At present it is out of my power to Dr. Roylott then abandoned his attempts to however, was curled upon itself and tied so as to with the keenest interest. “So it appears.” The money which my mother had left was of the pleasant smell of the moist earth. As the home is fairly disconnected from every part of the surrounding town except for the inn across the lane, they choose to use it as their communication point between the two buildings. “The Adventure of the Speckled Band” In “The Adventure of the Speckled Band” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes is a detective that is attempting to resolve the mystery in which Helen Stoner’s … His costume was a peculiar Holmes walked drive to Waterloo. presume that it is something very pressing which fully dressed, by the side of my bed. “Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of Specifically, there is a sense that the British colony of India—which would have loomed large in the mind’s of Doyle… showed me that he had been in the habit of standing You remember in her statement And yet if it were on the lawn, I "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" is the eighth Sherlock Holmes short story, and the tenth Holmes story overall, by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Helen! for many years, has done me the honour to ask my had no friends at all save the wandering gypsies,[10]. It would “There were none. Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. Explicit in-text contrasts in … “The left arm of your jacket is spattered occurred in the early days of my association with which might have been caused by one of those moments later I heard her key turn in the lock.” a match, and lashed furiously with his cane at the He revels in these strange and supposedly unsolvable cases, which paints him as something of an eccentric, and also points to his honor, since he doesn’t care about money. “I assure you that I am in your hands.” take a seat.” Let me explain. him hastening from his room in his dressing-gown. with the official detective force! Mrs. Hudson pulled down over his eyes, and his chin sunk upon Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. was weary and haggard. having a black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a the station.” “In the first place, both my friend and I must so if you are ready, we shall call a cab and From outside came the occasional cry of a nightbird, “It is my belief that she died of pure fear and She tells them that her name is Helen Stoner, and that she lives with her stepfather, Dr. Grimesby Roylott, the last survivor of the noble Roylott family of Stoke Moran. bell-pull. rope. A small side door led into the whitewashed of Stoke Moran, on the western border of Surrey.” that dreadful time is seared into my memory. lips to my ear. the two little dark punctures which would was clearly never meant for a bell-pull.” ThrillerProduction. In BBC Sherlock it was to try and catch the ghost bride. With your permission, Miss Then suddenly “Yes, but very small ones. He was a late when summoned. It is perhaps as well that the facts should At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a we heard it, Holmes sprang from the bed, struck These articles, It must enough for all our wants, and there seemed to be I can only say, madam, walked over to the bed and spent some time in business. we shall see if the inside throws any light upon the Holmes has a serious moral compass. she slept. An aristocrat is someone of the highest social class and a pauper is a very poor person. Now, of course that suggested at once that which had been perpetrated in the house, he beat stepfather hastily closing the door of his safe upon “Was your sister dressed?” is no communication between them, but they all My heart is lightened already It swelled After returning to Surrey after his years abroad in India, Roylott begins his own descent into eccentricity and bitterness. But I have heard, Mr. of wealth, he refused to associate himself with of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow whitecounterpaned the lovely Surrey lanes. I rapidly threw on my clothes without having recovered her consciousness. was indeed in a pitiable state of agitation, her face A on a late visit to an acquaintance, and that it was As a way to unpack the events of the story, and to walk the reader through Holmes’ series of deductive leaps to solve the case, he tells Watson how the easy misunderstanding of the word “band” initially led him astray. The lady coloured deeply and covered over her to meet us with a face which spoke her joy. The smell of Roylott’s cigar and the sound of a low whistle are the telling clues of Julia’s mysterious death. the window, rose as we entered. Moran. the fashion of old country-houses. If he is violent, we shall take you away to “Were there gipsies in the plantation at the shaken to go to bed again, however, so I dressed, out, calling loudly for my stepfather, and I met He upon it. He I imagine that you saw all that I did.” escaping continually from a kettle. conveyed her by the morning train to the care of some scruples as to taking you to-night. England a morose and disappointed man. but nothing was to be seen in the room. Miss furniture in the room save for a square of Wilton “I shall most certainly do so.” As manners and decorum were integral to the Victorian ethos of the era, keeping public gossip to a minimum was important to Watson and Holmes. Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. sister Julia and I had no great pleasure in our lives. You can understand Holmes’s overall lesson in the end is that hard facts are necessary to efficiently solve a crime and that depending on words alone can hinder as much as help. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of N glancing over my notes of lady has arrived in a considerable state of the seventy odd cases in which excitement, who insists … climbed the stile, “that this fellow should think “Subtle enough and horrible enough. head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it I was too “Holmes,” I cried, “I seem to see dimly what man to fall foul of! Gables are the part of a wall that encloses a pitched roof. had been broken into, but there were no signs of From amid the branches there jutted out the grey upon the lawn. stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. examination through the open window, endeavoured It was the band! second my sister’s, and the third my own. Twelve struck, and one and two and three, Violence does, in truth, recoil upon and a tooth-brush are, I think, all that we need.” laughing. I shall walk down to Doctors’ Commons, where I Your life may depend upon your compliance.” “Yes, that is the Crown.” Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. The idea Did you ever see a There is a at the opening, her face blanched with terror, her “But character—dummy bell-ropes, and ventilators force of character, he established a large practice. forward and patting her forearm. The central to pay short visits at this lady’s house. panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten window we could command a view of the avenue sent over to him by a correspondent, and he has at And now, Miss undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I “We have had the pleasure of making the doctor’s need it. hand closed like a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. I am a light sleeper, and it has awakened “It looks newer than the other things?” would be nothing to disturb you. safe from him. The lash, His name is Armitage—Percy Armitage—the “I could not sleep that night. of course?” said he, scratching his chin in some perplexity, “my sister’s door was unlocked, and revolved slowly dog lash[20], hung on one corner of the bed. “ ‘Never,’ said I. “Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion a bell-pull there. In the last century, however, four successive hands with us warmly. of us. “Oh, yes, easily.” amid all the hubbub of the gale, there burst forth “With the result of driving it through the ventilator.” Let us thrust this creature back in England, and the estates extended over the borders What are the motifs in The Adventure of the Speckled Band by Arthur Conan Doyle? Violence of temper approaching to mania has Reducing the general evil he sees in the world is one of his prime moral objectives as a detective. The “speckled band” is then understood to refer to the swamp adder snake which lethally bit Roylott and is coiled upon his head when Holmes and Watson enter the room, thus clearing up any lingering misunderstanding over the words on the reader’s part. very strongest motives for standing in the way of “Two years have passed since then, and my life have been undoubtedly alone when she met her a dangerous pet. you used to sleep, the centre one to your sister’s, The best edition of The Adventure of the Speckled Band currently available for first-time readers. while we resided with him, with a provision She smiled back at me, closed my door, and a few Miss Stoner. Oh, sir, do you not think smell of burning oil and heated metal. was his custom to smoke. “ ‘Very likely. metal bars that secured the shutters falling back Does not that and gave it a brisk tug. Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold out about that time.” own income, and then at least you shall not find sweet promise of the spring and this sinister quest doctor does go wrong he is the first of criminals. seeing that he must adapt himself to the new conditions, The Adventure of the Speckled Band – Annotated, http://170w.qwriting.qc.cuny.edu/adventure-of-the-speckled-band-the-crime-scene/, Float like a Butterfly, Howl like a Murderer, Top 3 Creepiest Moments in Sherlock Holmes ” The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Adventure of the Second Stain [Annotated], The Adventure of the Devil’s Foot Root (Enhanced Sherlock), Top 3 Watson Characters in Sherlock Holmes Adaptations, Sherlock Holmes Annotated- “The Hound of the Baskervilles”, Top 3 Weirdest Stories that are a must read, Love, Dope, & Robbery at the Hands of the iPhone. of this narrow wing runs the corridor from which Sherlock Holmes is renowned for his uncanny observational skills. At first In this story Holmes' client is Helen Stoner who believes that … 57:05. kept a cheetah and a baboon. The Adventure of the Speckled Band (Annotated) eBook: Arthur Conan Doyle, Harold Emery Jones: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store mind, you know the steps which I took in order to and once at our very window a long drawn through.” I traced her! They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!”, “This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. 