The Empty House Analysis

The Speckled Band is told from Dr Watson's point of view and starts off with him looking back at the many cases that Sherlock Holmes solved; each one was just as unusual as the last. He states that Holmes preferred the cases unusual and refused to bother with a case that was the norm. He then accounts the story of the Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran which took place a while before.

He and Sherlock lived together in Bakers street, when one April morning in the year 1883 Sherlock woke Watson up in the early hours to say that a client; Helen Ms Hudson came eagerly and waiting in the living room, subsequently Holmes expects she has urgent case to tell which Holmes expects to be interesting. Here we see Watson's love for mystery, as when he is told this he says "My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything." Along with him stating that he has "no keener" enjoyment than in tagging along with Sherlock in his professional investigations.

Holmes, by taking one look at the woman can tell what time, how, and even which side of the carriage she rode. This shows Sherlock's great knowledge of his profession and how skilled he is.

Helen Stoner is introduced into this story to be a very innocent character that has obviously suffered a lot. Helen Stoner seeks advice and help from Sherlock Holmes. Her sister who was about to get married, has mysteriously died of shock before hearing an unusual "whistling" sound. She suspects that her uncle, Dr. Roylott an aggressive, compulsive and money driven man, may have been involved. Dr Roylott clearly shows a strong motive for the crime. In a will from their mother, each of the girls would be allowed to take their inheritance of £200 only after their marriage.

Helen says that before Julia died she heard her sister screaming, upon rushing towards her she hears the low sound of the whistle she heard her sister describe and a short moment later she hears a metal crashing sound a sees her sister's face streaked with terror. Julia collapses, Helen was confused but just then Julia shrieks 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was the band! The speckled band!'.

This leaves us, the readers, very confused as to what happened to Helen's twin and what caused her death along with who the speckled band is. Helen states to Sherlock that apart from shock it is not know what her sister died from. The coroner couldn't find any trace of toxin, and although she thinks it was fear, Helen wonders what it was that shocked her sister to death.

Dr Roylott's motive is that he, being the money hungry man that he is, in desperation and obsession planed the most brutal scheme available to kill the girls. They both received a will from their mother; each of the girls would be allowed to take their inheritance of £200 only after their marriage. Roylott is also a major suspect for the reason that he has a known past along with his unmanageable behavior. After Helen leaves he storms into Sherlock and Watson's home, proving that he raced to get there. He also threatens Holmes which shows that he has something to hide and that he doesn't want the likes of a professional ruining anything.

Holmes before hand got all the information of Helen, pressing her for more knowledge just to make sure he has all the clues round up. Here