It was the end of November, and Holmes and I sat, upon a rawand foggy night, on either side of a blazing fire in our sitting-room in Baker Street. Since the tragic upshot of our visit toDevonshire he had been engaged in two affairs of the utmostimportance, in the first of which he had exposed the atrociousconduct of Colonel Upwood in connection with the famous cardscandal of the Nonpareil Club, while in the second he haddefended the unfortunate Mme. Montpensier from the charge ofmurder which hung over her in connection with the death of herstep-daughter, Mlle. Carere, the young lady who, as it will beremembered, was found six months later alive and married inNew York. My friend was in excellent spirits over the successwhich had attended a succession of difficult and important cases,so that I was able to induce him to discuss the details of theBaskerville mystery. I had waited patiently for the opportunityfor I was aware that he would never permit cases to overlap, andthat his clear and logical mind would not be drawn from itspresent work to dwell upon memories of the past. Sir Henry andDr. Mortimer were, however, in London, on their way to thatlong voyage which had been recommended for the restoration ofhis shattered nerves. They had called upon us that very afternoon, so that it was natural that the subject should come up fordiscussion.

"The whole course of events," said Holmes, "from the pointof view of the man who called himself Stapleton was simple anddirect, although to us, who had no means in the beginning ofknowing the motives of his actions and could only learn part ofthe facts, it all appeared exceedingly complex. I have had theadvantage of two conversations with Mrs. Stapleton, and thecase has now been so entirely cleared up that I am not aware thatthere is anything which has remained a secret to us. You willfind a few notes upon the matter under the heading B in myindexed list of cases."

"Perhaps you would kindly give me a sketch of the course ofevents from memory."

"Certainly, though I cannot guarantee that I carry all the factsin my mind. Intense mental concentration has a curious way ofblotting out what has passed. The barrister who has his case athis fingers' ends and is able to argue with an expert upon hisown subject finds that a week or two of the courts will drive it allout of his head once more. So each of my cases displaces thelast, and Mlle. Carere has blurred my recollection of BaskervilleHall. To-morrow some other little problem may be submitted tomy notice which will in turn dispossess the fair French lady andthe 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. Hewas a son of that Rodger Baskerville, the younger brother of SirCharles, who fled with a sinister reputation to South America,where he was said to have died unmarried. He did, as a matter offact, marry, and had one child, this fellow, whose real name isthe same as his father's. He married Beryl Garcia, one of thebeauties of Costa Rica, and, having purloined a considerablesum of public money, he changed his name to Vandeleur andfled to England, where he established a school in the east ofYorkshire. His reason for attempting this special line of businesswas that he had struck up an acquaintance with a consumptivetutor upon the voyage home, and that he had used this man'sability to make the undertaking a success. Fraser, the tutor, diedhowever, and the school which had begun well sank from disrepute into infamy. The Vandeleurs found it convenient to changetheir name to Stapleton, and he brought the remains of hisfortune, his schemes for the future, and his taste for entomologyto the south of England. I learned at the British Museum that hewas a recognized authority upon the subject, and that the nameof Vandeleur has been permanently attached to a certain mothwhich he had, in his Yorkshire days, been the first to describe.

"We now come to that portion of his life which has proved tobe of such intense interest to us. The fellow had evidently madeinquiry and found that only two lives intervened between himand a valuable estate. When he went to Devonshire his planswere, I believe, exceedingly hazy, but that he meant mischieffrom the first is evident from the way in which he took his wifewith him in the character of his sister. The idea of using her as adecoy was clearly already in his mind, though he may not havebeen certain how the details of his plot were to be arranged. Hemeant in the end to have the estate, and he was ready to use anytool or run any risk for that end. His first act was to establishhimself as near to his ancestral home as he could, and his secondwas to cultivate a friendship with Sir Charles Baskerville andwith the neighbours.

"The baronet himself told him about the family hound, and soprepared the way for his own death. Stapleton, as I will continueto call him, knew that the old man's heart was weak and that ashock would kill him. So much he had learned from Dr. Mortimer. He had heard also that Sir Charles was superstitious andhad taken this grim legend very seriously. His ingenious mindinstantly suggested a way by which the baronet could be done todeath, and yet it would be hardly possible to bring home the guiltto the real murderer.

