The mean are quite the same on the surface, but they play different roles. They are big built, strong men, who have almost total control over their wife or stepdaughter's lives. In “The Speckled Band” Dr. Roylott is an enormous, muscular specimen and is threatening to everyone. “He beat his native butler to death” The fact he has an aggressive past prepares the reader for his involvement in anything being a dangerous one. “Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I could gather together that I was able to avert another public exposure” “He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, wandering away with them sometimes for weeks on end” This is a red herring, as we don't know what he is doing when he goes away with the vagabonds. “He has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon, which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the villagers almost as much as their master” This is another red herring, as the animals could have killed Julia Stoner.
This man is a killer. But in Lamb to the Slaughter, it is the other way around. Patrick Maloney is a policeman. He is a senior officer and good at his job. He has a good life, a caring wife and yet he wants to leave her. News which will come as a complete shock to her as she feels they have a good relationship “I think it's a shame, that when a policeman gets to be as senior as you, they keep him walking about on his feet all day long” “Darling, shall I get your slippers?” This shows she will do anything for him, to make him happy. “This is going to be a bit of a shock to you, I'm afraid, but I've thought about it a good deal and I've decided the only thing to do is to tell you right away. I hope you won't blame me to much” This makes the reader thinks Mr. Maloney is going to kill his wife, because he's “thought about it a good deal” and its going to be “a bit of a shock”. “And I know its kind of a bad time to be telling you, but there simply wasn't any other way. Of course, I'll give you money and see you're looked after. But there needn't really be any fuss. I hope not anyway. It wouldn't be very good for my job”. He cares more about his job than her and his whole manner is selfish throughout. He does not consider her fragile state or her feelings. The reader doesn't expect her to kill him.
Both stories have key detectives; these detectives are extremely different. One works for himself, the others work for the police force. Sherlock Holmes is a very traditional detective, who has extraordinary observation skills, he notices things that other do not. He can see Miss Stoner is shaking and he wonders why that is, coming to the conclusion that she is cold. Unlike normal detectives who look for evidence on the premises, he looks for clues in the victim too, he sees there is something wrong with them and asks, refusing to be put off the scent by deliberate evasions. He is also a very strong minded character, he is powerful and masculine too, challenging Roylotts strength when he bends the poker. “The left arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a dog cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you sit on the left hand side of the driver” The method of Helen's travel is quickly established by Holmes and leaves both the reader and Helen convinced that if anyone can solve the case it would be him. “I am glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a hot cup of coffee, for I observe that you are shivering” “No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm of your left glove”
In Lamb to the Slaughter, the detectives are less tradition and more like typical police force detectives. They search for clues on the premises, and miss the obvious. The detectives in this story believe that Mary Maloney wouldn't kill her husband and was innocent. They also ate the evidence (The leg of lamb) “You must be terrible hungry by now because it's long past your supper time, and I know Patrick would never forgive me, God bless his soul, if I allowed you to remain in his house without offering you decent hospitality. Why don't you eat up that lamb that's in the oven? It'll be cooked just right by now” “Their voices thick and sloppy because their mouths were full of meat “Have some more, Charlie?” “No, Better now finish it” “She wants us to finish it. She said so”… The detectives then finished the meat, which was the evidence” This means its unlikely she can ever be brought to justice, even if they do work it out.
