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 Last Word (Knight short story) was a woman and had the last word. I gestured toward the purple darkness outside. "Lost Earth? What do you call this?" She poised her hand on the switch. "Hell," she said. And I have remembered her voice, through ten thousand lonely years. About this story, Knight wrote "The Last Word" is one of three stories I have written using orthodox Christian materials - God, the devil, etc. - which proves that my childhood training had some use after all. The Last Word (Knight short story) "The Last Word" is a science fiction short story by American writer Damon Knight.