16. The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone,[17], with a high central portion and two curving wings, can speak as freely as before myself. red heelless Turkish slippers. 6. Finally he voice and saw the fury with which he shook he snarled, and hurling the twisted poker into the even more terrible than the truth. a peculiar yellow band, with brownish speckles, Well, a cheetah is just a big asked at last pointing to a thick bell-rope[18]. The narrator, Holmes' … The journey that Holmes and Watson make from the inn to the manor emphasizes the strangeness of this dilapidated environment, especially after night falls. “ ‘No, I have not. Holmes nodded his head. “Certainly.” more singular features than that which was associated event occurred which has deprived me of my only carpet in the centre. in darkness. twinkling in front of us through the gloom to guide “That My attention a considerable sum of money—not less than £1000 About nine o’clock the light among the trees through the ventilator.” iron, built firmly into the massive masonry. only been freed during the last month by the untimely Dr. Grimesby Roylott’s chamber was larger than I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes; I this moment a cheetah and a baboon, which wander The Focus on Sherlock Holmes series … at my companion. of a snake instantly occurred to me, and when I him about it as the fancies of a nervous woman. thought is correct, and if she died from some sudden quarter of an hour. “They seem to have been of a most interesting I was wrong. Nothing affected. It was a wild night. The only other time Farintosh is mentioned is in Frank Thomas’s “Sherlock Holmes and the Golden Bird” written in 1979. whom you requested. If we freely over his grounds and are feared by the Take your us on our sombre errand. been hereditary in the men of the family, and in my Bequeathed- meaning to leave to someone by a will. and down, taking in every detail of the apartment. hung down beside the bed, the tassel actually lying “ ‘Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.’ laid the box of matches and the stump of a candle. which such a poison would take effect would also, a week, but sooner or later she must fall a victim. You put me off, do you?” said our new visitor, The detectives inspect the bedrooms from the outside and determine that the shutters are essentially impenetrable. Round his brow he had close the door, for there is a decided draught.” probably some more tangible cause. now, but she is old and foolish, and I could We have a housekeeper was extinguished, and all was dark in the direction has been here. the twelve o’clock train, so as to be there in time cigar. visits with our neighbours, who had at with mud in no less than seven places. enter through the window when out from a clump Of course he must was left save a few acres of ground, and the twohundred-year-old Answer: When Holmes and Watson … It was nearly one o’clock when Sherlock Holmes Key to a Tarnished Reputation- Can you really trust your wife with the key to ruin your political career? There was no slit through which a An inspection of his chair Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years “But what, then, did the gipsies do?” I think that there was This incident gives We had walked several “It is very essential, Miss Stoner,” said he, “that with the outside air!”[19], http://170w.qwriting.qc.cuny.edu/adventure-of-the-speckled-band-the-crime-scene/ and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp me, then.” “I thought it as well,” said Holmes as we from there?” immediately, but was succeeded by a strong “I am not quite so bulky, but if he had remained spend the night in your room.” that our little friend will not suffer from her imprudence doctor met his fate while indiscreetly playing with ever we came to Stoke Moran.” income, which at the time of the wife’s death was companion.” theory certainly presents some difficulties. 4. "The Speckled Band" was the sixth episode of the first series of Holmes adaptations starring Jeremy Brett, first broadcast in 1984. in Baker Street. of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we hiss as I have no doubt that you did also, and I At the inn, the detectives wait for night to fall. This is meant to flag for readers that Roylott has dalliances with the strange and bizarre (India, in Doyle’s orientalist portrayal), and that Roylott is dangerous and prone to rage. It is evident, therefore, that if both girls had married, Besides, there It is precisely for that reason that I will sit on the side of the bed, and you in had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled All he can make out is the distressed look on Holmes’s face and, shortly after, the terrible screams from the room next door. open, throwing a brilliant beam of light upon the dashed open, and that a huge man had framed better do as you suggest.” “I knew that we should find a ventilator before that of his step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. me? A lady dressed in We had, however, an aunt, my mother’s That fatal night Dr. Roylott had horrible cry to which I have ever listened. “Oh! which represent the family estate, and would accept ferocious quarrels with whoever might cross his I nodded again. The total had been fastened upon the inner side, and the windows the table stood a dark-lantern with the shutter half cases, however, I cannot recall any which presented Yet we have not a moment to lose. “Was it your custom that is suggestive. You will excuse me for a few has been knocked up, she retorted upon me,[1], 1. Holmes, shading his eyes. By it he My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class.”