Sherlock & Co.

The Hound of the Baskervilles - Part Nine

34 min
Nov 18, 20256 months ago
Listen to Episode
Summary

In this dramatic conclusion to The Hound of the Baskervilles, Sherlock and Watson apprehend the dangerous criminal Steven Seldon while uncovering the tragic backstory of Rosemary, who harbored him to protect her son Henry. The investigation reveals that arsenic poisoning from abandoned tin mines beneath the estate created the glowing 'hound' phenomenon, and explores deeper themes about the origins of evil and moral corruption.

Insights
  • Evil is not inherent but acquired—like a poison absorbed gradually from one's environment and circumstances, making it nearly impossible to fully purge once consumed
  • Parental trauma and protective instincts can lead good people to enable serious crimes, blurring moral lines between justice and compassion
  • Environmental hazards (arsenic contamination) can create supernatural-seeming phenomena, demonstrating the importance of scientific investigation over superstition
  • The most dangerous threats often hide in plain sight within institutional structures and family dynamics rather than in external, obvious dangers
  • Deception operates on multiple levels—criminals use disguise and misdirection, but so do institutions and families protecting their secrets
Trends
Psychological profiling of criminals based on environmental and familial factors rather than inherent evilEnvironmental toxicology as a driver of behavioral and health outcomes in communitiesThe role of institutional cover-ups and family protection in enabling criminal activityForensic investigation techniques combining scientific analysis with behavioral psychologyMoral relativism in crime investigation—understanding perpetrators' motivations without excusing actions
Topics
Criminal Investigation TechniquesArsenic Poisoning and Environmental ToxicologyAbandoned Mining Operations and HazardsParental Responsibility and Criminal EnablementPsychological Origins of Criminal BehaviorForensic Evidence CollectionPolice Procedure and JurisdictionFamily Trauma and Generational HarmDeception and Misdirection in CrimeJustice vs. Compassion in Law Enforcement
People
Steven Seldon
Primary antagonist and dangerous criminal apprehended by Sherlock and Watson during the investigation
Henry Baskerville
Estate heir who was initially believed dead but revealed to be alive, central to the mystery's resolution
Rosemary
Tragic figure who harbored criminal Steven Seldon to protect her son, revealing moral complexity in the case
Sherlock Holmes
Detective protagonist who solves the case through scientific analysis of environmental toxins and evidence
Dr. Watson
Sherlock's partner and narrator who assists in investigation and provides moral perspective on the case
Mr. Stapleton
Estate resident and entomologist with collection of insects including bioluminescent beetles and parasitic caterpillars
Quotes
"It is a poison, Mr. Baskerville. Not quite to us, but to its host. We can live with a poison for many, many years. The body and soul in this instance are durable, malleable things."
Sherlock HolmesMid-episode
"Where do all these monsters come from? We worry about what's out there, prowling across the moors, but like, shit, what's in there, you know? In you? In anyone."
WatsonLate episode
"If evil was something you could see and feel that easily, then you wouldn't be needed."
Henry BaskervilleLate episode
"The caterpillar is either fed by the ants or eats the ants themselves. At all the wild they are beguiled by the sounds, scent, feel and bond of kinship. But it's all a fabrication. It's all a trap. Deceive, lure, consume."
