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 Meeting (short story) it was "one of the worst stories ever written by anybody, anywhere", and stated that "out of common decency" he would not name it. The Meeting (short story) "The Meeting" is a 1972 science fiction short story by Frederik Pohl, based on an unfinished draft by Cyril Kornbluth. It was first published in "The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction"; an audio version was read by Bradley Denton. Harry and Margaret Vladek have a son with severe developmental disabilities. They are offered the chance to have his brain replaced with that of a cognitively normal child who was killed in