Looking Back two
'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 nosign 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 surethat 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,sohe paid a maid at Sir Henry's hotel to steal one of his shoes The firstone 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.