THE COMPLETE SHERLOCK HOLMES

                         THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES


                                  Chapter 15

                               A RETROSPECTION

IT WAS the end of November, and Holmes and I sat, upon a raw and foggy night,
on either side of a blazing fire in our sitting-room in Baker Street.  Since
the tragic upshot of our visit to Devonshire he had been engaged in two
affairs of the utmost importance, in the first of which he had exposed the
atrocious conduct of Colonel Upwood in connection with the famous card scandal
of the Nonpareil Club, while in the second he had defended the unfortunate
Mme. Montpensier from the charge of murder which hung over her in connection
with the death of her step-daughter, Mlle. Carere, the young lady who, as it
will be remembered, was found six months later alive and married in New York.
My friend was in excellent spirits over the success which had attended a
succession of difficult and important cases, so that I was able to induce him
to discuss the details of the Baskerville mystery.  I had waited patiently for
the opportunity, for I was aware that he would never permit cases to overlap,
and that his clear and logical mind would not be drawn from its present work
to dwell upon memories of the past.  Sir Henry and Dr. Mortimer were, however,
in London, on their way to that long voyage which had been recommended for the
restoration of his shattered nerves.  They had called upon us that very
afternoon, so that it was natural that the subject should come up for
discussion.
     "The whole course of events," said Holmes, "from the point of view of the
man who called himself Stapleton was simple and direct, although to us, who
had no means in the beginning of knowing the motives of his actions and could
only learn part of the facts, it all appeared exceedingly complex.  I have had
the advantage of two conversations with Mrs. Stapleton, and the case has now
been so entirely cleared up that I am not aware that there is anything which
has remained a secret to us.  You will find a few notes upon the matter under
the heading B in my indexed list of cases."
     "Perhaps you would kindly give me a sketch of the course of events from
memory."
     "Certainly, though I cannot guarantee that I carry all the facts in my
mind.  Intense mental concentration has a curious way of blotting out what has
passed.  The barrister who has his case at his fingers' ends and is able to
argue with an expert upon his own subject finds that a week or two of the
courts will drive it all out of his head once more.  So each of my cases
displaces the last, and Mlle. Carere has blurred my recollection of
Baskerville Hall.  To-morrow some other little problem may be submitted to my
notice which will in turn dispossess the fair French lady and the infamous
Upwood.  So far as the case of the hound goes, however, I will give you the
course of events as nearly as I can, and you will suggest anything which I may
have forgotten.
     "My inquiries show beyond all question that the family portrait did not
lie, and that this fellow was indeed a Baskerville.  He was a son of that
Rodger Baskerville, the younger brother of Sir Charles, who fled with a
sinister reputation to South America, where he was said to have died
unmarried.  He did, as a matter of fact, marry, and had one child, this
fellow, whose real name is the same as his father's.  He married Beryl Garcia,
one of the beauties of Costa Rica, and, having purloined a considerable sum of
public money, he changed his name to Vandeleur and fled to England, where he
established a school in the east of Yorkshire.  His reason for attempting this
special line of business was that he had struck up an acquaintance with a
consumptive tutor upon the voyage home, and that he had used this man's
ability to make the undertaking a success.  Fraser, the tutor, died, however,
and the school which had begun well sank from disrepute into infamy.  The
Vandeleurs found it convenient to change their name to Stapleton, and he
brought the remains of his fortune, his schemes for the future, and his taste
for entomology to the south of England.  I learn at the British Museum that he
was a recognized authority upon the subject, and that the name of Vandeleur
has been permanently attached to a certain moth which he had, in his Yorkshire
days, been the first to describe.
     "We now come to that portion of his life which has proved to be of such
intense interest to us.  The fellow had evidently made inquiry and found that
only two lives intervened between him and a valuable estate.  When he went to
Devonshire his plans were, I believe, exceedingly hazy, but that he meant
mischief from the first is evident from the way in which he took his wife with
him in the character of his sister.  The idea of using her as a decoy was
clearly already in his mind, though he may not have been certain how the
details of his plot were to be arranged.  He meant in the end to have the
estate, and he was ready to use any tool or run any risk for that end.  His
first act was to establish himself as near to his ancestral home as he could,
and his second was to cultivate a friendship with Sir Charles Baskerville and
with the neighbours.
     "The baronet himself told him about the family hound, and so prepared the
way for his own death.  Stapleton, as I will continue to call him, knew that
the old man's heart was weak and that a shock would kill him.  So much he had
learned from Dr. Mortimer.  He had heard also that Sir Charles was
superstitious and had taken this grim legend very seriously.  His ingenious
mind instantly suggested a way by which the baronet could be done to death,
and yet it would be hardly possible to bring home the guilt to the real
murderer.