Mr. StapletonLate episode
Full Transcript
Previously on Sherlock Concord. You take this. You're necklace. No, no, no, no, no, Henry Henry Henry! Move away Watson. No, we don't know. This is the face is half-cushion. This is Jackis. Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, sorry. When you've been perverting the course of justice and assisting an offender. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Tell him to come to the house Rosemary now. Okay, okay. Oh, you haven't done a damn thing. What, let go to the police? I was protecting my wife, not that freak. Damn it! Demon among us. What a judge say. They don't understand you. Don't understand. What the hell is going on? Ha, ha, ha. My thoughts exactly, Mariana. Where is my gun? Where is your cold? Where is Archie? Don't even... Wait, yeah, no, where is Archie? Wiggins. Oh, God's sake. I'll take that. Thank you. The future to arrive. Our blood and temper run high, but we must show reason. Show constraint. Give me the gun, Sherlock. I can't do that, Mariana. Sherlock, don't give it to her. Shut up! I'm taking this. Oh, you're off the rifle. Shut up! Not in the mode. You're strained. You're strained. Restraint. Shall we, Watson? We shall, Holmes. Two Spanish nationals, young women, Valyria and Carre. A wicked, reckless, cool, individual, a demon right behind me, a man who has reached, and has a broken, big, big killer, Steven Seldon. I can keep the gun fixed on the kitchen door, right? Yes. If he doesn't come out by the time we're at the bottom of the stairs, then I will enter, engage him, and you close off the way out. Understood. Okay. He still hasn't come out of the kitchen. He must still be hungry. Yeah, well, prison will be serving breakfast shortly. I'm going in. Don't move! Don't fucking move! Don't move! Shoot you, sir. Do not move! Put your hands on your head. I said, put your hands on your head right now! And step into the light. Do it! Now! I don't know what exactly is happening. What? Since I laugh, but if, do you want me to lie with my hands behind my back? Don't worry. You're dead. You're going to kill me for what? I'm sorry, but I can explain. I thought that you'd think. What is going on? Maryanna, please, please. Can you just talk some sense to them? I don't know what's happening. I was at the pub, and yeah, I drank a lot. I was just going to get some whiskey. You're alive. You're alive? Yes. I think so. I'm kind of confused as to... Oh, you're alive. You're hungry now? Oh, man. Oh, Henry, mate. God. Oh. Watson, I would rather like a hug too when you're finished. Get in here. Oh, everyone in. Oh. Oh. Oh. Wad, you stick a beer. Yeah, sorry. I kind of, I was kind of bored at the pub. You're freezing. Hence the whiskey in front of the fire. But apparently that's a shootable fence. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry too. I'm actually not sorry at all, but I appreciate it. You're right, Henry, love. Ah. Yeah. Yeah, I guess. I guess so. That's all scared, lad. You were scared. I might need to dry off my pants in the hearth. Again, Frank. You're welcome to it, lad. You're out, see? Yeah. Let me get you a jacket or something. I should put a reward out for that thing. Wait. What? John. What is it? Hello. John? No jacket. You know where it is? I do. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. You fed him. I did. With whatever I could find. You clothed him. I did. With whatever I could find. I will get in contact with the local police. Is the landline in working order? Take Stapleton's car to Jamie's at the end of the road on the right. I'm sorry about your jacket, Mr. Baskerville. That's okay. I'm sorry for bringing this evil man into the world. I want to go back. I want to go back to when he would play with his little trucks. When will he bake in the kitchen? When we go out and all. You know, when he boots looking for pixies. Oh, it's little belly boots. I want to go back, Frank. I know, love. I did it wrong. What happened to my little boy? How did he become such a monster? Come on. Let's go upstairs. What did you do with him? What did you do with my little boy? Fuck you. I hate you. I hate you. I want to go back. I want to go back. Hey, hey, I know you're probably asleep. I'm not. Oh. You okay? Yeah. You? You sound better. That's what I came here to talk about. Sure, let's talk about him. I don't mean talk. I mean, abolish us. Don't worry. You get