I never thought of the finger prints.  I thought it was more to do with his shadow, which the little girl may think of when she screams...Moriarty's shadow wouldn't be much different.
Moriarty shot himself because he had a breakdown.  Matters had come to a head with Sherlock and Moriarty thought he had destroyed him, so he had nobody else left to play The Game with.

I agree with veecee. Sherlock had found a move that unmated Moriarty's check and Moriarty rectified it by killing himself.

I think there's a second reason for it as well. Notice that Moriarty killed himself by reversing the gun and shooting himself in the mouth. The gunpowder residue would be all over Sherlock and the reporter would testify he had a motive for killing Richard Brook. This could cast suspicion on Holmes for murder, further motivating him to jump as well. Moriarty aims up, launching the residue all over Sherlock's arms and chest.

Last edited by Lupin (November 4, 2012 5:12 pm)

Though it's a bit of a tangent, one may notice that they were on a roof. It would be very difficult for forensics to reconstruct the scene, given that the gunpowder residue would be scattered by the wind and the two had walked all over the roof. Also on a rooftop there's not likely to be witnesses to what happened. They could determine from the gunpowder residue and the hole / burn mark on Moriarty that it was Moriarty's gun that fired, but beyond that it's word against word, I think.

I'm not sure what you mean by "modern" forensics. In Holmes' day there wasn't even fingerprinting. People were identified by various measures of lengths on their face, for instance.

I think he asked for a moment of privacy to see if the homeless network he had set up outside St. Bart's was in place.

Moriarty did not have to watch the jump but we saw Moriarty look over the ledge on the roof. If Sherlock didn't ask for a moment of privacy, it's plausible to believe that Moriarty would have been beside him if he jumped.

Well obviously you were referring to now. I just meant that saying modern forensics doesn't mean much to me unless you tell me what sort of technology you have in mind.

Lupin wrote:

I agree with veecee. Sherlock had found a move that unmated Moriarty's check and Moriarty rectified it by killing himself.

I think there's a second reason for it as well. Notice that Moriarty killed himself by reversing the gun and shooting himself in the mouth. The gunpowder residue would be all over Sherlock and the reporter would testify he had a motive for killing Richard Brook. This could cast suspicion on Holmes for murder, further motivating him to jump as well. Moriarty aims up, launching the residue all over Sherlock's arms and chest.

Most certainly, killing himself was the ultimate move, the only one Sherlock could not 'better'. The ramifications of his ultimate move weren't under consideration I guess, but you've gotta hand it to him for finding an almost definitive move.
Of course Sherlock, once again outwitted him in making a similar but wiser move in answer. Just no beating that guy.

As for residue, by the time the gun went off, Sherlock & Moriarty had both stepped away from each other. In a more realistic scene there may have been blood splatter but hardly likely there would be much GSR on Sherlock.
Nor do I think this was any added incentive to jump. The jump had been planned for the purpose of getting Sherlock 'out of sight' the best way he knew how, by 'dying'. After the initial shock of Moriarty's actions, Sherlock would have composed himself & stuck to the plan. His main aim being to dismantle the Moriarty web whilst being undercover. The fact that the 'spider' just committed suicide was a mere minor detail in the end.

In answer to your 1st question:
For me, 2 reasons:
1.  Moriarty wouldn't want to be seen by witnesses.
2.  He didn't need to see Sherlock hit the deck, only the snipers did.
Actually, I may  add :
3.  He didn't credit Sherlock with organising/executing such an audacious plan...which kind of fits in with my answer to your next question.

' The 3 Friends/Targets'.

1.  You kind of answered your own question:  it is universally known that there is no love lost between the Holmes brothers,  After all, Mycroft released Moriarty and gave him info against Sherlock.
2.  Molly is the key, the secret weapon.  Moriarty knew Molly and Sherlock were colleagues and he probably also knew she had the hots for Sherlock.  But he also saw Sherlock treating Molly with total disdain.

HE heard Sherlock say : 'gay' and knew that was a way of getting at Molly!

Last edited by besleybean (November 6, 2012 6:57 pm)

Ah well you see I think Moriarty does mean close emotionally, he's taunting Sherlock for his human weakness.
I think Moriarty would think Molly shallow enough to reject Sherlock completely.  After all, Sherlock is surprised she still wants to help him.
You may be right on the last point to a certain extent and the writers have said they play on the rift.

It possibly does mean ' ready allies'.
I suspect Lestrade is more emotionally tied to Sherlock, than the other way around.
Sherlock certainly considers Lestrade a valued colleague, as he does Molly...but Molly only latterly learns that and I'm not certain Moriarty ever does,