6 The Truth Is Revealed

Chapter 6 The Truth Is Revealed Sherlock Holmes managed to capture the snake with the dog-leash noose and stow it back inside the safe. Then we went to see Miss Stoner, who had been waiting for us, awake and terrified in her room. She was horrified to hear of the fate of her stepfather, but I also sensed a great weight had lifted from her shoulders and that she could, at last, start to feel safe again. She thanked us with all her heart for what we'd done and, in the morning, departed for her aunt in Harrow, where she planned to live until her wedding.

Holmes summoned the police and we stayed at Stoke Moran to answer their many questions. We returned to London that afternoon, and on the journey back I asked Holmes how he had managed to work out that the speckled band was a serpent. "Once I knew the bell pull was a dummy and the bed could not be moved, the first glimmerings of the truth began to emerge," Holmes explained. "I realized the rope had to be a bridge for something passing from the ventilator to the bed. A snake seemed the obvious answer, especially with Roylott's love of exotic animals.

"He must have trained it with that whistling sound to go through the shaft and crawl down the bell rope to the bed, then return when summoned. Julia Stoner heard the whistle on several different nights, so clearly the snake did not always strike. But Roylott knew that sooner or later she would fall victim to its deadly bite. "When I saw the safe, the saucer of milk, and that looped dog leash, I knew my theory was correct. The metal clang Helen Stoner heard was the sound of her stepfather hastily closing the safe door upon its deadly occupant. The scuffing

on the chair seat showed how he must have reached the ventilator. "Once I realized what was happening, I knew we had to be in Miss Stoner's room that night to catch Roylott in the act. As soon as I heard the whistle, I lit the match and attacked the creature on the bell pull, driving it back through the ventilator. The blows of my cane must have roused its temper so that it attacked the first person it saw. You might say I was therefore partly responsible for Dr. Roylott's death. Yet I can't say I feel too guilty about that."

In due course, matters were eventually resolved to everyone's satisfaction. Dr. Roylott's crimes were exposed, and his house and money were inherited by his surviving stepdaughter. The following month, Holmes and I were invited to the wedding of Miss Helen Stoner and Mr. Percy Armitage, and the bride had never looked happier. As for the snake, baboon, and cheetah, I'm pleased to say they passed the rest of their lives quite contentedly at London Zoo.