Laura Lyons. By representing himself as a single man he acquiredcomplete influence over her， and he gave her to understand thatin the event of her obtaining a divorce from her husband hewould marry her. His plans were suddenly brought to a head byhis knowledge that Sir Charles was about to leave the Hall on theadvice of Dr. Mortimer， with whose opinion he himself pretendedto coincide. He must act at once， or his victim might get beyondhis power. He therefore put pressure upon Mrs. Lyons to writethis letter， imploring the old man to give her an interview on theevening before his departure for London. He then， by a speciousargument， prevented her from going， and so had the chance forwhich he had waited.
“Driving back in the evening from Coombe Tracey he wasin time to get his hound， to treat it with his infernal paint， andto bring 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 the alleyfrom heart disease and terror. The hound had kept upon the grassyborder while the baronet had run down the path， so that no trackbut the man’s was visible. On seeing him lying still the creaturehad probably approached to sniff at him， but finding him deadhad turned away again. It was then that it left the print which wasactually observed by Dr. Mortimer. The hound was called off andhurried away to its lair in the Grimpen Mire， and a mystery wasleft which puzzled the authorities， alarmed the countryside， andfinally brought the case within the scope of our observation.
“So much for the death of Sir Charles Baskerville. You perceivethe devilish cunning of it， for really it would be almost impossibleto make a case against the real murderer. His only accomplicewas one who could never give him away， and the grotesque，inconceivable nature of the device only served to make it moreeffective. Both of the women concerned in the case， Mrs.
Stapleton and Mrs. Laura Lyons， were left with a strong suspicionagainst Stapleton. Mrs. Stapleton knew that he had designs uponthe old man， and also of the existence of the hound. Mrs. Lyonsknew neither of these things， but had been impressed by the deathoccurring at the time of an uncancelled appointment which was onlyknown to him. However， both of them were under his influence，and he had nothing to fear from them. The first half of his task wassuccessfully accomplished but 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 in layinga trap for the old man， and he dared not leave her long out ofhis sight for fear he should lose his influence over her. It was forthis reason that he took her to London with him. They lodged， Ifind， at the Mexborough Private Hotel， in Craven Street， whichwas actually one of those called upon by my agent in search ofevidence. Here he kept his wife imprisoned in her room while he，disguised in a beard， followed Dr. Mortimer to Baker Street andafterwards to the station and to the Northumberland Hotel. Hiswife had some inkling of his plans； but she had such a fear of herhusband—a fear founded upon brutal ill-treatment—that she darenot write to warn the man whom she knew to be in danger. If theletter should fall into Stapleton’s hands her own life would not besafe. Eventually， as we know， she adopted the expedient of cuttingout the words which would form the message， and addressing theletter in a disguised hand. It reached the baronet， and gave himthe first warning of his danger.
“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 outré 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 one whichis most likely to elucidate it.
“Then we had the visit from our friends next morning，shadowed always by Stapleton in the cab. From his knowledgeof our rooms and of my appearance， as well as from his generalconduct， I am inclined to think that Stapleton’s career of crimehas been by no means limited to this single Baskerville affair. Itis suggestive that during the last three years there have been fourconsiderable burglaries in the west country， for none of which wasany criminal ever arrested. The last of these， at Folkestone Court，in May， was remarkable for the cold-blooded pistoling of the page，who surprised the masked and solitary burglar. I cannot doubt thatStapleton recruited his waning resources in this fashion， and thatfor years he has been a desperate and dangerous man.