     "Having conceived the idea he proceeded to carry it out with considerable
finesse.  An ordinary schemer would have been content to work with a savage
hound.  The use of artificial means to make the creature diabolical was a
flash of genius upon his part.  The dog he bought in London from Ross and
Mangles, the dealers in Fulham Road.  It was the strongest and most savage in
their possession.  He brought it down by the North Devon line and walked a
great distance over the moor so as to get it home without exciting any
remarks.  He had already on his insect hunts learned to penetrate the Grimpen
Mire, and so had found a safe hiding-place for the creature.  Here he
kennelled it and waited his chance.
     "But it was some time coming.  The old gentleman could not be decoyed
outside of his grounds at night.  Several times Stapleton lurked about with
his hound, but without avail.  It was during these fruitless quests that he,
or rather his ally, was seen by peasants, and that the legend of the demon dog
received a new confirmation.  He had hoped that his wife might lure Sir
Charles to his ruin, but here she proved unexpectedly independent.  She would
not endeavour to entangle the old gentleman in a sentimental attachment which
might deliver him over to his enemy.  Threats and even, I am sorry to say,
blows refused to move her.  She would have nothing to do with it, and for a
time Stapleton was at a deadlock.
     "He found a way out of his difficulties through the chance that Sir
Charles, who had conceived a friendship for him, made him the minister of his
charity in the case of this unfortunate woman, Mrs. Laura Lyons.  By
representing himself as a single man he acquired complete influence over her,
and he gave her to understand that in the event of her obtaining a divorce
from her husband he would marry her.  His plans were suddenly brought to a
head by his knowledge that Sir Charles was about to leave the Hall on the
advice of Dr. Mortimer, with whose opinion he himself pretended to coincide.
He must act at once, or his victim might get beyond his power.  He therefore
put pressure upon Mrs. Lyons to write this letter, imploring the old man to
give her an interview on the evening before his departure for London.  He
then, by a specious argument, prevented her from going, and so had the chance
for which he had waited.
     "Driving back in the evening from Coombe Tracey he was in time to get his
hound, to treat it with his infernal paint, and to bring the beast round to
the gate at which he had reason to expect that he would find the old gentleman
waiting.  The dog, incited by its master, sprang over the wicket-gate and
pursued the unfortunate baronet, who fled screaming down the yew alley.  In
that gloomy tunnel it must indeed have been a dreadful sight to see that huge
black creature, with its flaming jaws and blazing eyes, bounding after its
victim.  He fell dead at the end of the alley from heart disease and terror.
The hound had kept upon the grassy border while the baronet had run down the
path, so that no track but the man's was visible.  On seeing him lying still
the creature had probably approached to sniff at him, but finding him dead had
turned away again.  It was then that it left the print which was actually
observed by Dr. Mortimer.  The hound was called off and hurried away to its
lair in the Grimpen Mire, and a mystery was left which puzzled the
authorities, alarmed the countryside, and finally brought the case within the
scope of our observation.
     "So much for the death of Sir Charles Baskerville.  You perceive the
devilish cunning of it, for really it would be almost impossible to make a
case against the real murderer.  His only accomplice was one who could never
give him away, and the grotesque, inconceivable nature of the device only
served to make it more effective.  Both of the women concerned in the case,
Mrs. Stapleton and Mrs. Laura Lyons, were left with a strong suspicion against
Stapleton.  Mrs. Stapleton knew that he had designs upon the old man, and also
of the existence of the hound.  Mrs. Lyons knew neither of these things, but
had been impressed by the death occurring at the time of an uncancelled
appointment which was only known to him.  However, both of them were under his
influence, and he had nothing to fear from them.  The first half of his task
was successfully accomplished, but the more difficult still remained.
     "It is possible that Stapleton did not know of the existence of an heir
in Canada.  In any case he would very soon learn it from his friend Dr.
Mortimer, and he was told by the latter all details about the arrival of Henry
Baskerville.  Stapleton's first idea was that this young stranger from Canada
might possibly be done to death in London without coming down to Devonshire at
all.  He distrusted his wife ever since she had refused to help him in laying
a trap for the old man, and he dared not leave her long out of his sight for
fear he should lose his influence over her.  It was for this reason that he
took her to London with him.  They lodged, I find, at the Mexborough Private
Hotel, in Craven Street, which was actually one of those called upon by my
agent in search of evidence.  Here he kept his wife imprisoned in her room
while he, disguised in a beard, followed Dr. Mortimer to Baker Street and
afterwards to the station and to the Northumberland Hotel.  His wife had some
inkling of his plans; but she had such a fear of her husband--a fear founded
upon brutal ill-treatment --that she dare not write to warn the man whom she
knew to be in danger.  If the letter should fall into Stapleton's hands her
own life would not be safe.  Eventually, as we know, she adopted the expedient
of cutting out the words which would form the message, and addressing the
letter in a disguised hand.  It reached the baronet, and gave him the first
warning of his danger.
