Sherlock Holmes Stories

The Speckled Band

This book is named Sherlock Holmes Stories and was written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The main idea of the book centres on some mysterious cases that Sherlock Holmes resolves with help from his friend Watson.

The Speckled Band is a chapter which started describing us a woman that searched for Holmes, her name was Helen Stoner; she used to live with Roylott her stepfather because her mother and sister Julia died, he was a very violent man. When they get married they should recieve a part of the money her mother owned. Her sister died in a strange way and before she was unconscious she only said, “It was the speckled band!”. After Helen left the room her stepfather appears and demanded Holmes to stay away from him.

Holmes and Watson went to Helen´s house and Holmes looked very worried because of the things he saw in the bedrooms; there were a ventilator and a useless bell-rope. They told Helen to stay that night in her room because they were going to stay in her sister room. Holmes and Watson were in complete silence and darkness, suddenly they heard the most terrible noice from Roylott’s room, he was sitting in a chair beside a table helding in his hands a lenght of rope and around his head was a strange band with spots and they realized it was a snake. The snake passed through the ventilator it was really dificult to discover the poison in the dead body.

This chapter is really interesitng, it’s completely full of mystery and it’s perfectly complemented with a horrible and malicious villian. Holmes’s initial confrontation with the sinister Dr Roylott became the story very much exciting, Holmes perceives great danger and lays a complicated plan to defeat Helen. The melodrama of events is set always into Holmes's deductions.

The real mystery is not who killed Julia and threatens Helen, it’s how the murder took place. Also I like a lot the imaginative descriptions I could found in the chapter.

This is the first book I have read by Arthur Conan Doyle, and I have to say i doubt it will be my last. I consider that this chapter is the best of the this Sir Arthur Conan book, definitively I will keep this book as one of my favorites.

Sherlock Holmes Stories

Silver Blaze

The title of this book is Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It talks about mysterious and difficult cases that were solved by Sherlock Holmes.

In this chapter Holmes and Watson are interested in the disapperance of the racehorse Silver Blaze and the murder of it’s trainer Straker. The owner of the horse is Colonel Ross and he sent several telegrams asking for Holmes help.
On Monday night Straker’s maid and Ned, one of the stable boys, saw a stranger leaning through the small stable window, later that night Straker walked to the stables but he never returned, he was found dead and Silver Blaze gone. Gregory, the officer in charge arrested the stranger named Simpson, he was a bettor and has bet five thousand pounds against Silver Blaze.

Holmes asked Gregory to see what Straker had in his pockets and there was a box of matches, some papers and a small knife, later they arrived at the place where the body was found and saw a half burnt match.
They began thinking where the horse could possibly go, the walked through a low-lying land and saw the marks of a horse and beside it some footprints, they followed it and arrived to Mapleton stable, which trainer was Silas Brown; Holmes described to him exactly his actions and he thought Holmes actually watched him.

Four days later Holmes and Watson went to the career and Silver Blaze name had remained in the race, the Colonel’s horse won easily; the horse was the same and Holmes told them that the murderer killed to save himself and that Straker wasn’t the honest man he appeared. Holmes explained later that with the knife in Straker’s pocket, he cut the horse’s leg, he needed money because he had a lady friend so he was going to make Silver Blaze lame and bit on another horse. The bright candle scared the horse and it hit Strake. So the horse was loocked by a neightboor.

I felt more confused with this chapter than with the others I have read , it’s well complete with intrigue and we start imagining many different solutions to the case. The author really made me feel a little confused when I imagined Sherlock doubting but at the end we discovered that he knew, almost since the beginning, the truth.

It’s really a good story, it’s very well written but I think that Watson should be more helpfull for Holmes, I would like that he had more participation finding some clues or studying more the evidences also.

Vast cracks appear in Arctic ice

During an expedition by the Canadian military, dramatic evidence of the break-up of the Arctic ice-cap was founded. The team found a network of cracks that stretched for more than 10 miles (16km) on Ward Hunt, the area's largest shelf.

The expedition's scientists were astonished to see these new cracks, they explaine that the ice shelf is disintegrating, the pieces are together like a puzzle but could float away.

We are starting to see very dramatic changes. We had 23% less sea ice last year than we've ever had.

After the record Arctic melting last year, all eyes are now on what happens to the sea ice this summer. It's very worrying that in the last 4 years the sea ice has disappeared more than in the last 20 years.

Every year we will see more and more changes, the planet temperature will increase, the seasons will become unpredictable, etc. We have to start thinking in controling the climate change as a need and an obligation because we all are responsable to take care of the planet.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7417123.stm