The Speckled Band (1931 film) Rylott screams. Holmes, Watson, and Helen enter his room and discover Rylott dead from a snake bite. Holmes forces Ali, the servant, to charm the snake so they can put it in the safe. Violet's last words about a "speckled band" were in fact describing "a swamp adder, the deadliest snake in India." The venomous snake had been sent to Violet's room by Dr. Rylott to murder her for her inheritance. Rylott had intended to do the same to Helen. The movie ends with Holmes conducting an experiment in Baker Street. Watson arrives dressed for a wedding, and Holmes therefore
The Tree (short story) The Tree (short story) "The Tree" is a macabre short story by American horror fiction writer H. P. Lovecraft. It was written in 1920, and published in October 1921 in "The Tryout". Set in ancient Greece, the story concerns two sculptors who accept a commission with ironic consequences. Lovecraft wrote "The Tree" early in his career. He was dismissive of the story in a 1936 letter. It was one that, he said, "if typed on good stock make excellent shelf-paper, but little else." The assessment of Lovecraft authority S. T. Joshi was that although the story "may be a trifle