And Then There Were None: Chapter 10 Summary & Analysis

Vera asks Lombard to wake her up so she can realize that this is all a bad dream, but Lombard tells her that won't happen. Vera asks Lombard who he thinks the murder is and he comments that she must be excluding the two of them. Lombard agrees that Vera couldn't have committed the murder because she is such a levelheaded, sane girl.

Vera says she can't see Lombard as the murderer either. Lombard thinks that it is Wargrave because he has played God as a judge for so long that this must have gotten to his head.

Vera thinks that it is Dr. Armstrong because two of the deaths have both been by poison. And she thinks that he killed Macarthur when he went down to call him to lunch. She also says that he is the only one with medical knowledge so he can declare that Macarthur had been dead for at least an hour and no one would know the difference.

Meanwhile, elsewhere, Rogers asks Blore if he has an idea who the criminal is. Blore says he has an idea but he doesn't want to say it yet. Rogers says it's all like a bad dream and that he has no idea who the killer is and that's what scares him the most.

Dr. Armstrong is talking to Wargrave, saying that they must escape. Wargrave responds that it's very unlikely that a boat could get to them. Wargrave adds that he believes he knows who the killer is – he has no concrete evidence but he thinks that one person is clearly indicated. Armstrong doesn't understand.

Miss. Brent is in her room and starts to read her Bible but then puts it down and writes in her diary. She writes that Macarthur has been killed and that the judge has convinced her that the murderer is in their midst – that one of the guests is possessed by the devil. She writes that she knows who the killer is and then her eyes grow foggy and she writes in all caps, “THE MURDERER'S NAME IS BEATRICE TAYLOR …” All of a sudden she wakes up and looks at what she has written. She thinks that she must have gone mad.

The storm is getting stronger and everyone sits huddled in the living room watching each other. Rogers brings tea and the mood lightens. Then Rogers comes in again and asks if anyone knows where the scarlet bathroom curtain went. No one knows and everyone becomes nervous again.

Dinner is eaten and cleared and everyone goes to bed and locks their doors. Rogers checks the table before he goes to bed, sees that there seven little china figures and locks the door to the pantry and the hall and puts the key in his pocket. He feels comforted that nothing will happen tonight. He checks the closet in his room and locks the door.