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in a position to investigate these matters myself. I noted their ripple effect, the disturbances on the surface that would always point me to their origin. Slowly, but surely I began to make inroads into his organisation. There were the odd minions who, although petrified of the Professor, were more frightened of me and the weight of the law that I could bring to bear on them. By using such felons I was able to gain an insight as to how Moriarty worked and how he ruled his kingdom absolutely. It still took another two years before I was able to put a name to this figure. The surprise was great when I realised I knew the man.”
    â€œYou knew Moriarty? This is something new to me. How did you know him?”
    â€œBefore Mycroft went up to Oxford my father brought in a mathematics coach to assist my brother. For a period of two months he came to the house regularly to teach Mycroft the more rarefied branches of mathematics.”
    â€œHe taught you too?”
    â€œNay, my father would not see fit to spend any extra money on my education. Mycroft was the chosen one and it was he who received the special attention of Professor James Moriarty. In fact when Mycroft went to Oxford he ran into the professor again, for he held a post at Oxford for a while until a scandal forced him to seek new pastures.”
    â€œI can imagine what a great shock that must have been for you. Did you bring this to the attention of Mycroft? That his former mathematics coach was a criminal mastermind?”
    â€œIn a manner of speaking. That is to say, I apprised my brother of some aspects of Moriarty’s subsequent career, but Mycroft was already supremely aware of Moriarty’s tawdry line of work.”
    â€œHow so?”
    â€œMy brother and Moriarty had stayed in touch and although Mycroft was not fully aware of just how large a criminal organisation Moriarty presided over he knew that his old tutor operated outside of the law. This meant that to Mycroft and therefore the government, Moriarty had his uses.”
    â€œHe was employed by them? Surely not, Holmes!”
    â€œI can assure you he was.”
    â€œAs what?”
    â€œAs someone they could trust to do some of their dirty work for them, someone who would keep their secrets secret... at the right price of course.”
    â€œPrecisely what kind of work are we talking about?”
    â€œAnything from petty theft to political assassinations.”
    â€œGood God, Holmes, I am amazed.”
    â€œStandard practice for many governments I am afraid. In the case of Moriarty it did go some way to explaining how my efforts to infiltrate to the heart of the man’s lair seemed to be blocked sometimes in a way I could not fathom. Like all agents of the government, Moriarty was eminently expendable and once he had outlived his usefulness then I had Mycroft’s full assistance in ridding the world of this man’s presence.”
    â€œDid Mycroft have no compunction about helping to destroy one who had been an ally until recently?”
    â€œAn ally? No, Watson, he was a paid agent. His very criminality was what made him attractive to a government that sought out those it could use when official channels could not be utilised. That same criminality brought about his downfall.”
    â€œIt must be dashed unlucky to have one Holmes hounding you, but when another Holmes joins the hunt, then the effect must be terrifying.”
    â€œQuite so, Watson.”
    â€œWhen you related your meeting with Moriarty in our rooms the intimation was that you had never met the man before.”
    â€œThere had to be some necessary subterfuge in view of the high stakes for all concerned. There was a meeting, but not quite the dramatic confrontation I may have led you to believe.”
    â€œDo you know, Holmes, I believe you spent your whole career hiding things from me!”
    â€œGuilty as charged, Watson. But on occasion I saw it as for your own protection. My