His first act was to establish himself as near to his ancestral home as he could, and his second was to cultivate a friendship with Sir Charles Baskerville and with the neighbours.
"The baronet himself told him about the family hound, and so prepared the way for his own death.

Stapleton, as I will continue to call him, knew that the old man's heart was weak and that a shock would kill him.
So much he had learned from Dr.Mortimer.He had heard also that Sir Charles was superstitious and had taken this grim legend very seriously.
His ingenious mind instantly suggested a way by which the baronet could be done to death, and yet it would be hardly possible to bring home the guilt to the real murderer.
"Having conceived the idea he proceeded to carry it out with considerable finesse.

An ordinary schemer would have been content to work with a savage hound.

The use of artificial means to make the creature diabolical was a flash of genius upon his part.

The dog he bought in London from Ross and Mangles, the dealers in Fulham Road.