16 – Miss Holmes, Your Teacher Is Not A Villain
“Miss Holmes, your teacher is not a villain.”
“Stop lying!”
The girl screamed at his calm lie. It was filled with betrayal from her revered idol, and complex emotions she still had towards the man.
However, Moriarty merely grinned at the girl.
“It was a simple logic puzzle we solved before the summer…. You haven’t revised it properly. If I’m not a villain, of course, I would say I’m not a villain. And even if I were a villain, would I admit it readily?”
Pause.
Then as if to provoke her, Moriarty continued.
“If I’m lying, Miss Holmes, isn’t it the detective’s job to prove if it’s a lie? Miss Holmes, like you. Isn’t solving puzzles the job of a detective?”
“Don’t think of wriggling your way out now!”
“Clearly, you are quite young, still a child. Well, it’s understandable. But it seems like you have forgotten everything I taught you, which disappoints me, Holmes. When we started, especially when we started math, what did I emphasize the most? Mathematicians make such speculations, but I taught you that until proven, all those efforts are useless and meaningless, mere sandcastles bound to crumble. So… can you prove it?”
At Moriarty’s provocative question, Holmes felt her lips burning. It was because she unknowingly bit her lips hard enough to draw blood.
But her lips were sealed, as if locked. No matter how much she racked her brain, she could not refute the man’s words.
Evidence, yes, there was no evidence. All that Sherlock did was a mere unproven hypothesis, and no one else but her would dare to suspect the man in front of her. And an unprovable hypothesis could not reveal the truth.
But she could not end it this way. Above all, she was able to find holes in the man’s words.
She wondered why she hadn’t thought of it sooner. A moment of unease tried to halt her, but her feeling of betrayal towards Moriarty was overwhelming, causing the girl to open her mouth.
“You… you’re lying, bluffing! Alone, you would have won, but… I’m not alone! I have Mycroft and Sheringford too! At least people won’t dismiss them lightly! They’ll find the evidence you overlooked, send you to prison! You were wrong, it’s all over!”
A brief silence.
When no response came, Holmes cried out, choking.
“Why did you do it? I liked you, more than anyone! But why did you?!”
Sherlock wanted Moriarty, who had heard her words, to distort his emotionless face with anger. She wished that he would rush at her to disprove her right then and there.
But Moriarty did nothing of the sort. Instead, Moriarty laughed at the girl.
“Well… maybe you’re not wrong. But can you really tell the people, Holmes? You? Can you?”
“What… what are you saying?”
Sherlock’s voice shook. Looking as if he were mocking her, Moriarty took slow steps towards her, but she was frozen to the spot.
She needed to run away immediately. The truth wasn’t important anymore. The girl was gripped with this certainty.
But with a cruel kindness, Moriarty bent over the girl, comfortingly patting her shoulder, and whispered.
“You’re trying hard to turn away, Sherlock. Can you become a great detective like that? The lesson isn’t over… remember not to turn your eyes away from the truth.”
“What… what are you saying? What do you mean? No… no! Don’t… don’t say it! Please!”
The once strong girl began to sob and plead.
However, the girl’s teacher revealed the truth she had been trying to ignore.
“You took part too, didn’t you? In killing your parents, you helped, didn’t you, Sherlock.
“I… I…!”
At some point, Moriarty had started calling her by her name again, but Sherlock, who hadn’t noticed, lowered her trembling head to avoid his gaze.
With an air of indifference, Moriarty continued to whisper.
“By the theory you’ve presented, it wasn’t something I did alone, was it? You participated too, didn’t you, Sherlock. You’re a villain too, we killed them together. You sowed the seeds of doubt in your parents by using my advice, didn’t you? To omit the part that you participated, isn’t a good habit, my young student.”
“No… it isn’t… I… I didn’t! I didn’t kill them! It’s… it’s all lies! No! It’s not! I, I didn’t!”
“Sherlock, Sherlock, don’t disappoint me further. You’re not an ordinary child, just too clever for your own good. Of course, I like it, but could such a clever child really… not know anything? You already know very well, you’ve acknowledged it deep down that you’re a co-conspirator. Don’t deny it, could I possibly not read that? We did it together, didn’t we? We contributed together to the death of two people. Well, this is still just a weak theory you’ve presented so don’t linger on it too much. Nobody will be able to prove it, right? Ah, or should we just confess?”
“Please… no… Please… I… I… it’s… it’s all my fault… oh…!”
The girl couldn’t deny the teacher’s words. It was as he had said. Sherlock herself had vaguely sensed this.
However, she had tried her best to refuse to fully accept the terrible truth.
Half-sitting in response to Moriarty’s words, Sherlock was burdened with a truth too cruel and revolting to be borne by a young girl.
It wasn’t her fault.
