1. The Speckled Band Sherlock Holmes and the Mysterious case of the Roylott family (Written by Arthur Conan Doyle)

2. Helen search Sherlock Holmes
In April of 1883 Miss Helen Stoner searched Sherlock Holmes. She was very distressed, and wanted him to help her solve the mystery of her sister’s death. Helen lived with her sister and stepfather (Dr. Grimesby Roylott) in a very old mansion in Stoke Moran, on the West Bank of Surrey, property of one of the most ancient and rich saxon families in England.

3. Dr. Roylott return to England
After being arrested in India, Dr. Roylott returned to England quite revolted. To make things worse his wife died in a railroad accident near Crewe. From that moment on, he became a very violent person. He had a leopard and a monkey that walked freely and scared the population.

4. The death of Julia Stoner
Julia, Helen’s twin sister was promised to marry a navy major she was engaged to, but two weeks before the wedding day she died mysteriously. Helen told Sherlock Holmes what she saw on the night of her sister’s death: when Helen found her sister, she is terrified, her face was very white, exactly on the moment her knees bend and fallen on the ground. She was almost dead, and all she could say was: “It was the Speckled Band”, “It was the Speckled Band” and then died.

5. Details of Julia’s death
Helen told Sherlock Holmes all the details of the sister’s death. She told him that there were no signs of violence or poisoning in her body. Julia had also told her sister that she had heard a whistle and a sound of metal. Sherlock Holmes listened to everything very carefully.

6. Helen asks Sherlock Holmes for help
When Helen sought Sherlock Holmes two years had passed since her sister’s death. Her life was very lonely and sad until she met a friend named Percy Armitage who asked her to marry him. They had the wedding scheduled for spring. They began to work in Helen’s bedroom, and so she moved into her sister’s old room. There, she heard the same whistling as her sister on the night she died. She couldn’t sleep any more, so she left the room and searched Sherlock Holmes that morning.

7. Dr. Roylott threatens Sherlock Holmes
Helen´s stepfather had followed her. As soon as she left Sherlock Holmes’s office he came in suddenly and threatened Mr. Sherlock by telling him that he was a dangerous man and would not allow anybody to intrude into his life. Sherlock Holmes didn’t seem to be worried and in that same afternoon was going to inspect the house of Dr. Roylott in Stoke Moran.

8. Sherlock Holmes examines the rooms
As agreed, in that afternoon Sherlock Holmes and his companion Watson got into Stoke Moran with Helen Stoner, so that the detective could examine the rooms of the house. Sherlock Holmes watches every details and some things confused him. For example: the bell was not connected to anything and the opening of the room to the ventilation, instead of heading to the outside, was linked to Dr. Roylott’s room. Then he examined Dr. Grimesby Roylott’s room and what struck him most was: a large iron safe, a small whip curled up and a saucer with milk.

9. Sherlock Holmes prepare his nightly plan
Sherlock Holmes and Helen arranged the following: Helen simulated a severe headache to stay in the room until her stepfather lay down, while Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson waited for her signal in the lodge. The thought of a signal that would be to light a lamp and put it on the bedroom window so that they could see it from where they were. At dusk, Dr. Roylott drives home. At about 9:00 pm, all the lights in the house went out, Helen waited another two hours and when the church clock struck at 11:00 pm, she switched on the lamp as it was time of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson to act.

10. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson advance to the crime scene
Before they advanced, Sherlock Holmes asked Watson if he wanted to go along with him, since it could be dangerous. Watson said: “Yes!”. They left the lodge toward Dr. Roylott’s house as they prepared to enter through the window. The monkey jumped up and gave them a big fright. Already inside the house they took off their shoes to make no noise and enter the room. Inside, everything was as they saw in the afternoon. They waited silently to see what was about to happen.

11. Sherlock Holmes solves mystery
Around 3 am, they saw a light in the direction of the ventilation´s opening, that was almost extinguished and followed by a strong smell of burnt oil and hot metal. Someone in the other room had lit a lamp. Suddenly there was a hissing whistle and Sherlock Holmes began to beat furiously with his cane on the chime of the bell. Watson did not realize what was happening, but he saw the horror and disgust in his friend’s face. Sherlock Holmes stopped beating and when he was staring at the opening, he heard a huge pain coming from Dr. Roylott’s room.

12. Conclusion
Sherlock Holmes and Watson went to Dr. Roylott’s room and faced a macabre scene. Grimesby Roylott was seated, dressed in a robe and slippers at his feet, with his whip on his lap, a drooping chin and horrified eyes with a yellow snake with brown specks wrapped around his head. “The speckled band” - said Sherlock Holmes, it was a snake from Brejo, the most poisonous snake in India. At last, they realized what was the speckled band Julia Stoner mentioned when she died. She was speaking about the snake that killed her the same way that killed Dr. Roylott.

13. The End. Escola Básica com JI de Ribamar Ano Letivo 2016/2017
Disciplina de Inglês
Teacher: Cristina Camoêsas
Trabalho realizado por:
André Andrade, 6ºF, nº4
Francisco Dias, 6ºF, nº7
João Martins, 6ºF, nº12
Nuno Miguel, 6ºF, nº19