valley of Fear''.</ref>