Which of us has not read (and does not read now) the immortal works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle about the greatest detective in the history of mankind named Sherlock Holmes? Of course, this character is fictitious (even the address on Baker Street that he lived at does not really exist). Nevertheless, the detective of all time was opposed by sufficiently strong and treacherous villains. Among them is such an inconspicuous, but very strong personality, as Colonel Sebastian Moran. What is known about him and whether such a person really was, will now be considered.
Sebastian Moran: Well-Known Facts
There are at least two versions when Conan Doyle mentions the Colonel. Firstly, this is a case of embezzlement of a large diamond (a story that has not been published here), and secondly, it is the stories of Holmes’s last fight with Professor Morriarty on a cliff at the Reichnbach Falls. Well, and, of course, the “resurrection” of Sherlock Holmes in subsequent events.
There is one thing worth noting. Judging by our film and the chronology of Conan Doyle’s works, Colonel Sebastian Moran appears as a negative character only in the case related to the murder of the unfortunate Ronald Adair, who convicted the colonel of cheating in a card club. Adair, as you know, came home, locked himself in his office and began to calculate the amount of illegal gain in order to return them to partners.
Naturally, such a colonel Sebastian Moran could not allow. It is believed that after leaving the royal service, this was his main source of income. At the initial stage of the investigation, although all the facts indicate a verbal skirmish between Moran and young Adair, the colonel is still beyond suspicion.
Moreover, Ronald Adair was killed by a revolving bullet from a distance that does not fit into the understanding of a conventional pistol shot and any physical laws of that time.
Sebastian Moran: biography
Now let's digress a bit from the events and look at the biography of this character. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle does not give much information about him, although he claims that Sebastian Moran and Jim Moriarty were the most important criminals and organizers of this kind of activity in the old England.
At least, it is only known that Moran was a retired officer of Her Majesty's Indian Army , Queen of Great Britain. The author mentions that the future servant was born in 1843 in London and was the son of Augustus Moran - a very respected person who even became a holder of the Order of the Bath. In addition, the father of the future colonel was the official ambassador of Britain to Persia, which could not but affect the education of his son.
Sebastian Moran himself received a fairly serious education. What is Eton College and Oxford University worth? While in India, he became one of the best tiger hunters. Under his authorship, books were published such as “The Hunt for a Large Beast in the Western Himalayas”, written in 1881, and “Three Months in the Jungle” of 1884.
Achievement list
As for the merits of this unique villain, it is worth noting that he served in a separate sapper Bangalore regiment, and also participated in several campaigns as a diplomatic representative (Afghan, Cherasiab, Kabul, Sherpur, Dzhovak).
Large beast hunter
It was in India that the colonel distinguished himself as a fearless hunter. For the most part, he killed tigers, tying prey to a tree, and waiting for the predator to approach the prey at a close enough distance to be able to shoot him. But this method, as you know, in the end worked against the colonel himself.
"The Last Case of Holmes"
Judging by the chronology of the stories, the skirmish on the waterfall, which cost the death of two desperate and great people of that time (the brilliant criminal mind - Professor Moriarty - and the equally brilliant whistleblower - Sherlock Holmes), was not an accident. And it was in her that Moran was directly involved. After all, after the professor’s fall, he shot at Holmes, hanging on the edge of a cliff.
The killer seemed to be there - Sebastian Moran. Sherlock Holmes, being, so to speak, “dead”, could not prove the death of Adair by the colonel. As it turned out later, the young gentleman was killed from an original air gun made by a blind German craftsman named von Herder commissioned by Moriarty. Few knew that this weapon fired a small revolving bullet.
James Moriarty, Sebastian Moran (by the way, with an income of six thousand pounds a month, which at that time was an astronomical amount) - these are far from all criminal figures.
“King of blackmail” - Charles Augusto Milverton, as the narrative testifies, was also in the same harness.
Nevertheless, the latter was shot dead by his angry victim, the professor died in a fight with Holmes, and the colonel fell for his own bait.
"Empty house"
In this story, shown to our viewers in the form of the movie “Hunting for the Tiger,” Holmes, after his “resurrection” in the investigation of the murder of Ronald Adair, ordered a wax figure, which Moran subsequently shot from the notorious air gun.
True, few people know that our film describes these events in a slightly different way. It is believed that the colonel "bought" this bait.
The author himself in the stories mentions the fact that Moran was at Holmes' house and saw this figure. The detective himself advised Moran not to touch her, so as not to spoil her appearance. In general, there is enough absurdity.
Trial
However, there is one more “but”. The fact is that if for the image of Moriarty there was a prototype in the form of a well-known personality of that time, as they say now, a “criminal authority” named Adam Worth, then for his accomplice, so to speak, a “right hand”, there is only the image of a colonel.
What is most interesting, the son of Worth, caught by Pinkerton's agents, later became a detective himself. Is it a paradox?
Well, if we talk about the practical side, it is hard to imagine that a criminal of this level would escape punishment. However, the author mentions the colonel even in the tales of 1902 and 1914. It is noteworthy that if the criminal were still to be tried, according to British law, he would receive a sentence of execution by hanging. However, analysts and researchers of the work of Conan Doyle agree that it seems that the evidence was not enough, and the colonel was acquitted. Like it or not, no one knows. However, the author himself does not particularly touch on this topic.
Instead of an afterword
One way or another, history is silent, the colonel actually existed or was a figment of Conan Doyle’s imagination. Nevertheless, judging by the biographical data of the criminal himself, he was a very outstanding person. Moreover, service skills in India came in handy. By the way, this fact is consistent with Jules Verne’s novel “20 thousand leagues under the sea” with Captain Nemo, because in time it coincides with the sepoy uprising in the Indian colonies of Her Majesty.
Despite all the negative characteristics of this character, in some moments one cannot but admire his dignity and courage. Yes, let him be a criminal, let him break the law, but the English crown has always valued these desperate and devoted people of the empire above all else. But the confrontation of the three rivals looks very grandiose. Another thing is that Moran didn’t particularly aspire to anything, but was only a murder weapon, although after Moriarty’s death he could easily take his place (but he did it).
But now it is no longer possible to find out exactly what considerations Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was guided by, creating this character. It is possible to assume that he had a man who served as the prototype of this hero, but, as mentioned above, we can only guess about it.