The murderer in 'The Speckled Band' was Doctor Grimesby Roylott. He was a violent man who had a bad and short temper "In a fit of anger, however, caused by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he beat his native butler to death". After his wife dies he shut himself up and became very violent "But a terrible change came over our step-father about this time…"he is a man of immense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger". His motive for trying to kill Miss Helen Stoner was over money. His deceased wife left money for her daughters, but if they die he would receive the money. I not feel sympathy for Doctor Roylott because he's sick and twisted. He is also very selfish, but a very dangerous man. He should have got capital punishment when he murdered his butler in India.
"You must not fear," he said leaning forward and patting her arm'. We then come across defray which is another archaism and means to make good or repay. We also find that Holmes finds his work rewarding, as when Miss Stoner says she can't pay yet, Holmes lets her pay when she can. The narrative then told by Miss Stoner goes on to say she was a step daughter to one of the 'oldest Saxon families in England', this family has fallen apart as has the Saxon's. Being old as well would mean they were honourable. The estate had stretched to Berkshire and Hampshire, which are both rich areas. The Dr Grimesby Roylott went to Calcutta, which was the 'jewel in the crown, of the British Empire', and soon got a prison sentence for beating a native butler to death, but as he was white, he did not get a death sentence. This shows us that he had a huge temper and was strong enough to kill someone with a beating. While in the Indies he married Mrs Stoner who had £1000 a year, which would be given to him while her daughters resided with him. So when she died shortly after they returned to England near Crewe in a railway accident, they moved in with Dr Grimesby Roylott back to his roots at Stoke Moran. While they lived with him the £1000 a year saw to all their needs. Until Doctor Grimesby Roylott changed and started throwing fits of anger, and as he was a man of immense strength he often got into brawls. It was said to be part hereditary and part from living in the tropics for so long. He had even thrown the local blacksmith over a bridge, so if he could do that to a blacksmith, normal people had no chance. He also allowed gypsies onto his land, and would disappear off with them for weeks at a time. He also had a cheetah and a baboon roaming his land, showing that he could not leave India behind. Her sister met a half-pay Major of Marines at her aunt's house, and if she were to marry him Dr Grimesby Roylott would have to pay £250 a year of his £1000. A half pay soldier is a private soldier who already has enough money to live, and doesn't need paying; he is an amateur soldier. On the day of the murder the weather had been bad and full of forbidding, offering perhaps some pathetic fallacy of the awful deed done that night. Then from the story being quiet and conversational it very quickly turns into a scene of action and murder. The last words of her sister were very confusing, and so puzzled everyone; which added mystery and cynicism. The next main event was when Percy Armitage asks for her hand in marriage. When this happens she is told to move to the room where her sister had died. From this point onwards the reader is very neutral, as they talk of what to do, and in a classic Sherlock Holmes way he talks of what to do and when to do it, but it will all happen because of logic. The next page is just Dr Holmes summing up and analysing all that he has been told.