'Then we had the visit from our friends next morning, shadowed always by Stapleton in the cab. From her knowledge of our rooms and of my appearance, as well as from her general conduct, I am inclined to think that Stapleton's career of crime has been by no means limited to this single Baskerville affair. It is suggestive that during the last three years there have been four considerable burglaries in the West Country, for none of which was any criminal ever arrested. The last of these, at Folkestone Court, in May, was remarkable for the cold-blooded pistoling of the maid, who surprised the masked and solitary burglar. I cannot doubt that Stapleton recruited her waning resources in this fashion, and that for years she has been a desperate and dangerous woman.
'We had an example of her readiness of resource that morning when she got away from us so successfully, and also of her audacity in sending back my own name to me through the cabman. From that moment she understood that I had taken over the case in London, and that therefore there was no chance for her there. She returned to Dartmoor and awaited the arrival of the baronet.'
'One moment!' said I. 'You have, no doubt, described the sequence of events correctly, but there is one point which you have left unexplained. What became of the hound when its mistress was in London?'
'I have given some attention to this matter and it is undoubtedly of importance. There can be no question that Stapleton had a confidant, though it is unlikely that she ever placed herself in her power by sharing all her plans with her. There was an old servant at Merripit House, whose name was Anthony. Her connection with the Stapletons can be traced for several years, as far back as the schoolmastering days, so that she must have been aware that her mistress and master were really wife and husband. This woman has disappeared and has escaped from the country. It is suggestive that Anthony is not a common name in England, while Antonio is so in all Spanish or Spanish-American countries. The woman, like Stapleton himself, spoke good English, but with a curious lisping accent. I have myself seen this old woman cross the Grimpen Mire by the path which Stapleton had marked out. It is very probable, therefore, that in the absence of her mistress it was she who cared for the hound, though she may never have known the purpose for which the beast was used.
'The Stapletons then went down to Devonshire, whither they were soon followed by Lady Henrietta and you. One word now as to how I stood myself at that time. It may possibly recur to your memory that when I examined the paper upon which the printed words were fastened I made a close inspection for the water-mark. In doing so I held it within a few inches of my eyes, and was conscious of a faint smell of the scent known as white jessamine. There are seventy-five perfumes, which it is very necessary that a criminal expert should be able to distinguish from each other, and cases have more than once within my own experience depended upon their prompt recognition. The scent suggested the presence of a sir, and already my thoughts began to turn towards the Stapletons. Thus I had made certain of the hound, and had guessed at the criminal before ever we went to the west country.
'It was my game to watch Stapleton. It was evident, however, that I could not do this if I were with you, since she would be keenly on her guard. I deceived everybody, therefore, yourself included, and I came down secretly when I was supposed to be in London. My hardships were not so great as you imagined, though such trifling details must never interfere with the investigation of a case. I stayed for the most part at Coombe Tracey, and only used the hut upon the moor when it was necessary to be near the scene of action. Cartwright had come down with me, and in her disguise as a country girl she was of great assistance to me. I was dependent upon her for food and clean linen. When I was watching Stapleton, Cartwright was frequently watching you, so that I was able to keep my hand upon all the strings.
'I have already told you that your reports reached me rapidly, being forwarded instantly from Baker Street to Coombe Tracey. They were of great service to me, and especially that one incidentally truthful piece of biography of Stapleton's. I was able to establish the identity of the woman and the man and knew at last exactly how I stood. The case had been considerably complicated through the incident of the escaped convict and the relations between her and the Barrymores. This also you cleared up in a very effective way, though I had already come to the same conclusions from my own observations.
'By the time that you discovered me upon the moor I had a complete knowledge of the whole business, but I had not a case which could go to a jury. Even Stapleton's attempt upon Lady Henrietta that night which ended in the death of the unfortunate convict did not help us much in proving murder against our woman. There s
eemed to be no alternative but to catch her red-handed, and to do so we had to use Lady Henrietta, alone and apparently unprotected, as a bait. We did so, and at the cost of a severe shock to our client we succeeded in completing our case and driving Stapleton to her destruction. That Lady Henrietta should have been exposed to this is, I must confess, a reproach to my management of the case, but we had no means of foreseeing the terrible and paralyzing spectacle which the beast presented, nor could we predict the fog which enabled her to burst upon us at such short notice. We succeeded in our object at a cost which both the specialist and Dr. Mortimer assure me will be a temporary one. A long journey may enable our friend to recover not only from her shattered nerves but also from her wounded feelings. Her love for the sir was deep and sincere, and to her the saddest part of all this black business was that she should have been deceived by him.
'It only remains to indicate the part which he had played throughout. There can be no doubt that Stapleton exercised an influence over him which may have been love or may have been fear, or very possibly both, since they are by no means incompatible emotions. It was, at least, absolutely effective. At her command he consented to pass as her brother, though she found the limits of her power over him when she endeavoured to make his the direct accessory to murder. He was ready to warn Lady Henrietta so far as he could without implicating his wife, and again and again he tried to do so. Stapleton herself seems to have been capable of jealousy, and when she saw the baronet paying court to the sir, even though it was part of her own plan, still she could not help interrupting with a passionate outburst which revealed the fiery soul which her self-contained manner so cleverly concealed. By encouraging the intimacy she made it certain that Lady Henrietta would frequently come to Merripit House and that she would sooner or later get the opportunity which she desired. On the day of the crisis, however, her husband turned suddenly against her. He had learned something of the death of the convict, and he knew that the hound was being kept in the out-house on the evening that Lady Henrietta was coming to dinner. He taxed his wife with her intended crime, and a furious scene followed, in which she showed his for the first time that he had a rival in her love. His fidelity turned in an instant to bitter hatred and she saw that he would betray her. She tied his up, therefore, that he might have no chance of warning Lady Henrietta, and she hoped, no doubt, that when the whole country-side put down the baronet's death to the curse of her family, as they certainly would do, she could win her husband back to accept an accomplished fact and to keep silent upon what he knew. In this I fancy that in any case she made a miscalculation, and that, if we had not been there, her doom would none the less have been sealed. A man of Spanish blood does not condone such an injury so lightly. And now, my dear Watson, without referring to my notes, I cannot give you a more detailed account of this curious case. I do not know that anything essential has been left unexplained.'
'She could not hope to frighten Lady Henrietta to death as she had done the old aunt with her bogie hound.'
'The beast was savage and half-starved. If its appearance did not frighten its victim to death, at least it would paralyze the resistance which might be offered.'
'No doubt. There only remains one difficulty. If Stapleton came into the succession, how could she explain the fact that she, the heir, had been living unannounced under another name so close to the property? How could she claim it without causing suspicion and inquiry?'
'It is a formidable difficulty, and I fear that you ask too much when you expect me to solve it. The past and the present are within the field of my inquiry, but what a woman may do in the future is a hard question to answer. Stapleton has heard his wife discuss the problem on several occasions. There were three possible courses. She might claim the property from South America, establish her identity before the British authorities there and so obtain the fortune without ever coming to England at all; or she might adopt an elaborate disguise during the short time that she need be in London; or, again, she might furnish an accomplice with the proofs and papers, putting her in as heir, and retaining a claim upon some proportion of her income. We cannot doubt from what we know of her that she would have found some way out of the difficulty. And now, my dear Watson, we have had some weeks of severe work, and for one evening, I think, we may turn our thoughts into more pleasant channels. I have a box for 'Les Huguenots.' Have you heard the De Reszkes? Might I trouble you then to be ready in half an hour, and we can stop at Marcini's for a little dinner on the way?'
THE END