They served as the foundation and exposition that led to the rising action. In the beginning two chapters, the majority of the main characters are introduced with the exception of Sir Henry Baskerville, who is the imminent victim throughout the plot. Certainly, it is difficult to continue an incomplete plot so complex such as The Hound of the Baskervilles, but with Conan Doyle’s exceptional creativity and innate writing ability, the continuity of the plot was uninterrupted. It is possible that Doyle did not include him as a joint author because out of the fifteen chapters, only two resulted from the active collaboration with Robinson. Therefore, it would be completely unjust to give equal credit to Robinson because he did not contribute equally as Doyle, who solely wrote thirteen chapters which is more than half of the entire piece. On the other hand, the central idea of the plot was given to Doyle by Robinson, and Doyle created the plot surrounding the ideas and enhanced it by adding the peculiar style of Sherlock Holmes. Therefore, who is responsible for the success of the novel, Robinson for providing the mystical stories, or Doyle for materializing the legends and incorporating the thrill, suspense, and Sherlock Holmes factors? According to Doyle’s biography, the secret to The Hound of the Baskervilles’ outstanding success is primarily due to its “relentless atmosphere of horror rather than to its …show more content…
Garrick-Steele has gone as far as insinuating and accusing Doyle and Robinson’s wife, Gladys, of assassinating Robinson to cover an extramarital affair and prevent his further claims of authorship of The Hound of the Baskervilles (Simon, 7). The basis for his argument is that when Robinson died in 1907, it was thought to have been a result of typhoid fever, which has symptoms that according to Garrick-Steele, are similar to the symptoms of poison (Simon, 7). Many others attribute his death to a mummy’s curse, a mystery Robinson had been investigating in his journalistic career. While the majority of sources catalogue these accusations of being “unreliable” and a ridiculous way to gain fame, the truth is that regardless of what happened, Arthur Conan Doyle did not attend his friend’s funeral (“Conan Doyle Murder Tale ‘totally unreliable’”). Although he did send a floral tribute to the deceased, he excused his attendance due to his active support to George Edalji, an Asian man who was presumably discriminated and as a result imprisoned for the imposed charges of wounding a pony as well as other animal mutilations (“The George Edalji Case”). It is unfortunate that Doyle did not have the time to give proper respects to someone whom, according to his own acknowledgement, was a “friend” and the person who