Factual Questions on The Speckled Band
1.
Why does Helen Stoner seek
Holmes’s help?
Helen Stoner is Holmes's client in the story "The Speckled
Band". Her sister Julia died two years before the story takes place, after
hearing a noise like a softly whistling kettle. Helen now occupies Julia's
bedroom, and she hears that noise. She is understandably frightened. A friend
of hers was a former client of Sherlock Holmes, so Helen goes to London to seek
his help.
2.
Why did Dr. Roylott spend
time in jail?
Dr.Roylott spends time in jail because he beat his Indian butler
to the point of death after hearing the news regarding a break in to his house.
3.
According to Helen Stoner,
what were the facts surrounding her sister’s death?
· Helen Stoner says that her sister was in her nightgown, and that
she was carrying a burned-out match and matchbox in her hand.
· She also tells Holmes that the coroner tried to find evidence
that would prove Roylott was involved in Julia's death. Everyone in the
neighborhood knows he's dangerous, but no one has been able to find any actual
proof that he murdered his stepdaughter.
· Julia's windows were locked and barred, and there were no
bruises or anything on her body. There's also no evidence of poison.
4.
Why would Dr. Roylott have
been opposed to his stepdaughters marrying?
It turns out that Helen Stoner’s mum’s estate had originally
been worth about 1,100 pounds a year in interest, but its value dropped to 750
pounds. Each of the girls, if married, is supposed to get 250 pounds in income.
Which would leave Roylott with only 250 pounds a year of his own, enough to
ruin him financially. So he's got a great motive for killing off Julia and
Helen Stoner.
5.
What peculiarities does
Holmes find upon his inspection of the bedrooms?
· It would be impossible to get into Miss Stoner's current room
from the outside if the shutters were closed and barred from the inside.
· The room itself is pretty bare, but there's a beautiful
bell-pull, newer than all the other things in the room, that was installed just
a couple of years ago. But Julia never used it, nor did she ask for it to be
put in. As Holmes looks more closely, he finds that she couldn't have
used it even if she wanted to, because it's not attached to anything.
· Also, at the same time as the fake bell-pull was installed, a
new ventilating duct was placed in the wall of the room. But it doesn't go
outside it leads from Julia's bedroom to Roylott's.
· There is a safe in Roylotts room. Miss Stoner says the safe must
hold his business papers, but Holmes thinks otherwise – he suggests that an
animal is inside, because there's a saucer of milk on top of the safe.
· He also checks out the seat of Roylott's chair and then spots a
small dog whip hung on a corner of Roylott's bed, tied in a loop.
6.
Why does Holmes want Miss
Stoner to confine herself to her bedroom?
Holmes wants Miss Stoner to spend the night in her own room
because he anticipates to spend the night in Julias old room with Watson in
order to solve the mystery.
7.
How did Holmes know there would
be a ventilator in the rooms?
Holmes knew about the ventilator prior to investigating the
house becasue Julia was bothered by the smell of her stepdad's cigar smoke the
night she died. Holmes also points out that it's pretty weird that the fake
bell-pull and the ventilator were both put it in just around the time that
Julia died.
8.
What happens to Dr. Roylott?
Dr. Roylott is killed, sitting in his wooden
chair with that small leather dog whip across his chest. Around his forehead is
a weird yellow band with brown spots that moves. It is a snake, an Indian swamp
adder, that had killed him.
9.
What was the “speckled band?”
Dr. Roylott’s snake, an Indian swamp adder.
10. What was the relationship
between England and India that enabled Dr. Roylott to move to Calcutta and
start a medical practice?
11.
Can you find any peculiar
facts in the story?
Majority of the facts and clues hidden throughout the story were
peculiar and strange. For example the fake bell-pull
installed in Julia’s room and the new ventilating duct that was placed in the
wall of the room. And the fact it doesn’t lead outside, it leads from Julia's
bedroom to Roylott's.
12.
What was the "Doctors' Commons?
The Doctors' Commons was a
society of lawyers practising civil law in London. Like the Inns of Court of
the common lawyers, the society
had buildings with rooms where its members lived and worked, and a large
library.
13.
What would Dr. Roylott's
annual income have been if Helen Stoner got married?
Each of the girls, if married, is supposed to get 250 pounds in
income. Which would leave Roylott with only 250 pounds a year of his own.
Thanks for Reading,
Ebony Robinson
