Chapter 12 Chapter Twelve

Breakfast is over. Mr Justice Wargrave cleared his throat, and said in a dignified whisper: "I think it's better for us to discuss the situation together. How about meeting in the lobby every half hour?" Everyone gasped and agreed. Vera put her hands together and said: "I'll clean up, I'll wash." Philip Lombard says: "Let's help you move these to the kitchenette." "thanks." Emily Brent was about to stand up, then sat down again, and said: "Oh my God." The judge said: "What's the matter, Miss Brent?"

Emily said apologetically: "I'm sorry, I tried to help Miss Claythorne, but I can't figure out what's going on. I just feel a little dizzy." "Dizzy, eh?" Dr. Armstrong walked up. "Perfectly normal. It's a kind of after-fear shock. I can give you some—" "do not!" The word burst out of her mouth like a bursting cannonball. Everyone was startled.Dr. Armstrong blushed. That's right, she was indeed full of fear and doubt.The doctor said embarrassingly: "As you please, Miss Brent." She said: "I don't want to eat anything--nothing. I just want to sit here quietly for a while while the dizziness goes away."

They cleaned up the breakfast utensils and all. Blore said: "I'm a man who can do housework. Let me help you, Miss Claythorne." Vera said, "Thank you." Emily Brent was left alone in the drawing room, sitting. For a while, she could hear dimly the whispers of conversation in the kitchenette. Slowly, the dizziness passed.She felt drowsy, as if she would fall asleep all at once. There was a little buzzing in the ears—or maybe something was buzzing in the room. She remembered: "Looks like a bee—a hornet." Now she actually saw a bee, crawling on the window frame.

Vera Claythorne talked about bees this morning. Bees and honey... She likes honey.The honey collected from the hive is hand-filtered with a muslin bag, drop by drop, drop by drop... It was as if someone was in the room...someone drenched and dripping with water...Beatrice Taylor came up from the river... All she had to do was turn her head to see Tyler. However, she just couldn't turn her head... All she has to do is yell... However, she just couldn't make a sound... There is no one else in the room, just her... She heard footsteps—soft, shuffling footsteps behind her, the stumbling footsteps of a drowned girl...

Then, there was a wet and cold feeling in the nostrils... On the window frame, the bee was still buzzing--buzzing... Just then, she felt a prick of a needle. The bee was stinging her neck... They were all waiting for Emily Brent in the lounge. Vera Claythorne says: "Shall I call her?" Blore said hastily: "Wait a minute." Vera sat down again.Everyone looked at Blore questioningly. He said: "Listen to me, everyone. My opinion is: to find the culprits for those dead ghosts, all you need to do is to go to the lounge at this moment. I can swear that the woman is the one we are looking for."

Armstrong said: "So, what's the motive?" "Religious fanatic. What do you say, doctor?" Armstrong said: "It's entirely possible. I have nothing to say against it. But, of course, we have no evidence." Vera said: "When we were cooking together in the kitchen just now, she was very abnormal, her eyes—" she trembled. Lombard said: "You can't judge on that alone. Until now, none of us have had a lingering fear." Blore said: "One more thing, after the record was played, she was the only one who refused to explain. Why? Just because she has nothing to explain?!"

Vera couldn't sit still in the chair.She said: "That's not quite right, I heard her tell it—she told me afterwards." Wargrave said: "What did she say to you, Miss Claythorne?" Vera repeated the story of Beatrice Taylor. Commenting on the matter, Mr Justice Wargrave said: "Quite frankly. Personally, I have no difficulty in accepting what she says. Please tell me, Miss Claythorne, if she is guilty of guilt or remorse." Woolen cloth?" "Not at all," Vera said. "She was completely indifferent." Blore said: "So hard-hearted, these scrupulous old girls! Mostly out of jealousy."

