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It was the end of November,more than a month after ourreturn from Baskerville Hall.Holmes and I were sitting on either side of a bright fire in our sitting room in Baker Street.Since our return,Holmes had been working hard on two other cases,and he had been too busy to discuss the Baskerville case.But now the other cases were finished,and he had been successful in both of them.I decided it was a good time to ask him the final questions about Stapleton and the hound.
'The picture showed us that Stapleton was indeed a Baskerville,'Holmes began.'He was the son of Roger Baskerville,who was Sir Charles'younger brotner.Roger was a criminal who escaped from prison and ran away to South America.Everyone thought he had died unmarried,but that was not true.He had one son,also called Roger,whom we knew as Stapleton.Stapleton married a beautiful South Ameri can,and came to England,where he started a school in the north.He discovered that he would inherit the Baskerville lands and fortune if Sir Charles and Sir Henry both died.That is why he moved to Devonshire when the school closed.
'When he met Sir Charles,he heard the story of the hell hound.He also learned that Sir Charles believed these super natural stories,and that he had a weak heart.
'Stapleton had the idea of buying a huge hound,and of using the phosphorus to make it shine like the hound in the story.I have found the place where he bought the animal.He took it by train to Devonshire and walked many miles over the moors with it so that it would not be seen near Baskerville Hall.
'He needed to get Sir Charles out of the Hall at night.This would be easy to do if his wife made Sir Charles fall in love with her.But,although he beat her,she refused to help him with his evil plan.
'Then Stapleton met Laura Lyons.We know that he made her write a letter to bring Sir Charles to the moor gate on that sad night.The hound,which was shining with phosphorus,chased Sir Charles down the Yew Alley.Sir Charles' terror was so great that his weak heart stopped,and he died,but the animal did not touch the dead body.
'The hound had run on the grass,so it left no footprints,ex cept the one found by Dr Mortimer.You see how clever Staple ton was.Neither he nor the hound had touched Sir Charles so there was no sign of murder.The only two people who might suspect him—his wife and Mrs Lyons could not be certain about what he had done.Anyway,neither of them would in form the police about him.
'Next,Stapleton learned that Sir Henry had reached Eng land,so he went to London.He hoped to murder Sir Henry there.He took his wife with him,but he wasn't sure that she would keep his secret,so he did not tell her the truth.He locked her up in their hotel.She knew that he had some evil plan,but she was too frightened to give Sir Henry a clear warning.Instead,she sent him the letter made of words cut from a newspaper.
'Meanwhile,Stapleton was wearing a false beard and fol lowing Sir Henry.He needed something to give the hound Sir Henry's scent,so he paid a maid at Sir Henry's hotel to steal one of his shoes The first one was a new one,and didn't have Sir Henry's scent on it.It was no use for the hound,so he put it back,and another,older,shoe was stolen.When the shoes were changed,I knew that the hound must be a natural and not a supernatural creature.
'Next there was the letter made of words cut from a news paper.When I looked at it,I held it close to my eyes.I noticed a smell of perfume,so I guessed that a woman had sent the let ter.
'By the time I went to Devonshire I knew that there was a real hound,and I knew we were looking for a man and a wom an.I guessed that the Stapletons were the pair.I had to watch Stapleton,but I had to hide myself As I have explained.I could not tell you what I was doing.I stayed in Newtown and used the hut on the moor only when necessary.
'Your letters were sent to me immediately from Baker Street,and were very helpful.When you told me that Stapleton had owned a school in the north of England.I checked on him and where he had come from.I discovered he had come from South America.And then everything became clear.
'By the time you found me on the moor,I knew everything,but I could prove nothing.We had to catch the man doing something criminal,and so I had to put Sir Henry in danger.
'Dr Mortimer tells me that Sir Henry will be completely better after some rest.As you know,the two of them have be come good friends,and are going on a long holiday together.Sir Henry will take some time to forget Miss Stapleton.He loved her deeply and it hurt him badly when he learned the truth about her.
