cigarettes in his room. Julia couldn't sleep because she
could smell them in her room, so she came into my
room to talk to me. Before she went back to bed, she
said to me, "Helen, have you ever heard a whistle in
the middle of the night?"
I was surprised. "No," I said.
"It's strange," she said. "Sometimes I hear a whistle,
but I don't know where it comes from. Why don't you
hear it?"
I laughed and said, "I sleep better than you do." So
Julia went to her room, and locked the door after her.'
'Why did you lock your doors?' asked Sherlock
Holmes.
'We were afraid of the wild animals, and the gipsies,'
she answered.
'Please go on,' said Holmes.
'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