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Inference & Evidence
Comprehension: Inference
A case for Watson — themed on The Hound of the Baskervilles
I
Sherlock Holmes' Client Room
⏱ 6 min
221B Baker Street. The sitting room. The address of England's finest detective, Sherlock Holmes.
You are his loyal friend and companion, Dr. Watson. Sherlock has had visitors all morning, each with a different problem. He returned to his favourite corner of the settee and challenges you to make inferences about them.
You are his loyal friend and companion, Dr. Watson. Sherlock has had visitors all morning, each with a different problem. He returned to his favourite corner of the settee and challenges you to make inferences about them.
"There are certainly one or two indications. It gives us the basis for several deductions."
"Has anything escaped me?" I asked with some self-importance. "I trust that there is nothing of consequence which I have overlooked?"
"I am afraid, my dear Watson, that most of your conclusions were erroneous…"
"Has anything escaped me?" I asked with some self-importance. "I trust that there is nothing of consequence which I have overlooked?"
"I am afraid, my dear Watson, that most of your conclusions were erroneous…"
What do we mean by making deductions? We use evidence to make our own conclusions about people, places, and events.
Inference
We use evidence to make our own conclusions about people, places, and events.
A visitor arrives. Holmes makes a deduction…
"How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. Holmes? How did you know, for example, that I did manual labour. It's as true as gospel, for I began as a ship's carpenter."
Show, don't tell — spot the difference
Telling
"He was angry."
No deduction needed — we are simply told.
Showing
"He was red in the face and stamping."
We use the clues — red in the face, stamping — to infer anger.
Warm-up: infer each visitor's occupation from the image
⚓Click to deduce
🎖Click to deduce
⚕Click to deduce
II
Reading the Visitors
⏱ 8 min
Now we read. While reading, we must look for clues in the writer's words — phrases that show rather than tell.
Model example — observe the word choices, detective.
She raised her veil as she spoke… her face all grey, with restless eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot with premature grey, and her expression was weary. Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick, all-comprehensive glances.
Your turn — a gentleman enters.
Click two words or phrases that suggest he is confident.
A gentleman entered, with a pleasant cultured face and a steady eye. His manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little bend of the knees as he walked.
III
A Murder is Reported
⏱ 8 min
Dr. Mortimer brings news from Devon. Read each sentence carefully — and consider what motive a murderer might have. Click the tick to reveal the next sentence.
The recent sudden death of Sir Charles Baskerville, whose name has been mentioned as the probable Liberal candidate for Mid-Devon at the next election, has cast a gloom over the county.
A political motivation, perhaps? A candidate at election… could the murderer be driven by power?
Though Sir Charles had resided at Baskerville Hall for a comparatively short period his amiability of character and extreme generosity had won the affection and respect of all who had been brought into contact with him.
No clues here — why would anyone murder a man out of affection and respect?
In these days it is refreshing to find a case where the descendant of an old family is able to make his own fortune and to bring it back with him.
Another motivation, very common in crime stories — to get the money…
IV
Looking for Clues
⏱ 12 min
Investigate both locations, and within each, both characters. Quotes and clues you uncover will be saved to your notebook.
🌫
The Moor
"As you value your life or your reason keep away from the moor."
🏰
Baskerville Hall
An ancient seat. Servants. Long corridors. Secrets.
The Hound
A creature of the fog
Investigate
Jack Stapleton
A naturalist on the moor
Investigate
"Halloa!" I cried. "What is that?"
A long, low moan, indescribably sad, swept over the moor. It filled the whole air, and yet it was impossible to say whence it came. From a dull murmur it swelled into a deep roar, and then sank back into a melancholy, throbbing murmur once again. Stapleton looked at me with a curious expression in his face.
I was at Holmes's elbow, and I glanced for an instant at his face. It was pale, his eyes shining brightly in the moonlight. But suddenly they started forward in a rigid, fixed stare, and his lips parted in amazement.
