Of Reichenbachs and Books
Prompt: Moriarty meets Gethin
Moriarty was disturbed. He was disturbed in the only way that a criminal mastermind can be disturbed. He was disturbed by the mild observation of mundanity and innocence. He had found himself wandering in the suburbs of London only to witness the a tender encounter between a man called Jonathan and his boyfriend, Gethin. This wouldn’t have drawn Moriarty’s attention too much if it weren’t for the startling resemblance between himself and Gethin. They looked so much alike, they could easily pass for each other. But where Moriarty was malevolent, Gethin had an innocent, almost melancholy air around him.
But Moriarty was curious. He couldn’t leave the quiet bookstore owner alone, so one night when the bookshop was about to close, Moriarty stepped quietly in the doorway of “Gay’s the Word”, the bell warning Gethin of incoming customer.
He turned around m, about to say “I’m sorry, we’re closed”, but stopped dead when he saw the man that looked so much like enter with a threatening look in his eyes.
Moriarty had a plan. It had no beef it for Gethin, in fact it was detrimental, but it had everything for Moriarty to gain.
He stepped up to the counter, “We look alike, you and I”
“Yeah, are we related?”, Gethin asked hestitantly.
From the back room, Jonathan shouted, “You alright, Geth?”
“Yeah, I’m fine, it’s just a customer”
Moriarty looked across the counter at Gethin. “You see, I have this problem, it’s rather a final problem, if you must. Goes by the name of Sherlock Holmes.”
Gethin had heard of the detective in the news and with a sudden cold dawning realization became aware that that must mean that this was Moriarty, his nemesis.
“See, I need Sherlock out of the way. Can’t have him interfering with all my plans. I have a meeting with him on the roof of St. Bart’s. I’m going to threaten his friends, if he doesn’t kill himself. Bla, Bla, Bla, you get the deal. Except, he’s going to think he can use me as collateral, and then I have to kill himself, but I don’t want to. And I don’t have to, if I have you.”
Gethin had started shaking “And why would I do that?”
Moriarty glanced up at him with a cunning smile, “That man in the back, cares about you an awful lot, I can see you care about him too, you’d hate to see anything happen to him.If you value his life, you will be at St. Bart’s tomorrow at 11am.”
Moriarty turned and walked out of the store, leaving Gethin swaying on his feet.
