pain, and her limbs were dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had

not recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out in a voice

which I shall never forget, ‘Oh, my God! Helen! It was the band! The

speckled band!’ There was something else which she would fain have said,

and she stabbed with her finger into the air in the direction of the

Doctor’s room, but a fresh convulsion seized her and choked her words. I

rushed out, calling loudly for my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his

room in his dressing-gown. When he reached my sister’s side she was

unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent for medical

aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for she slowly sank and died

without having recovered her consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my

beloved sister.”


“One moment,” said Holmes, “are you sure about this whistle

and metallic sound? Could you swear to it?”


“That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is my

strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of the gale and the

creaking of an old house, I may possibly have been deceived.”


“Was your sister dressed?”


“No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the charred

stump of a match, and in her left a match-box.”


“Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when the alarm

took place. That is important. And what conclusions did the coroner come

to?”


“He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott’s

conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable to find any

satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that the door had been fastened

upon the inner side, and the windows were blocked by old-fashioned shutters

with broad iron bars, which were secured every night. The walls were carefully

sounded, and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was also