Has the mystery behind the identity of Sherlock Holmes’ greatest nemesis been solved?
He was the mysterious and ruthless ‘Napoleon of Crime’ in the Sherlock Holmes novels by Scottish author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
But now a leading Scottish scholar has claimed that the true identity of Holmes’s great nemesis, Professor Moriarty, is the literary detective’s brother Mycroft.
Mycroft Holmes – played by Mark Gatiss in Sherlock, the BBC version of the stories – is described by Sherlock Holmes as an even more brilliant human being than the famous resident of 221B Baker Street.
After studying the stories of Edinburgh-born Conan Doyle, author Robert J Harris, who is writing the Holmes sequel novels, believes that Moriarty’s true identity is Mycroft – who, according to Holmes, is ‘one of the strangest men’.
Exposing the theory in Sherlock Holmes Magazine, inserted right, Mr. Harris said that “numerous clues pointing in this direction” were left by Dr. John Watson, Holmes’s friend and helper, who tells the stories but Moriarty never meet.
Dr. Watson, played by Martin Freeman in the BBC’s Sherlock, only gets a vague glimpse of Moriarty in The Final Problem, when the supervillain struggles with Holmes and they both appear to die in Switzerland – although we later learn that Holmes did not die. and he appeared again in The Adventure of the Empty House.
Mr Harris, who lives in St Andrews, believes Moriarty was ‘just a senior member of a vast criminal network uncovered by Sherlock Holmes’.
He writes that “to conceal the shocking truth, Watson’s story lumps two separate individuals together under the name Moriarty” – one is a “relatively innocent” professor, and the “other is the real criminal mastermind, Mycroft Holmes.”
Benedict Cumberbatch as the BBC’s Sherlock Holmes with Mark Gatiss as his brother Mycroft. A leading Scottish scholar has claimed that the true identity of Holmes’s great nemesis Professor Moriarty is the literary detective’s brother Mycroft
Mycroft Holmes – played by Mark Gatiss in Sherlock, the BBC version of the stories – is described by Sherlock Holmes as an even more brilliant human being than the famous resident of 221B Baker Street
The author of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. After studying the stories of Edinburgh-born Conan Doyle, author Robert J Harris, who writes the Holmes sequel novels, believes that Moriarty’s true identity is Mycroft.
The first mention of Mycroft – who is also played by Christopher Lee and Stephen Fry – comes in The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter. Holmes “almost inadvertently lets go of his brother’s existence.”
When Dr. Watson suggests that Holmes’ gifts are the “result of training” rather than genetics, the detective says that perhaps his genius comes from his grandmother.
When pressed by Dr. Watson as to why he is so certain it is hereditary, Holmes replies, “Because my brother Mycroft possesses it to a greater extent than I do.”
He says his brother “has extraordinary numerical skills and checks the books at some ministries.”
Mr Harris writes: ‘We cannot help but notice how closely this description of Mycroft matches that of Professor Moriarty.’
Holmes later reveals that Mycroft is perhaps the most powerful figure in the corridors of government, explaining “in that big brain of his, everything is boxed up and can be doled out at a moment’s notice.”
Mr Harris writes that Mycroft ‘determines the policies that govern the country’ – in the same way that the ‘Napoleon of Crime’ decided ‘what crimes would and would not be committed’.
Dr. Watson, played by Martin Freeman (right) in the BBC’s Sherlock, gets only a faint glimpse of Moriarty in The Final Problem, when the supervillain struggles with Holmes and they both appear to drop dead in Switzerland.
The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans, the second and final Mycroft story, concerns a stolen document – and Mycroft ‘takes the preemptive step of involving himself in the investigation so he can keep an eye on his brother’s progress’ can hold’.
Mr. Harris speculates that it is “very likely that Watson, in his account of this case, has omitted much of the true story, including its denouement, in which Sherlock Holmes reveals proof that it is Mycroft’s diseased mind that is behind this and other story lies. ‘criminal acts.
He concludes: ‘We can therefore guess that Sherlock gave his brother the opportunity to resign his government post and retire to the country.’
Mr. Harris’s own Holmes novels include A Study in Crimson and The Devil’s Blaze.