
Holmes is not quite sure where they will go, which seems rather odd to Watson. Holmes asks Watson to come to the continent with him, giving him unusual instructions designed to hide his tracks to the boat train at Victoria station. Moriarty is out to thwart Holmes's plans and is well capable of doing so, for he is, as Holmes admits, the great detective's intellectual equal.

Moriarty is the criminal genius behind a highly organised and extremely secret criminal force and Holmes will consider it the crowning achievement of his career if he can defeat Moriarty. Holmes has been tracking Moriarty and his agents for months and is on the brink of snaring them all and delivering them to the dock. Holmes managed to overcome his assailant and handed him to the police but admitted that there was virtually no hope of proving that the man was in the employ of the criminal mastermind. Finally, on his way to Watson's house, Holmes was attacked by a thug armed with a cosh. He then called the police to search the whole area but could not prove that it was anything other than an accident. Second, while Holmes was walking along the street, a brick fell from the roof of a house, just missing the detective. First, just as Holmes was turning a street corner, a cab suddenly rushed toward him and he just managed to leap out of the way in time.

Much to Watson's surprise and horror, Holmes had apparently escaped three separate murder attempts that day after a visit from Professor Moriarty, who warned Holmes to withdraw from his pursuit of justice against him to avoid any regrettable outcome. John Watson's residence one evening in a somewhat agitated state and with grazed and bleeding knuckles. It was intended to be the final Holmes story, ending with the character's death, but Conan Doyle was later persuaded to revive Holmes for additional stories and novels.Ĭonan Doyle later ranked "The Final Problem" fourth on his personal list of the twelve best Holmes stories. The story, set in 1891, introduces the criminal mastermind Professor Moriarty. It appears in book form as part of the collection The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. It was first published in The Strand Magazine in the United Kingdom, and McClure's in the United States, under the title "The Adventure of the Final Problem" in December 1893. " The Final Problem" is a short story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle featuring his detective character Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty fighting at the Reichenbach Falls, 1893 illustration by Sidney Paget in The Strand Magazine
