The Hound of the Baskervilles

In Chapter Three, we come to see that Holmes is not simply interested in the unexplainable. In other words, he is not intrigued by the suggestion of myth, which would explain the mystery through occult means. Because he refuses to consider that the footprints have a supernatural element, he is able to deduce that Sir Charles was not tip-toeing, but was instead fleeing something. Because he assumes that everything has a rational explanation, he is able to transcend the more simplistic, occult explanations that Dr. Mortimer seems to take for granted.