A/N: I was not here' cuz my dad took this stupid thing into town…….AND I DIDN"T FOLLOW WHICH IS THE PROBLEM SO COME ON DUDES IT'S NOT MY FAULT!
This chapter contains more reasoning than love so it's Watson's POV.
Another week has passed. Holmes' mind was completely off the case so I became the detective in the team, which was incredibly enjoyable for me.
My first investigation was going smoother than I thought. I took notes in a notebook and wrote one page of diary keep and reached the conclusion while reading it. The notebook and the diary were both hidden from (I simply DO NOT KNOW however I hid THESE from somebody like Holmes). Here is the diary which helped me a lot in my investigation
12th of May, 1895
As I drew further to Holmes and Emma and wandered on the moor I saw a cage on the left side of me. I looked carefully into it and found the body of the evil animal inside. I observed the surroundings attentively which gave me useful clues: my position was not that far from Holmes and the cage was even nearer to the two lovebirds, so it was easy for the dog to approach to the body, and there were footprints from the cage to the body of Isabella which were nearly invisible.
I have 'stolen' a bit of deduction from Holmes and used it:
Firstly, the footprints led to the body. Secondly, these were the only footprints that led to the body. Thirdly, the murder was done a little bit more than three weeks ago, which made it possible for the footprints to disappear slowly as time goes by. Conclusion: the owner of the footprints was the true murderer. Thus was the first part of my reasoning.
A short but careful observation of my surroundings gave birth to the second part of my reasoning:
Firstly, anybody who followed Sherlock Holmes could observe that the footprints were inhuman.
And the first two parts of the first part of my reasoning led me to the conclusion: the dog was the murderer.
But a sane person would not arrest an animal since animals were born to be harmless. If an animal harmed anybody it was controlled by a human.
Something else caught my attention: a piece of paper. I took it and read it:
Salina Williams
Terry Lands
Anne Bentley
Peter Pan
Linda Jane Charleston
Emma Bentley
Tessa D'Urbervilles
Orlando Elizabeth Barry
Natalie William Caron
I shrugged. Perhaps it was a list of the people invited to a ball. But as I turned it back it was written:
Clues: 1.The Hound of the Baskervilles.
2. Murderer.
Thus ended my diary. I'll try my best to work this riddle out
".Swtl... no that makes no sense at all .Williams Land Bentley… well I suppose it's not that either. Then what is it?" I scratched my head and considered the clues again "S... T... A.. P.. L…E... T…O…N. Stapleton." It worked! Finally…
I putted the piece of paper to my heart and suddenly…
"Stapleton is the murderer!" I whispered.