What if... spoiler alert

Tkmi

What if Vera Claythorne failed to steal Philip Lombard's revolver? How would the story go? Did Justice Wargrave had a plan on how would he kill Lombard?

Also, I can't see how the poem is related to Lombard's death.

Two little Indian Boys sitting in the sun;

One got frizzled up and then there was one.

GKCfan

*** SPOILERS ***

The killer prepared for both contingencies.  If Lombard had shot Vera, the killer could have a) stunned or drugged Lombard somehow and then hanged him, or b) committed suicide or let Lombard kill him, knowing that if Lombard was the last person left alone on the island, when the authorities found him he'd certainly be hanged.  Of course, Lombard could simply have taken Vera prisoner, and the same with the killer of Lombard had found him.  It could have gone wrong.  The killer accepted the possibilities as calculated risks.

The poem references Lombard's death in two ways.  He was shot on the beach, "in the sun."  Also, a revolver is a "firearm," where the firing of the bullet could be construed as "frizzling."

maryamalbulushi

But wargrave said that he killed them in order to the worst thing the victim did in his past and so he considered Vera as the worst murderer and that means he planned to make her stay at last and that she deserves to be hanged!!

maryamalbulushi

So your question is pretty interesting @Tkmi‌

maryamalbulushi

And about the poem it's how @GKCfan‌ explains to you

maryamalbulushi

Explained ***

CaptainHastings

I may be mistaken here, but didn't Lombard's gun go missing for a period in the story, and didn't we find out that the judge took it.  Did he somehow put it in an accessible place for Vera?  No, wait a minute, I think Vera snatched the gun from Lombard, so I can see how Tkmi's question has much merit.  Is there something in the judge's having taken the gun out of commission for that period that in an indirect way led to Vera gaining access to it?

Tommy_A_Jones

You are right Captain Hastings.

GKCfan

***SPOILERS TO AND THEN THERE WERE NONE***

Here is what happened to the revolver over the course of the story.  Lombard brought a revolver to the island at Issac Morris's insistence.  Before the guests were searched for weapons, Wargrave stole Lombard's gun and hid it in a tin of biscuits in the pantry.  After faking his own death, Wargrave returned the revolver to the drawer in Lombard's room, calculating that Lombard would use it if he thought his life was in danger, but believing that Vera was clever and resourceful enough to get the gun away from him.  Bottom line, Wargrave was willing to have Lombard and Vera killed in either order– he wanted to see if he could created enough psychological strain to have one kill the other and then commit suicide.  There was a real risk that things wouldn't work out as hoped, but he was willing to chance it.



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