In this adventure, Holmes confronts the criminal mastermind, Professor Moriarty. This short story was considered by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as one of the best Sherlock Holmes stories.
"It is with a heavy heart that I take up my pen to write these the last words in which I shall ever record the singular gifts by which my friend Mr. Sherlock Holmes was distinguished. In an incoherent and, as I deeply feel, an entirely inadequate fashion, I have endeavored to give some account of my strange experiences in his company from the chance which first brought us together at the period of the 'Study in Scarlet', up to the time of his interference in the matter of the 'Naval Treaty' - ad interference which had the unquestionable effect of preventing a serious international complication."