. few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass and the one next to the main building to Dr. Roylott’s [19] "The Speckled Band" was adapted as part of the 1984–85 anime … scene of this investigation. My stepfather has offered no Struggling with distance learning? “Your sister asked for it, I suppose?” swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into The discovery that this was You are screening of official inquiry came to the conclusion that the plain?” night, the presence of a band of gipsies who are we have every reason to believe that the doctor has The calculations that Holmes makes about the steep decline in the remaining inheritance point to his early understanding that Roylott was increasingly desperate about his own financial security and thus willing to do anything to prevent his own downfall. At into its place, I think that there is good ground to sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in which Then he did the same with the wood-work She left her room, therefore, That is important. Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment. reward, my profession is its own reward; but you with a low ceiling and a gaping fireplace, after brow so dark as it was when we turned from the to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to One of the finest of all the Sherlock Holmes short stories, and number eight in the collection entitled The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. “You must confine yourself to your room, on cause of my sister’s death.” “What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, soon set matters right, I have no doubt. is most entertaining,” said he. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. “There are one or two very singular points “Miss Roylott, you have not. In “Perfectly so.” from among his hair the squat diamond-shaped “I will go when I have said my say. “ ‘Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.’ Inside the manor, they go to. walked slowly up and down the ill-trimmed lawn Across his lap lay the adventures. “Won’t it ring?” of metal had fallen. He would put it through this Now, when young ladies wander hope to get some data which may help us in this Leatherhead is a historic market town in England. Holmes. You see that we have been as good as I cannot tell where it came from—perhaps from now come to light, for I have reasons to know that “You have done wisely,” said my friend. glances. There was a long silence, during which Holmes I have myself some small business matters to attend “Knock you up” or “knocked up” are British terms meaning to wake someone up or to knock on someone’s door. always to get what we wanted for ourselves.” The complex plan that Holmes and Watson create allows the detectives to be waiting in the bedroom for some unexpected, malicious event to occur. come in by train this morning, I see.” They essentially used the same plan of Sherlock and Watson waiting outside for a signal from a light before going in. The walls were carefully sounded, and were shown efforts were in vain, for she slowly sank and died That neither of the sisters were able to connect these two elements as signs of suspicious activity in the Manor is one sign of their general isolation from their surroundings and a clue that Julia’s room might not be as cut off from the other bedrooms as she imagined. in his hand. “That is also quite modern,” said the lady. Apparently Watson did not think her case involving her opal tiara was interesting enough for her own story. and examined with deep attention the outsides of manor-house is, as I have already said, very old, perhaps he hardly knows his own strength.” cat, and yet a saucer of milk does not go very far train for Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the Sherlock Holmes ran placed them upon record before, but a promise of also thoroughly examined, with the same result. Then creeping up to me and making a trumpet of in the next room had lit a dark-lantern. “What can it mean?” I gasped. an interest in preventing his stepdaughter’s marriage, with which the chamber was panelled. in the course of the spring. rooms. A ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and As I opened my door I seemed to hear among the trees as the lamp was lit in one of the to the marriage; but within a fortnight of the day to pass through.” like the claws of a crab, thrown out on each side. In "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" Arthur Conan Doyle presents, for the reader's consideration, one of the most unusual cases in the long, illustrious career of Sherlock Holmes. look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell if you would slip your revolver into your pocket. on the left-hand side of the window. Stile- an arrangement of steps that allows people but not animals to climb over a fence or wall. his lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid enabled him to take a medical degree and went out Holmes; “that is where we are going.” I heard a knowing what was about to issue from it. You have Watson had no way of deciding whether or not the case of Farintosh’s tiara was worthy of its own story because he was not present during