Violence does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls into the pit which he digs for another.
—Sherlock Holmes
The Adventure of the Speckled Band
You shall have heard that I’m a hard-core Holmesian. You cannot deny because now you know. After driving in deep thinking, I decided to share a short story collected in Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
The adventure of the speckled band is one of outstanding locked room mysteries in my mind. Let me introduce some important characters first.
Of course, the
detective and his companion
are Sherlock Holmes and Doctor
John Watson. The client, who is
also a victim, is Helen Stoner,
and her sister Julia Stoner was
murdered by her stepfather 2 years ago.
Then the perpetrator is her step father Dr. Grimesby Roylott, who is mean and
cunning.
Criminal
Motivation:
Get straight to the point, why did Dr.
Roylott intend to kill his daughters? It’s because
both his daughters became engaged. He feared that his right of inheritance would be crippled by his two
daughters' marriage.
Thus, he was
schemeing to kill his
two daughters.
Why Helen Stoner came ?
One day, which is close to Helen’s marriage ceremony, Dr. Roylott asked Helen to sleep in her dead sister’s bedroom due to her bedroom being repaired. The day of night, Helen heard the strange sounds as her sister heard before her life was deprived of misfortune. She was frightened in her horrible situation. Then, in the early morning, she left the house and came to consult Sherlock Holmes.
Crime scene: (Julia Stoner)
Close to the day of engagement, Julia frequently heard a nocturnal sound which is herald of her death. Originally, she reckoned that someone was whistling somewhere, and asked Helen if she heard of the same sound, while Helen denied that. Then, Julia finally thought that it was of no great consequence. However, one night, tragedy took place. Helen heard a scream from Julia’s bedroom, and then she sprang from her bed and ran out of the bedroom. Then, Helen found that Julia was writhing and convulsing, and finally she shrieked out in a voice,‘Oh, my God! Helen! It was the band! The speckled band!’
Investigation:
Sherlock Holmes
and John Watson
went into Julia’s
bedroom. They
felt weird that
the bed was fixed
on the floor. Then,
Sherlock noticed
that there was a
bell-rope hung down beside the bed. In a very
short time, he found the bell was dummy and the rope was extended to the ventilator. Strangely, the ventilator communicated with another chamber which was Dr. Roylott’s bedroom instead of the outside air.
Outcome:
Sherlock Holmes and Watson stayed at Julia’s bedroom that night. When they heard the evil sound as Helen mentioned, Sherlock struck a match, and started to lash furiously with his cane at the bell-pull. Before long, the yell of pain, fear, and anger from Dr. Roylott’s bedroom surrounded the whole house. When the detective and his fellow entered his bedroom, they stared at his neck coiled by a speckled band.
Dr. Grimesby Roylott
Helen Stoner
Sherlock Holmes
John Watson
Julia Stoner
Helen Stoner
What does Speckled Band Mean?
Poisonous Adder
Dr. Roylott put it through the ventilator so that it would crawl down the rope and land on the bed. Finally, it would attack the occupant.
Sherlock finally uttered, “In this way
I am no doubt indirectly responsible
for Dr. Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to weigh very heavily upon my conscience.”
Dr. Grimesby Roylott