The vicar was horrified and promptly resigned his post. The local police were unnerved but powerless to help. Mrs. Hudson was prostrated with grief by the telegram. Mycroft Holmes merely shook his head despairingly at the antics of his little brother and his biographer and wondered how necessary it was to relocate his bulk to Cornwall to investigate.
Meanwhile, Dr. Sterndale was stricken with guilt when the news reached him that the famous Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson had both gone irreversibly mad while investigating the similar tragedy of the Tregennis family. Nevertheless, he made his return trip to Africa.