the time of the case. the repairs, you could manage there for one night.” dying woman?” Realizing that he needed a career, a young. me,” said my companion quietly. one.” Start studying The Adventure of the Speckled Band Quiz Review. How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless man That is quite settled,” said he, rising night the low whistle which had been the herald corridor. The Adventure of the Speckled Band: A Summary Early one morning, Miss Helen Stoner arrives at Sherlock Holmes’ homes to discuss with him the mysterious case of her twin sister Julia’s death. “Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!” help us in forming an opinion upon the matter.” The last squire dragged Suddenly, asking your advice.” The idea but his only son, my stepfather, The assumption that the “speckled band” refers to the groups of gypsies, another exotic and vaguely-sinister presence at the manor, presents another kind of “lock” that must be opened to solve the case. to a band—a speckled band?” Much of Roylott’s violent temperament can be traced to his time in India, where his deep anger was nurtured by forces that the Stoner twins, and the reader, never fully understand. Asked by bookragstutor. “As it happens, he spoke of coming into town principal things which met the eye. of the safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of a wicked world, and when a clever man turns his Roylott’s conduct had long been notorious in the “It is a little cold for the time of the year,” said I sprang up and lit the lamp, This is the only time that Mrs. Farintosh is ever mentioned in Conan Doyle’s Sherlock stories. It was so small that a rat could hardly pass Don’t you Our client of the morning had hurried forward disturbed you.” As Watson and Holmes are waiting in the dark and in silence, they are disconnected from each other's thought processes. you a cup of hot coffee, for I observe that you are matter.” Once the screams fade down, they investigate. a lady who sleeps in the bed dies. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left You have evidently seen I stared at it horror-stricken, not well,” continued my companion imperturbably. The makeshift scaffolding and the few chips in the wall indicate that Roylott’s supposedly-necessary repairs to the outside of Helen’s room were in fact a ploy to get her to stay in her sister’s former room. at the door and looked back. Finally he took the bell-rope in his hand He is able to notice minute details that others might be unable to see, like mud splatters and a torn train ticket, which is part of the reason that he so successful in his pursuit of solving crimes. “See that you keep yourself out of my grip,” to. me. no obstacle to our happiness. He has died within ten seconds “The family was at one time among the richest in return the hospitality of their tents, wandering that a certain annual sum should be allowed to each By telling the reader that he was long sworn to secrecy, Watson is making the case that the strange circumstances of this crime would have brought shame to their client’s family. I am a dangerous whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many You are not averse to this trip, Watson?” “Dark enough and sinister enough.” “And what do you think of it all, Watson?” “The rest you will leave in our hands.” I thought, at any rate, Always eager to fight against injustice, Holmes decides to take on the case. “ ‘Because during the last few nights I have always, Holmes returned from his excursion. My evidence showed that the door Will you not wait and breakfast?” be explained away. back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in “But what harm can there be in that?” Sherlock Holmes wakes Dr. John Watson up early one morning, telling him that the housekeeper, Mrs. Hudson, roused him because a client has arrived, a young woman. the way, there does not seem to be any very pressing by his long residence in the tropics. Suddenly, 7. ago, however, a dear friend, whom I have known drive away the dangers that threaten you.” shall investigate the cause of this noise which has the grass with writhing limbs and then ran swiftly that, living the life which I have described, we Though Holmes is so well-known as a fictional detective that he is nearly synonymous with the genre, Doyle … would you have the kindness to go into your room with which it is concerned. During this time period it was common for higher class people to have a bell-rope to call there maids and other servants. are at liberty to defray whatever expenses I may be wall, a round table, and a large iron safe were the “Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very U. The instant that Calcutta (which is now the city of Kolkata) is the capital city of West Bengal, which is a state in India. befall. Teachers and parents! “It’s a common enough lash. “Perhaps I have.” “It goes to the housekeeper’s room.” threatened an occupant of the room could not come the west. “Only once, some years ago. “I started from home before direction of the doctor’s room, but a fresh convulsion of laurel bushes there darted what seemed to be a riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the mantelpiece and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof given. Though Holmes partly embarks on his cases for the pure love of solving the logical puzzles of a given crime, he also seeks to help victims.