CHAPTER SIX

More Mystery

Later, we went on to Sir Henry's hotel. He was happy to see us, but rather angry because another of his shoes had disappeared. This time, it was an old shoe instead of a new one. I could see that Holmes thought this was very interesting. He thought about it for a few moments, but he said nothing, except that perhaps there was a great shoe thief in London!

At lunch, Sir Henry told Holmes that he had decided to go to Baskerville Hall.

"I think you are doing the right thing, Sir Henry," said Holmes. "I know somebody is following you. If someone tries to harm you in London, it will be hard to stop him or catch him later. This is a very large city. But in the country, we have a better chance."

Then Holmes told them about the strange man in the taxi. He asked Dr Mortimer if anyone with a large black beard lived in or near Baskerville Hall.

"Yes," said Dr Mortimer, "Barrymore, Sir Charles' butler, has a black beard.

"Well, then, we must find out whether Barrymore is in London or at Baskerville Hall," said Holmes. "I shall send a message to Barrymore at the Hall. It will say: 'Sir Henry has arrived in London. Is everything at Baskerville Hall ready for him?' Then I will send another message to the local post office. This one will say: 'please give this message to Mr Barrymore. Return the message to Sir Henry Baskerville if Barrymore is away.' I'll give the post office your address at this hotel. Before this evening, we will know where Barrymore is."

"I know that Barrymore and his wife have a very fine home. But when the Baskervilles are not living in the Hall, they have nothing to do," said Sir Henry.

"I see," said Holmes. "Did Sir Charles leave anything to the Barrymores in his will, like money? And did they know about it?"

"Yes," said Dr Mortimer. "They each received 1500 pounds. Sir Charles told everyone what he had written in his will, so the Barrymores knew they would get the money."

"That's very interesting," said Holmes.

"I hope you don't suspect everyone who got something from Sir Charles's will," said Dr Mortimer. "I received 11,000 pounds."

"Indeed!" said Holmes. "And who else received money?"

"Many people got a little bit of money. He gave some money to some hospitals in the area. But the rest all went to Sir Henry, who received 740,000 pounds."

"I had no idea the Baskervilles were so wealthy," said Holmes in surprise.

"Well, their lands are worth more than one million pounds," Dr Mortimer said.

Holmes looked more interested than ever. "There are many people, gentlemen, who would do anything for that much money. Even commit murder. I have one more question. If something happened to Sir Henry, who would get Baskerville Hall and all its lands?"

"Well, as you know, Sir Charles had two younger brothers. Sir Henry is the only son of the middle brother. The youngest brother of the three, Roger, was a criminal. The police wanted him, so he had to leave England. They say he looked exactly like old Sir Hugo, who first saw the Hound. He was the same kind of man, too: drunken, cruel, and careless. He went to South America, and died of a sickness there. If Sir Henry died, Baskerville Hall would go to James Desmond, who is a cousin of the Baskervilles. James Desmond is an old man, who lives in the north of England. His life is very simple, and he would not want so much land."

"Thank you, Dr Mortimer," said Holmes. "Now, Sir Henry, I think that you should go to Baskerville Hall as quickly as possible. But you must not go alone. Unfortunately, I cannot leave London at this time because I am working on another case. I hope my friend Watson will go with you in my place. If there is any danger, you could not have a better man by your side."

Both Sir Henry and I agreed to this idea. We decided to leave for Baskerville on the next Saturday.

Just as we were leaving Sir Henry's room, he gave a cry and got down on his knees by the table.

"Well, here's my brown shoe that was lost!" he said, reaching under the table.

"That's strange!" said Dr Mortimer. "We looked around the room before lunch and the shoe wasn't there."

None of the people in the hotel could explain how the shoe had got back into the room.

On the way back to Baker Street in the taxi, Holmes sat thinking deeply. All through the afternoon and the evening he was very quiet. He went on thinking silently, and smoking pipe after pipe.

Just before dinner, a message arrived. It was from Sir Henry, and said: "I have just heard that Barrymore is at the Hall."

"So, Barrymore was not following Sir Henry today," said Holmes. "Perhaps we will soon find out who the man really is."

At that moment, the doorbell rang. It was the driver of the bearded man's taxi.

"I got a message that someone wanted to see me at this address," said the driver. "Is there something wrong?"

"No, no, my good man," said Holmes. "In fact, if you can answer my questions clearly, I'll give you some money. I would like you to tell me about the man in your taxi this morning. He had a black beard, and he was watching this house at ten o'clock. Then he told you to follow the two gentlemen who came out of it."

The taxi driver was surprised at how much Holmes knew. He answered, "The man told me that he was a detective, and that I should say nothing about him to anyone."

"Sir, this is a very serious business," said Holmes. "I am also a detective, so do not be afraid to tell me everything you know."

"Well, the man told me his name," said the driver.

Holmes looked like a cat that has just caught a mouse. "That was very stupid of him," he said. "What was it?"

"His name," said the taxi driver, "was Sherlock Holmes."

For a moment Holmes stared at the man in surprise. Then he burst out laughing. "Excellent, my good man! Now, tell me when he got into the taxi, what he looked like, and anything else you know."

Some of what the man told us we already knew. However, we learned that after the taxi had disappeared, it had gone to the Waterloo Station. The man had to catch a train there. The driver said that the man had on good clothes, and had a long black beard.

"That long beard looked strange on such a young man!" said the driver. The man looked about forty years old, and he was not very tall. The driver did not know the color of the man's eyes.

Holmes gave the man some money, and sent him away. Then he said:

"Well, Watson, we have a clever enemy. At this moment, he is winning the game. We do not know who he really is, or what he wants with Sir Henry. We have no answers to anything that has happened. I hope your time at Baskerville Hall will be more successful! However, you must be very careful whom you trust. There is too much danger in this case, and a lot of money!"

(end of section)