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3
Death in the Night

That night we went back to the house. When we saw Helen
Stoner's light, Holmes and I got in quietly through the
window. Then we waited silently in the middle bedroom
in the dark. We waited for three hours and did not move.
Suddenly we saw a light and heard a sound from Dr Roylott's
room. But nothing happened, and again we waited in the
dark. Then there was another sound, a very quiet sound…
Immediately Holmes jumped up and hit the bell-rope hard.

'Can you see it, Watson?' he shouted. But I saw nothing.
There was a quiet whistle. We both looked up at the air-vent,
and suddenly we heard a terrible cry in the next room. Then
the house was silent again.

'What does it mean?' I asked. My voice was shaking.

'It's finished,' answered Holmes. 'Let's go and see.'

We went into Dr Roylott's room. The metal box was open.
Roylott was sitting on a chair, and his eyes were fixed on
the air-vent. Round his head was a strange, yellow speckled
band. He was dead.

'The band! The speckled band!' said Holmes very
quietly. The band moved and began to turn its head.
'Be careful, Watson! It's a snake, an Indian snake - and its
poison can kill very quickly,' Holmes cried. 'Roylott died
immediately. We must put the snake back in its box.' Very,
very carefully, Holmes took the snake and threw it into the
metal box.

suddenly (adv.):
de pronto

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