The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Fiction | Short Story Collection | Adult | Published in 1892

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“The Adventure of the Speckled Band”Chapter Summaries & Analyses

“The Adventure of the Speckled Band” Summary

This story takes place in April 1883, but Watson recounts it at a later date as he was initially sworn to secrecy. The client’s recent death makes it possible to tell of the case, which is one of Holmes’s more unusual and morbid ones.

A young woman, Helen Stoner, comes seeking Holmes’s aid as she is terrified for her life. She is an orphan, living with her abusive and hot-tempered stepfather in an isolated manor in the countryside. Helen is about to be married and fears she will soon die. She used to have a twin sister, who was also set to be married shortly before dying under mysterious circumstances. The night of her death, the sister told Helen that she has been hearing strange whistling and clanking sounds for several nights. Then, in the middle of the night, she began shouting, came out of her room, and fell over in a convulsion. When Helen tried to help, her sister said, “It was the speckled band!” before falling unconscious and eventually dying (152). The police investigated but did not find anything suspicious.

Several years later Helen finds herself in a similar situation. She is about to be married, but due to some last-minute and unnecessary construction work, she has been moved to her sister’s room and has started hearing a whistling sound at night. The young woman is convinced she is also about to die, but her fiancé thinks her overly emotional.

Holmes believes the situation to be very dangerous and together with Watson goes to the manor that same day. However, before their trip, the stepfather pays a visit to Baker Street. He has followed Hellen and threatens the detective. He demonstrates his great physical strength by bending a metal poker with his bare hands. This behavior convinces Holmes that the stepfather is guilty. The detective is not at all intimidated and shows Watson his superior physical strength by unbending the poker.

After Holmes and Watson arrive at the manor, while the stepfather is still away, they carefully examine all rooms. The detective figures out that the suspect is using an exotic poisonous snake to commit murder. He releases the viper through a small air vent into the bedroom next door. The murderer recalls the reptile with a whistled command and rewards it with a saucer of milk. It is not a quick way to kill someone, but sooner or later the snake is bound to bite the person in the bed, causing a painful and quick death.

That night, Holmes and Watson stay in the room, while Helen sleeps in her original bedroom. The two men are waiting in the dark and when the hissing sound starts, Holmes beats the bed with his cane. This causes the snake to quickly retreat and bite the stepfather who then dies. Holmes and Watson break into the man’s room, put the snake away, and call the police. The death is ruled an accident

“The Adventure of the Speckled Band” Analysis

This is one of Holmes’s grimmest cases and the only locked-room mystery in the collection. Typical genre features include a mysterious death and the dismissal of the authorities as too inexperienced to even detect a crime. The story also showcases one of Holmes’s cleverest deductions and is often cited as one of Conan Doyle’s best works. It has been adapted multiple times for stage and screen.

This is also the first story to explore physical family abuse and to critique, albeit indirectly, young women’s position in 19th-century society. At that time, women were under the control of their closest male relative. Consequently, even though Helen fears for her life, she is unable to simply leave the manor house. A similar exploration of women’s lack of freedom and mistreatment, as well as parental greed, appears in “The Adventure of the Copper Beeches.”

“The Adventure of the Speckled Band” is the only case in the collection that ends in a death caused by Holmes, albeit indirectly. Tellingly, the detective does not regret the outcome as it spares Helen from living through a scandal and seems like a just punishment. This is a clear indication that the detective believes justice, as he sees it, to be more important than the letter of the law. Especially in situations where a young woman might be harmed by revealing the truth, Holmes chooses to keep it to himself.

The introduction of an animal that would have been unfamiliar to the reader adds an element of the exotic. Furthermore, poison is traditionally considered to be a woman’s weapon as it requires no physical power and avoids confrontation with the victim. The fact that an able-bodied man resorts to such underhanded means to commit a crime makes the murder even more heinous and unforgivable. Additionally, his lack of morals, as well as the choice of weapon, is equated with the man’s time spent in India. The British colonies thus acquire a sinister air as a place of lawlessness and treachery. Such an attitude could be playing on many readers’ fascination with the British colonies which were habitually presented as places in need of England’s civilizing influence.

Additionally, the setting inside an isolated crumbling estate that speaks to past grandeur as well as the presence of an innocent young woman in distress bring to mind the Gothic genre. An atmosphere of unease is created by the ominous noises made by the snake whistle. Julia’s death is also presented as mysterious at first to foster the idea of the supernatural, which then is debunked by Holmes’s rational approach and logical thinking.

This story also adds an important detail to Holmes’s characterization—he is strong physically and unafraid when confronted with violent tempers or dangerous creatures.