Penguin Readers Factsheets
T e a c h e r’s n o t e s
Three Adventures of
Sherlock Holmes
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
S U M M A R Y
‘The Speckled Band’
What is the speckled band? A headscarf? A group of gypsies?
Whatever it is, it killed Helen’s twin sister Julia just before her
marriage. Now Helen herself, also on the verge of marriage,
fears for her life.
She calls in Sherlock Holmes, who discovers that her
stepfather, Dr Roylott, recently of India, enjoys his modest
income from the will of his late wife only until each of the
daughters marries. He therefore had a strong motive for Julia’s
death and may also be plotting against Helen too.
But how could he have killed Julia? She died in a locked and
barred bedroom, with no apparent signs of violence. The only
peculiar facts are the bell rope which goes nowhere, the fixing of
the bed beneath it and a ventilator which only connects with
another room. Oh, and the low whistle and sound of metal that
was heard at the time of Julia’s death.
Holmes and Watson lie in wait in Helen’s room and suddenly,
there it is – the speckled band – in fact, a deadly snake,
slithering down the bell rope onto the bed. Holmes beats it with
his stick and it returns from whence it came, through the
ventilator into Dr Roylott’s room, where it fatally bites its master.
‘The Five Orange Pips’
Why should Elias Openshaw, an ex-planter from the southern
states of America, now living in Horsham, England, be afraid of
five orange pips which arrive one day in an envelope marked
KKK? Whatever the reason, his fears are justified as, within 10
weeks, he is dead following an apparent accident.
His brother, Joseph, inherits the house and eventually also
receives five orange pips. This time it is only four days before he
dies, again apparently accidentally.
Now it is John Openshaw’s turn to inherit the house and, it
seems, the danger, as he too receives a letter with five orange
pips. He goes to Sherlock Holmes but it is too late. On his way
home, he also meets with an ‘accident’.
Holmes does some research and discovers that KKK means
Ku Klux Klan, a secret organisation against black people in the
southern United States. He also realises that each letter with the
pips was posted from a seaport, and the distance from the port
to Horsham equates to the time before the letter and the death.
Therefore, the sender was on board ship, and only one ship from
America matches the dates at each seaport. Holmes sends a
letter to the ship, warning the murderers that he is on their trail,
but the ship goes down and a higher authority exacts revenge.
‘The Crown of Diamonds’
Alexander Holder lives with his son, Arthur, his niece, Mary, and
a small team of servants including Lucy Parr. He is a respected
banker with a reasonably happy home life, but then tragedy
strikes and, in his own words, he stands to lose his good name,
his diamonds and his son, all in one night.
Mr Holder has lent money to an important personage and as
security, he has been given a crown of diamonds. He takes the
crown home and locks it away in a cupboard in his dressing
room. Then he ensures that all doors and windows of his house
are locked, but, that same night, he wakes to discover his son
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INTERMEDIATE
holding the damaged crown. A part of the crown, with three
diamonds in it, is missing, and when accused of stealing the
missing diamonds, Arthur refuses to explain his actions. Mr
Holder turns him over to the police and goes to Sherlock Holmes
for help.
Holmes feels that Arthur must be innocent. Why steal the
crown, hide part of it then return to be discovered? And how
could he break of the piece anyway? His suspicions fall on
Holder’s other relative, Mary, and he is able to prove that she
stole the crown and passed it out of the window to her lover.
Arthur realised what was happening and gave chase to the
fleeing man. He managed to grab the crown and, in the struggle,
a piece broke off. He was returning the crown to its rightful place
when he was discovered. The thief presumably picked up the
broken piece and sold it because Holmes is able to track it down
and buy it back. But in the meantime, Mary has disappeared,
probably to join her lover, the thief. Knowing the man for what
he truly is, Holmes thinks this will be sufficient punishment for
Mary.
A BOUT SI R ART HU R CO NAN DO YL E
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh in 1859. He
studied medicine in Edinburgh and practised until 1890, when he
became a full-time writer. He first introduced the character of
Sherlock Holmes to the public in 1888 in A Study in Scarlet.
He published stories involving Holmes in The Strand
magazine, and Holmes quickly became famous. He published
many Holmes stories in the magazine but wanted to be
considered as a serious writer, so he decided to kill off Holmes.
The last Sherlock Holmes story ends with Holmes apparently
falling to his death with his enemy, Moriarty. But Conan Doyle
was offered large amounts of money to write more stories, which
he did
Arthur Conan Doyle died in 1930, but his hero is still very much
alive today.
BA CK GR O UN D AND THEM ES
Nowadays, in the English-speaking world at least, the detective
story is one of the most popular forms of fiction, appearing as
novels, plays and films. Yet the detective story is a relatively
recent invention. Early novels told the story of adventures,
commonly in the life of one person. Then, in the 1840s, the
American writer, Edgar Allen Poe, wrote three stories, including
The Murders in the Rue Morgue, which are considered to be the
predecessors of the detective story. There are, however, earlier
fictional instances of the use of deductive processes, which lie at
the heart of the detective story
The genre appeared in England with the detective in the
Dickens novel Bleak House and more completely in 1868 with
the mystery The Moonstone by Dickens’ friend, Wilkie Collins.
But in all these cases the detective was a policeman, a
professional.
Conan Doyle’s detective, created in the 1880s, was an
amateur with, apparently, an unlimited stock of knowledge

