PAUL SAVIDENT: The Hound of the Baskervilles

When Sir Charles Baskerville dies in mysterious circumstances, his last remaining relative Sir Henry, comes home from overseas, despite the warnings not to, in order to claim his inheritance and property on the wild, lonely moorlands of Dartmoor in Devon.

But legend has it that there is a curse on the family, a curse in the form of a gigantic glowing hound from Hell, which brings death to each successive head of the Baskervilles. Dr Mortimer, a good family friend, believes this ancient curse to be the real cause of Sir Charles’ death. Mortimer fears that Henry is in danger of suffering a comparable fate.

Mortimer contacts Sherlock Holmes informing him of the situation – Holmes considers there to be grave cause for concern but is unable to go himself and asks his friend and protégé Doctor Watson to accompany Sir Henry down to Dartmoor and report back to Holmes via mail.

When Watson arrives, he learns that not only is the beast loose on the moors – its howls can be heard for miles – to add complications there is also an escaped murderer lurking as well. Whilst out on the moor Watson comes across Jack Stapleton who lives in an adjacent house with his sister Beryl.

Jack seems friendly enough but something sits uneasily with Watson – he can’t quite put his finger on it.

A romance subsequently begins to develop between Beryl and Sir Henry much to the vexation of her brother.

One mystery appears to resolve itself – the butler is caught signalling to the murderer on the moors – it transpires that this killer is his wife’s brother, now a broken child-like man. Sir Henry takes pity on him and gives him some of his clothes – an act of kindness that saves his life later on when the hound attacks the murderer in mistake for Sir Henry.

As Watson digs a little deeper, he learns that Sir Charles was due to meet a woman with the initials ‘LL’ that fateful night when he was killed. This turns out to be a Laura Lyons, daughter of a Mr Frankland – who informs Watson he has spotted an urchin delivering bundles to a mystery figure living in a cave on the moors. Watson surprises this fellow….only to discover it is Holmes, who has been watching from afar.

Holmes brings Watson up to speed – telling him that Beryl is in fact Jack Stapleton’s wife and that he has been seeing Laura Lyons behind the woman’s back. Holmes also concludes that Stapleton is also a long-lost Baskerville out to kill Sir Henry and claim the inheritance for himself.

A trap is set, using Sir Henry as the bait, and they only just manage to reach him before the hound rips out his throat. Once it is shot dead, they discover the dog to be mere flesh and blood – covered in phosphorus to make it glow. It had been trained to attack Sir Henry by Stapleton - hoping to use the ancient curse to cover his murderous plot, Stapleton meets his death and the ancient family curse can also be put to rest with Jack.

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