Sherlock Holmes Investigates

 

He was holding the short stick with the whip. I remembered that we had seen the same whip during the day. Dr Roylott's head was turned up. He was looking at the corner of the ceiling, and his eyes did not move. Round his head he had a strange yellow band. On it there were brown marks. The band seemed to be tied tightly to his head. Dr Roylott did not did not move or speak when we came into the room.

"The band! The speckled band!" whispered Holmes.

I took a step forward. Suddenly the strange thing on Dr Roylott's head began to move, and I saw the diamond-shaped head and neck of a snake in Dr Roylott's hair.

"It is a swamp adder!" said Holmes; "a very dangerous snake from India. Dr Roylott died ten seconds after the snake bit him. People who do dangerous things to other people are often in danger, and Dr Roylott has been killed by his own clever plan. Let's put the snake back into the safe. Then we can take Miss Stoner to some safe place and tell the police what has happened."

As he spoke he quickly took the whip from the dead man. He put it around the snake's neck, and pulled the snake off Dr Roylott's head. He carried the snake very carefully across the room, then threw the snake into the iron safe. He closed the safe tightly.