- Sir Robert Norberton, a race horse owner, is under a lot of pressure due to his debts and has been acting strange of late. Holmes and Watson head to Shoscombe Old Place, Sir Robert's stables, to investigate.
- Sherlock Holmes is approached by John Mason, a horse trainer who is worried about his employer's recent strange behavior. Sir Robert Norberton and his sister Lady Beatrice Falder live on their estate, Shoscombe Hall. Sir Robert is a keen horseman with stables known locally as Shoscombe Old Place. He has been under a great deal of pressure lately owing primarily to his financial situation. A moneylender, Samuel Brewer, has already visited the manor house once demanding payment but has now disappeared. Other bits of odd behavior have also been apparent. Sir Robert recently gave away his sister's beloved dog and Lady Falder is now only seen once a day when she goes for her carriage ride with her companion. Holmes and Watson are soon on site but it is apparent that Sir Robert is hiding something.—garykmcd
- John Mason is worried about his employer, Sir Robert Norberton. Sir Robert, a race horse owner, is under a lot of pressure due to his debts. His main creditor is Samuel Brewer, who has demanded payment but has now disappeared. In another strange turn of events Sir Robert has given away the dog belonging to his sister, Lady Beatrice Falder. Holmes and Watson head to Shoscombe Old Place, Sir Robert's stables, to investigate.—grantss
- Head trainer John Mason (Frank Grimes) from Shoscombe Old Place, a racing stable in Berkshire, comes to Holmes about his master, Sir Robert Norberton (Robin Ellis). Mason thinks he has gone mad. Sir Robert's sister, Lady Beatrice Falder (Elizabeth Weaver) owns Shoscombe, but it will revert to her late husband's brother when she dies. The stable has a horse, Shoscombe Prince, who Sir Robert hopes will win the Derby. He would be out of debt if that happened.
Mason is not quite sure what he wants Holmes to investigate, but several odd changes have happened at the stable: Why has Lady Beatrice suddenly forgone her usual habit of stopping to greet her favorite horse? Why does she just ride on by in her carriage? Why has Sir Robert become so wild-eyed lately? Why has he given his sister's dog away to a neighborhood innkeeper? Why does he go to the old crypt at night, and who is that man that he meets there? Why have burnt human bones been found in the furnace at Shoscombe? Why has Sir Robert's principal creditor disappeared and where has he disappeared to? Holmes decides to investigate on the spot. He and Dr. Watson go to Berkshire posing as anglers and learn some interesting things. The innkeeper where they are staying is the one who now has Lady Beatrice's dog, and it is quite an expensive breed, one that an innkeeper ordinarily could never afford.
With the innkeeper's permission, Holmes takes the dog for a walk, and goes to Shoscombe, where he releases it as Lady Beatrice's carriage comes out of the gate. The dog dashes forward enthusiastically, but the maid (who is in the carriage) is horrified and yells "Drive on!", much before the dog can reach the carriage.
Holmes & Watson also meet a stable boy who delivered the dog to the innkeeper on Sir Robert's instructions. The stable boy tells them that a week ago the dog caught some sniff at the old church which has a crypt. The stable boy followed the dog to the door of the crypt, where he heard a man sobbing behind the crypt's closed doors.
The next day Sir Robert is away to town and when Lady Beatrice goes for her daily carriage ride, Holmes gains access to the house, while Watson distracts the house staff. Holmes examines the furnace and the private rooms of Lady Beatrice & exiting the house safely before Lady Beatrice comes back with her maid.
Then there is the crypt. John Mason observes that a heap of bones there earlier is now gone. Holmes finds a coffin with a fresh, swathed body in it. Just then, Sir Robert arrives, catching Holmes and Watson in the act. After Holmes makes it plain that he has deduced most of the odd goings-on, Sir Robert invites him and Watson back to the house and explains everything.
About a week earlier, Lady Beatrice died of dropsy, and Sir Robert felt compelled to keep the fact secret so that the creditors would not swoop down on Shoscombe before he had a chance to win the Derby and pay off all his debts. The estate, including the stables and horses, would have reverted to Beatrice's brother-in-law upon her death, leaving Sir Robert no chance to win the money in the race & repay his creditors. He and the maid's husband hid the body in the crypt, but also found that they had to dispose of an older body - in the furnace. The dog had followed Sir Robert & The Maid's husband when they were taking Beatrice's body to the crypt & had wailed there all night, so Sir Robert decided to donate him to the innkeeper to keep it away from the estate and prevent him accidentally revealing the body's location. This same man (The maid's husband) also dressed up in Lady Beatrice's clothes and took her place in the carriage each day. The dog knew what had happened and might have given the game away if its noise had aroused suspicion.
Holmes refers the matter to the police, but the story ends happily. Shoscombe Prince wins the Derby, Sir Robert escapes any major judicial penalty for what he did to his sister's body, and he pays off all his debts with a great deal left over.
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