THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES

The story: Summary

OPENING SITUATION:

The story begins with the meeting between Sherlock Holmes and Dr.Mortimer, a good friend of Sir Charles Baskerville. His body had been found three months ago in the garden of his house on Dartmoor. There weren't marks on it and it seemed that the man died of a heart failure. Since the weather was cold that night, it was deducible that he was waiting for someone and that he didn't a simple walk. So the people began to remember the story of Sir Hugo, his cruel ancestor, who was killed by a black creature that looked like a hound. In the meantime the lawyers tried to find his nephew Henry, who has been living in the U.S.A.

MAIN EVENTS:

Holmes wanted to speak to him, so the next day they met and Sir Henry told a strange fact that happened to him during his stay in London: someone had stolen one of his old shoes. After this chat, Dr.Mortimer and Sir Henry walked back to their hotel, so Holmes decided to follow them, but they were watched by a man with a black beard and sat in a taxi too.

On Saturday, Watson left London with the doctor and Sir Henry, and they reached Baskerville Hall, the family's residence, where they made acquaintance of Barrymore, the butler and his wife.

Watson began the investigation, so he met Sir Charles's neighbours: the Stapletons, a brother and a sister who owned before a school in the north of England and Mr Frankland, an old man who had a daughter called Laura.

One night, Sir Henry and Watson heard a strange noise and they discovered that Selden, a man escaped from prison days before was the brother of Barrymore's wife and that she gave him food and clothes every nights . Moreover, thanks to the moon's light, they saw a tall and thin man on the top of a hill, who was watching them.

The following day Selden was killed and Watson searched and unmasked the mysterious  man on the moor: he was Holmes. He had discovered that Stapleton was the man who followed them in London and that the lady was his wife.

All the mysteries were revealed: Laura had married a painter, who left her; so Stapleton had promised to the lady that he would marry her. Because of that she needed money for the divorce and he told that he thought that Sir Charles could help her. He asked to Laura to send him a letter, but after the sending he said that he didn't want money for their union from another man. She didn't go to the appointment she gave to Sir Charles and in this way Stapleton killed him through the hound that he had bought.

Moreover, Selden was killed by the hound because he was wearing by mistake Sir Henry's clothes. Stapleton gave him the old shoe to smell and it thought that the escapee was Sir Henry.

His s weren't finished, because he was a Baskerville too and wanted to kill Sir Henry in order to inherit the lands.    

FINAL SITUATION:

In the evening Sir Henry went for dinner to the Stapletons; when he left the house to return home, Mr Stapleton released the hound, who wanted to seize the man, but Holmes killed it with his revolver. The man ran away through the fog and anyone couldn't never find him, because he  fell in the marsh.

At the end, the detective and his assistant returned to London and Sir Henry went with Dr Mortimer on holiday.