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. Moriarty is the nexus of a highly organised and amazingly secret criminal force and Holmes will consider it the crowning achievement of his career if only he can defeat Moriarty. Moriarty of course is out to thwart Holmes' plans and is well capable of doing so, for he is, as Holmes admits, the great detective's intellectual equal.