it. Yeah. You kind of snapped into place. At what point exactly? Kind of chaotic. Yeah. Yeah, somewhere in there. I kind of forgave you. Thanks. No problem. I'm well done. Oh, I mean... No, Mariana, I'm serious. Well done. That's what we do. That's our business. You nailed it. Kind of messy, aren't we, aren't we? Yeah. You should really be sleeping. And... Listening out for something? For what? Just... A noise. A noise. Yeah. A nice noise. I hope. What's that? What? On the table. It is a necklace. Oh, right. Yeah. Oh, give it back to her tomorrow. And her brother's car. Kind of stole it. Yeah. They might appreciate that. Speaking of returning things, Rosemary gave me Henry's jacket. She handwashed the lining. The rest is fine. Cool. I didn't want to go awaken, so... Yeah. Thanks. See how I look in this thing, shall we? John. Let me just... Yeah, like a tosser. A big posh tosser. Hey, do you set it? Not me. Yeah, yeah. I'll give this to him in the morning. Cool. Hey. I'm sorry. Hey, don't be. Night. Night. Yeah, even when I do it up, still a tosser. That's the... Oh my god. Henry. What did you do? Morning. Morning. Feeling rough? Yeah. Hang over. You don't look too bad for a dead guy. Ah. Nice view. Hey, listen. John. I'm really sorry. About what? About what? You've turned into, like, a really good friend. And if I'd been in your situation, I would have broken my heart, man. And I'm sorry that you didn't want to be here. I'm sorry. I would have broken my heart, man. And I'm sorry that you had to go there mentally, emotionally. Thank you. I mean, you don't have to apologize because you didn't actually get more to death by a hound. But thank you. No worries. And also, if you did get more to death by a hound, that's also, you know what I mean? No apology would be required. Right, sure. That was tough to watch. Oh, Rosemary. Yeah. I mean, fuck that Steven-Selden guy, but she's right. How do... What happens, man? Hmm. Where do all these monsters come from? Yeah. We worry about what's out there, prowling across the moors, but like, shit, what's in there, you know? In you? In anyone. In me, my friends, my... her son. Right? Yeah. I don't know if I'll get too cool up and all that. Well, you should. Why? It's your job. You know. Yeah, I suppose, but if evil was something you could see and feel that easily, then... Then you wouldn't be needed. Exactly. Yeah, exactly. Ah. Henry, I want to talk to you about something. Good morning. Morning. Should we discuss it? The weather, current affairs, the... footy. Don't say footy. Yeah, no, John, wanted to talk about something? Oh. Tour. God. Oh, it's gone. Completely gone. Blimey. Get some sleep, my man. Yeah, yeah. We're talking about evil and how you detect it. It is a poison, Mr. Baskerville. Yeah, that, I agree with. Not quite to us, but to its host. We can live with a poison for many, many years. The body and soul in this instance are durable, malleable things. They can learn and grow and counteract its effect. But to truly flush it out once consumed. Near impossible. Well, how would you consume it? Aren't you just... born with it? No, Watson. Like a mineral in the waters of a well spring, from where its host is drunk, from its first days to its last. Excuse me? What is this? What? On the bottom of your shoe. Oh, don't. Another pair. I'll just give you my shoe. May I permit a taste? No, you may not. May you do one moment. Do not lick the bottom of my shoe. Do not lick the bottom of my shoe. Hello. He's conducting a scientific experiment. I'm kind of glad he didn't come on the trip. Where have you been? Sorry, what? On this trip. Where have you been? Opiment. What? What? Opiment? O, the mines. Mines. Yeah, if you look over that little fence stuff, like orchard, I see that. So in the middle of that, you got one of those entrances to the mines. Tin mines. They're everywhere around the estate. Don't ask me who spent all the basketball tin money, tin and arsenic. That's right. Show me. So these are, I think, apple trees. I wouldn't eat them. They're still super hard and yellow. But I think I'm going to turn like this whole half of the garden into a forest. So I might need to move these so that they get the right light or whatever. I think you maybe need to learn some gardening skills. Yeah. Yeah, I got construction. I got to learn decorating and now gardening, which to be fair. I'm actually okay at it. I've got a nice yard at