Dr Grimsley Royalett of Stoke Moran

Dr Grimsley Royalett of Stoke Moran, Surrey England is the villian of Sherlock Holmes story "The Speckled band. Dr Royalett is the last survivor of one of the oldest Anglo-Saxon families. Once the family had an rich estate that encomposed most of Surrey Shire; unfortunetly four wasteful heirs and a heir gambler have reduced the esate to a decayed heavly mortgaged Manor House and a few acres of land. The last Squire of Stoke Moran was forced to live as an aristocratic pauper; his son is Grimsley Royalett who with the help of a money advance from a relative obtained a Medical Degree and settled in the Anglo colony of Calcutta India where he had a large Medical practice. Dr Royalett had also inheirtied a violent and uncontrable temper and after a series of robbies had killed his Native Indian Butler in a rage and served a sentence in prison. While in India he married a widow Mrs Stoner who had two twin daugthers {Helen and Julia] from her first marriage. After living in India for over 25 years Dr Roylett returned to England and attempted to set up his medical practice. However his wife was killed in a railroad accident and he took himself and his two step daugthers to his ancestrial land. He soon becomes the terror of the local village because of his great strength and violent temper. Julia Stoner at the advanced age of 28 becomes engaged to be married; a week before she is to be married, her sister hears her cry out and finds her gasping "The Band the Speckled Band" before going into convulsions and dying. Two years later Helen is also engaged to be married; her stepfather has repairs made in her bedroom and she is forced to stay in her sisters bedroom; unable to sleep she hears a strange whistle and metal opening (the same sounds that her sister told her she had heard). She hurries to her old bedroom and in the morning goes to London to consult with Sherlock Holmes. After she leaves, Holmes is visted by Dr Roylett who tries to intiminate him. Holmes and Watson leave for Surrey and when the Dr Roylett is gone vist the scene of Julias death; Holmes notices the bed is nailed to the floor; a dummy rope beside the bed and a ventailor that connects not to the outside but to Dr Roylett room where Holmes finds a saucer of milk, a dog whip made into a loop and a safe. Holmes instrcutes Helen to pretend to go to her new bedroom after the Dr returns, but after he goes to his own room to return to her old room and let Holmes and Watson inside. That night Holmes and Watson spy a light coming from the ventailer and a low whistle and sound of medal. Holmes hears a low hissing sound and lighting a match strikes at the bell rope with a cane. Suddendly they hear a scream when they come into Roylett Room they find the doctor sitting dead with a snake around his head. Holmes uses the dog whip to place the Snake within the safe.

Holmes explsins to Watson that he susepcted a connection between the two bedrooms when Julia reported she could smell the doctors cigars. He kept the snake in the safe and trained it by the milk to go through the ventialaor down the rope where it would bite the victium and then call it back by whistling. Roylett motive for killing his stepdaugthers was greed; his late wives will had provided an annuity of 1,000 pds for income although because of fall of agricultural prices the actual ammout was 750 pds; each daugther in marriage could claim 1/3 ammount [about 250 pds]. With both his stepdaugthers dead he could keep the money.