Mr Justice Wargrave said: "It's five minutes to eleven. I think it's time to invite Miss Brent to our conference." Blore said: "Aren't you going to take any action?" The judge said: "I don't see what we can do about it. For now, we're only suspicious. But I would like to draw Dr. Armstrong's special attention to observe Miss Brent's every move. Well, now we go to the antechamber." Bar!" They found Emily Brent sitting in the same chair as they had left.Looking at it from behind, there was nothing wrong with it, but she didn't seem to notice that they rushed into the room together.

Then they saw her face - bloodshot, blue lips, terrified eyes. Blore said: "My God, she's dead!" Judge Wargrave said in the same soft, calm voice: "Again we've been liquidated—it's too late!" Armstrong leaned over the corpse, sniffed his lips, shook his head, and rolled his eyelids. Lombard said impatiently: "How did it happen, doctor? She was all right here when we left her!" Armstrong inspected a small hole in the right side of Brent's neck intently and said: "That's the eye of a hypodermic needle." There was a humming sound from the window.Vera cried out:

"Look—a bee—a hornet. Think of what I said this morning!" Dr. Armstrong said grimly: "It wasn't a bee that stung her! It was a human hand that stabbed her with a syringe!" The judge said: "What poison was injected?" Armstrong replied: "Another kind of cyanide, I guess. Probably potassium cyanide, the same as Anthony Marston. She must have suffocated." Vera yelled: "But the bee? It can't be a coincidence, can it?" Lombard said grimly: "Oh, no, not a coincidence! Our murderer just wanted a little local color! What a mischievous beast! Trying to be as exact as that damned doggerel!"

