After reading the suspenseful, murder-mystery book And Then There Were None, I composed files of evidence for two of the characters as to why they might be guilty of murder in the novel.

 

 

Case #1939 Files: Indian Island Deaths

Detective: Gloria Ovwigho

Date of Case: 9/19/1

 

Suspect: Philip Lombard

 

Description: Younger adult male – most likely late-20’s. Dark hair. Pertains a wolf-like appearance. Soldier for hire. Financial difficulties. Cited with a revolver, and nearly always carries it with him. General MacArthur stated he’s a “queer chap.”

 

Evidence:

• “No, there wasn’t much he’d draw the line at.” (7) This shows that he doesn’t really have boundaries.
• “I and a couple other fellows took what food there was and cleared out…Self-preservation’s a man’s first duty.” (67) Lombard abandoned his men, the natives, and left them to starve. He prioritizes his life and doesn’t care about others’ lives.
• “His amused eyes look into her horrified ones.” (68) He has no guilt for killing the natives, and it’s almost like he views death as sort of a frivolous thing.
• “Philip Lombard was no fool.” (113) His intelligence can indicate cunningness.
• “I allowed you all to think that I was asked here in the same way as most of the others. That’s not quite true. As a matter of fact, I was approached by a little Jew-boy…He offered me a hundred guineas to come down here and keep my eyes open – said I’d got a reputation for being a good man in a tight place.” (142) Accepting this offer for money shows that he might do a lot of worse things for money. It doesn’t particularly specify what all he is getting paid to do on the island. A couple other times, it mentions him being in tight places, and like those, the island could be a tight place and he gets out by killing others.
• “You’ve admitted, you know, that you don’t hold human life particularly sacred…” (169) Lombard has little regard for others.
• “But I’ll ask you, if that’s so, why I didn’t pot you with the revolver last night? I could have, about 20 times over.” (246) This is evidence that Philip was thinking of shooting Detective Blore.

 

Motive: Money very well could have been a motive – he had low funds from being unemployed for a while. Like in some of the evidence I presented above, when in survival mode, he puts himself first, without regard for others. He prioritzes his safety and well-being, even at the cost of others’ safety and well-being. He may have felt threatened by the murders going on on the island, so he dealt with it by taking matters in his own hands.

 

 

Case #1939 Files: Indian Island Deaths

Detective: Gloria Ovwigho

Date of Case: 9/19/17

 

Suspect: Dr. Edward George Armstrong

 

Description: A little older adult male who is a well-known surgeon and recovering alcoholic. Not very muscular – not physically powerful. Has small, nimble surgeon hands. Dark hair, and around 5’10”.

 

Evidence:

• “This speeding’s all wrong – all wrong! Young men like you are a danger to the community.” (68) This could be evidence that he did not kill anyone, because he shows good morals in this quote and able to distinguish when something is wrong.
• “How beautifully sharp it was…Easy to do a murder with a knife like that. And of course he was doing a murder.” (91) Armstrong’s thoughts of murder can be concerning, and he has killed someone before.
• “She didn’t have nothing last night, sir, except what you gave her.” (94) Dr. Armstrong gave Mrs. Rogers some sedatives, and then, she died.
• “What risk was there? He’s the only person here with medical knowledge. He can swear the body’s been dead an hour and who’s to contradict him?” (171) This is strong evidence of Armstrong being guilty, because he could use his medical knowledge to his advantage, and lie about a whole lot of things. His judgments might not be reputable, and he may be biased.
• “…his eyes are mad…He’s a lunatic.” (213) Armstrong presents signs of lunacy and insanity, which are obvious characteristics of someone who is not thinking clearly and might kill.
• “He’s twice as cunning as any sane on can be.” (257) Dr. Armstrong’s cunningness shows how he can be manipulative and lead people to believe something that’s not true.

 

Motive: Since he is a recovering alcoholic and has a history of unsuccessfully operating drunk, he could murder whilst drunk as he is not thinking clearly. His motive could be to try to clear his name by killing those who know of his drunken faults. Dr. Armstrong’s love for brandy could influence some of his choices.