"Having conceived the idea he proceeded to carry it out withconsiderable finesse. An ordinary schemer would have beencontent to work with a savage hound. The use of artificial meansto make the creature diabolical was a flash of genius upon hispart. The dog he bought in London from Ross and Mangles, thedealers in Fulham Road. It was the strongest and most savage intheir possession. He brought it down by the North Devon lineand walked a great distance over the moor so as to get it homewithout exciting any remarks. He had already on his insect huntslearned to penetrate the Grimpen Mire, and so had found a safehiding-place for the creature. Here he kennelled it and waited hischance.

"But it was some time coming. The old gentleman could not bedecoyed outside of his grounds at night. Several times Stapletonlurked about with his hound, but without avail. It was duringthese fruitless quests that he, or rather his ally, was seen bypeasants, and that the legend of the demon dog received a newconfirmation. He had hoped that his wife might lure Sir Charlesto his ruin, but here she proved unexpectedly independent. Shewould 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 Stapletonwas at a deadlock.

"He found a way out of his difficulties through the chancethat Sir Charles, who had conceived a friendship for him, madehim the minister of his charity in the case of this unfortunatewoman, Mrs. Laura Lyons. By representing himself as a singleman he acquired complete influence over her, and he gave her tounderstand.that in the event of her obtaining a divorce from herhusband he would marry her. His plans were suddenly brought toa head by his knowledge that Sir Charles was about to leave theHall on the advice of Dr. Mortimer, with whose opinion hehimself pretended to coincide. He must act at once, or his victimmight get beyond his power. He therefore put pressure uponMrs. Lyons to write this letter, imploring the old man to give heran interview on the evening before his departure for London. Hethen, by a specious argument, prevented her from going, and sohad the chance for which he had waited.

"Driving back in the evening from Coombe Tracey he was intime to get his hound, to treat it with his infernal paint, and tobring the beast round to the gate at which he had reason toexpect that he would find the old gentleman waiting. The dog,incited by its master, sprang over the wicket-gate and pursuedthe unfortunate baronet, who fled screaming down the yew alley.In that gloomy tunnel it must indeed have been a dreadful sightto see that huge black creature, with its flaming jaws and blazingeyes, bounding after its victim. He fell dead at the end of thealley from heart disease and terror. The hound had kept upon thegrassy border while the baronet had run down the path, so thatno track but the man's was visible. On seeing him lying still thecreature had probably approached to sniff at him, but findinghim dead had turned away again. It was then that it left the printwhich was actually observed by Dr. Mortimer. The hound wascalled off and hurried away to its lair in the Grimpen Mire, and amystery was left which puzzled the authorities, alarmed thecountryside, and finally brought the case within the scope of ourobservation.

"So much for the death of Sir Charles Baskerville. Youperceive the devilish cunning of it, for really it would be almostimpossible to make a case against the real murderer. His onlyaccomplice was one who could never give him away, and thegrotesque, inconceivable nature of the device only served tomake it more effective. Both of the women concerned in thecase, Mrs. Stapleton and Mrs. Laura Lyons, were left with astrong suspicion against Stapleton. Mrs. Stapleton knew that hehad designs upon the old man, and also of the existence of thehound. Mrs. Lyons knew neither of these things, but had beenimpressed by the death occurring at the time of an uncancelledappointment which was only known to him. However, both ofthem were under his influence, and he had nothing to fear fromthem. The first half of his task was successfully accomplishedbut the more difficult still remained.

