He lit a match. He began to beat at the wall with his stick.

“You see it, Watson?” he yelled. “You see it?”

But I saw nothing. At the moment Holmes lit the match, I had heard a low whistle. But I could not see what Holmes was hitting.

I lit the candle. Holmes’s face was pale. I could see that he was afraid.

I had no chance to ask what had happened. Suddenly the quiet of the night was broken by a scream. It was the most terrible sound I had ever heard. It made my heart cold. They say that people heard the cry all the way down in the village.

“What can it mean?” I asked.

“It means that it is all over,” Holmes said. “Bring your gun. We will go into Dr. Roylott’s room.”

A strange sight met our eyes. The lamp stood on the safe. The safe was open. In the chair next to the safe lay Dr. Roylott. The dog leash we had seen earlier was on his lap. His dead eyes looked up at the ceiling. And around his head there was a yellow band. It had brown spots on it.

“The band!” said Holmes. “The speckled band!”

The band began to move. It lifted its head. It was a snake!

“It is a swamp adder. The most dangerous snake in India,” said Holmes.

“Let’s put it back in its cage.”

Holmes picked up the dog leash. He looped it around the snake’s head. He carried the snake to the safe and closed the door.

This story is getting too long. So I will not say too much about how we broke the news to poor Helen Stoner.