And Then There Were None

The guests are shocked at Anthony Marston’s sudden death. Anthony Marston was a man at the pinnacle of youth and health and moments ago, seemed almost immortal. After sniffing Anthony Marston’s glass, Dr. Armstrong confirms that Anthony Marston did not die of asphyxiation, but poison. Dr. Armstrong tests the whiskey and confirms it has not been tampered with, so the only conclusion the guests can come up with is that Anthony Marston put the poison in his glass himself to die by suicide. Blore remarks that Anthony Marston did not seem like the type of person to take his own life.

The guests reluctantly separate and make their way to their bedrooms for the night. In his room, Justice Wargrave reflects with satisfaction on how he handled the Seton case. General Macarthur tosses and turns while thinking about Arthur Richmond. He didn’t mention it to the party, but he purposely sent Arthur to his death when he found out his wife was cheating on him with Arthur. He fears that a young officer named Armitage might have suspected him and told someone after the war. General Macarthur led a withdrawn life after he left the army because he always felt like people were talking behind his back as if they knew. He realizes suddenly that he doesn’t want to leave the island and be forced to face his troubles back home. In her room, Vera thinks about Cyril and how incessantly he whined about wanting to swim to the rock. She remembers how Cyril’s uncle Hugo told her he loved her, but he was penniless and could not marry her. If Cyril had been a girl, Hugo would have inherited a large amount of money. Vera thinks that if she were going to die by suicide, she would take an overdose of veronal, not cyanide. She looks again at the framed nursery rhyme and shudders thinking of Anthony Marston. She can’t imagine wanting to die.

Downstairs, Mr. Rogers notices that one of the 10 soldier figurines has gone missing.

Dr. Armstrong dreams that he is waiting to perform an operation, scalpel in hand. He can’t remember who he is operating on, or as he phrases it, who he is supposed to kill. There is a woman on the operating table with her face covered. He lowers the face covering and is unsurprised to see it is Emily Brent, who is laughing. Emily Brent suddenly turns into Anthony Marston, who is also shaking with laughter.

Dr. Armstrong is shaken awake by Mr. Rogers who tells him in a panic that he can’t get his wife to wake up. They head to Rogers’s room where Mrs. Rogers is lying in bed, unconscious. Dr. Armstrong examines her for a few minutes before officially declaring her dead. Dr. Armstrong asks if she took anything to help her sleep, and Mr. Rogers says the only thing she took was what Dr. Armstrong gave her the night before after she fainted.

After breakfast, Dr. Armstrong announces to the group that Mrs. Rogers died in her sleep. Justice Wargrave asks what the cause of death was, and Dr. Armstrong responds that he can’t perform an autopsy since he has no knowledge of her health prior to the incident. Emily Brent believes the cause of Mrs. Rogers’s death was her own conscience. Her theory is that Mrs. Rogers was wracked with guilt after the voice on the gramophone claimed that she and her husband deliberately murdered their former employer. Emily Brent believes that God struck Mrs. Rogers down for her sins. Blore, on the other hand, is convinced that Mr. Rogers killed his wife because he was afraid that Mrs. Rogers, overcome with weakness, would spill their secrets.

Outside on the terrace, Lombard and Blore suspect the motorboat will never arrive. General Macarthur abruptly interjects, seeming agitated and nervous. He says the boat is most definitely not coming because none of them are meant to leave the island. They were brought here on purpose, and this is simply the beginning of the end. Strangely, he tells them that this is peace, not having to go on. He walks away abruptly in a dream-like state.

Mr. Rogers approaches Dr. Armstrong and asks him if he can speak with him. He tells him that last night at dinner there were 10 soldier figurines, but now there are only eight.