Penguin Readers Factsheets
T e a c h e r’s n o t e s
about all manner of arcane subjects, such as tobaccos of the
world and undetectable South American poisons. The Holmes
stories also set the pattern of the witless sidekick – an extremely
useful literary device – as it always gives someone who, like the
reader in most cases, has not a clue what is going on and needs
to be led like a child through the process of deduction.
The genre came to be known as whodunit (who has done it)
because all the efforts of the detective, and the readers, is to
discover the perpetrator. But the television character, Columbo
turned even that on its head, with cases in which the viewer
knows who has done it from the first scene, but becomes
enthralled in the manner in which the shambling detective traps
the murderer.
Communicative activities
The following teacher-led activities cover the same sections
of text as the exercises at the back of the Reader and
supplement those exercises. For supplementary exercises
covering shorter sections of the book, see the
photocopiable Student’s Activities pages of this Factsheet.
These are primarily for use with class readers but, with the
exception of the discussion and pair/groupwork activities,
can also be used by students working alone in a self-
access centre.
ACTIVITIES BEFORE READING THE BOOK
Ask students if they have read or seen any Sherlock
Holmes stories. If any have, ask them what they can
remember of the plot and the way that Holmes solves the
crime.
ACTIVITIES AFTER READING A SECTION
‘The Speckled Band’
1 Ask students to imagine that Dr Roylott did not die from
the snake bite but was arrested and interviewed by the
police. Put them in pairs to role play the conversation
between Roylott and the policeman, in which Roylott
confesses everything – the murder against Julia and the
unsuccessful attempt on Helen’s life.
2 Put students into groups to write a short ‘locked room’
story.A person dies in a room which is locked and
barred. There are no signs of violence. How was the
murder committed? Each group gives clues to the other
students and they have to try to solve the murder.
‘Five Orange Pips’
1 Ask students to work in groups and make up a story
about how Elias Openshaw came to have the list of KKK
members. They must write a paragraph about the
events.
2 Put students into groups and ask them to work out how
John Openshaw was tricked into going down beside the
river.
‘The Crown of Diamonds’
1 Ask students to work in groups of four and act out the
theft of the crown, the fight, the return of the damaged
crown and the waking of Alexander. Each group must
contain the following:
© Pearson Education 2001
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Alexander Holder
Arthur
Mary
Sir George Burnwell
2 The crown is damaged but the broken piece has been
recovered. Put students into pairs to role play the
conversation between Alexander Holder and the famous
person, when he returns the £50,000 and gets his crown
back. Does Alexander explain exactly what happened?
How does the famous person react?
ACTIVITIES AFTER READING THE BOOK
Point out to student that many Holmes students have the
basic problem as the title of the story e.g. The Speckled
Band and The Five Orange Pips.
Put students into groups to think of a strange title for a
story, then give their title to another group, who must make
up a story around the title.
Glossary
It will be useful for your students to know the following new words.
They are practised in the ‘Before You Read’sections of exercises at
the back of the book. (Definitions are based on those in the Longman
Active Study Dictionary.)
‘The Speckled Band’
candle (n) a stick of wax that you burn to produce light
carriage (n) a vehicle with wheels that is pulled by a horse
case (n) a situation or problem
hiss (v) to make a noise that sounds like ‘sss’
horror (n) a strong feeling of shock and fear, or something that
makes you feel this
however (adv) used to add an idea or fact that is surprising or
unexpected after what you have just said
inn (n) a small hotel, especially one in the countryside
lead (n) a piece of rope, leather, etc. fastened to an animal’s collar to
control it
owe (v) to have to pay someone because they have let you borrow
money from them
passage (n) a narrow area with walls on each side that connects one
room or place to another
poker (n) a metal stick used for moving coal or wood in a fire
rope (n) very strong thick string, made by twisting together many
threads
shutter (n) a wooden or metal cover in front of a window
snake (n) a long thin animal that slides across the ground
stepfather (n) a man who is married to your mother but is not your
father
veil (n) a thin piece of material that women wear to cover their faces
ventilate (v) to allow air to come into and go out of a room, building,
etc.
whistle (n) a high sound made by blowing air through a whistle or
your lips
will (n) a legal document in which you say who you want to give your
money and property to after you die
‘Five Orange Pips’
footprint (n) the mark made by the pattern of lines on someone’s
shoe or by someone’s foot
lawyer (n) someone whose job is advise people about the law and
speak for them in court
pip (n) a small seed of a fruit such as an apple or orange
puzzle (n) something that is difficult to understand or explain
violin (n) a musical instrument that you play by pulling a special stick
across the strings, while holding it under your chin
truth (n) true facts about something
‘The Crown of Diamonds’
crown (n) a circle made of gold and jewels worn by kings and
queens on their head
culture (n) the beliefs of a group of people
shame (n) the feeling that you have when you know that you have
behaved badly or that you have lost other people’s respect
Pub lis hed an d dis tribut ed by Pe arson Educ atio n
Fa cts h eet wr itten b y Te rry Ph i lips
Factsheet series developed by Louise James
Penguin Readers Factsheets level