"It is possible that Stapleton did not know of the existence ofan heir in Canada. In any case he would very soon learn it fromhis friend Dr. Mortimer, and he was told by the latter all detailsabout the arrival of Henry Baskerville. Stapleton's first idea wasthat this young stranger from Canada might possibly be done todeath in London without coming down to Devonshire at all. Hedistrusted his wife ever since she had refused to help him inlaying a trap for the old man, and he dared not leave her long outof his sight for fear he should lose his influence over her. It wasfor this reason that he took her to London with him. Theylodged, I find, at the Mexborough Private Hotel, in CravenStreet, which was actually one of those called upon by my agentin search of evidence. Here he kept his wife imprisoned in herroom while he, disguised in a beard, followed Dr. Mortimer toBaker Street and afterwards to the station and to the Northumberland Hotel. His wife had some inkling of his plans; but shehad such a fear of her husband -- a fear founded upon brutalill-treatment -- that she dare not write to warn the man whom sheknew to be in danger. If the letter should fall into Stapleton'shands her own life would not be safe. Eventually, as we know,she adopted the expedient of cutting out the words which wouldform the message, and addressing the letter in a disguised hand.It reached the baronet, and gave him the first warning of hisdanger.

"It was very essential for Stapleton to get some article of SirHenry's attire so that, in case he was driven to use the dog, hemight always have the means of setting him upon his track. Withcharacteristic promptness and audacity he set about this at once,and we cannot doubt that the boots or chamber-maid of the hotelwas 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 andobtained another -- a most instructive incident, since it provedconclusively to my mind that we were dealing with a real hound,as no other supposition could explain this anxiety to obtain anold boot and this indifference to a new one. The more outre andgrotesque an incident is the more carefully it deserves to beexamined, and the very point which appears to complicate a caseis, when duly considered and scientifically handled, the onewhich 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 ourrooms and of my appearance, as well as from his general conduct, I am inclined to think that Stapleton's career of crime hasbeen by no means limited to this single Baskerville affair. It issuggestive that during the last three years there have been fourconsiderable burglaries in the west country, for none of whichwas any criminal ever arrested. The last of these, at FolkestoneCourt, in May, was remarkable for the cold-blooded pistolling ofthe page, who surprised the masked and solitary burglar. Icannot doubt that Stapleton recruited his waning resources in thisfashion, and that for years he has been a desperate and dangerousman.

"We had an example of his readiness of resource that morningwhen he got away from us so successfully, and also of hisaudacity in sending back my own name to me through thecabman. From that moment he understood that I had taken overthe case in London, and that therefore there was no chance forhim there. He returned to Dartmoor and awaited the arrival ofthe baronet."

"One moment!" said I. "You have, no doubt, described thesequence of events correctly, but there is one point which youhave left unexplained. What became of the hound when itsmaster was in London?"

"I have given some attention to this matter and it is undoubtedly of importance. There can be no question that Stapleton hada confidant, though it is unlikely that he ever placed himself inhis power by sharing all his plans with him. There was an oldmanservant at Merripit House, whose name was Anthony. Hisconnection with the Stapletons can be traced for several years, asfar back as the schoolmastering days, so that he must have beenaware that his master and mistress were really husband and wife.This man has disappeared and has escaped from the country. It issuggestive 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 oldman cross the Grimpen Mire by the path which Stapleton hadmarked out. It is very probable, therefore, that in the absence ofhis master it was he who cared for the hound, though he maynever have known the purpose for which the beast was used.

"The Stapletons then went down to Devonshire, whither theywere soon followed by Sir Henry and you. One word now as tohow I stood myself at that time. It may possibly recur to yourmemory that when I examined the paper upon which the printedwords were fastened I made a close inspection for the watermark. In doing so I held it within a few inches of my eyes, andwas conscious of a faint smell of the scent known as whitejessamine. There are seventy-five perfumes, which it is verynecessary that a criminal expert should be able to distinguishfrom each other, and cases have more than once within my ownexperience depended upon their prompt recognition. The scentsuggested the presence of a lady, and already my thoughts beganto turn towards the Stapletons. Thus I had made certain of thehound, and had guessed at the criminal before ever we went tothe 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 wouldbe keenly on his guard. I deceived everybody, therefore, yourself included, and I came down secretly when I was supposed tobe 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 benear the scene of action. Cartwright had come down with me,and in his disguise as a country boy he was of great assistance tome. I was dependent upon him for food and clean linen. When Iwas watching Stapleton, Cartwright was frequently watchingyou, 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 toestablish the identity of the man and the woman and knew at lastexactly 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 upin a very effective way, though I had already come to the sameconclusions from my own observations.

