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 Adventure of the Speckled Band The Adventure of the Speckled Band "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" is one of the 56 short Sherlock Holmes stories written by Scottish author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It is the eighth of the twelve stories collected in "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes". It is one of four Sherlock Holmes stories that can be classified as a locked room mystery. The story was first published in "Strand Magazine" in February 1892, with illustrations by Sidney Paget. It was published under the different title "The Spotted Band" in "New York World" in August 1905. Doyle later revealed that he thought