Student’s activities 1

2
Three Adventures of Sherlock Holmes 3

Photocopiable 4
Students can do these exercises alone or with one or more
other students. Pair/group-only exercises are marked. 5

Activities before reading the book 6

Work in groups. Read the first part of the Introduction about the (c) Helen heard a noise like metal falling.
stories in the book and decide which one will be the most (d) Helen heard her sister scream. INTERMEDIATE
interesting. Give reasons for your choice. (e) Helen opened her bedroom door.
(f) Helen ran down the passage.
(g) Helen threw her arms round her sister.
Activities while reading the book (h) Julia came out of her bedroom.
(i) Julia fell to the ground.
‘The Speckled Band’
(j) Julia locked her bedroom door.
1 Match each name with one of the descriptions. All the (k) Julia pointed in the direction of the doctor’s room.
information is in the first part of the story (to a large amount (l) Julia screamed, ‘The speckled band!’
of money should be ours if we got married page 3.) (m)Julia went into her bedroom.
(a) Sherlock Holmes 4 Here are more facts that Holmes works out from the
(b) Dr Watson evidence. Put them in the correct place in the events from
(c) Baker Street Exercise …
(d) Mrs Hudson Julia went to sleep.
(e) Mrs Farintosh Julia woke up.
(f) Helen Stoner Julia struck a light.
(g) Dr Roylott Julia looked around her.
(h) Stoke Moran 5 What did the police and the doctors not find after Julia’s
(i) Calcutta death?
(j) Julia Stoner 6 Helen’s situation now is similar to Julia’s at the time of her
(i) a person who Holmes helped in the past death. What are the similarities (from the information on
(ii) a servant to Holmes and Watson page 8)
(iii) a detective 7 Holmes found a number of clues (on pages 13 to 17).
(iv) Helen Stoner’s stepfather Complete his notes.
(v) Helen’s twin sister • shutters that no-one could …
(vi) Holmes’friend and helper • building work which is ….
(vii)the woman who came to see Holmes early in the • bell ropes which …
morning • ventilators which …
(viii) when Helen Stoner and Dr Roylott live • a large iron box with a … on top of it
(ix) where Dr Stoner worked in the past • a small dog lead with the end …
(x) where Holmes and Watson live • a bed that is …, near the bell rope and under the ventilator
2 Helen says (p. 4) But our stepfather changed at about this 8 Match the word or words in each column to make phrases
time. from the final part of the story.
Complete these sentences about Dr Roylott. Use a verb from (a) bright (i) band
the box in each case. (b) middle (ii) bird
allowed argued be controlled became ended (c) dark (iii) box
liked made shut threw was not reported (d) long, thin (iv) candle
went (e) box (v) chair
(f) end (vi) clock
(a)
He … himself away in the old house. (g) terrible (vii) cry
(b)
He … with everyone. (h) night (viii) face
(c)
His temper was … worse by his time in prison. (i) church (ix) hours
(d)
Two terrible fights … in the police court. (j) burning (x) knees
(e)
He … the terror of the village. (k) heated (xi) lamp
(f)
He cannot … when he is angry. (l) small (xii) lead
(g)
Last week he … a man off a bridge into a stream. (m) gentle (xiii) light
(h)
This … to the police because Helen paid money. (n) steam (xiv) matches
(i)
He … travelling people to camp on his land. (o) bell (xv) metal
(j)
Sometimes he … away with them for several weeks. (p) low, clear (xvi) oil
(k)
He … Indian animals which were sent over to him by a (q) pale (xvii) pot
friend. (r) horrible (xviii)road
3 Put in order these events from the night of Julia’s death. (s) iron (xix) rope
(a) Helen called loudly for her stepfather. (t) wooden (xx) snake
(b) Helen heard a low whistle. (u) dog (xxi) sound

