This story takes place in April 1883, but Watson recounts it at a later date as he was initially sworn to secrecy. The client’s recent death makes it possible to tell of the case, which is one of Holmes’s more unusual and morbid ones.

A young woman, Helen Stoner, comes seeking Holmes’s aid as she is terrified for her life. She is an orphan, living with her abusive and hot-tempered stepfather in an isolated manor in the countryside. Helen is about to be married and fears she will soon die. She used to have a twin sister, who was also set to be married shortly before dying under mysterious circumstances. The night of her death, the sister told Helen that she has been hearing strange whistling and clanking sounds for several nights. Then, in the middle of the night, she began shouting, came out of her room, and fell over in a convulsion. When Helen tried to help, her sister said, “It was the speckled band!” before falling unconscious and eventually dying (152). The police investigated but did not find anything suspicious.

Several years later Helen finds herself in a similar situation. She is about to be married, but due to some last-minute and unnecessary construction work, she has been moved to her sister’s room and has started hearing a whistling sound at night.