The Adventure of the Speckled Band that of Dr Roylott. Holmes and Watson arrange to spend the night in Helen's room. In darkness they wait; suddenly, a slight metallic noise and a dim light through the ventilator prompt Holmes to action. Quickly lighting a candle, he discovers on the bell cord the "speckled band"—a venomous snake. He strikes the snake with a stick, driving it back through the ventilator. Agitated, it attacks Roylott, who had been waiting for it to return after killing Helen. Holmes identifies the snake as a "swamp adder" and reveals to Watson the motive: the late wife's will had provided an annual
The Machine That Won the War (short story) The Machine That Won the War (short story) "The Machine That Won the War" is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. The story first appeared in the October 1961 issue of "The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction", and was reprinted in the collections "Nightfall and Other Stories" (1969) and "Robot Dreams" (1986). It was also printed in a contemporary edition of Reader's Digest, illustrated. It is one of a loosely connected series of such stories concerning a fictional computer called Multivac. Three influential leaders of the human race meet in the aftermath of a successful war against