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Penguin Readers Factsheets 4
Student’s activities

(v) terrible (xxii) spots (d) What is the connection between the people in the story and
(w) strange yellow (xxiii) stare the SH and JO in the message to Captain Calhoun?
(x) brown (xxiv)stick
‘The Crown of Diamonds’
(y) most dangerous type (xxv) whistle
(z) dead man’s (xxvi)window Part 1 The Banker ’s Problem
1 Match each verb with one of the sentence endings to make
9 Work in pairs. Tell the story of the death of Dr Roylott. Use the actions of the man who came to see Holmes.
words from Exercise 8. (a) He ran (i) his head.
(b) He waved (ii) at his hair.
‘The Five Orange Pips’ (c) He shook (iii) at the door.
1 Match the statements (a–f) and replies (i–vi) from pages 22 (d) He rushed (iv) from side to side.
and 23. (e) He moved (v) his arms up and down.
(a) Who would come tonight? (f) He pulled (vi) along the street.
(b) I have come for advice. 2 Find pairs of words from the box.
(c) And help.
(d) I heard from Captain Prendergast how you saved him in card carriage crown cupboard diamonds
that business at the Tankerville Club. dressing-room house £50,000 lend name
(e) He said that you could solve anything – that you are 3 Work in pairs. Explain the connection between each pair you
never beaten. have found in Exercise 2.
(f) Tell me some details of your case. 4 Who said each of the following things (pages 42 to 45)?
(i) Ah, of course. They said that he cheated at cards. (a) Where have you put it?
(ii) I have been beaten – three times by men and once by a (b) I have been too generous with you already.
woman. (c) Did you give Lucy permission to go out tonight?
(iii) If someone needs my help, it must be a serious case. (d) What are you doing with the crown?
(iv) It is not an ordinary one. (e) It would be to your advantage if I could leave the house
(v) That is easy. for five minutes first.
(vi) That is not always so easy. (f) I have lost my good name, my diamonds and my son in
2 Discuss these questions in pairs. one night.
After John’s uncle got the letter: 5 How does Alexander reply to these questions and
(a) what did he do immediately? statements on pages 45 and 46.
(b) how did his behaviour change? (a) Do you have many guests in your house?
(c) what happened to his uncle in end? (b) Do you go out much?
3 Discuss this question in pairs: (c) That is unusual for a young girl.
In what ways was the death of John’s father similar to the (d) This business was a shock you her too.
death of his uncle? (e) And you both believe that you son is guilty?
4 Match the statements (a–h) and replies (i–viii) from the (f) Was the rest of the crown damaged?
conversation between John and Holmes on pages 28 – 30. (g) Do you not think that perhaps he was trying to straighten
(a) What have you done? it again?
(b) Has he (the policeman) come with you tonight? (h) What did the police think about the noise that woke you
(c) So why did you come to me? And why did you not come from your sleep?
immediately? (i) What did they say about the disappearance of the
(d) Have you anything else than can help us? diamonds?
(e) You must go home immediately, and act. (j) Have they looked outside?
(f) Do you understand? 6 Discuss these questions in pairs about Holmes’actions when
(g) How will you go home? they got to the house (pages 48–51).
(h) Remember to guard yourself well. (a) What did Holmes look at first? What did he discover?
(i) By train from Waterloo Station. (b) What did he look at next?
(ii) Completely. (c) Where did he go then? What did he look at there?
(iii) I am carrying a gun. (d) What did he do which surprised the banker?
(iv) I only spoke to Captain Prendergast about my problem (e) Where did he go at the end of this part of the story?
today, and he told me to come and see you. 7 Work in groups. Have you solved the crime? Think of a
(v) No, he was ordered to stay in the house. possible solution that fits all the facts.
(vi) Nothing. Part 2 The Detective’s Solution
(vii)There is one thing. Work in the same groups as for the last exercise for Part 1.
(viii) What shall I do? Compare your solution with the detective’s solution.
5 Discuss these questions about connections in pairs:
(a) What connection does Holmes see between the three
postmarks and the deaths? Activities after reading the book
(b) What is the KKK? How is Uncle Elias connected with it? Discuss these questions in pairs.
(c) What is the connection between John Openshaw’s death 1 How did Holmes solve each crime? What clues did he use?
and the other two deaths? 2 When did you guess the answer?

Publish ed and distrib ute d by P earson E ducat ion

Fac tshee t w ri tt en by Terr y Phil ips
© Pearson Education 2001
Fa ctshe et se ri es devel oped by Lo uise J ame s