Sherlock Holmes and the Midnight Killer

N1: Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson sit in their messy apartment. 

N2: Mrs. Hudson comes in. 

Mrs. Hudson: There is a young lady here to see you. She is very upset. 

N3: Helen enters, her eyes full of fear.  

Helen: Mr. Holmes, I am so afraid.

Holmes: Tell us more. 

Helen: My name is Helen Stoner. I live with my stepfather, Dr. Roylott. 

Watson: Very rich, those Roylotts!

Helen: Not anymore. Their money is long gone. 

Watson: Ah. 

Helen: When my mother died, she left her fortune to me and my sister, Julia.  

Holmes: Go on.  

Helen: My stepfather controlled this money as long as Julia and I lived with him. 

Holmes: I see. 

Helen: But Dr. Roylott has changed. He no longer works. And he has such a temper. 

Watson: Really?

Helen: His only friends are a monkey and a cheetah. 

Watson: He keeps wild animals? 

Helen: Yes. He collects them from India. 

Holmes: Where is your sister now? 

N1: Helen wipes away a tear. 

Helen: Julia died two years ago. It was right before her wedding . . . 

N2: Flash back to two years earlier. 

N3: Rain beats against the windows of an old house.

N1: Inside are three bedrooms connected by a hallway. 

N2: Julia’s room is in the middle. 

N3: Dr. Roylott’s room is on the left. 

N1: On the right is Helen’s room, where Julia and Helen talk quietly.

Julia: The past few nights, I’ve heard an odd whistle around midnight. 

Helen: Is it an animal?

Julia: Perhaps . . . I’m sure it’s nothing. Good night.

N2: Julia goes to her room. She and Helen turn their lights out. 

N3: The village clock strikes midnight. After a long silence, a scream rings out.

Julia: AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!

N1: Helen runs into the hallway. She hears a low whistle and then a clanging sound.

N2: Julia opens her door. Her face is twisted in horror. 

Julia: It was the band! The speckled band!

N3: Julia falls to the floor. 

Helen: Help! Help! 

Roylott (coming to Julia’s side): She is dead.

N1: We return to Holmes and Watson talking to Helen. 

Holmes: Julia’s doors and windows were locked? 

Helen: Yes. Always.  

Holmes: Any marks on her body? 

Helen: No. And no poison was found. 

Holmes: What is “the speckled band”? 

Helen: A ring, maybe? I don’t know.

Holmes: My dear, why are you coming to us now?

Helen: I am getting married soon. Two days ago, Dr. Roylott moved me into the room where Julia died. 

Watson: Why?

Helen: He said my room needs repairs. And last night, I heard that low whistle. Whatever killed Julia is after me!

Holmes: We must inspect your house.

Helen: My stepfather will be out today.

Holmes: Good. We will come this afternoon. 

N2: Helen leaves. 

Holmes: Watson, Miss Stoner is in great danger.

N3: Holmes stares out the window.

Watson: What are you thinking, Holmes?

Holmes: Roylott gets that fortune only while those girls live with him. 

Watson: Correct. If they marry and move away, Roylott is left with nothing. 

Holmes: So Roylott killed Julia—and now plans to kill Helen.

Watson: Yes. But how?

Holmes: I don’t know. But there is not a moment to spare.

N2: The house is very quiet and dark.

N3: Holmes and Watson whisper in the middle bedroom. 

Holmes: Stay alert, Watson. This could be deadly. 

N1: The village clock chimes at midnight. 

N2: Then there is a sound of soft rushing air.

N3: Holmes strikes a match, then beats at the bell rope with his cane.  

Holmes: Do you see it, Watson? 

Watson: See what?

N1: A low whistle sounds, and Holmes freezes. 

N2: Moments later, they hear a scream. 

Roylott: AAAAAAAAAAH!

N3: They hurry to Dr. Roylott’s room. The doctor is in his chair—dead. 

N1: A strange yellow band with brown speckles is wrapped around his head. 

Watson: Look! It’s the speckled band.

N2: The band starts to move. 

Watson: It’s a snake!

Holmes: Yes, a deadly Indian swamp adder. 

N3: Holmes scoops up the snake with the looped whip. 

N1: He carries it to the safe and locks it inside.

N2: Watson and Holmes are taking Helen to her aunt’s house.

Helen: Mr. Holmes, I must know. How did you solve it?

Holmes: With the doors and windows locked, the danger had to come from Roylott’s room. 

Watson: How did you know Roylott had a snake? 

Holmes: He kept wild animals. A snake was a logical guess. And its poison is hard to trace. 

Helen: But how did he do it? 

Holmes: The seat of his chair looked like someone had been standing on it. That’s how he pushed the snake through the hole. 

Helen: Then it slithered down the bell rope to the bed. 

Holmes: When Roylott whistled, the snake returned.

Watson: Ah, he used the milk to train it!

Holmes: Yes. The clanging sound was the doctor shutting the snake in the safe. 

Watson: How did he know the snake would kill? 

Holmes: He sent the snake in night after night until it found its victim. 

Helen: But you were waiting this time. 

Holmes: Indeed. I hit it with my cane, making it angry. 

Watson: Then it went back through the hole . . . 

Holmes: And bit the first person it saw: Roylott. 

Helen: So many little clues, Mr. Holmes! You added them up and saved my life. 

Holmes: My dear, to a great mind, nothing is little!