Personality V: I will save everything

"We had a really exciting night."

Even Sherlock Holmes couldn't help but sigh after experiencing such a thrilling night.

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Let's go back to last night.

The night fell on the manor, and everything was silent. Suddenly, a loud noise broke the silence of the night. The noise was so loud that Mr. Barrymore, who was in the housekeeper's bedroom, was awakened. He hurriedly put on his clothes and walked quickly to the place where the noise came from.

When he arrived at the scene, the scene before him left him dumbfounded.

The room was in a mess, as if it had been through a fierce fight.

Mr. Holmes held a pistol and looked serious;

Sir Henry, with axe in hand, and a scowl on his face;

And the one lying on the ground was actually the ghost hound that had died long ago!

In this chaotic scene, there was the frightened Miss Jenny, her face pale and her whole body trembling, while her wife kept comforting her.

Mr. Barrymore looked rapidly about him, and then, stepping up to Mr. Holmes, inquired what was the matter.

Mr. Holmes briefly told him what had happened: it turned out that they had just encountered a sudden attack, and the ghost hound was actually just an ordinary hound with luminous phosphorus powder coated on its body, and the murderer who controlled the hound behind the scenes should be controlling everything not far from the manor at this moment.

After listening to Mr. Holmes's narration, Mr. Barrymore picked up the weapon beside him without hesitation, determined to chase the murderer with Holmes and Sir Henry.

Just as the three of them were getting ready to set off, suddenly, Miss Jenny shouted, "Mr. Holmes!" Her voice was a little trembling, but full of eagerness.

Everyone's eyes were focused on Miss Jenny. She took a deep breath and continued, "The murderer must have the corresponding knowledge to be able to think of using phosphorus powder to plan this murder. It is difficult for one person to complete such a case. He may have someone to assist him. Ask Sir Henry to think carefully. Is there anyone around him who meets the requirements?"

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Just as the three people were running away from the manor in a panic, Earl Henry suddenly slapped his thigh as if struck by lightning and shouted, "I've got it! I've got someone who completely meets the conditions Miss Jenny mentioned!"

"Biologist Stapleton!" His voice echoed outside the empty manor.

This Stapleton, according to Sir Henry, was his neighbor. On the surface, he was a friendly and easy-going person, and the first impression was quite good. Not only that, he also had a sister, which was consistent with Miss Jenny's description.

However, based on the clues currently available, Stapleton does not seem to have a direct connection with the case. His appearance is like an irrelevant passerby, leaving people confused.

But Holmes didn't think so. He fixed his sharp eyes on Sir Henry and said thoughtfully, "Perhaps we can talk to Mr. Stapleton. Even if he is not the real murderer, with his friendly and easy-going personality as you said, maybe he will be willing to join us and help hunt for the murderer."

Sir Henry agreed with Holmes' proposal. After all, one more person means more strength.

So the three of them quickly discussed an action plan: the butler, Mr. Barrymore, would go to the swamp area to search. After all, he had been a butler here for many years and was familiar with the conditions in the swamp; while Holmes and Sir Henry would go to visit Mr. Stapleton together.

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However, just as Holmes was about to raise his hand to knock on the door, he suddenly sensed a strange atmosphere.

He stopped and stared at the closed door, feeling an inexplicable uneasiness in his heart.

“Sir Henry,” Holmes asked, turning to his companion, in a serious tone, “are you sure that this man we are going to visit is a kind person?”

Sir Henry was obviously a little surprised by Holmes' question. He frowned and replied, "Of course, I have had some contact with him before, and he left a good impression on me. Why, Mr. Holmes, why do you ask this?"

Holmes did not answer Sir Henry's question directly, but continued to observe the door, and noticed that there was a thick chain hanging from the handle, and the other end of the chain was connected to a huge padlock.

"Look, Sir Henry," Holmes said, pointing to the chain and padlock. "Let me explain to you. I think a normal person would just lock the door when he goes out. After all, this will ensure the safety of the house. But this man uses such a big chain and padlock to lock the door. This is really strange."

Sir Henry followed Holmes's gaze and noticed the chain and padlock. His frown deepened, and he seemed to be beginning to have doubts about the situation.

At this moment, as if to verify Holmes's guess, an extremely faint groan suddenly came from the house.

Although the sound was very soft, it was like thunder in the silent night and was clearly heard by Holmes and Sir Henry.

"Hello, is anyone in there? Mr. Stapleton? Miss Stapleton?" Holmes called out vigilantly, but apart from the faint groan, there was no other response from the room.

Holmes became increasingly uneasy. He felt that something was wrong, so he banged on the door hard, hoping to attract the attention of the people inside the house.

However, as he knocked, the groaning sound from inside the door not only did not stop, but became louder and louder. But strangely, no one came to open the door.

