And Then There Were None Chapter 16

Vera and Lombard look at one another. Both think the same thing - there's only one other person left on the Island. Vera asks Lombard how one of them could have killed Blore. Lombard responds that it must have been some kind of trick, or trap. Vera is sure that Lombard must be the killer. She suggests that they move Armstrong's body up to the house so it could be with the rest. Lombard says he doesn't care. She suggests taking it out of the water, at least. While Lombard lifts the corpse, Vera steals his revolver. Lombard demands his gun back, then tries to threaten her. Vera aims it at him. He leaps at her, and she shoots him dead.

Vera is relieved that it's finally over. She's the last one on the Island. She nervously walks back to the house, not sure how to feel. Will she be able to eat or sleep with all the bodies around? She's very tired, though, and she wants to try. She gets into the dining room and finds three Indian figures on the table. She throws two out the window, and keeps the third for herself. She tries to remember how the rhyme ends, but gets it wrong, thinking the last little Indian boy gets married. Suddenly she senses that Hugo is in the house with her. She walks up the stairs, thinking herself ridiculous for believing something so crazy. She opens the door to her room, and sees a noose hanging from the hook on the ceiling, with a chair placed beneath it.. She drops the final figurine, and it breaks on the floor. Vera remembers the last line of the rhyme. She walks over to the noose, remembering the seaweed on her shoulder, believing that it was Cyril 's hand. "'You can go to the rock, Cyril...' That was what murder was - as easy as that. But afterwards, you went on remembering..." Chapter 16, pg. 244 She puts the noose around her neck and kicks the chair away, hanging herself.

Topic Tracking: Trust and Suspicion 16
Topic Tracking: Guilt and Responsibility 16