Somehow I managed to knock the gunman to the floor again, and Holmes escaped his clutches. The stranger squirmed mightily, but I held onto him while Holmes blew a whistle out the window. In a moment two policemen and Inspector Lestrade burst into the house and came to our rescue.
Holmes and his old friend exchanged greetings, while the two policemen pulled their prisoner upright.
"You fiend!" he shouted at Holmes. "You clever, clever fiend!"
Holmes picked up one of the policemen's lanterns and illuminated the man's face.
"Gentlemen," Holmes said, "may I introduce Colonel Sebastian Moran, one of the best shots that our army has ever produced."
The fierce old man said nothing, but glared at Holmes with a strange mixture of hatred and amazement.
Holmes calmly looked him up and down. "Colonel, I haven't had the pleasure of seeing you since you were paying such close attention to me at the Reichenbach Falls."
Snarling with rage, Moran sprang forward, but the policemen kept him from attacking Holmes.
"I never imagined that you'd make use of this conveniently empty house," Holmes went on. "I thought you'd attack me from the street, where Inspector Lestrade and his men were waiting. Aside from that, everything has gone as I expected."
Colonel Moran turned to Lestrade. "There's no reason I have to listen to this man. If you're going to arrest me, then take me away."
"Oh, don't worry, we're going to arrest you . . ." Lestrade paused dramatically. "For the attempted murder of Mr. Sherlock Holmes."
"No, no, that's not the right charge!" Holmes was busy examining Moran's gun. "Lestrade, I don't think you realize who you're arresting. This is the man the whole London police force has been searching for. You need to charge Colonel Moran with the murder of Ronald Adair."
Lestrade drew in a sharp breath and stared at the man before us. "Ronald Adair's killer! But how did he manage that on a street full of people?"
Holmes explained that Moran had used an air gun to shoot Adair through the open window of his study.
"I've been aware of air guns for years, but never actually encountered one." Holmes handed the weapon to Lestrade. "They're tremendously powerful yet relatively quiet when compared to other guns."
"So that's how the colonel was able to fire the gun without anyone noticing," Lestrade said.
Holmes nodded. "And now, Watson, if you can endure the draft from a broken window, let's retire to my rooms to talk things over."
I was delighted to see that Holmes' rooms were just as I remembered them. There were two occupants—Mrs. Hudson, who beamed at us both, and the wax dummy, which had played such an important role in the evening's adventure. It stood on a small table with one of Holmes' old dressing gowns draped around it.
"Mrs. Hudson, I hope you followed my instructions," Holmes said to his landlady.
"Yes," she replied. "I always approached the dummy on my knees, so that my shadow wouldn't appear on the blind."
"Excellent!" Holmes rubbed his hands together with satisfaction. "Did you see where the bullet went?"
Mrs. Hudson handed him the bullet, which had passed through the dummy, bounced off a wall, and landed on the rug. Holmes threw off his shabby coat and put on his dressing gown, which he took from the dummy.
"And now, Watson, sit in your chair, and we'll discuss this case." Holmes beckoned to the seat where I'd spent many happy hours, and Mrs. Hudson left to make tea. "You'll be surprised to learn that Colonel Moran had a distinguished career in the army."
Holmes had no idea what had motivated Moran's turn to crime. But by the time he had retired from the army and arrived in London, Professor Moriarty was aware of his talents. Eventually Moran became the criminal mastermind's chief of staff.
Professor Moriarty kept the colonel supplied with money and only used him for high-stakes jobs that an ordinary criminal couldn't handle. When Moriarty's gang was broken up, there was no evidence to connect Moran with the professor.
"Do you remember when I visited you, and I closed the shutters for fear of an air gun?" Holmes asked.
I admitted that I thought it was rather strange at the time.
"I knew that if anyone had an air gun, it would be Colonel Moran, one of the best shots in the world. When we were in Switzerland, he followed us with Moriarty, and he's undoubtedly the man who threw rocks at me."
As long as the colonel was free, Holmes would be in danger. But Holmes couldn't kill Moran because then he would be on trial for murder.
"All I could do was read the crime reports in the newspapers and hope that he'd reveal himself."
"And then came the murder of Ronald Adair . . ."
Holmes nodded. "It sounded like Colonel Moran's type of crime: a wealthy member of society mysteriously killed by what I suspected was an air gun."
When Holmes returned to London, he was instantly spotted by Moran's lookout, who alerted the colonel.
"Colonel Moran couldn't fail to connect my sudden return with his crime." Holmes laughed. "He must have been terribly alarmed."
Holmes knew that Moran would immediately try to kill him, probably with an air gun. So he placed the bust in the window and alerted the police.
"Those were the men you so cleverly spotted in the doorway," Holmes said to me.
"I can understand why Moran was after you," I said. "But what was his motive for murdering Adair?"
Holmes explained that Moran and Adair had recently won a lot of money playing whist together. On the day of the murder, Adair discovered that Moran had been cheating. Adair probably threatened to reveal what Moran had done unless he immediately resigned from his card clubs and promised never to play cards again.
"But exclusion from his clubs would mean financial ruin," Holmes said. "Since Moriarty's death, he'd had to find another source of income."
"And he lived on the money he made by winning at cards!" I said. "So he murdered Adair."
"Exactly," Holmes said. "Adair didn't want to profit from his whist partner's cheating. That night he was figuring out what he owed his fellow card players. Adair had locked the door because he didn't want his mother or sister to come in and ask what he was doing with all that money. Meanwhile Moran had found another convenient hiding place and fired his gun."
"Well, Holmes, once again you've solved the case," I said as Mrs. Hudson brought us some tea. "And may I say, on behalf of the entire city of London, that we are all delighted to have you back!"