READING & TRAINING Sir Arthur Conan Doyle The Hound of the Baskervilles CATEditors: Emma Berridge, Frances Evans Design and art direction: Nadia Maestri Computer graphics: Simona Corniola Illustrations: Didi Coppola Picture research: Laura Lagomarsino ©2004 Black Cat Publishing, an imprint of Cideb Editrice, 3enoa, Canterbury First edition: May 2004 Picture credits National Portrait Gallery: 4; Mary Evans Picture Library: 39, 41; Bettmann / CONTRASTO: 42; The Granger Collection, New York: 80, 81. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher. We would be happy to receive your comments and suggestions, and give you any other information concerning our material. [email protected] www.blackcat-cideb.com www.cideb.it CSsQ kes ‘design, production UNI EN IS 9001, ISBN 978-88-5. ISBN 971 30-0155-9 Book 30-0156-6 Book + CD Printed in Italy by Litoprint, GenoaContents Sir Arthur Conan Doyle cHaprenone The Legend of the Hound of the Baskervilles 8 cHaprentwo ‘The Death of Sir Charles Baskerville 18 cHapten tHRee A Mysterious Man ina London Taxi 29 cHaptenrour Sir Henry Baskerville Goes Home 44 cHaptenFive Mr Stapleton and his Sister 54 CHAPTER SIX Mrs Laura Lyons Tells All 64 cHapren Seven Death on the Moor 72 cHaptereicHT Holmes Gives Sir Henry his Orders 84 cHapren NINE The Appearance of the Hound of the Baskervilles 95 cHaprenteN Holmes Explains the Case 103 Early Crime Detection 38 The Coming of the Fairies 79 INTERNET PROJECT 93 aS 6, 15, 25, 35, 41, 51, 60, 69, 77, 82, 90, 100, 106 EXT Te sf 109 PET Cambridge Preliminary English Test-style exercises T:GRADE6 = Trinity-style exercises (Grade 6) This story is recorded in full. a These symbols indicate the chapters and eN® exercises featured on the accompanying CD.Arthur Conan Doyle ) by Henry L.. Gates. foday most people know Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as the creator of one of the best-known fictional characters in the world, Sherlock Holmes. But Conan Doyle was also one of the most remarkable personalities of his time. Conan Doyle was born in 1859 in Edinburgh. His mother, Mary Foley, inspired her son's passion for literature. His father, Charles Doyle, came from an artistic family, but suffered from alcoholism and epilepsy.When Conan Doyle was 17, his father was sent to a mental hospital. Perhaps Conan Doyle decided to study medicine at Edinburgh University and not follow his artistic interests because of this sad event. At Edinburgh University he also worked for Dr Joseph Bell. Dr Bell amazed! his students with his ability to guess many things about his patients by just looking at them. Dr Bell later became the model for Sherlock Holmes. After graduating, 2 Conan Doyle set up a medical practice.3 He had few patients so he had a lot of time to write. One of the stories he wrote was A Study in Scarlet. This was the first Sherlock Holmes story. From the beginning Conan Doyle wrote the Sherlock Holmes stories to make money. His real passion was writing historical novels, and his historical novel Micah Clarke (1889) was a big success. In 1891, a monthly magazine, the Strand, commissioned him to write six Sherlock Holmes stories. This magazine had a circulation of 500,000. Further commissions for additional stories followed and Holmes's popularity rapidly grew. However, Conan Doyle was thinking of ‘killing’ Holmes because he took time away from his historic novels. So, in 1893, in the story ‘The Final Problem’, Holmes dies. Conan Doyle’s readers were horrified, and 20,000 people cancelled their subscription to the Strand. In 1901, Conan Doyle was finally convinced to bring Holmes back to life. Three collections of stories followed, along with two novels, one of which is The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902). 1. amazed : greatly surprised. 2. graduating : finishing university. 3. practice : (here) place where a doctor works.During the last years of his life, Conan Doyle devoted most of his time and energy to Spiritualism. ! He went on tours in Europe, America, Australia and Africa to talk about and promote Spiritualism. In 1922, Conan Doyle even declared publicly that he believed in fairies. 2 After one of these lecture tours in 1929, Conan Doyle returned home exhausted. He then had a heart attack and was ill for several months. He died at his home on 7th July 1930. @ Answer the following questions a. Who inspired Conan Doyle's passion for literature? What were his father’s medical problems? How did Dr Bell amaze his students? d. Why did Conan Doyle write Sherlock Holmes stories? e. Why did Conan Doyle want to ‘kill’ Sherlock Holmes? How did readers of the Strand react when Conan Doyle killed Holmes? What was Conan Doyle's main interest during the last years of his life? Spiritualism : belief that it is possible to communicate with the spirits of the dead. . fairies : aLCharacters 23 Sherlock Holmes Dr Watson Henry Baskerville Mrs Stapleton Mr Stapleton Laura Lyons as Mrs Barrymore Mr Barrymore Dr MortimerCHAPTER ONE The Legend of the Hound ' of the Baskervilles Holmes and | were in his flat? at 221B don. He was smoking his pipe while we © arrive. The visitor had come to see us the @ morning, Sherl Baker Street in Ld waited for a visita t we had not been there. previous evening eard the doorbell ring: our visitor was here. jorning, Mr Holmes,’ the visitor said politely. ‘lam Dr Mortimer.’ They shook hands. ‘This is my friend Dr Watson,’ Sherlock Holmes explained. ‘He often helps me with my cases.’ ‘I'm pleased to meet you, Sir,’ Dr Mortimer said. 1, hound : large dog used for hunting. 2. flat: apartment.The Legend of the Hound of the Baskervilles Dr Mortimer was a tall man and he was thin. His clothes were smart! and he wore glasses. He was a young man but looked older because he was worried. ‘I need your advice, Mr Holmes,’ he said very seriously. ‘Tell us all about it,’ Sherlock Holmes said kindly. ‘We'll help you if we can.’ Dr Mortimer took some papers out of his pocket. ‘A man named Sir Charles Baskerville died about three months ago,’ he began. ‘He died in a horrible way, as perhaps you know from the newspapers. Before he died he gave me these papers. They tell the story of the Baskerville family. | want to read them to you, if | may?’ ‘Please go ahead,’ Sherlock Holmes agreed. ‘We'll listen carefully,’ Dr Mortimer put the papers in front of him and began to read: 1 am Hugo Baskerville, and | am writing this in the year 1742, My father told me about the Hound of the Baskervilles, and | believe what he told me. I want you, my sons, to read these words. Remember that God punishes the wicked? and forgives the innocent. The head of the Baskerville family in 1640 was a cruel and bad man. His name was Sir Hugo Baskerville. Sir Hugo fellin love with the daughter of a farmer. She was frightened of him. She always tried to avoid’ him. One day Sir Hugo learnt that her family were away from the farm. 1, smart: elegant. 