Vocabulary in The Adventure of the Speckled Band

Doyle’s subtle diction here elevates the atmosphere of dread and anticipation. The use of “fatal” here is figurative but in the reader’s mind it triggers a sense of death.

“Hasp” is an obscure word for a hinged metal fastener for doors and windows.

Here we see the cleverness in Doyle’s word choice in devising the phrase “speckled band.” A “band” is broad enough to potentially refer to any number of objects, as well as groups of people.

Victorian women wore long billowing dresses that covered them all the way to their shoes. Helen would appear to "glide" if Watson could not see her feet moving.

A trap was a light two-wheeled carriage with springs meant for traveling short distances. The railway system in England was excellent in those days, but getting from a station to a final local destination could be more difficult. Sometimes Holmes and Watson would have a driver sent to pick them up. Sometimes they would hire someone to drive them to wherever they were going and then leave them to find their own way back. They might even walk or hire horses at the livery stable and go on horseback. Sherlock Holmes frequently travels to outlying districts and seems to know all the train lines and even some of the timetables.