SHERLOCK HOLMES SHORT STORIES

THE SPECKLED BAND

Very early one morning, a young woman, went to see to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. She
looked tired and unhappy, “I’m afraid, afraid of death Mr. Holmes!” she cried. She wasn’t
thirty yet and she had grey hair. “Just sit down and tell us your story”, said Holmes kindly. She
said her name was Helen Stoner and she lived with her stepfather, Dr. Grimesby Roylott. She
said his father was dead, and his stepfather killed his servant in India, then his mother died in
an accident eight years ago and her stepfather got all her mother’s money but if Helen or her
sister married, he must pay € 250 every year. She said also her stepfather was more and more
violent and everybody was afraid of him, his Indian wild animals and the gipsies that ran freely
around the garden. She went on and said her sister Julia died when she was only thirty and
her hair was already grey like her. She narrated all story about how her sister died and what
her sister said just before died. Helen said she could hear a strange whistle and the sound of
falling metal and also said her sister talked about a speckled band. Helen told was going to get
married soon, but she just had to move to her sister’s room and one night ago she heard the
strange whistle again. After hear this, Holmes decided to go to Dr. Roylott’s house. In Dr.
Roylott’s house, Helen showed to Holmes and Watson the three bedrooms, but Holmes got
strange a bell-rope, that was right above Julia’s bed and doesn’t worked, and the air-vent that
was in the wall between Julia’s and Dr. Roylott’s bedrooms. Then they went to Dr. Roylott’s
room and there was a large metal box near the wall with a plate with milk on box’s top. After
see this, Holmes decided that Watson and He were going to spend the night in Helen’s room. A
light would be the signal for Holmes and Watson to know when Dr Roylott is in your room and
Helen in the other room, so this night they wait for the signal and when they so the light went
inside the room carefully. They waited silently in the dark on the bedroom, and suddenly
Holmes jumped and hit the bell-rope, after this they heard a whistle and a terrible cry, they
went to Dr. Roylott’s room and there was Dr. Roylott sat on a chair with his eyes fixed on the
air-vent and with a yellow speckled band around his head. The band was an Indian snake and
he was died. So, everything was clear at this time, Dr. Roylott put the snake in the air-vent, this
went through it and went down by the bell-rope until the bed. That was like Julia died, this
snake’s poison is difficult to find in a dead body so nobody will know how she died, and now he
wanted to do the same with Helen. Soon Helen married but she never forgot the speckled
band.

A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA

One day Watson went to Holmes’ house, and when he arrived, Holmes showed him a letter
saying that at night someone was going to visit him and he had to help this person so he had to
be in his bedroom at 7:45 PM. At this time, there was a knock on the door; there was a tall and
strong man, in expensive clothes and he wore a mask, he said that a very important person
who belongs to a royal family sent him for talk about a business. He tried to hide who he was,
but Homes busted him and knew he was Wilhelm vor Ormstein, king of Bohemia. He told to
Holmes and Watson about Irene Adler, and old girlfriend that he left but he let her some
letters, and he knew she had a shot with him, so he wanted to get it back because he was
going to get married with Clotilde Lothman, he tried to get the shot around 5 times but he
couldn’t. The king gave Holmes a bag with one thousand punds and after this he left. The next
day Watson went to Holmes’ house but he wasn’t there, Watson waited about one hour and
then Holmes came back looking like a servant, and he told to Watson about what he was
doing. He went to Irene’s house and there was Godfrey Norton, Irene’s friend, and then
Godfrey went out and took a taxi and went to Santa Monica’s church, a few minutes later,
Irene also went out and took a taxi to Santa Monica’s church, so Holmes took a taxi and also
went to Santa Monica’s church. After this Holmes helped them to get married like a witness.
That night Holmes’ had made a plan for get the photo, so he was dressed different again and
both went to Irene’s house, out Irene’s house there was lot of people, and then Irene arrived
by taxi, quickly a man opened the taxis’ door, and then other guy pull him and suddenly began
a fight. Irene was in the middle of it, but Holmes ran to help her, then he fell down and there
was blood on his face, Irene saw it so she asked to take him inside her house. Holmes put up
his hand because this was a signal for Watson. When Watson saw this, he threw a smoke-stick
in the room and the people out there and inside the room shouted “Fire”. After this Holmes
went out and told that she showed him where the photo was because when she though there
was fire she ran to get the photo and Holmes could see where it was. Then they went to
Holmes house and when they arrived there, a young man hurried past them and said “Good
night Mr. Sherlock Holmes”. The next day in the morning Holmes, Watson and the king went to
Irene’s house, an old servant opened the door and said that Irene and her husband left
England. Everybody went to the sitting room and looked for the photo on the cupboard, but
there wasn’t the king’s photo, there was just another photo of Irene alone and a letter for
Sherlock Holmes when she said that she busted to Holmes and that she never would show the
king’s photo to somebody and if he likes the other photo he could take it. The king trusted to
her and Sherlock asked for the photo of Irene so the king gave the photo to Holmes.

