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 Return (short story) before. The realization that the adversary wants desperately to destroy the little band convinces the Toon members who Monty Altamont really is. Having collected the microfilm and set off for Fort Ridgeway, Loudons tells Altamont that he has seen the sacred books of the Toon, and he is now very worried. Just what will happen to the Toon when they realize that they are mistaken, and that Loudons and Altamont are not really Dr. Watson and Sherlock Holmes? The Return (short story) "The Return" is a science fiction short story by American writer H. Beam Piper and John J. McGuire.