And Then There Were None Chapters 3 - 4 Summary

The guests have just finished their dinner and are enjoying some conversation and coffee, when The Voice is heard addressing the group. The Voice asks for silence and then it reads off a list of charges against all the guests and Mr. and Mrs. Rogers. They are all accused of causing the death of someone. Most are accused of causing the death of an individual, but Philip Lombard is accused of the death of twenty-one men, who were members of an East Africa tribe.

The guests are stunned and Mrs. Rogers faints from the shock of the accusation. They all react in different manners to the news, some take action to find the source of The Voice, while others sit and contemplate what has just taken place. Philip Lombard finds a gramophone in a room next to the drawing room where the guests are congregated. On the old-fashioned gramophone is a record entitled Swan Song that in reality is the source of The Voice.

Mr. Justice Wargrave takes charge of the situation, asking each of those in the house the circumstances which brought them to Indian Island. Each had received some sort of letter or telegram from a source they would not question, the letters either referred to a friend or colleague, to give the reader a sense of the correspondence's legitimacy. Miss Claythorne, Mr. and Mrs. Rogers, and William Blore were all contacted by respectable agencies and told they had been hired to work for the Owens. The guests also find out that Mr. Davis is in fact Mr. Blore. He has been hired to watch the guests and make sure none of them steal Mrs. Owen's jewels.

Mr. and Mrs. Rogers received all their instructions by letter. They were told how to set up the house, what to make for the dinner and even how and when to play the gramophone. They were informed the afternoon before the guests arrived, of the delayed arrival of the Owens and what to tell the guests about the Owens new arrival date.

Then Mr. Justice Wargrave notices the full names of the Mr. and Mrs. Owen. Mr. Owen is Ulick Norman Owen and Mrs. Owen is Una Nancy Owen, which if you use their first and middle initials along with the last name becomes U. N. Owen or Unknown. This discovery only heightens the tension in the room, because now they realize the Owens have malicious intentions towards the inhabitants of the house.

Justice Wargrave verbalizes the thought everyone is thinking, this Mr. Owen knows a great deal about the lives of each of them. It is the only way he could imitate the writing style of Mr. Wargrave's old friend Lady Constance Culmington and know the nickname of Anthony Marston's friend. He knows their backgrounds and their little secrets, which is how he is able to draw each of them to Indian Island.

The guests begin to explain the crimes they are accused of committing, most of them have reasonable explanations for what happened to the people they are accused of causing to die. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers could not reach a doctor in time to help save Jennifer Brady, a lady they had served faithfully for years. Vera Claythorne had tried to swim out to Cyril Hamilton to save the child from drowning, but could not reach him in time. The others had similar stories, only Philip Lombard and Anthony Marston did not seem to feel a great deal of remorse about their actions, nor did they act within the boundaries of humanity.

Philip Lombard was lost in the bush in Africa, so he and a few of his fellow travelers took all the food and left the natives, who were employed to help them, to die. He truly felt they did not mind dying, because he felt they did not look upon death in the same manner as Europeans do.

Anthony Marston ran over two children with his car, as they ran out of their home. He saw the whole incident as an inconvenience for himself, because he lost his license for a year. He did not really look at the tragedy from the perspective of the family who lost the children.

Emily Brent was the only one present who refused to talk about the accusations cast against her. She felt she had always acted in a manner which was beyond reproach.

Doctor Armstrong lied and told the others he did not remember the name of the person he was accused of killing. In fact, he remembered her name very well, because he caused her death by operating on her while he was drunk. It was a turning point in his life, after Louisa Clees died, the doctor changed his ways and did not drink to excess any longer.

Everyone, except Anthony Marston, wants to leave the island as soon as possible. They are told the only way off the island will be when Fred Narracott, the boat owner, comes back to the island with bread and milk, the next morning. Mr. Marston wants to stay and solve the mystery, but, unfortunate for him, soon after stating his desire to solve the case, he chokes on his drink and falls to the floor trying to breathe.

The ten people on the island now have some idea why they have been summoned to Indian Island. They are frightened by The Voice on the recording, which stated their crimes, as Mr. Owen saw it. They have decided the best course of action will be to leave the island as soon as possible.



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