One of the main distinctions between ‘The Speckled Band’ and ‘Lamb to the Slaughter are the narrative styles. ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ is told from a third person perspective where as ‘The Speckled Band’ is told from Dr Watson’s point of view.
‘The Speckled Band’ is a 19th century story. The two detectives investigating the murder are Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson. The murder they are investigating is that of Julia Stoner. Her sister, Helen, goes to Holmes to report the death. She claims that she heard her sister scream in the night and when she went to see what happened Julia screamed “ It was the band! The speckled band” and pointed to Dr Roylott’s, their stepfather’s, room. It is later revealed that the ‘speckled band’ is actually a snake. Dr Roylott had been planning to murder both Julia and Helen for quite some time as his plan had been carefully thought through. He had planned for his snake, a swamp adder, to slide down the bell rope, through the ventilator and onto the bed. This would result in the snake biting Julia, which would kill her. His plan worked on Julia but not on Helen as Holmes managed to work out what was going on and was just about able to prevent Helen from being killed.
In actual fact Holmes was partially responsible for the death of Dr Roylott . This is because when he realised that the snake was on the bell rope he repeatedly hit the bell rope with his cane, which enraged the snake causing it to climb back up the rope and bite Dr Roylott. Although Holmes could not have been certain that the snake would kill Roylott, he would have known that he was putting Roylott’s life in danger. He may well have done this to give Roylott a taste of his own medicine or because he thought that people who kill others deserve to die themselves. However if this was the case he was letting his personal moral or religious views interfere with his job and indeed the criminal system by taking the law into his own hands. It could have been that Holmes was particularly shocked or overwhelmed by the situation and so pulling the bell rope was his first instinct but this seems to be a very unlikely and foolish thing for Holmes to have done.
Sherlock Holmes listened very carefully to Helen’s story and in his investigation tried not to miss out any details as he realised they could be vital. I think that he was slightly suspicious of Roylott after he first met him because of Roylott’s behaviour. When Holmes tried to talk to Roylott he replied with comments such as ‘ I know you, you scoundrel! I have heard of you before. You are Holmes the meddler.’ This implied that Roylott had something to hide, as he didn’t want Holmes interfering. However Holmes seemed determined not to make accusations or allegations until he had some more evidence. ‘The Speckled Band’ has a closed ending as the murderer is discovered and the mystery is solved and explained by Holmes. I think that a closed ending is better in this case as the plot was more complex and it would not have worked very well if it were an open ending.
There were a lot of differences between the two murderers in the stories. It seemed particularly out of character for Mrs Maloney to murder someone and the detectives also thought this. She was six months pregnant and seemed like a caring housewife so it isn’t really surprising that the detectives were fooled. Dr Roylott however was an obvious suspect though as he was one of the few people in the house when Julia was killed and also Julia pointed to his room just before she died. His behaviour was also very irrational towards Holmes which would have seemed a bit strange. Mrs Maloney however was kind to the detectives when allowing them into her home. Despite the fact that Julia’s murder in ‘The Speckled Band’ was premeditated Dr Roylott had difficulty in hiding his guilt which was something Mrs Maloney was better at dealing with. Perhaps this alone helped Holmes in finding out what was going on and which areas to investigate.
It was more difficult for Roylott to hide his evidence than it was for Mrs Maloney. Mrs Maloney could easily destroy the evidence but Dr Roylott had to try his best to hide the evidence. The snake or ‘the speckled band’ would not have seemed particularly unusual as Dr Roylott kept other exotic animals such as a cheetah and a baboon. The bell rope and ventilator would not have seemed unusual either had Holmes not discovered that they were fake.
I think that if Sherlock Holmes had been investigating the murder of Mrs Maloney then he probably would have caught her. Although she was probably a less likely suspect than Roylott, Holmes would probably consider her as he wouldn’t want to rule out any possibilities too early on. The detectives in ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ were affected by the fact that they already knew her- something which Holmes would be wary of. He would look at other factors such as the fact that Mrs Maloney found the body and there had been no signs of anyone breaking in.
It is important to remember that Mrs Maloney was particularly careful when trying to show that she was innocent and it would have been difficult for even Holmes to prove that she had done it. However, he would have seemed quite suspicious when she said ‘ Why don’t you eat up that lamb that’s in the oven?’ it seems like an unusual thing to say, taking into account the fact that her husband has been murdered. I don’t think that Holmes would accept the offer either and so the evidence would not have been destroyed. Also the way Homes questioned Helen about the murder in ‘The Speckled Band’ was vary thorough. Although he was considerate towards her, as her sister had been killed, he was also very professional in collecting all the details he needed. With Mrs Maloney he would have asked her more questions than the other detectives did.
The settings of ‘The Speckled Band’ and ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ are very diverse. In ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ Mr and Mrs Maloney both lived in a ‘warm and clean’ home. The atmosphere is of a happy and content household. In ‘The Speckled Band’ the murder takes place in an old, grey, stone house. The setting seems colder and emptier. The fact that Roylott keeps animals such as cheetahs and baboons adds a darker adds a more sinister feel to the story. This is more typical of a murder mystery but it may not have seemed so unusual when it was first written in the 19th century. I think the author of ‘ Lamb to the Slaughter’ wants the reader to see Mrs Maloney as quite cunning and deceitful. He does this by showing that Mrs Maloney can use the fact that she was married to Mr Maloney and that she is six months pregnant to her advantage. Holmes would probably not have fallen into this same trap.
