What is said in the paragraph is mainly descriptive detail to give the reader a feel for what is going on in the story.
She talks about her step-father Dr. Roylott, and how he has a very violent background and had a conviction for murder. Roylott has an uncontrollable temper about him and seems to know this and use this to his advantage. He also doesn't like to be questioned in his actions, he shows this when he says ‘Don't you dare meddle in my affairs’.
Sherlock and Watson investigate Stoke Moran, the manor house where Roylott lives, because Holmes knows that he will find clues there. We collect this evidence when Holmes confirms, ‘there are 1000 details which I should desire to know before I decide upon our course of action’. Holmes knows he will find all the clues he needs in Stoke Moran. When Watson and Holmes finally arrive at the manor house Helen guides them though the house.
It is described as ‘grey lichen blotched stone, with a central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab’. This is a typical way of describing the villain's house especially the claws and the dull colour of the house. Holmes examined the windows but found nothing, which tells us that whoever committed the murder must have been inside the house. Helen takes both detectives to the upstairs rooms where the bedrooms are. They both have a good look through all of their rooms, Holmes has a look in Roylotts room and he had a saucer of milk on top of a safe, Holmes was intrigued by this because they do not own a cat and what has he got in the safe. Miss Stoners had only seen inside the safe once, there were only papers. They examined the other rooms and looked around; they found in her sister’s bedroom that the bed was bolted to the floor and a bell pull that opens a ventilator to Roylotts room.
This creates suspense towards the reader, because of the ventilator, linked up to the bell pull and why was the bed bolted to the floor for?
Holmes and Watson are talking, and they are discussing what Miss Stoner had told them about the room, and how the windows, doors and walls were secured and the killer must have been inside the room when Miss Stoner’s sister was killed. When Holmes and Watson are in Miss Stoner’s house they are talking about the above and suddenly the door swings open. We learn a lot about Roylott’s appearance here. He is described as a typical villain, which are mostly discreditable. The clothes he was wearing were a black top hat, long frock coat, and high gaiters and in his hand he had a hunting crop as if he has just been hunting after her daughter. He is described as tall with a large face seared with wrinkles and his chin burned yellow by the sun. This gives proof that he has been to India. Watson also describes that his face is marked with every evil passion, which implies that Roylott was Holmes suspect from the beginning. ‘His fleshless nose gave him somewhat the resemblance to an old fierce bird of prey’. This tells us that from the looks of Roylott he looks scared because he knows that he is going to be caught sooner or later, but at the same time it also makes him appear fearsome.
Holmes and Watson decide to stay at Miss Stoner’s house to see if they can find out what killed her sister. They have to stay in the exact room her sister died and exactly the same conditions; lights out, silent and scary. This is creating tension because if they are staying in the murder room the readers will wonder will they get murdered in the same way. They both lay awake until the early hours of the morning when they both noticed a beam of light coming from Roylotts room through the ventilator and a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. They get up and Holmes tells Watson to have his hand on his revolver as they enter Roylotts room. They both noticed the safe door was open, and they saw the leash again. Roylott was looking up at the ceiling as if he was in a trance. They then noticed a peculiar yellow band with brown speckles bound tightly to the top of his brow. Holmes says to Watson, ‘The band! The speckled band!’ and it then rears and he cries ‘It is a swamp adder! The deadliest snake in India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. He then captures it by the leash and throws it into the safe. He then concludes his theory by explaining how he did it and what his thoughts were as he was going along.
By Marcus Giannandrea 10M