     "It was very essential for Stapleton to get some article of Sir Henry's
attire so that, in case he was driven to use the dog, he might always have the
means of setting him upon his track.  With characteristic promptness and
audacity he set about this at once, and we cannot doubt that the boots or
chamber-maid of the hotel was well bribed to help him in his design.  By
chance, however, the first boot which was procured for him was a new one and,
therefore, useless for his purpose.  He then had it returned and obtained
another--a most instructive incident, since it proved conclusively to my mind
that we were dealing with a real hound, as no other supposition could explain
this anxiety to obtain an old boot and this indifference to a new one.  The
more outre and grotesque an incident is the more carefully it deserves to be
examined, and the very point which appears to complicate a case is, when duly
considered and scientifically handled, the one which is most likely to
elucidate it.
     "Then we had the visit from our friends next morning, shadowed always by
Stapleton in the cab.  From his knowledge of our rooms and of my appearance,
as well as from his general conduct, I am inclined to think that Stapleton's
career of crime has been by no means limited to this single Baskerville
affair.  It is suggestive that during the last three years there have been
four considerable burglaries in the west country, for none of which was any
criminal ever arrested.  The last of these, at Folkestone Court, in May, was
remarkable for the cold-blooded pistolling of the page, who surprised the
masked and solitary burglar.  I cannot doubt that Stapleton recruited his
waning resources in this fashion, and that for years he has been a desperate
and dangerous man.
     "We had an example of his readiness of resource that morning when he got
away from us so successfully, and also of his audacity in sending back my own
name to me through the cabman.  From that moment he understood that I had
taken over the case in London, and that therefore there was no chance for him
there.  He returned to Dartmoor and awaited the arrival of the baronet."
     "One moment!" said I.  "You have, no doubt, described the sequence of
events correctly, but there is one point which you have left unexplained.
What became of the hound when its master was in London?"
     "I have given some attention to this matter and it is undoubtedly of
importance.  There can be no question that Stapleton had a confidant, though
it is unlikely that he ever placed himself in his power by sharing all his
plans with him.  There was an old manservant at Merripit House, whose name was
Anthony.  His connection with the Stapletons can be traced for several years,
as far back as the school-mastering days, so that he must have been aware that
his master and mistress were really husband and wife.  This man has
disappeared and has escaped from the country.  It is suggestive that Anthony
is not a common name in England, while Antonio is so in all Spanish or
Spanish-American countries.  The man, like Mrs. Stapleton herself, spoke good
English, but with a curious lisping accent.  I have myself seen this old man
cross the Grimpen Mire by the path which Stapleton had marked out.  It is very
probable, therefore, that in the absence of his master it was he who cared for
the hound, though he may never have known the purpose for which the beast was
used.
     "The Stapletons then went down to Devonshire, whither they were soon
followed by Sir Henry and you.  One word now as to how I stood myself at that
time.  It may possibly recur to your memory that when I examined the paper
upon which the printed words were fastened I made a close inspection for the
water-mark.  In doing so I held it within a few inches of my eyes, and was
conscious of a faint smell of the scent known as white jessamine.  There are
seventy-five perfumes, which it is very necessary that a criminal expert
should be able to distinguish from each other, and cases have more than once
within my own experience depended upon their prompt recognition.  The scent
suggested the presence of a lady, and already my thoughts began to turn
towards the Stapletons.  Thus I had made certain of the hound, and had guessed
at the criminal before ever we went to the west country.
     "It was my game to watch Stapleton.  It was evident, however, that I
could not do this if I were with you, since he would be keenly on his guard.
I deceived everybody, therefore, yourself included, and I came down secretly
when I was supposed to be in London.  My hardships were not so great as you
imagined, though such trifling details must never interfere with the
investigation of a case.  I stayed for the most part at Coombe Tracey, and
only used the hut upon the moor when it was necessary to be near the scene of
action.  Cartwright had come down with me, and in his disguise as a country
boy he was of great assistance to me.  I was dependent upon him for food and
clean linen.  When I was watching Stapleton, Cartwright was frequently
watching you, so that I was able to keep my hand upon all the strings.
