In the Speckled Band the author, Sir Arthur Conan, uses nearly every suspense creating technique to create almost as much doubt and excitement possible in the short story. In the beginning of the story Conan uses helplessness quite a bit. Helen obviously was very helpless early in the story when her sister was murdered and the case seems impossible to solve. The Murder itself causes major uncertainty in the plot, the reader has almost no idea how it could of happened until the very end. Diction also is very apparent in the story with words like “metallic clang” that create vivid images in the readers mind. Sherlock Holmes stories are regarded by many as the greatest mystery series of all time and the Speckled Band did an excellent job of showing why.
I agree, I had no clue whatsoever on how the murder could of happened until they introduced the vent. And even then I thought it was some poisones gas or something like that.
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