I sprang to my feet, my hand grasping my pistol, my mind paralysed by the dreadful shape which had sprung out upon us from the shadows of the fog. A hound it was, an enormous coal-black hound, but not such a hound as mortal eyes have ever seen. Fire burst from its open mouth, its eyes glowed with a smouldering glare…
A long, low moan, indescribably sad, swept over the moor. It filled the whole air, and yet it was impossible to say whence it came. From a dull murmur it swelled into a deep roar, and then sank back into a melancholy, throbbing murmur once again. Stapleton looked at me with a curious expression in his face.
I was at Holmes's elbow, and I glanced for an instant at his face. It was pale, his eyes shining brightly in the moonlight. But suddenly they started forward in a rigid, fixed stare, and his lips parted in amazement.
I sprang to my feet, my hand grasping my pistol, my mind paralysed by the dreadful shape which had sprung out upon us from the shadows of the fog. A hound it was, an enormous coal-black hound, but not such a hound as mortal eyes have ever seen. Fire burst from its open mouth, its eyes glowed with a smouldering glare…
Click four words that show the fear the hound creates (rather than telling us).
A clue from the moor… 📜 saved to notebook — "It filled the whole air…" hints the hound may be supernatural.
A small fly or moth had fluttered across our path, and in an instant Stapleton was rushing with extraordinary energy and speed in pursuit of it. To my dismay the creature flew straight for the great mire, and my acquaintance never paused for an instant, bounding from tuft to tuft behind it, his green net waving in the air. His grey clothes and jerky, zigzag, irregular progress made him not unlike some huge moth himself.
Using the skills from earlier — what is Stapleton's profession?
Mr. Barrymore
The butler
Investigate
Beryl Stapleton
A wife — or sister?
Investigate
You hear a loud crying during the night and decide to question the butler of the Baskerville family.
Barrymore looked surprised, and considered for a little time.
"There are only two women in the house, Sir Henry," he answered. "One is the scullery-maid, who sleeps in the other wing. The other is my wife, and I can answer for it that the sound could not have come from her."
After breakfast I met Mrs. Barrymore in the long corridor with the sun full upon her face. She was a large, impassive, heavy-featured woman with a stern set expression of mouth. But her telltale eyes were red and glanced at me from between swollen lids.
"There are only two women in the house, Sir Henry," he answered. "One is the scullery-maid, who sleeps in the other wing. The other is my wife, and I can answer for it that the sound could not have come from her."
After breakfast I met Mrs. Barrymore in the long corridor with the sun full upon her face. She was a large, impassive, heavy-featured woman with a stern set expression of mouth. But her telltale eyes were red and glanced at me from between swollen lids.
Barrymore has told a lie. Type the quotation from the passage that gives him away.
Later that night, in the gloom, you see Barrymore awake and doing something secretly…
Barrymore was crouching at the window with the candle held against the glass. His profile was half turned towards me, and his face seemed to be rigid with expectation as he stared out into the blackness of the moor. For some minutes he stood watching intently. Then he gave a deep groan and with an impatient gesture he put out the light.
Why might someone be holding a candle against the glass during the night?
"Go back!" she said. "Go straight back to London, instantly."
I could only stare at her in stupid surprise. Her eyes blazed at me, and she tapped the ground impatiently with her foot.
"Why should I go back?" I asked.
"I cannot explain." She spoke in a low, eager voice, with a curious lisp in her utterance. "But for God's sake do what I ask you. Go back and never set foot upon the moor again."
I could only stare at her in stupid surprise. Her eyes blazed at me, and she tapped the ground impatiently with her foot.
"Why should I go back?" I asked.
"I cannot explain." She spoke in a low, eager voice, with a curious lisp in her utterance. "But for God's sake do what I ask you. Go back and never set foot upon the moor again."
What is Beryl Stapleton feeling, and how can you tell?
📓 Watson's Pocket Notebook
Your saved quotes will appear here as you investigate.
V
The Showdown
⏱ 8 min
Drag a quotation from your notebook to the statement it supports. The same quotation can be used for more than one statement.
📓 Notebook — drag a quote
⚖ Statements — drop a quote here
Weigh your evidence — who killed Sir Charles Baskerville?
Why did you choose this suspect? Reference your evidence.
VI
Interview Your Suspect
⏱ 6 min
Asking questions is another important skill. There is no right or wrong answer here — argue your case, and you will earn points for the weight of evidence in your questioning.
You sit across from your chosen suspect…