home. I'd say you're rather terrible at it. Oh, wow, okay, thanks. I've never seen you garden, Sherlock. I'm not aware it is autumn and the leaves should have this delightful yellow hue. We don't honestly believe the trunks should too. What are you talking about? This here. Look, your yellow residue yet again. Oh yeah. Is this like a disease? A poison from the waters below. You want to see the waters? No, not with you. Oh. Okay, Sherlock. You're Hello, Hedic? Thinking. Okay. But how? How would it glow? How would it glow? Hold on. No, I will not hold on. No, I think you should hold on. Well, not. Sherlock, are you suggesting a bloody thing? I'm trying to think. Yeah, well, the volume on your thinking is a little high mate. That's what you said. You told me a giant was buried in barksher. Wilchurch. Whatever. Sherlock, Sherlock. If the hound lives in the mine and that's what's making it yellow, then what's it? If that's where it lives. And of course we wouldn't have seen it on the camera, or of course it didn't climb out the wall. It moves through these tunnels. It wouldn't glow in the dark. It wouldn't. A lot of things that I thought wouldn't happen have happened, mate. I'm still processing the Henry as a bloody zombie. Are you ever going to get over there? Not any time soon. No. It would need to be activated by... by... it would be perhaps a... goodness. Sherlock, just wait a second. Where are you going? We. We are going to give back what you stole. What? I didn't steal anything mate. Okay, yeah, I did technically steal the car. Yeah, but... I thought it was a seat in blood. Blood that we now have to sit on. I put a towel down. Yeah, thanks. And I didn't drench them in blood. I rested the body of a deceased man in here. You know, I could have walked. I don't entirely know that you could have missed a basketball. Why not? Because Mr. Sivan seldom roamed the mortars without so much of a nibble at his heels. The second he wears your basketball smelling coat, however... he gets killed. Correct. I'd venture that back seat in these locked doors are feeling rather more comfortable now. Aren't they Henry? You'd... um... you'd be right. Thought so. Hey. Hey. Just quickly. The note for the Uglestand. No necklace today? What? The necklace we talked about it at Pixoo Landage. There you go, Barrel. Listen to me, erm... Thank you, Doctor Watson. Thank you so much. Please do come in all of the... Goodness me. Now that would be Sherlock Holmes. Good to finally meet you, Mr Stapleton. All of these are species within the genus Fengalis. Maculinia we used to call them, the large blooms. Very large, yeah. A rather fascinating trick makes them that large, of course. Oh yeah. At their larval stage as caterpillars. Oh yeah, no, I remember that from my readings. The very hungry caterpillar. Yes, yes quite. Well, this is a very, very hungry caterpillar. It produces deliberately pheromones and sounds that convince work-outs that they are nest mates. The ants then carry them into the nest and tend to them as if they were their own brood. Wow. The caterpillar is either fed by the ants. Or eats the ants themselves. Exactly. At all the wild they are beguiled by the sounds sent, feel and bond of kinship. And dare I say, love. But it's all a fabrication. It's all a trap. Deceive, lure, consume. What about this one, Mr Staples' own? Let me see, one moment. Ah, you're in my Beatles section. I don't mean the music group, of course. So, yes. Oh, have you seen these though? Black spotted longhorn. These are locoes. And these are not. No, but what the black spotted longhorn does is it lives in heavily white. I see why we've drawn to this one, can't you? In this dim corner of your study. We can put the light on, if you wish. We needn, Mr Staples' own, as our friend here emits a rather pleasing glow, doesn't he? Yes, well, he is a pyroforest, not to Lucas. Pyroforest, noctilucus. Firefly of the night. Well, headlight, click beetle to be here. Yes, well, yes, lovely little things, aren't they? Indeed. All the forefathers, foremothers there. Yeah, more forefathers than foremothers, don't say? Yes. Such is the way of the past. So sad. Millions of voices silenced under the bellows of proud men. Have your family resided here long, Mr Stapleston? Go the longest, Mr Holmes, yes, the longest. Mary Pitt took a few goes to get right. Small house first, then a bigger one and a bigger one and now this big