The Great Game (56 page)

             
"Tennyson goes on: 'Yet I doubt not thro' the
ages
one increasing purpose runs, / And the thoughts of men are widen'd with the process of the suns.' "

             
"It's always good to end on a hopeful note," the duke said. He looked at Moriarty. "Where do you go from here?" he asked.

             
"Norway, I think," said Moriarty. "There's a man in Trondheim who has published some interesting work on the corona of
the sun, and I'd like to speak with him. After that, there are some interesting ruins in Algiers that I'd like to take a look at."

             
"Godspeed," the duke said. "You'll find a sizable check deposited to your account in London when you get back."

             
"Always welcome," said Professor James Moriarty.

The End

* * * * * *

THE

GREAT
GAME

Also by

Michael Kurland

Featuring Professor Moriarty

The Infernal Device and Others

(
includes
The Infernal Device, The Paradol Paradox, and Death by Gaslight)

THE

GREAT GAME

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ST. 
MARTIN'S  MINOTAUR
   **   NEW YORK

the
great game.

Copyright © 2001 by Michael Kurland.

All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

Design by Lorelle Graffeo

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Kurland, Michael.

The great
game :
a Professor Moriarty novel / Michael Kurland.—1st ed. p. cm.

ISBN 0-312-20891-X (hc)

ISBN 0-312-30505-2 (pbk)

1.   Moriarty,   Professor   (Fictitious   character)—Fiction. 2. Scientists—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3561.U647 G7 2001

813'.54—dc21
             
2001019577

First St. Martin's Griffin Edition: February 2003

* * * * * *

Back cover

Labeled the "Napoleon of Crime" in Doyle's classic Sherlock Holmes stories, Professor James Moriarty is now what he has been portrayed to be. In this, the third of Michael Kurland's acclaimed novels featuring Moriarty, he is once again called into action when Holmes suddenly disappears. A man is killed by a crossbow bolt on Moriarty's doorstep and his help is sought in the case of a captured English spy. From these thin threads, Moriarty quickly realizes that if he is to save all of Europe from impending chaos, he must find and defeat his deadliest opponent ever

Cover design by David Baldeosingh Rotstein

Cover illustration by Jill Bauman

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DISTRIBUTED IN CANADA BY H. B. FENN AND COMPANY, LTD.

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA