Десять негритят / And Then There Were None

«Starting with the Rogerses who were the first to arrive on the island. They were in service with a Miss Brady who died suddenly. Can’t get anything definite out of the doctor who attended her. He says they certainly didn’t poison her, or anything like that, but his personal belief if that there was some funny business – that she died as the result of neglect on their part. Says it’s the sort of thing that’s quite impossible to prove.»

«Then there is Mr. Justice Wargrave. That’s O. K. He was the judge who sentenced Seton.»

«By the way, Seton was guilty – unmistakably guilty. Evidence turned up later after he was hanged which proved that beyond any shadow of doubt. But there was a good deal of comment at the time – nine people out of ten thought Seton was innocent and that the judge’s summing up had been vindictive.»

«The Claythorne girl, I find, was governess in a family where a death occurred by drowning. However, she doesn’t seem to have had anything to do with it, and as a matter of fact she behaved very well, swam out to the rescue and was actually carried out to sea and only just rescued in time.»

«Go on,» said the A.C. with a sigh.

Maine took a deep breath.

«Dr. Armstrong now. Well-known man. Had a consulting room in Harley Street. Absolutely straight and aboveboard in his profession. Haven’t been able to trace any record of an illegal operation or anything of that kind. It’s true that there was a woman called Clees who was operated on by him way back in 1925 at Leithmore, when he was attached to the hospital there. Peritonitis and she died on the operating table. Maybe he wasn’t very skillful over the op. – after all he hadn’t much experience – but after all clumsiness isn’t a criminal offence. There was certainly no motive.»

«Then there’s Miss Emily Brent. Girl, Beatrice Taylor, was in service with her. Got pregnant, was turned out by her mistress and went and drowned herself. Not a nice business – but again not criminal.»

«That,» said the A.C, «seems to be the point. U. N. Owen dealt with cases that the law couldn’t touch.»

Maine went stolidly on with his list.

«Young Marston was a fairly reckless car driver – had his license endorsed twice and he ought to have been prohibited from driving, in my opinion. That’s all there is to him. The two names John and Lucy Combes were those of two kids he knocked down and killed near Cambridge. Some friends of his gave evidence for him and he was let off with a fine.

„Can’t find anything definite about General Macarthur. Fine record – war service – all the rest of it. Arthur Richmond was serving under him in France and was killed in action. No friction of any kind between him and the General. They were close friends, as a matter of fact. There were some blunders made about that time – commanding officers sacrificed men unnecessarily – possibly this was a blunder of that kind.“

„Possibly,“ said the A.C.

„Now, Philip Lombard. Lombard has been mixed up in some very curious shows abroad. He’s sailed very near the law once or twice. Got a reputation for daring and for not being over-scrupulous. Sort of fellow who might do several murders in some quiet out-of-the-way spot. „Then we come to Blore.“ Maine hesitated. „He of course was one of our lot.“

The other man stirred.

„Blore,“ said the Assistant Commissioner forcibly, „was a bad hat!“

„You think so, sir?“

The A. C. said: „I always thought so. But he was clever enough to get away with it. It’s my opinion that he committed black perjury in the Landor case. I wasn’t happy about it at the time. But I couldn’t find anything. I put Hams onto it and he couldn’t find anything but I’m still of the opinion that there was something to find if we’d known how to set about it. The man wasn’t straight.“

There was a pause, then Sir Thomas Legge said:

„And Isaac Morris is dead, you say? When did he die?“

„I thought you’d soon come to that, sir. Isaac Morris died on the night of August 8th. Took an overdose of sleeping stuff – one of the barbiturates, I understand. There wasn’t anything to show whether it was accident or suicide.“

Legge said slowly: „Care to know what I think, Maine?“

„Perhaps I can guess, sir.“

Legge said heavily: „That death of Morris’ is a damned sight too opportune!“

Inspector Maine nodded. He said:

„I thought you’d say that, sir.“

The Assistant Commissioner brought down his fist with a bang on the table. He cried out:

„The whole thing’s fantastic – impossible. Ten people killed on a bare rock of an island – and we don’t know who did it, or why, or how.“

Maine coughed. He said:

„Well, it’s not quite like that, sir. We do know why, more or less. Some fanatic with a bee in his bonnet about justice. He was out to get people who were beyond the reach of the law. He picked ten people – whether they were really guilty or not doesn’t matter —»

The Commissioner stirred. He said sharply:

«Doesn’t it? It seems to me —»

He stopped. Inspector Maine waited respectfully. With a sigh Legge shook his head.