And Then There Were None Chapter 5

After a moment of shock, Armstrong examines Marston, then announces that he's dead. Everyone is disbelieving for a moment, Macarthur asks if he just died from choking. Armstrong checks the liquid in the glass, tasting a tiny amount of it. He announces that Marston's death was not from natural causes - he was poisoned! Armstrong checks the whiskey bottle and the soda bottle, then announces that neither of them are poisoned. Lombard jumps to the conclusion that Marston must have poisoned himself. No one can believe it, but everyone agrees that must have been what happened. They all saw Marston pour the drink himself, so who else could have been responsible? Despite this evidence, though, no one really believes that Marston was the type to commit suicide.

After Marston's body is carried up to his room, everyone decides to go to bed, locking their doors securely. On the way to bed, the house itself seemed menacing to them. It was so big, yet so bright and modern. There was no where for a killer to hide. "Somehow, that was the most frightening thing of all..." Chapter 5, pg. 72

In his room, Wargrave thinks back about Edward Seton. He'd enjoyed the case, taken notes, listened to all the testimony carefully, and come to the conclusion that Seton was guilty. The prosecutor had been incompetent, though, unable to convince the jury of anything, and the defense had proven more than adequate. Wargrave had been very careful in his summing up to the jury. Been sure to convince them that Seton was guilty. And he'd succeeded. Seton had been put to death, just as Wargrave had wanted.

In the dining room, Rogers notices something while cleaning up. There used to be ten china Indians, now there were only nine.

Macarthur can't sleep. His thoughts were filled with Richmond's face. Richmond had been one of his Lieutenants, and Leslie, Macarthur's wife, had grown quite fond of him. One day, while he was still in command during the first world war, Macarthur had received a letter from his wife addressed to Richmond - she had accidentally mixed up letters and envelopes. After learning of their affair, Macarthur grew to hate Richmond, finally sending him to his death on a suicidal reconnaissance mission. He'd gotten away with it, since it was wartime, and mistakes were made, but another Lieutenant, Armitage, had suspected something. He thinks Armitage is to blame for all the rumors that had surrounded him for the past few years. After Macarthur returned from the war, his wife was never the same. She grew more and more depressed, finally dying of pneumonia a few years later. He wonders who could possibly know about Richmond, and then thinks about going back to his home, back to the rumors, back to his empty life... Suddenly, he decides that he never wants to leave the island.

In her room, Vera is also sleepless. She can't stop thinking about little Cyril , and his uncle, Hugo. She'd fallen in love with Hugo, but he'd been unable to marry her, as he didn't have a penny to his name. Ironically, after Cyril's death, Hugo became the heir of the family fortune, but he'd refused to see Vera after that, and she had no idea where he'd gotten to. Vera thinks about Cyril, how annoying he was, always desperate to swim out to the rocks, she had to tell him over and over again that it was just too far... She gets some aspirin to help her sleep. While up, she notices the framed Rhyme. The first verse was about an Indian boy who choked to death. She's taken aback by the similarity of the poem to evening's events. She doesn't want to die, "Death is for other people." Chapter 5, pg. 81

Topic Tracking: Guilt and Responsibility 6