"By the time that you discovered me upon the moor I had acomplete knowledge of the whole business, but I had not a casewhich could go to a jury. Even Stapleton's attempt upon SirHenry that night which ended in the death of the unfortunateconvict 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 apparentlyunprotected, as a bait. We did so, and at the cost of a severeshock to our client we succeeded in completing our case anddriving Stapleton to his destruction. That Sir Henry should havebeen exposed to this is, I must confess, a reproach to mymanagement of the case, but we had no means of foreseeing theterrible and paralyzing spectacle which the beast presented, norcould we predict the fog which enabled him to burst upon us atsuch short notice. We succeeded in our object at a cost whichboth the specialist and Dr. Mortimer assure me will be a temporary one. A long journey may enable our friend to recover notonly from his shattered nerves but also from his wounded feelings. His love for the lady was deep and sincere, and to him thesaddest part of all this black business was that he should havebeen deceived by her.

"It only remains to indicate the part which she had playedthroughout. There can be no doubt that Stapleton exercised aninfluence over her which may have been love or may have beenfear, or very possibly both, since they are by no means incompatible emotions. It was, at least, absolutely effective. At hiscommand she consented to pass as his sister, though he foundthe limits of his power over her when he endeavoured to makeher the direct accessory to murder. She was ready to warn SirHenry so far as she could without implicating her husband, andagain and again she tried to do so. Stapleton himself seems tohave been capable of jealousy, and when he saw the baronetpaying court to the lady, even though it was part of his ownplan, still he could not help interrupting with a passionate outburst which revealed the fiery soul which his self-containedmanner so cleverly concealed. By encouraging the intimacy hemade it certain that Sir Henry would frequently come to MerripitHouse and that he would sooner or later get the opportunitywhich he desired. On the day of the crisis, however, his wifeturned suddenly against him. She had learned something of thedeath of the convict, and she knew that the hound was being keptin the outhouse on the evening that Sir Henry was coming todinner. She taxed her husband with his intended crime, and afurious scene followed in which he showed her for the first timethat she had a rival in his love. Her fidelity turned in an instantto bitter hatred, and he saw that she would betray him. He tiedher up, therefore, that she might have no chance of warning SirHenry, and he hoped, no doubt, that when the whole countrysideput down the baronet's death to the curse of his family, as theycertainly would do, he could win his wife back to accept anaccomplished fact and to keep silent upon what she knew. In thisI fancy that in any case he made a miscalculation, and that, if wehad not been there, his doom would none the less have beensealed. A woman of Spanish blood does not condone such anirjury so lightly. And now, my dear Watson, without referring tomy notes, I cannot give you a more detailed account of thiscurious case. I do not know that anything essential has been leftunexplained."

"He could not hope to frighten Sir Henry to death as he haddone the old uncle with his bogie hound."

"The beast was savage and half-starved. If its appearance didnot frighten its victim to death, at least it would paralyze theresistance which might be offered."

"No doubt. There only remains one difficulty. If Stapletoncame into the succession, how could he explain the fact that he,the heir, had been living unannounced under another name soclose to the property? How could he claim it without causingsuspicion and inquiry?"

"It is a fomlidable difficulty, and I fear that you ask too muchwhen you expect me to solve it. The past and the present arewithin the field of my inquiry, but what a man may do in thefuture is a hard question to answer. Mrs. Stapleton has heard herhusband discuss the problem on several occasions. There werethree possible courses. He might claim the property from SouthAmerica, establish his identity before the British authorities thereand so obtain the fortune without ever coming to England at all,or he might adopt an elaborate disguise during the short time thathe need be in London; or, again, he might furnish an accomplicewith the proofs and papers, putting him in as heir, and retaininga claim upon some proportion of his income. We cannot doubtfrom what we know of him that he would have found some wayout of the difficulty. And now, my dear Watson, we have hadsome weeks of severe work, and for one evening, I think, wemay turn our thoughts into more pleasant channels. I have a boxfor 'Les Huguenots.' Have you heard the De Reszkes? Might Itrouble you then to be ready in half an hour, and we can stop atMarcini's for a little dinner on the way?"