Summary
John Openshaw visits Holmes to ask for help about a certain mysterious and threatening kind of
letter both his uncle and father had received just before their deaths. His uncle, Elias, had
emigrated to America in his youth and became a planter in Florida. Since returning, he had
taken part in raising John.
One day, when he received a letter with nothing but five orange pips in the envelope and the
letters "K. K. K." written on the inside flap, he burned a box of papers and made his will to
Joseph, his brother, and John's father. Shortly after, he was found dead in what appeared to be
an accident; a similar incident befell Joseph, who received a letter and then died under
suspicious circumstances.

Holmes advises John, who has himself just received the foreboding pips, to offer up the box of
documents. However, the next day John is discovered dead. Holmes deduces that it is the Ku
Klux Klan and that the ringleader of the murders has been traveling around on a ship; after
determining the identity of the vessel that this James Calhoun has left London on, Holmes sends
a letter of his own to the authorities there to encourage Calhoun's arrest.

The story ends in mystery though, as the ship sinks in mysterious circumstances.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes | The Five Orange

Summary
On a particularly dark and stormy night in September 1887, a distraught young man from Horsham
arrives at Holmes's Baker Street residence. His name is John Openshaw, and he is desperately
seeking help in uncovering a sinister family mystery. The puzzle begins with his uncle, Elias
Openshaw. Elias had gone to Florida before the American Civil War and amassed a small fortune as
a planter. During the war he was a colonel in the Confederacy, but during Reconstruction he returned
to the Horsham area because of his "aversion to the negroes." There he holed up in his house, alone,
angry, and often drunk, accepting only his nephew John as a visitor. Despite his terrible disposition
he doted somewhat on John, who by the age of 16 was all but running the household. John, however,
was forbidden from entering a room in the attic, which Elias kept locked at all times.

In March 1883 Elias received a mysterious letter from an unknown sender. It was postmarked from
Pondicherry (a city on the eastern coast of India), and contained no letter, only five dried orange pips
(seeds). Scrawled on the inside flap were the letters "K.K.K." The message sent Elias into tremors of
shock. John asked him what was wrong, but he wouldn't explain anything, saying only "I'll
checkmate them still." He then instructed John to send for a lawyer. When the lawyer and John
convened in Elias's room, John noticed his uncle had burned a number of papers in his fireplace, and
that a small brass box—which now stood empty—had the letter "K" inscribed on it in the same font
as the letters on the postal letter he had received earlier in the day. In front of the lawyer Elias willed
his estate to John's father, Joseph. Elias grew even more solitary and drunken over the next few
weeks. Occasionally, however, he would erupt from his house, drunk, and skulk around his property.
One night, however, he never returned home; he was soon found lying face-down in a pond by one
of his gardens. No foul play was detected, and the death was ruled a suicide. Elias's house and
holdings then passed on to John's father, Joseph Openshaw. Per Holmes's questioning, John confirms
the letter was received on March 10, and Elias died on May 2.

