【英文听力原声】福尔摩斯探案故事 Chapter 3 第三章

Day3

That night is different and I don’t sleep well. I feel ill and I can hear the rain against my window. At three in the morning, there is a terrible cry. It’s my sister! I run from my room into the corridor. I hear a whistling noise and then a metallic noise. Julia is standing at the door of her room. Her face is white and very afraid. I run to her and I take her in my arms. She cries, ‘Helen! It’s the band! The speckled band!’ They are her last words. I call for my stepfather and he runs out of his room. He gives her water and calls for the doctor, but nothing can help Julia. My poor sister dies soon after that. The police don’t find any marks on her body. Oh Mr Holmes, her death is very, very strange.’

‘And what do you think, Miss Stoner?’ Holmes asks.

‘I don’t know. Perhaps the gypsies are ‘the speckled band?’ But our windows have bars on them, because Dr Roylott is afraid of robberies. Every night we lock our doors. Nobody can go into our rooms. I am here with you now, Mr Holmes, because two years after Julia’s death, strange things are happening again. A dear friend, Percy Armitage, wants to marry me. My stepfather is not against the wedding. Some men are working in the house, so I am sleeping in Julia’s old room. I often sleep badly because I think a lot about my sister. Imagine my feelings at three o’clock this morning when I hear a strange whistling noise! I get up quickly and light the lamp but there is nothing in the room. After that I can’t sleep so I take the train to London and here I am!’

‘I want to go to Stoke Moran today,’ Holmes says. ‘I must see the house. Is this a good time?’

Miss Stoner smiles. ‘Yes. My stepfather is in London all day. I am going back home on the twelve o’clock train so I can see you there this afternoon. Thank you, Mr Holmes. I feel much better now!’