'She was very frightened of her cruel husband,but she sus pected that he was responsible for Sir Charles' death.She knew about the hound,and when Selden died she guessed that the hound had killed him.She knew her husband had the hound at their house on the night Sir Henry came to dinner.They argued about the hound that evening,and as they argued Stapleton told her about Mrs Lyons.Any love she had for her husband disappeared at that moment.He knew that she want ed to help Sir Henry,so he beat her and tied her up.
'He probably hoped that when he inherited the Baskerville lands,she would love him again.He certainly thought that she would keep silent if she became Lady Baskerville.But I think he was wrong.He had been too cruel to her.She could not for give him or love him again,nor,I think,allow him to enjoy the results of his crime.
'Of course,he could not frighten Sir Henry in the same way as Sir Charles.Sir Henry was a young and healthy man.So he kept the hound hungry.He knew that the animal would either kill Sir Henry or would hurt him so badly that it would be easy to complete the murder.'
I had one last question for Holmes.'But Stapleton was living so close to Baskerville Hall and using a false name.It looked very strange.How would he explain that to the police,if after Sir Henry's death he then inherited the Baskerville lands and fortune?'
'I don't know how he planned to explain the false name and why he was living at Pen House,'said Holmes.'I can only say that he was a very clever man.I am sure he had thought of an answer to the problem.
'But that's enough work for the evening,Watson.I have two tickets for the theatre.If we get ready now,we shall have time to stop at my favourite restaurant for some dinner on the way.'
已经是11月底，我们从巴斯克维尔庄园回来之后一个多月的时候了。我和福尔摩斯坐在贝克街上的那栋房子的客厅中的熊熊的炉火两旁。我们回来之后，福尔摩斯不辞辛苦地办理了另外两件案子，他都忙得没有时间讨论巴斯克维尔庄园里发生的那件案子。可是，现在这两件案子都已了结了，他办得也都非常成功。我决定，这该是向他询问有关斯台普顿和那只猎犬的最后一些问题的大好时机了。
