Gentleman Thief

> *"Let's paint the town red."*
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## Storyline

Sherlock manages to escape from Moriarty in "A Deal With A Gentleman Thief" and is met by the titular character after some time. It appears that they have been working together on this case for some time since the thief, Irenaus Adler, is frustrated hear that Moriarty escaped with the diamonds. He berates Sherlock for letting the criminal get away since he was the one who told the detective that Moriarty was behind all this. He was also the one who told Moriarty where the diamonds were but he considers it fair since he tried to steal the diamonds from Moriarty afterwards.

When Sherlock appears to give in Adler reveals that he has the diamonds. He explains that he beat Moriarty to the jewels and switched them with fakes, then made a showy, failed attempt to steal them back knowing that the mastermind would never have time to examine them with the detective after him. When Sherlock asks why he didn't tell them he coyly reminds the detective that the chase is more fun than the capture as they both well know. Sherlock tries to take the diamonds but Adler holds them back and makes two demands - they need to call Scotland Yard off his tail and let him keep Lady Bilburry's jewels (they looked terrible on her anyway). He'll be using the latter to fund his holiday away from London, which has turned into a hotbed of chaos since Moriarty came to town.

Adler notices that Watson hasn't arrived, something he does to keep the two of them from getting into trouble together, and is genuinely shocked and dismayed to hear that the doctor was hurt badly enough that he's confined in the hospital. He apologizes to Sherlock and decides to cancel his holiday, saying that he won't leave the detective to go after Moriarty on his own. He admits that if anything happened to Sherlock he would go on the warpath for them so it's better for everyone if work together on this. He tells Sherlock to start planning, musing that afterwards perhaps they could have a holiday for two, and they leave together.

## Personality

Irenaus Adler is a gentleman thief who commits crime for the adrenaline rush and to fill his pockets. He has worked with Moriarty before but opposes his style of crime. Adler prefers crime that is organized and bloodless, so he opposes the criminal mastermind's tendency to leave chaos and tragedy in his wake. Though an unscrupulous, unrepentant, self-centered criminal himself, Adler is also charming, both witty and snarky, and proud of his accomplishments as a thief. He takes his criminal reputation seriously and appears to have friends in criminal society.

Adler is also attached to Sherlock in a way that's beyond adversarial. They've had "dealings" before and he demonstrably enjoys being the in their company and being their opponent. They appear to have a similar penchant for haring off on fun/dangerous missions. Watson, apparently, does his best to keep the both of them from getting into trouble together. He also cares for Watson, possibly because he knows how important the doctor is to them. With Sherlock he is coy and flirtatious and his dialogue suggests that the tension between the two of them is one of mutual attraction. He claims that if anything were to happen to them he would go on a vengeful warpath, which might involve breaking his self-imposed principle of non-violent crime.

## Trivia

### Gentleman Thief and Sherlock

* This is Hollow's adaptation of Sherlock's one-time literary antagonist Irene Adler.
* Often calls Sherlock "my dear, sweet detective".
* They have clashed before and Sherlock keeps score (3 to 5 in Sherlock's favor and the bank doesn't count).
* Last time they worked together, Adler robbed Sherlock blind.