Animals in the Sherlock Holmes canon

‘The Adventure of the Speckled Band' Re-Imagined

A distraught young woman named Helen Stoner arrives at Baker Street early one morning to ask Sherlock Holmes for help as she fears that her life is being threatened by her stepfather, Dr Grimesby Roylott. At Stoke Moran, the estate where Miss Stoner and her stepfather live, Holmes carefully inspects the recent, but unnecessary, repairs to the manor-house and in doing so exposes a murderous plot.

“She raised her veil.”

Creatures in the Sherlock Holmes Canon

Several different animals are mentioned in ‘The Adventure of the Speckled Band’, including a baboon, cheetah and the titular ‘speckled band’. Since the publication of this story in 1892, Sherlockian scholars have debated the true identification of the snake as its description and name (“Indian swamp adder”) does not appear to match any known species. Nonetheless, the story remains a favourite among fans. Other animals that feature prominently in the canon include several dogs (‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’, ‘The Sign of Four’ and ‘The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire’), a venomous jellyfish (‘The Adventure of the Lion’s Mane), and a race horse (‘The Adventure of Silver Blaze’). And of course, horses appear in a large number of stories as a means of transport, such as with the ubiquitous hansom cab and other horse-drawn vehicles of the late Victorian period.

“We got off, paid our fare.”

LEGO® produces a number of animals to accompany minifigure sets, including dogs, cats, birds and various farm animals. Some of these creatures, including assorted horses as in the picture above, are roughly to scale of LEGO® minifigures; however, many animals are much too large. The latter is the case for the three types of snakes made by LEGO®, which are nearly as long as minifigures themselves, and therefore not very realistic. As a result, for the current story, I had to design the titular ‘speckled band’, and what is more the snake needed to wrap around the head of a minifigure, which is impossible to do with a moulded plastic snake. I ‘solved’ this issue, to my satisfaction, by using a yellow elastic (or rubber) band which came with a hand-full of sets produced between 1998 and 2011 (see photo below). 

“He made neither sound nor motion.”

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All 12 books in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Re-Imagined book series, as well as a complete collector’s edition incorporating all of the stories, are available for purchase on Amazon UK, the Book Depository (with free worldwide delivery), and the MX Publishing website.

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