回顧-巴斯克維爾獵犬

巴斯克維爾獵犬目錄18 回顧 Looking Back 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.' 已經是11月底，我們從巴斯克維爾莊園回來之後一個多月的時候了。我和福爾摩斯坐在貝克街上的那棟房子的客廳中的熊熊的爐火兩旁。我們回來之後，福爾摩斯不辭辛苦地辦理了另外兩件案子，他都忙得沒有時間討論巴斯克維爾莊園裏發生的那件案子。可是，現在這兩件案子都已了結了，他辦得也都非常成功。我決定，這該是向他詢問有關斯臺普頓和那只獵犬的最後一些問題的大好時機了。
“那幅畫像向我們表明斯臺普頓真的是巴斯克維爾家族中的一員，”福爾摩斯開腔了。“他是羅傑·巴斯克維爾即查爾斯爵士的弟弟的兒子。羅傑是越獄潛逃、跑到了南美洲的囚犯。大家都以為他沒結婚就死了，可是那不是真的。他有一個兒子，也叫羅傑，就是我們所認識的斯臺普頓。斯臺普頓娶了一位南美美女，又來到了英格蘭，在那兒的北部開辦了一所學校。他發現，要是查爾斯爵士和亨利爵士都已死的話，自己就能繼承巴斯克維爾家族的地產了。那就是他在學校關閉之後搬到德文郡的原因所在。”
“他遇見查爾斯爵士時聽到了有關魔狗的故事。他還得知，查爾斯爵士相信這些鬼怪故事，心臟也很虛弱。”
“斯臺普頓就起了買一只大獵犬並用磷來使獵犬像故事中的那只那樣閃閃發光的念頭。我已找到他買狗的地點。他乘火車將它帶到德文郡，又牽著狗穿過沼地走了很長的路，如此一來在巴斯克維爾莊園附近就沒被人們看見。”
“他需要讓查爾斯爵士在夜間走出莊園。如果他的妻子使得查爾斯爵士愛上她的話，這就好辦了。可是，即使是他揍她，她也拒絕幫助他實施他那邪惡的計謀。”
“後來，斯臺普頓遇到了勞拉·萊昂絲。我們知道，他讓她寫了封信，把查爾斯爵士在那個令人傷心的夜晚帶到了通往沼地的柵門那裏。那只獵犬閃著磷光，順著水松小道就向查爾斯爵士追了過來。查爾斯爵士恐怖過度，導致原本就很虛弱的心臟停止跳動，他就死了，可那只個動物是不碰死屍的。”
“那獵犬是在草地上跑的，於是便沒有留下什麽爪印，除了摩梯末醫生發現的那一個之外。你看看斯臺普頓是何等狡猾。他和獵犬都沒碰過查爾斯爵士，因此沒有謀殺的一絲影子。可能會懷疑他的只有兩個女人——他的妻子和萊昂絲太太——她們也不敢肯定他幹了些什麽。無論如何，她們倆都不會向警方告發他的。”
“接下來，斯臺普頓獲悉亨利爵士已到達英格蘭，於是便去了倫敦。他希望能在那兒將亨利爵士幹掉。他帶著他的妻子，可是他不敢肯定她會保守他的秘密，因此他沒有告訴她實情。他把她鎖在他們居住的旅館裏。她知道他有個邪惡的計劃，可是她太害怕了，以致不敢向亨利爵士發出一個清楚明了的警告。反之，她寄給他一封由報紙上剪下來的字拼湊成的信。”
“與此同時，斯臺普頓正戴著假胡須跟蹤亨利爵士。他需要亨利爵士的一件能使獵犬聞味跟蹤的東西，因此賄賂了亨利爵士下榻的那個旅館裏的一個女仆，讓她偷出他的一只鞋子來。第一只是新鞋，上面沒有亨利爵士的氣味。它對獵犬絲毫無用，他因此就把它送回去了，而另一只舊一點的鞋就被偷去了。鞋被換了時，我就知道那只獵犬是自然界的一只動物而不是什麽鬼怪神魔。”
“接下來就有了由報紙上剪下來的字拼成的那封信。我看它時，把它舉在了眼旁。我註意到了一股香水味，於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兒有只活生生的獵犬，還知道我們將要尋覓一位男子和一位女士。我揣測到斯臺普頓兄妹就是要找的那對。我得監視斯臺普頓，可還得埋伏起來。正如我所解釋的那樣，我不能告給你我的所作所為。我呆在紐頓，只有必要時才用一下沼地上的那個小屋。”
“您寄給我的信件被立即從貝克街送到了我的手中，它們非常有幫助。當你告訴我斯臺普頓曾在英格蘭北部辦過一所學校時，我查了一下他本人的身世及其來源。我發現他來自於南美。那麽，一切都弄清楚了。”
“你在沼地上發現我時，我已知道了全部事實，可是我什麽也證明不了。我們必須在那個人作案的當場將其抓獲，因此我不得不將亨利爵士置於危險的境地。”
“摩梯末醫生告訴我說，亨利爵士在休息之後就會徹底地好多了。如你所知，這兩人已成了好朋友，正準備一起進行長途旅行。亨利爵士要經過一段時間才能忘掉斯臺普頓小姐。他深深地愛著她，得知有關她的真相時受到了很大的傷害。”
“她非常害怕她那殘酷的丈夫，可是她又懷疑到他應對查爾斯爵士的死負責。她知道那只獵犬的事情，塞爾登死去時她猜到是獵犬害死了他。她知道她丈夫在亨利爵士來吃飯的那個晚上把狗安頓在了家裏。他們在那個傍晚因獵犬的事情吵了起來，爭吵時斯臺普頓告訴了她有關萊昂斯太太的事情。她對她丈夫的任何愛意都在那一刻消失了。他知道她想幫亨利爵士的忙，因此揍了她，又把她捆了起來。”
“他可能指望在他繼承了巴斯克維爾家族的地產時，她就又會愛他了。他理所當然地認為要是她能成為‘巴斯克維爾貴婦’的話她就會對此默不作聲的。可是我認為他錯了。他對她一向太殘忍了。她不會原諒他或再愛他了，我認為她也不會容許他享受他的犯罪所得。”
“當然了，他不能用嚇唬查爾斯爵士的方式對待亨利爵士。亨利爵士是位既年輕又健康的人。因此他使那只獵犬處於饑餓狀態。他知道，那個動物要麽會咬死亨利爵士，要麽會重傷他，而那麽一來就可以輕松地將謀殺完事大吉了。”
我對福爾摩斯還有最後一個問題。“但是，斯臺普頓住得離巴斯克維爾莊園那麽近，還用著化名。這看上去非常奇怪。他怎樣才能向警方解釋得通那個，要是在亨利爵士死後他就繼承了巴斯克維爾家族的地產和其他財產呢？”
“我不知道他是打算如何解釋他更名改姓和住在格林盆宅邸的原因的，”福爾摩斯說道。“我只能說他是個非常狡猾的人。我敢肯定他已想出了解決這一問題的答案。”
“然而，今晚就幹這麽多吧，華生。我有戲院的兩張票。如果現在準備好了，咱們就會有時間中途到我喜歡的那個飯館逗留一下呢。”