'What does it mean?' I asked. My voice was shaking.'It's finished,' answered Holmes. 'Let's go and see.'We went into Dr Roylott's room. The metal box wasopen. Roylott was sitting on a chair, and his eyes werefixed on the air-vent. Round his head was a strange,yellow speckled band. He was dead.'The band! The speckled band!' said Holmes veryquietly. The band moved and began to turn its head.'Be careful, Watson! It's a snake, an Indian snake -and its poison can kill very quickly,' Holmes cried.'Roylott died immediately. We must put the snakeback in its box.' Very, very carefully, Holmes took thesnake and threw it into the metal box. man now.' We could hear the horses in the street.'Shall I leave, Holmes?' I asked.'No, no, I need your help. This will be interesting,'my friend answered. There was a knock at the door.'Come in!' called Holmes.A tall, strong man came into the room. He waswearing expensive clothes, and a mask over his face.'You can call me Count von Kramm. I come fromBohemia,' he said. 'My business is most important.Before I tell you about it, do you agree to keep it asecret?''I do,' we said together.'A very important person, who belongs to a royalfamily, has sent me to ask for your help,' he went on. 'Iwear a mask because nobody must know who thatperson is. I must explain how important this businessis. If you cannot help, there will be difficulty andtrouble for one of the most important families inEurope — and perhaps a very big scandal. I am talkingabout the famous House of Ormstein, Kings ofBohemia.''I know, Your Majesty,' said Holmes. He quietlysmoked his cigarette.The man jumped up from his chair, 'What!' he cried.'How do you know who I am?' Then he pulled themask off his face and threw it on the ground. 'You areright. Why do I hide it? I am the King. I am Wilhelmvon Ormstein, King of Bohemia. I came to see you myself because I could not ask another person to tellmy story. It must be a secret. You understand?''Very well. Go on,' said Holmes. He closed his eyesand listened.'Five years ago I met a woman called Irene Adler.We . . .''Ah,' said Holmes, 'Irene Adler, born in 1850,singer, lives in London, a very beautiful woman,I hear ... ' He looked at the King. 'You and she .. . Youloved her, for a while, and then left her. But before youleft her, you wrote her some letters perhaps. And nowyou want to get these letters back.''That's right.''Did you marry her?''No.''If she asks you for money and shows you the letters,you can say that you didn't write them.''But Mr Holmes, she also has my photograph.''You can say that you didn't give her a photograph.''We were both in the photograph.''Oh dear. That was a mistake, Your Majesty.''I know. I was stupid . . . but I was very young!''You must get the photograph back. Can you steal itfrom her house?''I have tried five times but my men couldn't find it.What can I do?'Holmes laughed. 'This is very interesting. What doesshe plan to do with the photograph?'