John Openshaw's father Joseph moved into Elias Openshaw's house in early 1884. He examined the
house for clues that might shed some light on his brother's death, but found only the empty brass
box. Inside it had a label with the initials K.K.K. and "Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register"
written beneath. They also found some of his uncle's old papers, which revealed he had resisted
Republican-led efforts to rebuild the South and enfranchise newly freed slaves. On January 4, 1885,
Joseph Openshaw received a similar letter to the one his brother had received in 1883—an
anonymous post with five dried orange pips inside and the letters K.K.K. written inside the
envelope. Instructions were included on the envelope as well: "Put the papers on the sundial" in the
house's garden. The message was postmarked from Dundee, a city in Scotland. Though he was
deeply alarmed at first, Joseph resolved that this was merely a practical joke and refused John's pleas
to go to the police. Three days later Joseph went to visit a friend in a nearby area. Two days after
that, John received a telegram from the police informing him his father had fallen into a chalk pit
and fractured his skull; by the time John arrived to visit him, his father was dead. As with his uncle,
foul play was ruled out and Joseph Openshaw's death was ruled an accident.

John Openshaw inherited the estate, and lived unbothered for over two and a half years. Yesterday,
he tells Holmes, he had received a letter with five orange pips; the message was postmarked from
London—eastern division. It included the letters K.K.K. and another demand to "put the papers on
the sundial." Desperate and afraid, Openshaw contacted the police, but they brushed him off, calling
the affair a practical joke. "Incredible imbecility!" Holmes steams in response.

Holmes becomes extremely concerned for Openshaw's safety, and asks if he has any other clues that
might help them figure out who is behind the letters. Openshaw produces a single paper he found on
the floor of his uncle's room. The paper has the same bluish color of the papers his uncle burned, he
tells Holmes. Written on the paper—in Elias Openshaw's handwriting—is a list of dates and short,
cryptic phrases about interactions with different men, three of whom apparently received pips. Two
of them "cleared," and the other was "visited." Holmes instructs Openshaw to immediately return
home and put the paper and brass box out on his sundial, along with a note explaining all of Elias
Openshaw's papers have been burned. He warns Openshaw to be careful and says he will find an
answer to the riddle in London. Openshaw thanks him and leaves Holmes and Watson, and they
begin discussing the situation. Holmes begins thinking aloud, and Watson both praises his thought
process and ribs him a bit. They turn back to the case. Holmes realizes all of the letters were
postmarked from seaports, which strongly suggests the letter-writer had been on a ship. He also
observes that the lapse between the time the letters arrived and the time the deaths occurred means
the letters were sent by "mail-boat" and the murderers came by sailing vessel. Thus there is a gap of
seven weeks between the time Elias Openshaw received his letter and his death and a span of less
than a week between the time Joseph Openshaw received his letter and his death. Since the newest
letter came from London, then, it means John Openshaw is in immediate and grave danger. Holmes
concludes the papers Elias Openshaw burned must have been extremely valuable, and that the deaths
of the Openshaws were too professional for only one man to carry out.

Watson confesses his ignorance of the significance of the initials KKK, so Holmes instructs him to
read the entry on the group in an American encyclopedia he has in his office. The entry explains the
KKK, or Ku Klux Klan, was formed by ex-Confederate soldiers to terrify former slaves and whites
who opposed the organization. It was a ruthlessly effective organization; anyone who opposed it was
given an ultimatum to renounce their resistance, flee the country, or be killed. This seems to explain
the puzzling entries on the blue paper John Openshaw found in his uncle's room. The encyclopedia
entry explains the organization collapsed in 1869—the year Elias Openshaw returned to England.

The next morning Watson meets Holmes at the breakfast table. They look over the paper, and are
horrified to learn John Openshaw died the previous night. According to the report he fell off the
Waterloo Bridge as he was hurrying through the violent storm; the death was ruled an accident. For a
few moments Holmes becomes silent. He resolves, however, to solve the mystery and heads out. He
returns home that night and explains his findings to Watson. He spent the entire day looking over
passenger ship records from 1883 onward. He discovered that a U.S. ship, Lone Star, had been to
Pondicherry in January and February of 1883, Dundee in January 1885, and had been docked in
London until this morning. Holmes learned there are only two Americans on the ship, which is
currently bound for Savannah, Georgia. The culprits identified, Holmes sends a telegram to
Savannah authorities informing them about the criminals onboard. Watson explains they never made
it home, however, because the ship went down in the Atlantic.