“那幅画像向我们表明斯台普顿真的是巴斯克维尔家族中的一员，”福尔摩斯开腔了。“他是罗杰·巴斯克维尔即查尔斯爵士的弟弟的儿子。罗杰是越狱潜逃、跑到了南美洲的囚犯。大家都以为他没结婚就死了，可是那不是真的。他有一个儿子，也叫罗杰，就是我们所认识的斯台普顿。斯台普顿娶了一位南美美女，又来到了英格兰，在那儿的北部开办了一所学校。他发现，要是查尔斯爵士和亨利爵士都已死的话，自己就能继承巴斯克维尔家族的地产了。那就是他在学校关闭之后搬到德文郡的原因所在。”
“他遇见查尔斯爵士时听到了有关魔狗的故事。他还得知，查尔斯爵士相信这些鬼怪故事，心脏也很虚弱。”
“斯台普顿就起了买一只大猎犬并用磷来使猎犬像故事中的那只那样闪闪发光的念头。我已找到他买狗的地点。他乘火车将它带到德文郡，又牵着狗穿过沼地走了很长的路，如此一来在巴斯克维尔庄园附近就没被人们看见。”
“他需要让查尔斯爵士在夜间走出庄园。如果他的妻子使得查尔斯爵士爱上她的话，这就好办了。可是，即使是他揍她，她也拒绝帮助他实施他那邪恶的计谋。”
“后来，斯台普顿遇到了劳拉·莱昂丝。我们知道，他让她写了封信，把查尔斯爵士在那个令人伤心的夜晚带到了通往沼地的栅门那里。那只猎犬闪着磷光，顺着水松小道就向查尔斯爵士追了过来。查尔斯爵士恐怖过度，导致原本就很虚弱的心脏停止跳动，他就死了，可那只个动物是不碰死尸的。”
“那猎犬是在草地上跑的，于是便没有留下什么爪印，除了摩梯末医生发现的那一个之外。你看看斯台普顿是何等狡猾。他和猎犬都没碰过查尔斯爵士，因此没有谋杀的一丝影子。可能会怀疑他的只有两个女人——他的妻子和莱昂丝太太——她们也不敢肯定他干了些什么。无论如何，她们俩都不会向警方告发他的。”
“接下来，斯台普顿获悉亨利爵士已到达英格兰，于是便去了伦敦。他希望能在那儿将亨利爵士干掉。他带着他的妻子，可是他不敢肯定她会保守他的秘密，因此他没有告诉她实情。他把她锁在他们居住的旅馆里。她知道他有个邪恶的计划，可是她太害怕了，以致不敢向亨利爵士发出一个清楚明了的警告。反之，她寄给他一封由报纸上剪下来的字拼凑成的信。”
“与此同时，斯台普顿正戴着假胡须跟踪亨利爵士。他需要亨利爵士的一件能使猎犬闻味跟踪的东西，因此贿赂了亨利爵士下榻的那个旅馆里的一个女仆，让她偷出他的一只鞋子来。第一只是新鞋，上面没有亨利爵士的气味。它对猎犬丝毫无用，他因此就把它送回去了，而另一只旧一点的鞋就被偷去了。鞋被换了时，我就知道那只猎犬是自然界的一只动物而不是什么鬼怪神魔。”
“接下来就有了由报纸上剪下来的字拼成的那封信。我看它时，把它举在了眼旁。我注意到了一股香水味，于是猜到是一位女士寄的那封信。”
“在我去德文郡之前我已知道那儿有只活生生的猎犬，还知道我们将要寻觅一位男子和一位女士。我揣测到斯台普顿兄妹就是要找的那对。我得监视斯台普顿，可还得埋伏起来。正如我所解释的那样，我不能告给你我的所作所为。我呆在纽顿，只有必要时才用一下沼地上的那个小屋。”
“您寄给我的信件被立即从贝克街送到了我的手中，它们非常有帮助。当你告诉我斯台普顿曾在英格兰北部办过一所学校时，我查了一下他本人的身世及其来源。我发现他来自于南美。那么，一切都弄清楚了。”
“你在沼地上发现我时，我已知道了全部事实，可是我什么也证明不了。我们必须在那个人作案的当场将其抓获，因此我不得不将亨利爵士置于危险的境地。”
“摩梯末医生告诉我说，亨利爵士在休息之后就会彻底地好多了。如你所知，这两人已成了好朋友，正准备一起进行长途旅行。亨利爵士要经过一段时间才能忘掉斯台普顿小姐。他深深地爱着她，得知有关她的真相时受到了很大的伤害。”
“她非常害怕她那残酷的丈夫，可是她又怀疑到他应对查尔斯爵士的死负责。她知道那只猎犬的事情，塞尔登死去时她猜到是猎犬害死了他。她知道她丈夫在亨利爵士来吃饭的那个晚上把狗安顿在了家里。他们在那个傍晚因猎犬的事情吵了起来，争吵时斯台普顿告诉了她有关莱昂斯太太的事情。她对她丈夫的任何爱意都在那一刻消失了。他知道她想帮亨利爵士的忙，因此揍了她，又把她捆了起来。”
“他可能指望在他继承了巴斯克维尔家族的地产时，她就又会爱他了。他理所当然地认为要是她能成为‘巴斯克维尔贵妇’的话她就会对此默不作声的。可是我认为他错了。他对她一向太残忍了。她不会原谅他或再爱他了，我认为她也不会容许他享受他的犯罪所得。”
“当然了，他不能用吓唬查尔斯爵士的方式对待亨利爵士。亨利爵士是位既年轻又健康的人。因此他使那只猎犬处于饥饿状态。他知道，那个动物要么会咬死亨利爵士，要么会重伤他，而那么一来就可以轻松地将谋杀完事大吉了。”
我对福尔摩斯还有最后一个问题。“但是，斯台普顿住得离巴斯克维尔庄园那么近，还用着化名。这看上去非常奇怪。他怎样才能向警方解释得通那个，要是在亨利爵士死后他就继承了巴斯克维尔家族的地产和其他财产呢？”
“我不知道他是打算如何解释他更名改姓和住在格林盆宅邸的原因的，”福尔摩斯说道。“我只能说他是个非常狡猾的人。我敢肯定他已想出了解决这一问题的答案。”
“然而，今晚就干这么多吧，华生。我有戏院的两张票。如果现在准备好了，咱们就会有时间中途到我喜欢的那个饭馆逗留一下呢。”