2. wicked : evil, extremely bad. 3. avoid: stay away fromCe The Hound of the Baskervilles He rode! to the farm with some friends of his and they carried the girl to Baskerville Hall. They locked her in a room upstairs. Then they went downstairs and started to eat and drink. The girl was terrified. She jumped out of the window and tried to run back to her home. Sir Hugo was furious when he realised her room was empty. He was also very drunk by now. His friends told him to let out the hounds and he agreed to do this. Then he jumped on his horse and rode after the hounds. Some of his friends also decided to ride after him. After a while Sir Hugo's friends saw an old man in the darkness. They wanted to know where Sir Hugo was. The old man seemed very frightened and could hardly2 speak. ‘lsaw Sir Hugo on his horse,’ the old man told them. ‘But | also saw a huge hound. It was running silently beside Sir Hugo.’ Sir Hugo's friends laughed at the old man’s words, but their laughter did not last long. Soon they saw Sir Hugo's horse. It was coming towards them, but it was alone. The men now rode deeper into the moor? in order to find their friend. They found the hounds at the edge of a deep valley. Baskerville hounds are usually very courageous, but these ones seemed terrified. They did not want to go further into the valley. 1, rode : (ride, rode, ridden) travelled by horse. 2. hardly : only just. 3. moor : wide open area covered with short grass. 12The Legend of the Hound of the Baskervilles A few of Sir Hugo’s friends went into the valley. They saw two great stones on the ground there. The farmer's daughter lay near one of these stones — she was dead. Sir Hugo was on the ground next to her. The men were frightened now, because there was an enormous hound standing over Sir Hugo. The hound moved forward and tore out! Sir Hugo's throat. 2 Then it turned slowly towards the men. It was the biggest hound they had ever seen. Its eyes and body shone? in the darkness. The men galloped away. One of them died of fright when they reached Baskerville Hall. The other two went mad because of what they had seen that night. That was the first time that the hound appeared. Other Baskervilles have died in strange ways because of that hound, That is why you, my sons, must never cross the moors at night. Dr Mortimer stopped reading and looked at Sherlock Holmes. ‘What do you think?’ Dr Mortimer asked anxiously. ‘It's a good story to frighten children,’ Sherlock Holmes replied. ‘There's more,’ Dr Mortimer told him. He took a newspaper article out of his pocket and began to read to us again. 1. tore out: (tear, tore, torn) removed with great violence. 2. throat: | 3. shone : (shine, shone, shone) gave out light.The Hound of the Baskervilles Sir Charlies Baskerville died very suddenly. He spent only two years at Baskerville because he lived most of his life abroad. He was a good man and he behaved very generously to the poor. We will all miss him. People are saying strange things about Sir Charles’s death. These strange things are not true. Sir Charles died because he had a weak heart. Dr Mortimer says that his heart had been weak for a long time, The facts of the death are simple. Every evening Sir Charles walked in the gardens around the house. His favourite walk was along the Yew Alley ' near the house. He went there, as usual, ‘on the evening of the 4th of June to smoke a cigar. His butler, 2 Barrymore, was upstairs in Sir Charles's room. Sir - butler : male servant eens 14 Charles wanted to go to London the next day. When Sir Charles did not come back to the house Barrymore went into the garden to look for him. He followed his master’s footprints 3 in the wet earth. They went from the house, along the Yew Alley, to a gate which opens onto the moors. The footprints stopped at the gate. Barrymore found Sir Charles's body near there. Barrymore said that his master's footprints were complete until he reached the gate. Then they were not Barrymore thought that Sir Charles was walking on his toes. The new head of the Baskerville family is Sir Henry Baskerville. He is living in America at present, but the lawyers 4 hope that he will come back to England when he hears the news. complete. Yew Alley : long path with yew trees at the side of it. footprints: marks left on the ground by the feet. lawyers : people who give advice about legal questions.CHAPTER TWO The Death of Sir Charles Baskerville aper tells the story like that,’ Dr Mortimer explained © d it at the time,’ Sherlock Holmes admitted. ‘Now I want o tell us what really happened, Dr Mortimer. Tell us ything that the newspaper did not say.’ ‘I'm a man of science,’ Dr Mortimer said, ‘and there are things | cannot believe. Besides, | did not want to tell a story that would frighten the new heir ! to Baskerville Hall. That is why | said nothing to the newspaper reporters. But | will tell you everything, Mr Holmes.” ‘Sir Charles was very frightened about something. He believed the stories about the Hound of the Baskervilles. He always asked 1. heir: person who owns a property when someone dies. 18The Death of Sir Charles Baskerville he me questions about it. He said that he heard strange noises at night. He never went out of the house when it was dark, except to walk a little way along the Yew Alley. One night, about three weeks before he died, | found him standing outside the house. He was shaking with terror. 1 He said there was an animal among the trees. | looked and saw an animal there. | thought it was a small cow. | tried to find it but it disappeared. When | came back to the Hall Sir Charles was still very anxious. I stayed with him that night. It was then that he gave me the papers about the family history.’ ‘Barrymore found Sir Charles's body. He said that the only footprints near Sir Charles’s body were Sir Charles's, but he was wrong. | found some other footprints near the body.” ‘Aman or a woman?’ Sherlock Holmes asked excitedly. ‘A hound,’ the doctor replied quietly, ‘a large hound. They were quite clear.’ Sherlock Holmes was very attentive now. ‘No one else saw the hound footprints,’ he commented. ‘Why was that, do you think?’ ‘The hound prints were not very close to Sir Charles's body,’ Dr Mortimer explained. ‘| was the only person who examined the area carefully.’ ‘What about a sheep dog?’ asked Sherlock Holmes. ‘Sheep dogs do not have such big prints,’ the doctor told him. ‘and the prints were not very close to the body?’ asked Sherlock Holmes. ‘No, they were about twenty yards from Sir Charles.’ ‘Tell me about the Yew Alley,’ Sherlock Holmes said to the doctor. 1. shaking with terror ; moving from side to side in fear. 2. quite clear: easily visible. 19sae The Hound of the Baskervilles ‘There are two yew hedges,’! Dr Mortimer explained. ‘The hedges are about nine feet ? high. There is a path between the two hedges. The path has grass at the sides, and there is gravel ? in the middle.’ ‘And the gate? Where is the gate?’ ‘The gate is in one of the hedges,’ the doctor told him. ‘Is it possible to reach the moor by any other way?’ Sherlock Holmes wanted to know. ‘No, you have to go through the gate to reach the moors.’ ‘| see,’ said Sherlock Holmes thoughtfully. ‘Then you can only enter Yew Alley through the house or through the gate. is that right?’ ‘No,’ the doctor corrected him. ‘There is a summerhouse # at the end of the Alley. You can leave the Alley that way.’ ‘Did Sir Charles reach the summerhouse, Dr Mortimer?’ “We found his body about fifty yards > away from the summerhouse,’ the doctor confirmed. ‘And now the footprints,’ Sherlock Holmes said. ‘You say that these were on the path, and not on the grass. Is that right?" ‘That's right. They were on the same side of the path as the gate that opens onto the moor.’ ‘Very interesting,’ Sherlock Holmes said softly. ‘What about the gate itself? Was it open or closed?” ‘It was closed and locked,’ Dr Mortimer informed him. 1. hedges : 7 nine feet : about 3 metres. gravel : very small stones used to make paths. . summerhouse : small construction in a garden, made of wood or glass. aon fifty yards : about 46 metres.The Death of Sir Charles Baskerville ‘Is it a tall. gate?’ Sherlock Holmes wanted to know. ‘No,’ said the doctor. ‘A man could easily jump over it.’ ‘Tell me more about Sir Charles’s footprints, please.’ ‘I think Sir Charles stood near the gate for some time,’ Dr Mortimer said. ‘His footprints were everywhere there. There was also cigar ash! near the gate.” ‘You're a good observer!’ Sherlock Holmes complimented him pleasantly. ‘But why didn’t you come and talk to me at once?’ he asked. The doctor was embarrassed for a moment. ‘People are saying strange things,’ he began. ‘Several people say they have seen a huge animal on the moor. They say it is very large and that it has a strange light. These are sensible, ordinary people, Mr Holmes. | believe they are telling the truth. | didn’t know what to do!’ ‘But you're a man of science!’ Sherlock Holmes cried. ‘You can’t believe in these supernatural stories, surely?’ ‘| don’t know what | believe,’ the doctor admitted quietly. ‘All 1 know is this. The hound that killed Sir Hugo in 1640 was a supernatural beast.’ ‘If you think Sir Charles died because of a supernatural beast, then a detective certainly can’t help you!’ Holmes said acidly.? ‘Perhaps you can’t,’ Dr Mortimer replied. ‘But you can give me some advice, Mr Holmes. Sir Henry Baskerville arrives in London today. | want to protect him.’ ‘why can’t he go to Baskerville Hall?’ asked Holmes. ‘It’s too dangerous for the Baskervilles to be at the Hall!’ Dr Mortimer cried desperately. 1. ash: burnt material from a cigar or cigarette. 2. acidly : sarcastically.fall The Hound of the Baskervilles ‘Very well,’ Holmes told him. ‘Go and meet Sir Henry. Bring him to me here tomorrow morning at ten o'clock.’ Mortimer left the flat. Holmes and | spent the day apart. When we met later, he asked me a couple of questions about the case. ‘why do you think Sir Charles’s footprints changed in the Yew Alley, Watson? Dr Mortimer said they were complete at the beginning of the Alley but he could only see the toes at the end.’ ‘what do you think, Holmes?’ | replied. ‘sir Charles did not walk down the Alley on his toes,’ Holmes said decisively. ‘He ran. He was frightened. He ran away from something. That’s why Dr Mortimer only saw the toe-prints on the path.” He was silent for a moment. ‘There’s another question,’ he went on. ‘Sir Charles was near the gate in the Yew Alley, Why did he wait there? Who was he waiting for, | wonder?’ 1 looked at my friend Holmes. He seemed pleased. He was always pleased when a case was difficult. He enjoyed thinking. Now he lit his pipe and prepared to think out the problem of the Hound of the Baskervilles. 24CHAPTER THREE A Mysterious Man in a London Taxi lenry Baskerville arrived at the flat at ten ing. Sir Henry was a small, strong-looking er arranged this meeting,’ he told Sherlock ‘Don’t go to the moor. Your life is in danger.’ ‘What does it mean?’ Sir Henry asked Holmes. ‘Have you anything else to tell me?’ Sherlock Holmes asked him, ‘Not really,’ Sir Henry replied. ‘But something strange happened at my hotel last night. | left my shoes outside the roomThe Hound of the Baskervilles for the boots! to clean them. When I woke up this morning there was only one shoe outside the room. It’s annoying because the shoes are new. I've never worn them.’ Sherlock Holmes then explained the Baskerville family story to Sir Henry. ‘Now we need to decide whether it is too dangerous for you to go to Baskerville Hall,’ he said. ‘Baskerville Hall is my family house!’ Sir Henry replied angrily. ‘No one will stop me from going there if | want to. Why don’t you 1, boots: (here) hotel servant who cleans guests's shoes. 30A Mysterious Man in a London Taxi join me for lunch in two hours at my hotel and we can discuss the whole matter?’! Dr Mortimer and Sir Henry walked out of the flat. ‘Quick, Watson!’ Sherlock Holmes cried. ‘I want to follow them. Sir Henry may be in danger.’ We followed the two men without difficulty. Suddenly Holmes touched my arm. He pointed to a taxi that was going along the road near the doctor and Sir Henry. There was a passenger in the taxi — a man with a black beard. 1. matter : subject, case eneAa The Hound of the Baskervilles The passenger saw us and ordered the driver to move away quickly. ‘It’s not important,’ Holmes told me. ‘I took the driver’s number, I'll talk to him later.’ When we arrived at Sir Henry's hotel Sir Henry told us that someone had taken another of his shoes — this time one of an old pair. Holmes seemed interested in this piece of news but he did not say anything. Sir Henry told us that he was going to Baskerville Hall. ‘You're doing the right thing,’ Holmes encouraged him. ‘If someone is trying to hurt you, you're safer there than in London.’ Then Holmes described the passenger in the taxi. ‘Is there anyone at Baskerville Hall who has a black beard?’ he asked Dr Mortimer. ‘ ‘Only Barrymore, the butler,’ Dr Mortimer replied. ‘Good,’ said Holmes. ‘I'll send a telegram to the house to ask Barrymore if everything is ready for the arrival of Sir Henry. I'll instruct the post office to give Barrymore his telegram personally. Then we'll know if the butler is in London or at Baskerville Hall today!’ Then Holmes asked about the money that came to different people after the death of Sir Charles. ‘Barrymore and his wife received £500, and | received £1,000,’ the doctor explained. ‘The rest goes to Sir Henry — about £740,000.’ ‘It’s a lot of money,’ Holmes said thoughtfully. ‘Some people would kill for a fortune like that. What happens if Sir Henry dies? Where does the money go then?’ 32A Mysterious Man in a London Taxi = Mortimer gave a long explanation of the members of the Baskerville family. ‘sir Charles had two brothers. Sir Henry is the only son of Sir Charles's second brother. The third brother, Rodger, was a criminal. He ran away to South America in order to avoid the police in England. He died in South America. Therefore, if Sir Henry dies, everything goes to a cousin, James Desmond. James Desmond is an old man. He does not want to be rich.’ Now Sherlock Holmes gave Sir Henry some advice. ‘Go to Baskerville Hall tomorrow,’ he said, ‘but do not go there alone. | can’t come with you at the moment because I’m working on another case, but take Watson with you.’ Sir Henry and I were happy with Holmes’s suggestion. ‘Look!’ cried Sir Henry suddenly. ‘This is one of the shoes that I couldn't find before. It was under the table.’ ‘It wasn't there when we searched this room,’ Dr Mortimer commented in surprise. Holmes and | returned to the Baker Street flat. 33fica The Hound of the Baskervilles There was a knock on the door. It was the taxi driver who had driven the passenger with the black beard. ‘What can I do for you, Sir?’ the man asked Holmes politely. ‘Tell me about the passenger you had today,’ Holmes told him ‘The passenger with the black beard.’ ‘He told me that he was a detective,’ the driver said. ‘He told me to say nothing about what happened.’ ‘This is a serious matter,’ Holmes warned the man. ‘I want to know everything.’ ‘He gave me his name,’ the driver said reluctantly. ! ‘That wasn’t very intelligent of him,’ Holmes commented. ‘What name did he give you? ‘Sherlock Holmes,’ the driver replied. ‘His name was Sherlock Holmes.’ Holmes was astonished ? for a moment. Then he asked the driver where he took the passenger. ‘I took him to Waterloo Station,’ the driver said. ‘He caught a train.’ Holmes gave the driver some money and sent him away. Then he turned to me seriously. ‘Our enemy is clever, * Watson,’ he told me. ‘We don’t know what he did in London. Be very careful at Baskerville Hall. There is great danger in this case.’ 1. reluctantly : without wanting to. 2. astonished : greatly shocked. 3. clever : intelligent. 34CHAPTER FOUR Sir Henry Baskerville Goes Home at Waterloo Station the next told Sir Henry not to go onto the arfived at the moors. The countryside looked The carriag: rom Baskerville Hall was there for us at the station. Soon we were driving along the narrow 2 roads. We turned a corner and saw a soldier standing in the road. He carried a rifle. 3 We stopped the carriage and Dr Mortimer asked the soldier what he was doing. 1. carriage : (here) vehicle powered by horses. 2. narrow: not wide, thin. 3 rife 44Sir Henry Baskerville Goes Home ‘A dangerous prisoner escaped three days ago,’ the soldier explained. ‘His name is Selden.’ | remembered the name from the newspaper stories. He was a cruel murderer. ! Now it began to grow dark and windy. It was cold as well. Finally we arrived at Baskerville Hall. It was a large house, and not a very cheerful 2 one. Barrymore came onto the steps of the Hall to welcome us. “Welcome home, Sir Henry,’ he said. We ate together in the dining room, and the family pictures of the Baskervilles looked down on us from the walls. The atmosphere was not very happy. After dinner 1 went to bed but it was difficult to sleep. Suddenly I heard the sound of a woman — she was crying desperately. 1 told Sir Henry about the woman the next morning. He sent for Barrymore and he asked the butler about it. | noticed that Barrymore went white in the face before he answered. ‘There are two women in the house, Sir,’ he told Sir Henry. ‘One of them is the maid. The other is my wife. Mrs Barrymore was not crying last night.” 1 knew that Barrymore was lying. | saw his wife later in the morning and her face was red. She looked very sad. | did not understand why Barrymore did not tell the truth and | felt suspicious of him. | decided to go to the post office to ask some questions about the telegram that Holmes had sent from London. | found the boy who delivered the telegrams. 1. murderer: killer. 2. cheerful : happy, positive 3. maid : woman servant. 45 enope The Hound of the Baskervilles ‘There was a telegram for Mr Barrymore from London yesterday,’ | reminded him. ‘Did you give it to Mr Barrymore yourself?’ ‘No, Sir,’ the boy replied. ‘They told me Mr Barrymore was up in the loft.' I gave the telegram to Mrs Barrymore.’ ‘see,’ | said. ‘Did you see Mr Barrymore in the loft?’ ‘No, I didn’t,’ the boy admitted. ‘But his wife told me he was there.’ Now it was impossible to tell if Barrymore was the passenger in the taxi, or whether he stayed at Baskerville Hall that day. I was walking away from the post office when a man stopped me. He told me that his name was Stapleton, and that he was a friend of Dr Mortimer. He had a butterfly net? with him. “you must be Dr Watson,’ he said. ‘Dr Mortimer told me about you. | know that you're also a friend of the great detective Sherlock Holmes. Is he going to come here as well?’ ‘I'm afraid not,’ | replied. ‘Sherlock Holmes is working on another case in London.’ ‘What a pity,’ Mr Stapleton said politely. ‘still, | hope you'll come home with me and meet my sister. She’ll be pleased to see you.’ | accepted Mr Stapleton’s invitation. We walked to his house together. Stapleton told me a little about himself. He said that he and his sister had moved to the moors two years ago. He liked the moors, he said. ‘Look over there,’ he pointed. ‘That place is called Great 1. loft: space inside the roof of a house. 2. butterfly net :Sir Henry Baskerville Goes Home Grimpen Marsh. ! If an animal or a man goes there, they never come out. The ground is very soft and they sink down ? inside it. But I know how to cross the moors safely,’ he told me proudly ‘There are some paths among the marshes.’ While Mr Stapleton was talking | saw a horse on the edge of the marsh. The poor animal was half under water. It struggled furiously 3 to get free — but the water closed over its head. ‘another one dead,’ Stapleton commented sadly. ‘It happens all the time on the moors, Dr Watson.’ Then we heard a terrible cry over the marshes. It was a very deep and sad cry. | looked at Stapleton in surprise. ‘What was that?’ | asked him. ‘People say that that is the Hound of the Baskervilles,’ he told me. ‘You don’t surely believe in the stories about the Hound of the Baskervilles, Mr Stapleton?’ | asked him in surprise. ‘You’re an educated man!’ ‘| think it was a bird. There are some very rare birds on the moors.” Just then a butterfly flew past us. Mr Stapleton ran after it with his net. He ran straight onto the marsh. He was not afraid, | was watching him when a beautiful young woman with dark skin and eyes came up to me. ‘Go back to London,’ she said quietly. ‘Ssh! Don’t say a word My brother's coming back!” Mr Stapleton came off the marsh and joined us. He did not seem pleased that we were talking together. 1, marsh: area of wet, dangerous ground. 2. sink down : (sink, sank, sunk) move down. 3. struggled furiously : made a great effort. 47eHa The Hound of the Baskervilles ‘Hello, dear,’ he said to his sister. ‘I see that you have met our guest.’ ‘Yes,’ she replied. ‘I told Sir Henry that the marsh is not very beautiful at this time of year’ ‘’m not Sir Henry,’ | corrected her. ‘I’m Dr Watson, a friend of his.’ The woman looked embarrassed. ‘Please forget what I told you,’ she said very quietly. The three of us walked to their house, Merripit House. Stapleton talked about his love for the moors. He told me about the animals and plants that fascinated him in that part of the country. We talked together for a while and then | left them to go back to Baskerville Hall. Miss Stapleton was waiting for me further down the road. ‘Please forget what | said,’ she said again. ‘I did not mean anything terrible.’ “But you believe Sir Henry is in danger?’ | asked her. ‘I believe in the story of the Hound of the Baskervilles,’ she told me. ‘That is why I said what | did.’ ‘Why didn’t you want your brother to hear what you said?’ | persisted. “My brother wants Sir Henry to live at Baskerville Hall,’ she explained. ‘He does not want Sir Henry to go away because of these silly! stories. That’s why he does not want me to talk about the Hound of the Baskervilles.’ 1, silly: ridiculous.CHAPTER FIVE Mr Stapleton and his Sister le Hall to meet Sir Henry, and the Il met every day. | noticed that Sir tapleton. Her brother did not seem ep them apart. y’s called Frankland. Frankland was things. He loved to argue, ! and he loved to’study the moors through a large telescope. Frankland was sure that he could detect the escaped prisoner Selden with his telescope. 1. argue : (here) debate. 54Mr Stapleton and his Sister | woke up very late one night because | heard a noise outside my bedroom. | got up very quietly and opened the door. Barrymore was in the corridor with a candle in his hand. He went into an empty bedroom and stood near the window. He held the candle against the glass. | went back to my own room. He did not see me. | told Sir Henry the next morning about Barrymore. ‘Tonight we'll follow him together,’ Sir Henry decided. ‘I want to find out what he’s doing!’ That night we followed Barrymore. He went into the same empty bedroom with a candle. Again he stood near the window with the candle in his hand. ‘What are you doing, Barrymore?’ Sir Henry asked sternly. ! Barrymore was surprised to see Sir Henry and me. ‘| wanted to be sure the window was closed, Sir,’ he said. ‘| think you sent a signal,’ | told him. ‘Give me that candle.’ | took the candle from Barrymore and held it against the glass. Immediately we saw a light on the moor. ‘There!’ I cried. ‘What's all this about?’ 2 Sir Henry asked angrily. Barrymore did not reply. ‘IT can tell you, Sir,’ said a woman’s voice. We turned to see Mrs Barrymore behind us. ‘It’s my poor brother out there on the moors. He’s the escaped prisoner. We show him the light when we have food ready for him. He shows us where to put the food with his light.’ Sir Henry thought for a moment then he spoke to Barrymore. 1, sternly: seriously. 2. what's all this about? : what's happening here? 55| The Hound of the Baskervilles “You're trying to help your wife,’ he said. ‘I cannot blame! you for that. Go to bed now and we'll talk about this tomorrow.’ Barrymore and his wife went to their room. ‘Let’s see if we can catch this Selden,’ Sir Henry suggested. ‘He’s out on the moor somewhere.’ Sir Henry and I left the house together. We walked towards the point where we had seen the light on the moor. Suddenly we heard the very deep and sad cry. Sir Henry looked afraid for a moment but he continued walking. Soon we came to the place where the light was. There was a candle on a rock. We saw a man behind the rock. He had a terrible face. When he saw us he began to run away. ‘Selden!’ cried Sir Henry. We ran after him. Selden ran very quickly and we could not catch him. Then a strange thing happened. There was a moon that night, and we saw another man in the moonlight. He was standing on top of a small hill. He seemed to watch Selden, Sir Henry and myself. Who was this mysterious stranger? Was he a friend or an enemy? I decided to take Sir Henry back to Baskerville Hall immediately for his own safety. The next morning Sir Henry and Barrymore spoke about Selden. Sir Henry wanted to catch him and give him to the police, but Barrymore wanted him to go free. ‘He’s a murderer,’ Sir Henry reminded him. ‘know, Sir,’ Barrymore admitted. ‘But he’s not dangerous any more. And soon he'll be on a boat to South America. We've organised his escape for him.’ 1, blame : criticise.ae= The Hound of the Baskervilles ‘Very well, Barrymore, | won't look for him again,’ Sir Henry promised. ‘I don’t want you and your wife to get into trouble.’ ‘Thank you, Sir,’ Barrymore said. ‘You're helping me, and I can help you in return. 1 know something about Sir Charles’s death.’ ‘What do you know?’ Sir Henry cried impatiently. ‘IT know why he went to the Yew Alley,’ Barrymore replied. ‘He was going to meet a woman there.’ ‘How do you know this?’ Sir Henry asked. ‘sir Charles received a letter the day of his death,’ Barrymore told us. ‘He threw it into the fire, but one page did not burn. My wife read what it said: “Burn the letter. Meet me at the gate at ten o'clock. L. L.” The handwriting was a woman’s, Sir.’ Later | asked Dr Mortimer if he knew a woman with the initials ‘L. L.” “Of course | do,’ he said. ‘It’s Mrs Laura Lyons — she’s Frankland’s daughter. She married a bad man who left her. She and her father quarrelled.! The poor woman lives alone. She tries to make money with her typewriter. ? It’s a sad story. Both her husband and her father treated her badly.’ The other thing that happened that day was this. | wanted to know if Selden was still on the moors, so | asked Barrymore. ‘| don’t know, Sir,’ he told me. ‘We leave food for him as always, and someone takes it. But we don't know if it’s him or the other man who takes it.’ ‘You know there’s another man out there?’ | asked. ‘How do you know that?’ 1, quarrelled ; had a bad disagreement, 2. typewriter : 58Mr Stapleton and his Sister ‘Selden told us,’ Barrymore explained. ‘He saw him. He said the other man lives in one of the huts! on the moors. A boy brings him food.’ | thought about this mysterious man who lived out on the moors by himself. | decided to look for him myself. | did not want to ask Sir Henry to go with me, He was already in enough danger. I decided to go by myself. 59CHAPTER SIX Mrs Laura Lyons Tells All @ | went 49 visit Mrs Laura Lyons at her house in Coombe Tracey. a beautiful young lady. I told her that | wanted to help want to ask you about Sir Charles,’ | told her. ‘I understand iat you wrote to him the day he died. Why did you want to meet im?" Mrs Lyons was very angry. ‘1 don’t know what you're talking about!’ she said. ‘| know you wrote to him,’ | told her calmly. ‘You wrote: “Burn the letter. Meet me at the gate at ten o'clock. L. L.” Sir Charles burnt the letter, but one of the servants found a page from it in the fireplace. Why did you want to see him, Mrs Lyons?’ Mrs Lyons was very red in the face. ‘| needed his help,’ she said quietly. ‘I married a bad man and | wanted a divorce. | wanted to ask Sir Charles's advice. | askedMrs Laura Lyons Tells All him to meet.me in the garden because I did not want his servants to see me in the house. | did not want them to talk about me.’ ‘| understand,’ I said. ‘Now tell me what happened when you saw Sir Charles.’ ‘| didn't see him,’ Mrs Lyons said. ‘Someone else gave me the help | wanted. I wanted to write to him to explain but then I heard he was dead.’ eno Next 1 decided it was time to find the mysterious man who lived on the moors. | followed a path that went near Mr Frankland’s house. He saw me and came out to talk. He was very angry with the police, he told me. ‘’'m trying to help them find the murderer Selden,’ he said. ‘I don’t know where he’s hiding, but I’m watching the boy who takes him his food. I’m watching him with my telescope, you see. But the police aren’t interested. Come with me a moment. The boy delivers the murderer’s food about now. You'll see everything!’ | went into Mr Frankland’s house. There was a large telescope on the roof. Mr Frankland looked through it eagerly. ! ‘Ah!’ he cried happily, ‘I can see the boy now. You have a look.’ 1 looked through the instrument, and I could see a boy walking on the moors. He was carrying a parcel. The boy disappeared over a hill. I thanked Mr Frankland and walked quickly towards the hill. It was nearly dark when | reached the top of the hill, 1 looked down but | could not see anyone. There was a group of huts on the other side of the hill. 1. eagerly : enthusiastically.ae The Hound of the Baskervilles One of the huts seemed in better condition than the others. | took out my revolver! and walked towards it. The hut was empty, but it was clear that someone used it. There were some blankets 2 on the floor and some pots? for cooking. The mysterious man was hiding here! Suddenly there were footsteps in the darkness outside. | waited inside the hut with my revolver ready. | was frightened The figure of a man appeared in the doorway of the hut. ‘What a lovely evening, Watson,’ said Sherlock Holmes. ‘Holmes!’ I cried. ‘What are you doing here? | thought you were in London.’ ‘wanted you to think that,’ he told me. ‘We have a dangerous enemy here, and | did not want you to know where | was.’ Then we began to discuss the case together. ‘Did you know that Mrs Laura Lyons and Stapleton are very good friends?’ he asked me. ‘I wonder if Stapleton’s wife knows about their friendship.’ ‘stapleton hasn't got a wife,’ | interrupted him, ‘he lives with his sister.’ ‘He tells everyone that she is his sister,’ Holmes told me, ‘but I've checked — she's really Mrs Stapleton.’ ‘why did Stapleton let Sir Henry fall in love with his wife?’ | asked. ‘Stapleton wanted to be close to Sir Henry,’ Holmes explained. ‘Having a beautiful sister made that possible for him, don’t you see?’ 1. revolver : type of gun, similar to a pistol 2. blankets => 3. pots : tgaEE oh Hound of the Baskervilles ‘So Stapleton’s the enemy,’ | guessed. ‘He’s the man who followed us to London, and his wife wrote the warning note to Sir Henry!” ‘Yes,’ agreed Holmes. ‘But why are Stapleton and Mrs Lyons good friends if Stapleton already has a wife?’ | asked him. ‘Mrs Lyons does not know that Stapleton is already married,’ Sherlock Holmes told me. ‘She’s in love with him. She wants a divorce because she wants to marry him. And he pretends that he wants to marry her. I think she'll help us when she knows the whole truth!’ ‘and what about Stapleton?’ | asked my friend. ‘What does he want?” ‘Murder, my friend,’ Holmes told me grimly. ' ‘And | hope I’m going to catch him before he does it.’ Just then we heard the deep and sad cry out on the moors. Holmes looked pale for a second then he stood up. ‘Where is it, Watson? Where is it?’ he cried. We heard the same cry several times. Then we heard a new noise. It was terrible. Holmes moved forward. ‘The hound, Watson, the hound!’ He ran into the darkness. 1. grimly : very seriously.CHAPTER SEVEN Death on the Moor edge of a small cliff! on the moor. We stopped here looked over into the darkness. There was a body on the moor below us. It was Sir Henry and he was dead. ‘It’s my fault!’ 2 | told Holmes. ‘You instructed me to stay with Sir Henry and now he’s dead. It's all my fault.’ ‘The fault is mine,’ Holmes said grimly. ‘I knew who the murderer was, and | thought | could catch him before he killed. It 1. edge... cliff: end of an area of high ground. 2. fault: responsibility. 72ead The Hound of the Baskervilles is the biggest mistake of my career. But why did Sir Henry come onto the moor?’ Holmes climbed down the cliff and examined the body carefully. Suddenly he began to laugh loudly. He called me to him. ‘It’s not Sir Henry,’ he said happily, ‘it’s not Sir Henry. Look at the face, Watson! It’s Selden. Selden’s got a beard and he’s wearing Sir Henry's clothes.’ Holmes thought for a moment. ‘1 know what happened,’ he said. ‘Sir Henry gave some old clothes to Barrymore to throw away. Barrymore gave them to Selden — and the hound followed Sir Henry’s scent! and killed him,’ he paused. ‘But how did Selden know that the hound was after him? He screamed for a long time.’ ‘There’s something else I don’t understand,’ | told Holmes ‘why did Stapleton let the hound onto the moor tonight? Did he think Sir Henry was out tonight?’ ‘We'll soon know,’ Holmes announced. ‘Stapleton is over there. Now we must try and prove that he is guilty.’ He pointed to a man who we saw in the darkness, ‘Don’t let him think we suspect him,’ Holmes whispered 2 urgently. ‘Is that you, Dr Watson?’ Stapleton called out. He walked closer. ‘Has there been an accident? Is that Sir Henry?’ He examined the body of the criminal. ‘Who is this?’ he asked me in great surprise. ‘It’s the escaped prisoner Selden,’ | explained. 1. scent: smell. 2. whispered: said very quietly. 74Death on the Moor ie ‘| heard something. That’s why | came onto the moor,’ Stapleton explained. ‘I’m worried about Sir Henry. | invited him to my house this evening but he didn’t arrive. That's why I'm here.” Stapleton looked closely at Holmes. ‘Did you hear anything strange?’ he asked. ‘No,’ replied Holmes. ‘What do you mean?’ ‘The stories about the Hound of the Baskervilles. Anything like that?’ ‘We did not hear anything like that,’ | replied. “How did this man die?’ Stapleton asked. ‘He fell over the cliff,’ I said. ‘Do you agree with that, Mr Sherlock Holmes?’ Stapleton asked my friend. “you know who | am,’ Holmes replied quietly. ‘We've all been expecting you,’ Stapleton told him. ‘We know that you and Dr Watson are close friends.” ‘Selden’s death is a sad event but it will not stop me returning to London tomorrow,’ Holmes said. ‘will you tell us about the strange things here on the moors?” Stapleton asked him. ‘This is not a good case for me,’ Holmes replied. ‘There are a lot of stories about supernatural hounds — but a detective needs facts, not stories.’ Stapleton studied my friend's face. Holmes seemed to be telling the truth. ‘| must go home, gentlemen,’ he told us. He walked away into the darkness. Holmes and | walked back to Baskerville Hall. 7S‘We still have no evidence against Stapleton,’ Holmes d of the Baskervilles reminded me. ‘Sir Charles died because of his heart and Selden fell over the cliff. Don’t say very much to Sir Henry about Selden’s death. Don't mention the hound. I’ve got a plan for tomorrow and | don’t want Sir Henry to be anxious. He will need his courage tomorrow. | think you told me that he was going to the Stapletons’ house for dinner tomorrow evening?’ ‘That's right,’ | agreed. ‘They invited me as well.’ ‘| want him to go alone,’ Holmes said. 76CHAPTER EIGHT Holmes Gives Sir Henry his Orders enry was very happy to see Sherlock Holmes when we at Baskerville Hall. He told us that he had not gone to t the Stapleton house because of his promise not to Hall. was a sad moment for me when | told Mr and Mrs Barrymore that Selden was dead. Mrs Barrymore cried bitterly! when she heard about her brother. We ate together in the dining room. Holmes looked at the family pictures with great interest. He pointed at one picture and asked Sir Henry, ‘Who is that?’ 1, bitterly : with emotion. 84Holmes Gives Sir Henry his Orders ‘That,’ replied Sir Henry, ‘is Sir Hugo — the Baskerville who started all this trouble. He was the first Baskerville who saw the hound.’ Holmes studied the picture for a few moments but he made no more comments about Sir Hugo. Sir Henry went to his room after dinner but Holmes and I remained in the dining room together. He went up to the picture of Sir Hugo and looked at it again. ‘who does this man look like?’ he asked me. ‘stapleton!’ | cried in astonishment. ‘The faces are similar. ! never thought of it before.’ ‘There’s no doubt that Stapleton is a Baskerville,’ Holmes said. ‘And he’s got Sir Hugo’s wicked! character as well. | think we're going to find out that Baskerville Hall goes to Mr Stapleton if Sir Henry dies!’ The next morning Holmes told Sir Henry that we had to return to London immediately. Sir Henry did not want us to go, but he agreed in the end. Holmes gave Sir Henry some instructions. He told him to go to the dinner at the Stapleton house. He told him to go alone, and he told him to explain that we were in London. ‘Finally,’ Holmes told him, ‘I want you to drive to the Stapleton house. When you arrive, send the carriage back here to the Hall. Tell the Stapletons that you’re going to walk home over the moor,’ ‘The moor?’ Sir Henry repeated doubtfully. ‘But you always told me never to go near there, Mr Holmes!’ "You will be safe tomorrow night, | promise you,’ Holmes told him. ‘Walk home, but take the path that goes between the 1, wicked : bad, evil. enoa The Hound of the Baskervilles Stapleton house and the Grimpen road. You must not take another path. Is that clear?’ “Very well,’ agreed Sir Henry. ‘I'll do as you say, Mr Holmes.’ Holmes and | then went to the railway station. There was a boy at the station. ‘Have you got any orders, Sir?’ he asked Sherlock Holmes. ‘Go to London,’ Holmes instructed him. ‘When you arrive, send Sir Henry a telegram from me. Ask him to send me a book I left behind at Baskerville Hall. Tell him to send it to Baker Street.’ Now I understood part of Holmes’s plan. He wanted Sir Henry to tell the Stapletons about his telegram. They would believe that we were both in London. Now we left the station and went to see Laura Lyons. ‘Dr Watson and I think that someone murdered Sir Charles,’ Holmes told Mrs Lyons. ‘The two suspects are Mr and Mrs Stapleton.’ ‘Mrs Stapleton!’ cried Mrs Lyons in astonishment. ‘There is no Mrs Stapleton, Mr Holmes — Mr Stapleton hasn't got a wife!’ ‘| have all the evidence here,’ Holmes announced quietly. He took some documents out of his pocket and showed them to Mrs Lyons. She looked at them unhappily and then she gave them back to Holmes. It was obvious that she believed my friend. ‘| thought he loved me,’ she said sadly. ‘He didn’t tell me the truth. | thought he wanted to marry me. You can ask me anything you want, Mr Holmes. I'll tell you the truth,’ ‘Thank you, Mrs Lyons,’ Holmes replied. ‘This is what | think happened. Please tell me if I'm right. Mr Stapleton asked you to write the letter to Sir Charles asking to meet him. Then heHolmes Gives Sir Henry his Orders persuaded you not to go to the meeting that evening. |s that right?’ ‘Yes,’ Mrs Lyons said. ‘Stapleton told me not to meet Sir Charles. He said he would find the money for my divorce himself because he loved me. Then | heard that Sir Charles was dead. Stapleton told me to keep silent. He said that he did not want me to be a suspect. He made me feel frightened.’ ‘Did you think he had secrets?’ Holmes asked her. ‘Yes, | did,’ Mrs Lyons replied. ‘I will not keep his secrets from you now, Mr Holmes. I'll tell you everything.” ‘You're a danger to Stapleton,’ Holmes told her. ‘You're lucky to be alive. But you're safe now, | think. We'll talk again.’ 