     "I have already told you that your reports reached me rapidly, being
forwarded instantly from Baker Street to Coombe Tracey.  They were of great
service to me, and especially that one incidentally truthful piece of
biography of Stapleton's.  I was able to establish the identity of the man and
the woman and knew at last exactly how I stood.  The case had been
considerably complicated through the incident of the escaped convict and the
relations between him and the Barrymores.  This also you cleared up in a very
effective way, though I had already come to the same conclusions from my own
observations.
     "By the time that you discovered me upon the moor I had a complete
knowledge of the whole business, but I had not a case which could go to a
jury.  Even Stapleton's attempt upon Sir Henry that night which ended in the
death of the unfortunate convict did not help us much in proving murder
against our man.  There seemed to be no alternative but to catch him
red-handed, and to do so we had to use Sir Henry, alone and apparently
unprotected, as a bait.  We did so, and at the cost of a severe shock to our
client we succeeded in completing our case and driving Stapleton to his
destruction.  That Sir Henry should have been exposed to this is, I must
confess, a reproach to my management of the case, but we had no means of
foreseeing the terrible and paralyzing spectacle which the beast presented,
nor could we predict the fog which enabled him to burst upon us at such short
notice.  We succeeded in our object at a cost which both the specialist and
Dr. Mortimer assure me will be a temporary one.  A long journey may enable our
friend to recover not only from his shattered nerves but also from his wounded
feelings.  His love for the lady was deep and sincere, and to him the saddest
part of all this black business was that he should have been deceived by her.
     "It only remains to indicate the part which she had played throughout.
There can be no doubt that Stapleton exercised an influence over her which may
have been love or may have been fear, or very possibly both, since they are by
no means incompatible emotions.  It was, at least, absolutely effective.  At
his command she consented to pass as his sister, though he found the limits of
his power over her when he endeavoured to make her the direct accessory to
murder.  She was ready to warn Sir Henry so far as she could without
implicating her husband, and again and again she tried to do so.  Stapleton
himself seems to have been capable of jealousy, and when he saw the baronet
paying court to the lady, even though it was part of his own plan, still he
could not help interrupting with a passionate outburst which revealed the
fiery soul which his self-contained manner so cleverly concealed.  By
encouraging the intimacy he made it certain that Sir Henry would frequently
come to Merripit House and that he would sooner or later get the opportunity
which he desired.  On the day of the crisis, however, his wife turned suddenly
against him.  She had learned something of the death of the convict, and she
knew that the hound was being kept in the out-house on the evening that Sir
Henry was coming to dinner.  She taxed her husband with his intended crime,
and a furious scene followed in which he showed her for the first time that
she had a rival in his love.  Her fidelity turned in an instant to bitter
hatred, and he saw that she would betray him.  He tied her up, therefore, that
she might have no chance of warning Sir Henry, and he hoped, no doubt, that
when the whole countryside put down the baronet's death to the curse of his
family, as they certainly would do, he could win his wife back to accept an
accomplished fact and to keep silent upon what she knew.  In this I fancy that
in any case he made a miscalculation, and that, if we had not been there, his
doom would none the less have been sealed.  A woman of Spanish blood does not
condone such an injury so lightly.  And now, my dear Watson, without referring
to my notes, I cannot give you a more detailed account of this curious case.
I do not know that anything essential has been left unexplained."
     "He could not hope to frighten Sir Henry to death as he had done the old
uncle with his bogie hound."
     "The beast was savage and half-starved.  If its appearance did not
frighten its victim to death, at least it would paralyze the resistance which
might be offered."
     "No doubt.  There only remains one difficulty.  If Stapleton came into
the succession, how could he explain the fact that he, the heir, had been
living unannounced under another name so close to the property?  How could he
claim it without causing suspicion and inquiry?"
     "It is a formidable difficulty, and I fear that you ask too much when you
expect me to solve it.  The past and the present are within the field of my
inquiry, but what a man may do in the future is a hard question to answer.
Mrs. Stapleton has heard her husband discuss the problem on several occasions.
There were three possible courses.  He might claim the property from South
America, establish his identity before the British authorities there, and so
obtain the fortune without ever coming to England at all; or he might adopt an
elaborate disguise during the short time that he need be in London; or, again,
he might furnish an accomplice with the proofs and papers, putting him in as
heir, and retaining a claim upon some proportion of his income.  We cannot
doubt from what we know of him that he would have found some way out of the
difficulty.  And now, my dear Watson, we have had some weeks of severe work,
and for one evening, I think, we may turn our thoughts into more pleasant
channels.  I have a box for 'Les Huguenots.'  Have you heard the De Reszkes?
Might I trouble you then to be ready in half an hour, and we can stop at
Marcini's for a little dinner on the way?"first visit."