It has long been understood that no lasting bond would ever form between the Holmes and Moriarty families. Whether due to the rivalry between Sherlock Holmes and William James Moriarty, or something deeper, the two families were bound by an undeniable similarity — and an equally undeniable difference. For decades, they engaged in a battle of wits, a game of intellect that the Moriartys waged with the singular aim of breaking the Holmes' mental fortitude, while the Holmes fought solely to protect their own. Over time, this competition became a bitter tradition: the Moriartys struck again and again, each time defeated by the cunning of their foes. However, one intriguing commonality persisted: neither family ever had a female heir. For generations, this battle remained a contest between two men. That is, until the tenth generation of Moriartys. After a long and difficult struggle, Henry and Elizabeth Moriarty were blessed with a daughter — a late-born child, conceived in their advancing years, yet, her arrival was not met with universal joy within the Moriarty household. The family, steeped in the male tradition of their legacy, had no use for a daughter who could not continue their war against the Holmes, which already had a son. To remedy this perceived shortcoming, they resolved to make her smarter, sharper, and more dangerous than any Moriarty who had come before. And so, Diana James Moriarty was raised to be something extraordinary — her intellect was so far beyond what was considered normal, her abilities so exceptional, that even her parents questioned whether she could truly be considered "human."Â
This is the story of Diana James Moriarty — the first woman ever to carry the Moriarty name, and the first Moriarty to outwit a Holmes.