From cjnwriter: "Moriarty can crochet?!"

He waited at Simpson's, a restaurant he knew to be a favourite of Holmes and his companion. He hadn't done anything to Watson yet, wasn't even sure if the Doctor was aware of the web the detective had found himself entangled in, but the threat hung ominous in his choice of meeting place; he had eyes everywhere.

He arrived only a few moments early - Holmes, of course, was right on time. Moriarty watched as the detective was shown to the table.

"Mr. Moriarty," he greeted coldly, then paused and smiled humourlessly. "Of course - Professor again, isn't it?

"All the accusations against me were dismissed, yes, and my position reinstated." No thanks to Holmes's meddling. "Please, sit. Given you are here, I trust you received my missive?"

Holmes's expressions were famously unreadable. He nodded tightly. "I did. And, I must tell you..."

In the moment's pause as Holmes reached into his jacket pocket, Moriarty tensed. He had considered every possibility of how this meeting might go - threats, conversation, or perhaps as it looked now, a gun pointed at him under the table. If anyone could get away with so blatant a crime, it was surely Sherlock Holmes.

What he had not considered however-

"This crochet is exceptional."

He blinked. Holmes had spread the crocheted mat on the table between them; a coded message in dark grey was a stark contrast against the faintly patterned stripes of baby blue and mint green. It was an invitation to meet him here, now - knitted with Mrs Mary Watson's wool and left on Holmes's pillow. Moriarty had thought the threat again to be obvious; not only eyes everywhere, but access everywhere too.

"Did you do it yourself?"

"I- uh..." For once Moriarty was lost for words. "Yes. But what is truly relevant, Mr Holmes-"

"My landlady caught sight of it on my way here." Holmes shook his head in disbelieving admiration. "There are many out there who would gladly pay to learn your technique, you know. Assuming it was you? I know you have been working with that fellow, what's his name? Ex-army?"

"Moran," Moriarty answered without thinking, mentally berating himself for letting such a detail slip. But the content of the conversation had wrongfooted him! "No, it was not him. It was I who crocheted the message."

"Then truly sir-" Holmes shrugged defeatedly. "-you have already won in our battle. I might match you for wits, but when it comes to crochet..." He sighed and pulled a disappointing tangle of wool from his other jacket pocket. "Well, see for yourself."

"Your slipknot is too large to start," Moriarty said, again without thinking. "Uh, I mean-"

"Oh?" Holmes peered closer. "Indeed, indeed... of course I did have quite a large knot on the hook! You think that could be the reason why?"

Curiousity truly piqued - he rarely indulged in this, his favourite hobby - Moriarty pointed to another portion of the tangle and began to explain in detail where the detective had gone wrong in his attempts.

"But I don't understand," Watson said to Holmes two years later, the detective having snuck into his consulting room in attempts to throw off a dangerous tail. "Why has this Professor Moriarty targeted you out specifically?"

Holmes looked pensive. "I matched him in all ways but one Watson. One area in which he was always superior."

Watson frowned. "Mathematics?"

"Crochet."

Watson's frown deepened. "I believe I shall need a drink before I hear the rest of this..."

A/N: A silly one for you all this time! Also I'm so sorry I really have no inkling of how to crochet beyond the two WikiHow articles I read as research.