Агата Кристи - Десять негритят / And Then There Were None

«Dr. Armstrong.»

The small sour voice was compelling. The doctor stopped with a jerk in the middle of his sentence. The small cold voice went on.

«Your indignation is very natural. Nevertheless you must admit that the facts have got to be faced. Either you or Rogers could have administered a fatal dose with the greatest ease. Let us now consider the position of the other people present. What chance had I, had Inspector Blore, had Miss Brent, had Miss Claythorne, had Mr. Lombard of administering poison? Can any one of us be completely and entirely eliminated?» He paused. «I think not.»

Vera said angrily: «I was nowhere near the woman! All of you can swear to that.»

Mr. Justice Wargrave waited a minute, then he said:

«As far as my memory serves me the facts were these – will any one please correct me if I make a misstatement? Mrs. Rogers was lifted onto the sofa by Anthony Marston and Mr. Lombard and Dr. Armstrong went to her. He sent Rogers for brandy. There was then a question raised as to where the voice we had just heard had come from. We all went into the next room with the exception of Miss Brent who remained in this room – alone with the unconscious woman.»

A spot of colour came into Emily Brent’s cheeks. She stopped knitting. She said:

«This is outrageous!»

The remorseless small voice went on.

«When we returned to this room, you, Miss Brent, were bending over the woman on the sofa.»

Emily Brent said: «Is common humanity a criminal offence?»

Mr. Justice Wargrave said: «I am only establishing facts. Rogers then entered the room with the brandy which, of course, he could quite well have doctored before entering the room. The brandy was administered to the woman and shortly afterwards her husband and Dr. Armstrong assisted her up to bed where Dr. Armstrong gave her a sedative.»

Blore said: «That’s what happened. Absolutely. And that lets out the judge, Mr. Lombard, myself and Miss Claythorne.»

His voice was loud and jubilant. Mr. Justice Wargrave, bringing a cold eye to bear upon him, murmured:

«Ah, but does it? We must take into account every possible eventuality.»

Blore stared. He said:

«I don’t get you.»

Mr. Justice Wargrave said: «Upstairs in her room, Mrs. Rogers is lying in bed. The sedative that the doctor has given her begins to take effect. She is vaguely sleepy and acquiescent. Supposing that at that moment there is a tap on the door and some one enters bringing her, shall we say, a tablet, or a draught, with the message that ‘the doctor says you’re to take this.’ Do you imagine for one minute that she would not have swallowed it obediently without thinking twice about it?»

There was a silence. Blore shifted his feet and frowned. Philip Lombard said:

«I don’t believe in that story for a minute. Besides none of us left this room for hours afterwards. There was Marston’s death and all the rest of it.»

The judge said: «Some one could have left his or her bedroom – later.»

Lombard objected: «But then Rogers would have been up there.»

Dr. Armstrong stirred.

«No,» he said. «Rogers went downstairs to clear up in the dining-room and pantry. Any one could have gone up to the woman’s bedroom then without being seen.»

Emily Brent said: «Surely, doctor, the woman would have been fast asleep by then under the influence of the drug you had administered?»

«In all likelihood, yes. But it is not a certainty. Until you have prescribed for a patient more than once you cannot tell their reaction to different drugs. There is, sometimes, a considerable period before a sedative takes effect. It depends on the personal idiosyncrasy of the patient towards that particular drug.»

Lombard said: «Of course you would say that, doctor. Suits your book – eh?»

Again Armstrong’s face darkened with anger. But again that passionless cold little voice stopped the words on his lips.

«No good result can come from recrimination. Facts are what we have to deal with. It is established, I think, that there is a possibility of such a thing as I have outlined occurring. I agree that its probability value is not high; though there again, it depends on who that person might have been. The appearance of Miss Brent or of Miss Claythorne on such an errand would have occasioned no surprise in the patient’s mind. I agree that the appearance of myself, or of Mr. Blore, or of Mr. Lombard could have been, to say the least of it, unusual, but I still think the visit would have been received without the awakening of any real suspicion.»

Blore said: «And that gets us – where?»

Mr. Justice Wargrave, stroking his lip and looking quite passionless and inhuman, said:

«We have now dealt with the second killing, and have established the fact that no one of us can be completely exonerated from suspicion.»

He paused and went on.

«We come now to the death of General Macarthur. That took place this morning. I will ask any one who considers that he or she has an alibi to state it in so many words. I myself will state at once that I have no valid alibi. I spent the morning sitting on the terrace and meditating on the singular position in which we all find ourselves. „I sat on that chair on the terrace for the whole morning until the gong went, but there were, I should imagine, several periods during the morning when I was quite unobserved and during which it would have been possible for me to walk down to the sea, kill the General, and return to my chair. There is only my word for the fact that I never left the terrace. In the circumstances that is not enough. There must be proof.“»

Blore said: «I was with Mr. Lombard and Dr. Armstrong all the morning. They’ll bear me out.»

Dr. Armstrong said: «You went to the house for a rope.»

Blore said: «Of course, I did. Went straight there and straight back. You know I did.»

Armstrong said: «You were a long time…»

Blore turned crimson.

He said: «What the hell do you mean by that, Dr. Armstrong?»

Armstrong repeated: «I only said you were a long time.»

«Had to find it, didn’t I? Can’t lay your hands on a coil of rope all in a minute.»

Mr. Justice Wargrave said: «During Inspector Blore’s absence, were you two gentlemen together?»

Armstrong said hotly: «Certainly. That is, Lombard went off for a few minutes. I remained where I was.»

Lombard said with a smile: «I wanted to test the possibilities of heliographing to the mainland. Wanted to find the best spot. I was only absent a minute or two.»

Armstrong nodded. He said:

«That’s right. Not long enough to do a murder, I assure you.»

The judge said: «Did either of you two glance at your watches?»

«Well, no.»

Philip Lombard said: «I wasn’t wearing one.»

The judge said evenly:

«A minute or two is a vague expression.» He turned his head to the upright figure with the knitting lying on her lap. «Miss Brent?»

Emily Brent said: «I took a walk with Miss Claythorne up to the top of the island. Afterwards I sat on the terrace in the sun.»

The judge said: «I don’t think I noticed you there.»

«No, I was round the corner of the house to the east. It was out of the wind there.»

«And you sat there till lunch time?»

«Yes.»

«Miss Claythorne?»

Vera answered readily and clearly.

«I was with Miss Brent early this morning. After that I wandered about a bit. Then I went down and talked to General Macarthur.»

Mr. Justice Wargrave interrupted. He said: «What time was that?»

Vera for the first time was vague. She said;

«I don’t know. About an hour before lunch, I think – or it might have been less.»