Question

the hound of the baskervilles, excerpt from chapter 6
sir author conan doyle
baskerville hall
sir henry baskerville and dr. mortimer were ready upon the appointed day, and we started as arranged for devonshire. mr. sherlock holmes drove with me to the station and gave me his last parting injunctions and advice.
\i will not bias your mind by suggesting theories or suspicions, watson,\ said he; \i wish you simply to report facts in the fullest possible manner to me, and you can leave me to do the theorizing.\
\what sort of facts?\ i asked.
\anything which may seem to have a bearing however indirect upon the case, and especially the relations between young baskerville and his neighbours or any fresh particulars concerning the death of sir charles. i have made some inquiries myself in the last few days, but the results have, i fear, been negative. one thing only appears to be certain, and that is that mr. james desmond, who is the next heir, is an elderly

in the first sentence of the last paragraph of the passage, sherlock holmes uses figurative language to explain his answer. what does sherlock holmes literally mean by telling dr. watson, \if they are guilty we should be giving up all chance of bringing it home to them\?
a he doesn’t want to surprise or shock someone with bad information.
b he won’t arrest a criminal at their home because they will most likely escape.
c he doesn’t want to give the suspect the chance to flee before justice can be served.
d he doesn’t want to accidentally deliver information that causes grief for a family member.

Explanation:

To solve this, we analyze the quote "If they are guilty we should be giving up all chance of bringing it home to them" and the options:

• Option A: The quote is about not biasing Watson's mind with theories/suspicions, not about surprising with bad info. Eliminate A.
• Option B: The phrase "bringing it home to them" in a detective context means proving guilt. If Holmes doesn't arrest at home, the criminal might escape, so he wants to avoid that by not biasing Watson. This matches the idea of not letting the criminal escape by acting prematurely.
• Option C: The focus is on not biasing Watson to ensure a proper investigation, not about the suspect fleeing before justice. Eliminate C.
• Option D: The quote is about the investigation and proving guilt, not about accidental grief. Eliminate D.

Answer:

B. He won't arrest a criminal at their home because they will most likely escape.