Moriarty had suggested using the smoked herring to distract her mother. But now, she realized that the one who had been duped by the smoked herring was Sherlock herself.
But what was the use of that? It was only then that the girl truly realized that she couldn’t completely blame the man in front of her. She understood the origin of her complex emotions.
How could she fully despise the man in front of her? As he said, she had taken part too! And could she dare to reveal this horrible truth to Mycroft and Sheringford?
The girl was frightened. Everything was too terrifying. It was undoubtedly too horrific a trial for a still young girl like Sherlock.
Of course, if looked at calmly, there was no reason to blame Sherlock. In the first place, the girl had only been used by a dreadful villain like Moriarty, and no one could blame the girl for contributing to her parents’ death.
Her loving brothers would certainly not blame Sherlock either.
But was that important now? When Sherlock herself could never forgive it all?
The girl, Sherlock, just collapsed on the spot.
Moriarty silently, as if watching, looked down at the unmoving girl, collapsed on the floor.
Because of her inscrutable expression, he couldn’t read the girl’s feelings. But for a moment, it all seemed dull as he observed the girl not moving as if she was fragmented.
‘Oh no, has she finally broken down?’
Moriarty thought to himself.
How unfortunate. The girl was just a girl after all. Regrettably, the world was about to become boring once more.
But that was all.
It would be best if there was a girl, but he had just proven that he had other pleasures. However, it would be a lie if he said he didn’t feel a pang of regret. Having a beloved student would certainly make things more interesting.
With a leisurely demeanor, he waited for the student he had to guide. Silence elapsed. Alas, the student remained utterly devastated and immobile.
Moriarty let out a sigh, intending to turn away. However, the sound of the girl gritting her teeth struck his ears, unexpectedly halting his steps.
Turning back to check on Sherlock, Moriarty saw her smiling. She was beaming an incredibly bright smile.
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In stark contrast, Sherlock was glaring at him as if wanting to murder him while struggling to push herself up. Although still reeling from the shock, Sherlock, or rather, Detective Sherlock Holmes, opened her mouth to bellow at Professor Moriarty.
“The next time… will be different! You… you’ll definitely not end things with just this! I’ll… I’ll definitely catch you and bring about your demise! I’ll prove that I’m right, even if it costs me everything! I’ll give up my entire life if I have to! I’ll… eradicate you, make you regret!”
“Alright, I’ll be waiting for you, Holmes.”
“You’ll regret sparing my life! I’ll definitely stop you!”
She had to calm her frenzied heartbeat. She wanted to bask in elation right then, but it was only the beginning.
Amazingly, and beautifully, the girl did not crumble! She glanced at him, trying to hide her devastation, but at least she did not fall apart! What a commendable child! As a teacher, he wanted to commend her, but now, he had to prepare for his student.
Noticing a carriage at a certain distance, Moriarty left without lingering but made an effort not to look back, carrying his luggage towards the carriage.
Even without looking back, he knew. London’s, no, Britain’s greatest detective, was glaring at her nemesis.
What a beautiful sight!
Soon the carriage took off. He deliberately doesn’t look outside, not wanting to take in this boring place. Instead, he looks forward to the pleasant days ahead, no, the beautiful days full of fun that were prepared for Moriarty.
“Life is so beautiful, London, England, you’re so beautiful, but so dull! So, Moriarty will go first, Holmes will follow.”
Even though he wasn’t drunk, he couldn’t help but cheer as if he was after a fair distance.
But it was an expected euphoria.
So, now was the time to formally begin everything. He must prepare and educate Sherlock, who will eventually seek him out.
Coincidentally, England and London were providing everything for him. This once dreadfully boring place was actually prepared for him!
There were a lot of things to do.
There should be no more boring cities. London and England, filled with vagrants, prostitutes, pickpockets, murderers, laborers, greedy and trite capitalists and politicians, needed order, and he had to create a new kingdom.
A despicable crime-filled city needed to be purified. Instead, it should be replaced with a city filled with mysteries for him and Sherlock.
He could sincerely be grateful for everything and his reborn life. Hence, in return, it’s time to ruin everything.
Creating and breaking mysteries are such fun things, aren’t they? Meeting Sherlock, he was able to prove everything.
So, he planned to bring down London and England, and beautifully ruin Sherlock at the end as a repayment for everything. That was the proper attitude to welcome the best detective, the highest form of pleasure. He loved his young student so much, albeit strictly in a teacher-student context, but does that distinction matter in love?
Moriarty loved the world, the ruin of the world, Sherlock Holmes, and the demise of Sherlock Holmes.
At the end of that year, 21-year-old James Moriarty published a paper on binomial theorem, garnering the attention of the mathematical circle in Europe, and was appointed as a professor in the Mathematics Department of Christ Church College, Oxford, for his contribution.