"Mr. Holmes! Make way!" Seeing this, Sir Henry raised his axe and chopped at the closed door with all his strength. With a "click", the chain and lock broke.

The door opened, and Holmes and Sir Henry rushed in without hesitation. However, when they saw the scene inside the house, they were both stunned by what they saw.

I saw Miss Stapleton hanging high in the middle of the room, her body swaying slightly in the air, as if she might fall at any time.

Her body was covered with hideous whip marks, some of which were torn and bleeding. From these wounds of varying depths, it could be seen that she had obviously been abused for a long time.

Seeing this, Holmes and Sir Henry hurried forward to help the lady out of her predicament.

Surprisingly, the lady seemed to suddenly let go of all her worries. Whether it was because her plan was exposed or she was finally relieved, she blurted out all the truth like a flood that broke through a dam.

It turns out that the lady's husband's surname is not Stapleton as everyone knows. In fact, his real surname is Baskerville.

It turns out that Stapleton is a descendant of the Baskerville family. In order to monopolize the family's huge inheritance, he used the legendary magic dog curse by any means necessary.

He carefully trained a ferocious hunting dog and smeared phosphorus powder on the dog's body, making the dog emit a strange light at night. From a distance, it looked like a giant ghost dog.

He first used this terrifying hound to scare Sir Charles to death, and then extended his claws to Sir Henry. This lady was actually not Stapleton's sister, but his wife.

For many years, she has been living under the abuse of her husband, forced to do things for him, unable to escape this terrible clutches.

“That guy is simply a monster!!!” The lady’s words were filled with fear and anger, as if she wanted to vent all the pain and torture she had endured over the years.

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After learning from the other party that the guy would probably escape to the safe island on the other side of the swamp, Holmes asked Miss Stapleton or Miss Beryl Garcia to go to Sir Henry's manor for help, and they continued to chase the murderer.

"I see."

Perhaps because she had experienced long-term abuse, Miss Garcia did not even look like an accomplice. Instead, she was very obedient to what Holmes and Sir Henry said.

At the same time, she also reminded, "You have to be careful, the swamp is bottomless, once you fall into it, you may never get out."

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Obviously, Miss Garcia was right. This swamp was not only very deep, but also very hidden.

As Holmes was running, he suddenly fell into the swamp. Fortunately, Sir Henry was beside him and quickly caught him.

But Sir Henry alone had no way of pulling Holmes out of the swamp. However, at this time, Butler Barrymore, who had gone to chase the murderer, also rushed over. The two of them finally rescued Holmes from the swamp together.

However, in the maintenance department, after Holmes, Butler Barum's terraforming shocked everyone.

"The murderer has been caught."

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As everyone carefully crossed the dangerous swamp and struggled towards the murderer's location, Butler Barrymore finally broke his silence and explained to Sir Henry the real reasons behind his and his wife's puzzling actions during this period.

Butler Barrymore looked at Sir Henry solemnly and said slowly, "Sir, I know you are very confused by our previous behavior, but in fact, there is a reason for all this." He took a deep breath and continued, "My wife has a younger brother who is a fugitive and has been lurking in the swamp."

Sir Henry's eyes widened, obviously shocked by the news. Butler Barrymore went on to explain: "The strange actions we took were actually to provide my wife's brother with the necessary supplies so that he could continue to hide in the swamp."

His voice trembled slightly, and he seemed to feel helpless and guilty about his behavior. "We know it's wrong to do this, but he is our relative after all. We really can't bear to see him starve and freeze in the swamp."

Sir Henry was silent for a moment, then asked: "Why don't you just hand him over to the police? Wouldn't that be safer?"

"However, in fact, he was extremely tired and bored with the life of escape. He longed to end this life of fear and wanted to surrender himself and face the trial of the law.

But the fear deep in his heart made him hesitate, because he was afraid that once he turned himself in, people would forever label him as a 'damn robber'.

He was unwilling to die in such an unclear way, and he hoped to have a chance to defend himself and prove that he was not completely a bad person. "

While Butler Barrymore was telling these things, they finally arrived at the murderer's location. The scene before them shocked them - a completely unfamiliar man was holding Mr. Stapley tightly, pressing him firmly under him.

This scene seemed to reveal the truth of the whole incident. Mrs. Barrymore's brother happened to be hiding in the swamp and knew the situation of the swamp very well.

As the first person to enter the swamp to search for the murderer, Butler Barrymore would naturally look for this expert who is familiar with the swamp environment as an assistant.

So, when the two of them were moving together, they happened to run into the sneaky Mr. Stapley.

From the mud all over Mr. Stapley's body, it can be inferred that he must have been trying to escape.

However, how could he escape from the expert who knew the swamp so well?

In the end, he was subdued by the two men.