It is also told that Sir Charles appeared to be waiting for someone, though he was an elderly man; that his footprints showed he had been running away from the house in his fright; and that his heart was weak, so that he was to leave for London the next day. Though Holmes does not believe in the curse himself, he is intrigued by the case and agrees to meet the next day to discuss it.
Sir Henry (the heir) arrives from Canada and is already a little shaken. A note warning him to stay away from the moor was delivered at his hotel, where no one had known he would be staying. Holmes recognizes the cut-out letters from the previous day’s Times; being pressed for time, the sender had not been able to find the word “moor” and had handwritten it. The poor quality of the pen shows that it was written from a hotel, and the scent of perfume on the note points to a woman (this latter piece of evidence Holmes keeps to himself until the end). Sir Henry has also had a new boot stolen.