Pitched Unfairly

221BConsulting detectives
Baker Street, London

The Baskerville curse, closed.

Final report to Sir Henry Baskerville, Bart.

S. Holmes J. H. Watson, M.D. Case file B

Fig. 1. The subject of this report, as described to us.

Executive summary

There is no curse. There was a cousin with a dog.

  1. WhatThe hound is a real dog, bought in Fulham Road and painted with phosphorus.
  2. WhoYour neighbour Stapleton is your cousin, and next in line after you.
  3. HowHe lured Sir Charles to the moor gate with a borrowed letter, then let the dog loose.

The question you asked

One question came to Baker Street: is the Hall safe for Sir Henry?

  1. SituationSir Charles Baskerville is found dead at the end of his yew alley. The inquest says his heart.
  2. ComplicationTwenty yards from the body, Dr Mortimer saw what the inquest did not: “the footprints of a gigantic hound.”
  3. QuestionDr Mortimer asks us “what I should do with Sir Henry Baskerville,” the heir, landing from Canada.

75

minutes until Sir Henry’s train reaches Waterloo

What we did

We sent Watson to the Hall and hid Holmes in a hut.

Stone huts, Black Tor

Holmes, whenever he needed to be close. Cartwright, a boy from London, brings food and clean linen.

Hotels searched for the cut-up Times
23
Written reports from the field
2
Perfumes Holmes can tell apart
75
London, by train
Not to scale. Nor, it turns out, is the hound.

Findings, with evidence

Nine clues add up to three findings and one man.

  • A new brown boot stolen, then returned
  • An old black boot stolen, and kept
  • Prints of a gigantic hound, 20 yards off
  • Cigar ash dropped twice at the moor gate
  • A burned letter: “be at the gate by ten”
  • His footprints change to toes after the gate
  • A bearded cab fare calling himself Holmes
  • Old Hugo’s portrait, with the hat covered
  • Stapleton once ran a school in the north

Finding 1 of 3

The hound is real. It needed an old boot.

Returned
New brown boot. Stolen from the hotel, then quietly returned. No scent on it.
Kept
Old black boot. Stolen and kept, for the dog. Found in the Mire: “Meyers, Toronto”.
Bought from
Ross and Mangles, Fulham Road
Kept on
An island in the Grimpen Mire
Painted with
“A cunning preparation” of phosphorus

Finding 2 of 3

Sir Charles wasn’t tiptoeing. He was running.

He waited at the gate for someone with a letter. Something else came over it.

Heel and toe: walking Toes only, wide apart: running

Two dots at the gate: cigar ash. Red prints: running. Paws: the hound, on the grass. X: where he fell.

Finding 3 of 3

Two lives stood between the naturalist and £740,000.

Sir CharlesEldest. Died 4 May
Second brotherDied young
RodgerYoungest. Fled abroad
Sir HenryYou. From Canada
No children“Died unmarried”, 1876 A son: “Stapleton”Also Vandeleur. Also a Baskerville
  1. 1Sir Charles
  2. 2Sir Henry

£740,000 The residue of the estate, all to the heir

What we ruled out

The curse, the convict and the butler all have alibis.

  1. 01
    The family curse A spectral hound, per a manuscript of 1742.

    It bled. Watson’s fingers came away glowing: phosphorus.

    Ruled out
  2. 02
    Selden, the convict The Notting Hill murderer, loose on the moor.

    Fed by his sister, Mrs Barrymore. Killed fleeing the hound, in Sir Henry’s old clothes.

    Ruled out
  3. 03
    Barrymore, the butler A black beard and a £500 legacy.

    His candle at the window was dinner for his brother-in-law.

    Ruled out
  4. 04
    James Desmond Next in line, on paper.

    An elderly clergyman who once refused Sir Charles’s money.

    Ruled out
  5. 05
    Mrs Laura Lyons She wrote the letter to the gate.

    Stapleton talked her out of going, and let the appointment stand.

    Ruled out

Recommendations

Take the Hall, after a voyage round the world.

#ActionOwnerWhen
01 Take the long voyage before you take the Hall. Sir Henry, with Dr Mortimer Now
02 Hand Merripit House and the case file to Scotland Yard. Inspector Lestrade Done
03 Trace Anthony, the Merripit manservant, now abroad. Inspector Lestrade Open
04 Keep Sir Charles’s charities going, as the county hopes. Sir Henry On return
05 Buy Dr Mortimer a new spaniel. Sir Henry Before sailing

Risks

Three risks stay open, and one of them was ours.

RiskWhy it is openMitigationStatus
Stapleton turns up His body was never found. No footprints on the far side of the Mire. The path of wands was invisible in the fog. Holmes’s view: buried in the Mire. Low
Anthony talks, or returns The old manservant knew they were man and wife, and likely fed the dog. Lestrade is on it (action 03). Open
Your nerves Shattered by the night on the moor, and by the lady. The voyage. The specialist and Dr Mortimer call it temporary. Treating
Our management We used you as bait, alone, in a fog we did not predict. Owned in writing: “a reproach to my management of the case.” Ours

Next steps, and what we need from you

One signature, Sir Henry. We have a box at the opera.

Accepted: Sir Henry Baskerville, Bart.

  1. TodayYou accept this report.
  2. TonightHolmes and Watson: Les Huguenots, then dinner at Marcini’s.
  3. TomorrowThe case is filed under B, in the indexed list of cases.
  4. From youNothing more. Keep your boots.