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Professor James Moriarty is a fictional character in some of the Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Moriarty is a criminal mastermind whom Holmes describes as the "Napoleon of crime". Doyle lifted the phrase from a Scotland Yard inspector who was referring to Adam Worth, a real-life criminal mastermind and one of the individuals upon whom the character of Moriarty was based. The character was introduced primarily as a narrative device to enable Conan Doyle to kill off Sherlock Holmes, and only featured directly in two of the Sherlock Holmes stories. However, in more recent derivative work he has been given a greater prominence and treated as Holmes's archenemy. ==Appearances in works== Moriarty's first and only appearance occurred in ''The Adventure of the Final Problem'', in which Holmes, on the verge of delivering a fatal blow to Moriarty's criminal ring, is forced to flee to continental Europe to escape Moriarty's retribution. The criminal mastermind follows, and the pursuit ends on top of the Reichenbach Falls, an encounter that apparently ends with both Holmes and Moriarty falling to their deaths. In this story, Moriarty is introduced as a crime lord who protects nearly all of the criminals of England in exchange for their obedience and a share in their profits. Holmes, by his own account, was originally led to Moriarty by his perception that many of the crimes he investigated were not isolated incidents, but instead the machinations of a vast and subtle criminal ring. Moriarty plays a direct role in only one other Holmes story, ''The Valley of Fear'', set before "The Final Problem" but written afterwards. In ''The Valley of Fear'', Holmes attempts to prevent Moriarty's agents from committing a murder. In an episode in which Moriarty is being interviewed by a policeman, a painting by Jean-Baptiste Greuze is described as hanging on the wall; Holmes remarks on another work by the same painter to show it could not have been purchased on a professor's salary. The work referred to is ''La jeune fille à l'agneau''; some commentators〔. A review of ''THE NAPOLEON OF CRIME — The Life and Times of Adam Worth, Master Thief'' by Ben Macintyre〕 have described this as a pun by Conan Doyle on the ''Thomas Agnew and Sons'' art gallery, which had a famous painting stolen by Adam Worth, but were unable to prove the claim.〔 Holmes mentions Moriarty reminiscently 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''. More obliquely, a 1908 mystery by Conan Doyle that was named "The Lost Special" features a criminal genius who could be Moriarty and a detective who could be Holmes, although neither is mentioned by name. 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. Conan 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 states that Moriarty had commissioned a powerful air gun from a blind German mechanic surnamed von Herder, which was used by Moriarty's employee/acolyte Colonel Moran. It closely resembled a cane, allowing for easy concealment, was capable of firing revolver bullets at long range, and made very little noise when fired, making it ideal for sniping. Moriarty also has a marked preference for organising "accidents". His attempts to kill Holmes include falling masonry and a speeding horse-drawn van. He is also responsible for stage-managing the death of Birdy Edwards.〔Epilogue, ''The Valley of Fear''.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Professor Moriarty」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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