“‘The story took a great hold upon the imagination of Sir Charles, and I have no doubt that it led to his tragic end…. His nerves were so worked up that the appearance of any dog might have had a fatal effect on his diseased heart.'” – pg. 65
In this passage, Stapleton tells Watson his thoughts surrounding Sir Charles’s tragic death. I think the way Stapleton words this sentiment is very interesting because it implies that the hold that the legend of the Hound of Baskervilles had over Charles’s imagination is what caused his death and not the presence of an actual hound. In the description of Charles’s death and the footprint of the hound, it is clear that the hound, if it truly exists, never touched Sir Charles on the night he died. Charles seems to have died from fear. Why would this vicious, murderous hound get so close, only to leave his body untouched? If this is the case, what or who should Sir Charles have actually been afraid of?
Throughout the story there have been multiple mentions of the supernatural and prehistoric men, as if to make readers consider ritual sacrifice of the ancient Baskervilles as the cause of their recurring deaths. There is also the questioning of the hound’s cry as if to say nobody knows what the sound is, but assume it to be the hound. I have noticed, though, that there are also too many suspicious people involved for anything to just be caused by the supernatural. Miss Stapleton seems to know something and delivered a message to Watson strangely similar to that in the newspaper. There was the strange disappearing man on the moor and the escaped convict, as well as Stapleton and the Barrymores, both of whom have good reasons for their strange behavior, as long as we believe their explanations to be true. At the very least somebody seems to know something about the Hound of the Baskervilles or the death of Sir Charles, but is reluctant to tell Henry anything other than that he should leave the moor. Between all this and the fact that Sherlock Holmes is a man of logic and reason, I am left questioning whether the supernatural hound that scared Charles to death that night actually even exists, or if there is a person or natural cause to blame.