Chapter Text
Professor James Moriarty was a well-connected person - though not all his connections were made under that name - and it was through one of these connections that he was able to request an alternative method of payment for his services.
As per his instructions, the artist had tried his best to mimic the qualities of Jean-Baptiste Greuze's oeuvre. Though the end result would never be mistaken for a genuine Greuze, Moriarty was satisfied.
On top of that, Moriarty was pleased the artist had an eye for much more than mimicry. The only suitable props available at the time of the sitting were several pristine, unread copies of The Dynamics of an Asteroid, but the artist had been so kind as to change the colour of some of their bindings, to give the appearance of multiple titles.
He was so pleased, he offered the artist a signed copy of Dynamics, which he accepted, and any number of additional copies, which he politely declined.
And this was how a somewhat dramatic portrait of Moriarty surrounded by his books - or, rather, copies of his book - came to be proudly displayed on the wall of his study.