'I couldn't sleep that night. It was a very stormy
night, with a lot of wind and rain. Suddenly I heard a
woman's scream. It was my sister's voice. I ran into the
corridor, and just then I heard a whistle, and a minute
later the sound of falling metal. I didn't know what it
was. I ran to my sister's door. She opened it and fell to
the ground. Her face was white and afraid, and she
was crying, "Help me, help me, Helen, I'm ill, I'm
dying!" I put my arms around her, and she cried out in
a terrible voice: "Helen! Oh my God, Helen! It was the
band! The speckled band!" She wanted to say more,
but she couldn't. I called my stepfather, who tried to help her, but we could do nothing. And so my dear,
dear sister died.'