beast. No titles for such an estate. Certainly no perages, I can assure you. Goodness now. I remember reading the estate role on my way down here. Oh yeah? There was a keeper title. Oh yes, old jobs. Now, honorary little positions and all this sort of thing. Master of the male attendant of the gardens, all this, yes, little... Anachonism. It's important to hold on to these things. You don't sell the family silver. And you don't relinquish old titles. Keeper of the game. I believe it was. Oh, that's plenty, yes, plenty. None of which I'm qualified for. Six legs for me, Mr Holmes. That's my area, not for. Six legs to a Thor, Axis, more my speed. And where did you get it, that got it for me. Oh, so nice. Yes, I just won't be able to get you all in the car, will I? It's on me. It says me right for not getting something bigger. Don't worry mate, it's no problem. We're going to stick to the road. Good idea. Still light out, so you should be OK. Thank you for the car and the Thor. Pleasure. Yeah, thank you mate. Oh no, thank you for doing everything you can around here. You said about a shout out in... Oh, December, probably, maybe January, long live. Of course, of course, no, no, we look forward to it. Don't be better. Absolutely. But they're not leaving, are you? You know, we know anything we can help with. I will be. You will? Indeed, the case of Steven Seldon is solved. That of Charles Baskerville was just a cover. The police can get rather touchy at our presence. Oh, I can imagine. Well, have a good journey back to Nathamorro. I believe I've missed the last train from Totnes. Yes, yes, you probably have. I could drive you to Exeter. You'd have more than... No, not to worry Mr. Stapleton. I'll finish up my business here, then back to work in London tomorrow. Busy man. Very, very busy. There's something about this time of year. Yes, it must be something in the water. That's what they say, isn't it? Ah, quite, yes. Righto. And Farrell, I'm going to be around so we can go to the pub or, you know, we picked up. Sounds terrific. Bye now. Bye-bye. I mean, he could have given me a lift back, right? I think a basketball villain in the current circumstances. I mean, it's not so funny. Sure look. Mm-hmm. Whiskey? Or are you... He's stewing. Will Whiskey help or not help? I think not, but thank you. You two are sorted? I'm all good. Sit down, Mariana. Oh, nice fire. Thank you. What did you use to start it? Paper. Right. Right, I used that newspaper with the, um, dark, more prison right up in it. Yeah, I know, I wanted to read that. What paper did you use, mate? Just, uh, paper. It was right there. Okay. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Hey, uh, let's hear how you solve this thing, Mariana. Oh, please. Come on. I want to hear the whole, uh, the whole saga, the whole adventure. How'd you do it, Mariana? Oh, I, I speak with police a lot. So I just wanted to kind of recreate what they do and then, yeah, like, bring in some of the stuff we do. And hope that I could get to the truth. Right? Sure look. Mm. Amen to that. Yeah. So Tom Grexon helped, yeah. Yeah. They gave me everything. All the reports and tapes and audio and I just went through piece by piece by piece and, ugh. I met some characters along the way. Yeah. I bet. I hate. Don't speak ill of my new neighbors. How'd you find out about Rosemary? I mean, that's a real stroke of genius. Um, I was speaking to this woman. She, uh, Laura Liance, her name was. She said on the 19th, she'd seen some activity that night around here and reported it to the police and I was there chasing it up. Chasing it up. Look at you. Yeah. And I saw a picture of Rosemary on the wall. She was the child minder for, uh, for Laura when she was a girl. No, no way. And I said, that's Rosemary. Right. Well, I'm gonna, let's get off to bed. Oh, you're actually gonna sleep tonight? I mean, he might be done just doing the soon. Yeah, but I'm, uh, long day tomorrow. So. Really? Yeah, I'm done. I think. Yeah. No, no, it's fine. I just, quit while you're ahead. Well, you know, jump not ahead. I'm sort of just, yeah. Just, just quit. Basically. Night all. John. Mmm. I'm sorry I can explain I thought that I thought that I'm sorry I I can explain I can explain I was this in your pocket Henry I don't know you don't come here get in here now get in to binge this adventure in full and without ad go to patreon.com forward slash Sherlock and Co