“THE SPECKLED BAND”

One morning Helen Stoner went to visit Sherlock Holmes.

She looked tired and unhappy.
She told Holmes she was very afraid of death because she was in the same situation when her
sister died. She had grey hair, thirty years old, and she was near to get married.
Helen’s sister told her she heard a whistle and a sound of falling metal, and when she was dying,
she said that it was the “speckled band”, and she didn’t understand.

Helen lived with her stepfather (Dr. Roylott), he was a violent man and he had wild Indian animals,
and all the people had afraid of him. And gypsies lived in their house.
When she was a child, her mother died in an accident, and Dr. Roylott inherited all her money, but
if Helen or her sister gets married, he must to pay 250 pounds every year.

That day Holmes and Watson went to the house to visited Julia’s bedroom. Holmes saw stranger
things, a bell-rope that didn’t work, an air-vent between Julia’s bedroom and Dr. Roylott bedroom,
and below a bed fixed to the floor.
Then they went to Dr. Roylott bedroom and saw a metal box and a plate with milk.

That night Holmes and Watson spent the night in Julia’s bedroom.
Suddenly they heard a whistled and Holmes saw something on the bell-rope and hit it hard. Then
they heard a scream of a man, and when they went to the Dr. Roylott room, they saw that he was
dead because a snake killed him. And the metal box was opened.
The snake was a difficult poison to find in a dead body. So the case was finished.

Sherlock Holmes and Watson

W: Sherlock, Do you think that Dr. Roylott is a killer?
S: Of course Watson, he killed a man in India.
W: You’re right. I think he wants to kill Helen.
S: yes, me too.
W: Do you think he killed Julia?
S: How to know it Watson?, We have to discover it. We have to go to Helen’s house tonight.
W: And we will spend the night in Julia’s bedroom, won’t we?
S: yes Watson, this is our plan. We will take the risk. Wait a minute, do you come with me, don’t
you?
W: yes, Sherlock, of course!
S: Perfect. Remember Watson, we must to be careful, there are gypsies and wild animals!
W: with the gypsies? Why?
S: yes Watson, they are weird and crazy people, you know.
W:oh, I agree
S: Ok, Watson, are you ready to go?
W: Yes, Sherlock. I’m ready. Let’s do this.
1)Why couldn't the police understand why Helen's sister died?

2)What did Julia hear in the middle of the night when she went to sleep?

3)Was Dr. Roylott a kind person?

4)Why was Julia's bed fixed to the floor?