This was the first time that even his voice was unsteady, almost screaming, as if his nerves, which had been tested for a long time in the scene of "white knife in, red knife out", finally couldn't stand it anymore. He said angrily: "It's crazy--completely crazy--we're all crazy!" Still the judge said calmly: "I hope you're still sane. Which one is here with the hypodermic?" Dr. Armstrong, trying to muster up his courage, said in a hesitant voice: "I'll take it." All four pairs of eyes stared at him.He had to brace himself up to withstand the very hostile and suspicious eyes. He said: "I always take it with me when I go out. Most doctors are like this." Judge Wargrave said quietly: "Yes, but doctor, please tell us where the syringe is now?" "In the purse in my room." Wargrave said: "Maybe we have to check it out, shall we?" The five went upstairs together, and everyone was silent. Everything in the purse was turned out and spread out on the ground. But no syringes for hypodermic injections were found. Armstrong said excitedly: "Someone must have taken it!" No one spoke, and the room was silent. Armstrong stood with his back against the window.Four pairs of eyes fell on him, full of suspicion and condemnation.He looked at Wargrave, looked at Villa, looked back helplessly, helplessly: "I said someone must have taken it." Blore looked at Lombard, who looked at him. The judge said: "There are five of us in this house, one of whom is a murderer. The situation is fraught with extreme danger. All measures must be taken to ensure the safety of four innocent people. Dr. Armstrong, I now ask you, What other medicines do you have?" Armstrong replied: "I've got a little medicine chest here. You can all go through it. A little sleeping pills—tablets—a packet of bromide, and bread soda, aspirin, nothing else. I don't have cyanide." The judge said: "I have some sleeping pills myself--sulphonyl or something, I suppose. I reckon they'd be fatal in large quantities. You, Mr. Lombard, have a revolver." Philip Lombard said at once: "So what if I have it!" "Just talking. I propose to gather all the doctor's medicines, my own sulphonic tablets, your revolver, and everything that is medicine or firearms, all in one safe place. That will do Afterwards, each of us had to do a search - both a body search and a property search." Lombard said: "If you want me to surrender my gun, don't even think about it!" Wargrave said sternly: "Mr. Lombard, you are a very strong, powerful young man. However, Ex-Inspector Blore is not weak. If you two fight, I can't say who will win. But , I can tell you this: on Blore's side, it is myself, Dr. Armstrong, and Miss Claythorne who are trying to help him. So, I ask you to weigh, if you want to resist, In contrast, isn't the force against you much greater?" Lombard threw his head back, bared his teeth, and roared, almost snarling: "Oh, that's great! Since you've already figured it out!" Mr Justice Wargrave nodded: "You're a sensible young man. Where's your gun?" "In the drawer of my bedside table." "it is good." "I'll get it." "I think it's better for us to go get it with you." Although Philip had some smiles, he still almost growled and said: "Suspicious cowards, are you right?" They walked down the corridor to Lombard's room. Philip strode to the table next to the bed and opened the drawer. He suddenly took a step back and scolded his mother. The drawers of the bedside table were empty. "Satisfied?" asked Lombard. He was completely naked.The other three men searched him and his room thoroughly.Vera Claythorne was waiting in the corridor outside. The search work is proceeding step by step.Armstrong, the Judge, and Blore each took their turn. Four men came out of Blore's room and walked towards Vera.First the judge said: "I hope you're not offended, Miss Claythorne, we're nothing special. Gotta find that revolver. I suppose you've got your bathing suit?" Vera nodded. "Okay, I invite you to go back to your room and put on your bathing suit before coming to our place." Vera walked into the room and closed the door.Out in less than a minute, in a tight pleated silk bathing suit. Wargrave nodded approvingly. "Excuse me, Miss Claythorne, please stay here now. We will look into your room." Vera waited patiently in the corridor until they came out after searching, then went back to her room to change.They waited outside until she came out again. The judge said: "One thing we can all be sure of: Now none of the five of us has a weapon or drug that is lethal. That's reassuring. Now we have to put these drugs in a safe place. Little Is there a silver cabinet in the kitchen?" Blore said: "That's all very well. The question is who holds the keys? I suppose it's always you?" Mr Justice Wargrave made no reply. He went all the way into the kitchenette, and the rest followed.In the kitchenette there was a small cupboard for silverware and dishes.Everyone obeyed the judge's arrangement, put all kinds of medicines in it and locked it, and then, still obeying the judge's idea, carried the small cabinet into the large cupboard, which was also locked.Then the judge handed Philip Lombard the key to the small cupboard and Blore the key to the large cupboard. He said: "In terms of physical strength, you two are the strongest. It's not easy for anyone to grab the other's key. And the three of us, it's impossible for any of us to grab the key. As for breaking open the big cupboard—or the small cabinet—not only It is strenuous and there is bound to be noise, and it is impossible for others not to notice." He paused for a while, then continued: "We still have a very serious question before us, what happened to Mr. Lombard's revolver?" Blore said: "As far as I can see, no one will know who owns the gun." Philip Lombard's nostrils collapsed with rage.He said: "You bloody stupid pig! I told you it was stolen!" Wargrave asked: "When was the last time you saw a pistol?" "Last night. It was still in the drawer when I went to bed—just in case." The judge nodded and said: "Then, it must have happened around the time everyone was chaotically looking for Rogers this morning, or around the time his body was found." Vera said: "It must be hidden somewhere in the house. We must find it." Mr Justice Wargrave was again fingering his chin.He said: "Whether something can be found out, I doubt. Our murderer has had ample time to find a good place to hide it. I have no illusions that I will find it when I find it." Blore seemed quite sure to say: "Where's the revolver, I don't know. But I'll bet on that other thing—the whereabouts of that hypodermic needle, I know. You come with me." He opened the front door and led the group around the house. Not far from the dining-room window he found the syringe, and beside it was a broken little china figurine—the Fifth Indian Boy in pieces. Blore said quite proudly: "It can only be here. After he killed her, he opened the window and threw away the syringe, and then picked up the china figure from the table and threw it out." There are no fingerprints on the barrel, it was carefully wiped off. Vera said in a firm tone: "Now let's go find the gun!" Mr Justice Wargrave said: "We have to look for it! But when looking for a gun, don't leave anyone else. Remember, as long as you disperse, the murderer will have a chance to start." They searched carefully from the attic to the cellar, to no avail.The revolver is still missing.