89CHAPTER NINE The Appearance of the Hound of the Baskervilles e Stapleton house when it was dark. We ith us and we walked very quietly. e windows,’ Holmes ordered me. ‘I want to pleton and Sir Henry are.’ I could see Stapleton and Sir Henry sitting together, but | could not see Stapleton. Then Stapleton came out of the house for a moment. He went towards a little hut in the garden. He opened the door of the hut and I could hear a strange noise inside it. Then Stapleton went back inside the house.The Hound of the Baskervilles Now the fog began to come down. It was very heavy and we could not see very far in front of us. ‘We must be very careful,’ Holmes warned me. ‘We don’t want to lose Sir Henry in the fog.’ Now we heard someone leave the house. It was Sir Henry. He walked along the path as Holmes had told him to do. Sir Henry seemed nervous, and he kept looking behind him. ‘it’s coming!’ Holmes whispered excitedly. He pointed just behind Sir Henry. | looked into the darkness. I wanted to see what this monster was. There was an enormous hound following Sir Henry. It was the biggest dog 1 had ever seen. But the really frightening thing about it was its eyes. They shone in the darkness, and flames came out of its mouth. Its whole head seemed to be on fire! The hound ran after Sir Henry. Sir Henry knew it was there now, and he was afraid. He began to run away from it as fast as he could. The hound ran after him. Holmes and | fired our revolvers at the monster but it did not stop. It continued to run after Sir Henry. The hound jumped onto the poor man and seized! his throat. Sir Henry fell to the ground. Holmes ran towards them. Holmes fired his gun before the animal could attack the man on the ground. ene Sir Henry was unconscious. He was not injured? but he was terrified. At last he opened his eyes and looked at my friend. ‘What was it?’ he asked. He looked at the body of the hound in fear. 1. seized : took hold of violently 2. injured : hurt.J ~ om — a)The Hound of the Baskervilles Holmes stepped forward and examined the body of the animal. Its head still burnt with a strange light. ‘Phosphorous paint,’ he told us. ‘Someone put this on the hound to make it even more terrible. But it’s dead now. You're safe now, Sir Henry.’ ‘you saved my life, Sir,’ Sir Henry told Holmes. ‘Now you must stay here for a while, Sir Henry,’ Holmes ordered him. ‘Watson and | are going back to the Stapleton house. I want to catch that man!” Holmes and J walked back to the Stapleton house through the fog. ‘| don’t think Stapleton will be there any more,’ my friend told me. ‘But we must search the house. I’m sure he heard our revolvers, He knows Sir Henry is still alive.’ The door of the house was open and we went inside. The rooms of the house downstairs were empty and we climbed the stairs. The rooms here were empty as well, but there was one room that we could not open. ‘He's in here,’ | said. ‘I heard a noise inside this room.’ Holmes and I broke the door open and went inside. Inside the room we saw a figure covered in a white sheet and tied up. It was Mrs Stapleton. We freed her. There were a lot of marks on her body. ‘He beat her,’ Holmes said angrily. We put her into a chair. After a few minutes she was able to speak. ‘Is he safe?’ she asked us. ‘Did he run away?’ ‘Mr Stapleton will not escape us,’ Holmes told her sternly. ‘I’m not talking about my husband,’ Mrs Stapleton said, ‘I’m talking about Sir Henry. Is Sir Henry safe?’ 98The Appearance of the Hound of the Baskervilles ‘sir Henry is safe and the hound is dead,’ | told her. ‘I'm glad,’ Mrs Stapleton said. ‘My husband is a very cruel man. Look what he did to me!’ She showed us the marks on her hands and arms. “Where is he?’ Holmes asked her. ‘There's an old house in the middle of the moor,’ she explained. ‘That’s where he kept the hound. I’m sure you'll find him there.’ ‘We can’t go into the Grimpen marsh tonight with all this fog,’ Holmes decided. We went back to Sir Henry and carried him to Baskerville Hall. He was very sad when he understood that the girl he loved was really Stapleton’s wife. He became ill and we sent for the local doctor. The next morning there was no fog and Mrs Stapleton took us into the Grimpen Marsh. We found the little house but it was empty. All we found there were some old bones: Stapleton had used them to feed the hound. We searched the moor all day but we couldn't find Mr Stapleton anywhere. All we saw was an old boot that had belonged to Sir Henry. Stapleton had taken it from the hotel in London and used it to set the hound after Sir Henry. ‘stapleton lost his way in the fog,’ Holmes decided. ‘He is dead, Watson. He sank in the marsh. I’m sure of it.” 99CHAPTER TEN member of askerville family. He was the son of Rodger Baskerville the criminal. Rodger Baskerville died in South America but he had a son, also called Rodger — the man we knew as Stapleton. He married a beautiful young woman named Beryl Garcia. The couple came to England and pretended to be brother and sister instead of husband and wife. 103ant Hound of the Baskervilles ‘Stapleton knew that all the Baskerville property was his if Sir Charles and Sir Henry died — and he decided to kill them. ‘He heard the story of the Hound of the Baskervilles, and he knew that Sir Charles believed in the old stories. Stapleton decided to buy a hound and hide it on the moors. ‘It was easy to kill Sir Charles because he had a weak heart. He asked Laura Lyons to write the letter to Sir Charles to meet him in the garden one evening. At the last minute he persuaded her not to go there. Stapleton wanted Sir Charles to be alone so that he could frighten him to death with the hound. ‘The rest was easy. When Sir Charles saw the hound with the phosphorous paint on his face he died of fright. eno ‘Then Stapleton came to London to follow Sir Henry and kill him there. He wanted one of Sir Henry’s shoes to give to the hound. He knew the hound would follow the scent of Sir Henry's shoe. First of all he took a new one, but it didn’t work as there was no scent. So he had to steal an old shoe. When he realised that I was helping Sir Henry, Stapleton decided to return to the moors. ‘Everything began to go wrong for Stapleton when his wife refused to help him any more with his wicked plans to destroy the Baskervilles. That is why he beat her and left her in the house. Her love for him slowly turned to hatred as she understood the kind of man he really was.’ Holmes smiled at me. ‘And now, Watson, | think there will be just time for us to go to the theatre tonight — our case is closed.’ 104