“We’re at close grips at last,” said Holmes as we walked togetheracross the moor. “What a nerve the fellow has! How he pulledhimself together in the face of what must have been a paralyzingshock when he found that the wrong man had fallen a victim tohis plot. I told you in London, Watson, and I tell you now again,that we have never had a foeman more worthy of our steel.”
“I am sorry that he has seen you.”
“And so was I at first. But there was no getting out of it.”
“What effect do you think it will have upon his plans now thathe knows you are here?”
“It may cause him to be more cautious, or it may drive him todesperate measures at once. Like most clever criminals, he maybe too confident in his own cleverness and imagine that he hascompletely deceived us.”
“Why should we not arrest him at once?”
“My dear Watson, you were born to be a man of action. Yourinstinct is always to do something energetic. But supposing, forargument’s sake, that we had him arrested to-night, what on earththe better off should we be for that? We could prove nothingagainst him. There’s the devilish cunning of it! If he were actingthrough a human agent we could get some evidence, but if wewere to drag this great dog to the light of day it would not help usin putting a rope round the neck of its master.”
“Surely we have a case.”
“Not a shadow of one—only surmise and conjecture. We shouldbe laughed out of court if we came with such a story and suchevidence.”
“There is Sir Charles’s death.”
“Found dead without a mark upon him. You and I know that hedied of sheer fright, and we know also what frightened him; buthow are we to get twelve stolid jurymen to know it? What signsare there of a hound? Where are the marks of its fangs? Of coursewe know that a hound does not bite a dead body and that SirCharles was dead before ever the brute overtook him. But we haveto prove all this, and we are not in a position to do it.”
“Well, then, to-night?”
“We are not much better off to-night. Again, there was nodirect connection between the hound and the man’s death. Wenever saw the hound. We heard it; but we could not prove that itwas running upon this man’s trail. There is a complete absence ofmotive. No, my dear fellow; we must reconcile ourselves to thefact that we have no case at present, and that it is worth our whileto run any risk in order to establish one.”
“And how do you propose to do so?”
“I have great hopes of what Mrs. Laura Lyons may do for uswhen the position of affairs is made clear to her. And I have myown plan as well. Sufficient for to-morrow is the evil thereof; but Ihope before the day is past to have the upper hand at last.”
I could draw nothing further from him, and he walked, lost inthought, as far as the Baskerville gates.
“Are you coming up?”
“Yes; I see no reason for further concealment. But one last word,Watson. Say nothing of the hound to Sir Henry. Let him thinkthat Selden’s death was as Stapleton would have us believe. He willhave a better nerve for the ordeal which he will have to undergoto-morrow, when he is engaged, if I remember your report aright,to dine with these people.”
“And so am I.”
“Then you must excuse yourself and he must go alone. That willbe easily arranged. And now, if we are too late for dinner, I thinkthat we are both ready for our suppers.”
Sir Henry was more pleased than surprised to see SherlockHolmes, for he had for some days been expecting that recentevents would bring him down from London. He did raise hiseyebrows, however, when he found that my friend had neither anyluggage nor any explanations for its absence. Between us we soonsupplied his wants, and then over a belated supper we explained tothe baronet as much of our experience as it seemed desirable thathe should know. But first I had the unpleasant duty of breakingthe news to Barrymore and his wife. To him it may have been anunmitigated relief, but she wept bitterly in her apron. To all theworld he was the man of violence, half animal and half demon; butto her he always remained the little wilful boy of her own girlhood,the child who had clung to her hand. Evil indeed is the man whohas not one woman to mourn him.
“I’ve been moping in the house all day since Watson went off inthe morning,” said the baronet. “I guess I should have some credit,for I have kept my promise. If I hadn’t sworn not to go aboutalone I might have had a more lively evening, for I had a messagefrom Stapleton asking me over there.”
“I have no doubt that you would have had a more livelyevening,” said Holmes drily. “By the way, I don’t suppose youappreciate that we have been mourning over you as having brokenyour neck?”
Sir Henry opened his eyes. “How was that?”
“This poor wretch was dressed in your clothes. I fear your servantwho gave them to him may get into trouble with the police.”
“That is unlikely. There was no mark on any of them, as far as Iknow.”
“That’s lucky for him—in fact, it’s lucky for all of you, sinceyou are all on the wrong side of the law in this matter. I am notsure that as a conscientious detective my first duty is not to arrestthe whole household. Watson’s reports are most incriminatingdocuments.”
“But how about the case?” asked the baronet. “Have you madeanything out of the tangle? I don’t know that Watson and I aremuch the wiser since we came down.”
“I think that I shall be in a position to make the situation rathermore clear to you before long. It has been an exceedingly difficultand most complicated business. There are several points uponwhich we still want light—but it is coming all the same.”
“We’ve had one experience, as Watson has no doubt told you.
We heard the hound on the moor, so I can swear that it is not allempty superstition. I had something to do with dogs when I wasout West, and I know one when I hear one. If you can muzzlethat one and put him on a chain I’ll be ready to swear you are thegreatest detective of all time.”
“I think I will muzzle him and chain him all right if you will giveme your help.”
“Whatever you tell me to do I will do.”
“Very good; and I will ask you also to do it blindly, without alwaysasking the reason.”
“Just as you like.”