The Hound of the Baskervilles: Fixing the Nets

Back at Baskerville Hall, Holmes looked closely at the old family portraits in the dining hall.He covered the hat and long hair of wicked Hugo Baskerville with his hand, and Watson gasped.The face that remained was the face of Stapleton.

Stapleton was a Baskerville, Holmes said, and he wanted the house and the fortune for himself.Only Sir Henry now stood between him and everything he wanted.Holmes promised that by the next night they would have him in their net.

The next morning Holmes asked Sir Henry to go to dinner at Merripit House and to walk home alone across the moor afterwards.Sir Henry was hurt that his friends were leaving for London, but he trusted Holmes and promised to obey.Holmes and Watson took the train, but only as far as the next station.

Then they visited Laura Lyons, and Holmes showed her proof that Stapleton was already married.She was furious, and she told them everything: it was Stapleton who had told her what to write to Sir Charles.Then, at the last moment, he had told her not to go to the gate.

When she heard about Sir Charles’s death, he had frightened her into silence.Holmes believed her, and said that she had been lucky to escape with her life.

That evening Inspector Lestrade arrived from London on the train, small and tough like a bulldog.Holmes told him that they were going out on the moor that night, and that the case would soon be closed.