They of course had no idea.
No idea that, on the little island not far across the sea from the mainland, the parade of death was about to begin.
✦ ✦ ✦
CHAPTER FIVE: THE THIRD DAY ON THE ISLAND
1
It was almost noon when Agatha woke up. She had overslept because she had stayed awake almost the whole night.
She took one look at the clock and sat bolt upright. But, after listening carefully, she realised the others hadn’t got up either.
She covered herself with the blanket again and lay restlessly on her stomach.
She had gone to bed at three in the morning. Except for Van and Carr, who had gone to bed early, she guessed the others had turned in at around the same time.
At first Agatha felt ashamed of getting up so late, even if she was on holiday, but when she realised she wasn’t the only one, she reached out for the cigarettes on her night stand.
She had low blood pressure. It would take a good hour before she could get up and get ready for the daily routine.
That’s odd, thought Agatha….
Is Orczy still in bed?
Even if they had gone to bed so late last night, it was unlike Orczy to lie in so late. Maybe she had already got up, but had returned to her room when the others didn’t appear. Or.…
With vacant eyes she followed the drifting cigarette smoke. She enjoyed smoking, but refrained from it in the company of others.
After starting on her second cigarette, she slowly pulled her weary body out of bed.
She put on a beige jumper over a black blouse and stood in front of the mirror. Making sure her clothes were in tip-top order, she collected her toilet bag and make-up pouch and exited the room.
The empty decagonal hall was as gloomy as ever despite the noon hour. The table in the centre was like a white spot floating in the darkness. The decagon-shaped sky which was visible through the skylight was as grey as yesterday.
Agatha walked straight to the bathroom, washed her face quickly and applied her make-up. Returning to the hall, she started cleaning the cups, glasses and ashtrays full of stubs which had been left lying on the table last night.
And then she caught flashes of red out of the corner of her eye….
What’s that?
She turned her head and immediately remembered where she had seen that red before. She could feel herself turn as white as a sheet. The thing she had remembered was hanging on one of the plain wooden doors.
✦ ✦ ✦
The First Victim
At first there was only a faint sound, but in the next moment Agatha was screaming at the top of her lungs.
A door behind her swung open and Carr became the first to jump out into the hall. He was already up and dressed.
He caught sight of the petrified Agatha and then saw the object that had grabbed her attention.
‘Whose room is that?’ he shouted.
Agatha was unable to speak. The plate with the red letters was covering the nameplate on the door.
Door after door opened and the others came out.
‘Whose room is it, Agatha?’ repeated Carr.
‘O—Orczy’s.’
‘What?’
It was Poe who darted to the door. Still dressed in his pyjamas and with his hair shaggy from a disturbed sleep, he grabbed the doorknob furiously.
The door wasn’t locked.
It was almost anti-climactic how easily the door opened.
A dark room. A beam of light coming in through the gap between the shutters, cutting through the darkness like a sharp-edged sword.
‘Orczy.’
Poe called out to her in a trembling voice.
‘Orczy.’
The bed against the wall was grey in the darkness. She was lying there peacefully, her blanket covering her neatly up to her chest. Her own dark blue cardigan had been pulled over her head....
‘Orczy!’
Poe let out a roar and rushed into the room. The body lying on the bed, however, did not move at all.
‘What happened? Orczy.…’
Lifting the cardigan that covered Orczy’s face with his powerful, trembling hands, Poe felt his whole body shiver. The other five who had followed him and were now standing in the entrance tried to push inside.
‘Don’t come in,’ implored Poe, his arms raised to discourage them. ‘I beg you. She wouldn’t want you to see her like this.…’
Reacting to these words, the five stood where they were.
Poe took a deep breath, raising his shoulders. He carefully lifted the cardigan again and started to examine the body of poor Orczy, who would never move nor feel embarrassed again.
After he was done, Poe replaced the cardigan. He got up sluggishly, stared up at the ceiling and let out a long, groaning sigh.
‘Let’s get out.’ He turned to the others.
‘This is a crime scene. We’d better lock it. Where’s the key?’
‘It’s here.’
Before anyone could react, Ellery stepped into the room and picked up the key from the desk by the wall.
‘The window’s unlatched. What about that?’
‘Better lock it too. Let’s get out, Ellery.’
‘But what happened to Orczy?’ Van asked. Poe grasped the key Ellery had given him and said in a suppressed voice:
‘She’s dead—strangled.’
‘No!’ screamed Agatha.
‘I’m sorry, Agatha.’
‘No… Poe, I want to see Orczy.’
‘I can’t let you.’
Poe closed his eyes and shook his head sadly.
‘Orczy was strangled to death, Agatha. Please, don’t look at her. Even if she’s dead now, she’s still a young woman.’
Agatha instantly understood what Poe meant. He was talking about the horrible sight of a strangled body. She nodded and was led away from the room.
And just when Poe was reaching for the doorknob to close the door, someone came in sideways like a crab between the door and Poe to block the way.
‘Aren’t you trying a bit too hard to get us away from the room?’
It was Carr. He looked up at Poe and, with a grim smile on his face, said: ‘You could say we’re all experts on murder here. And we all want to find the person who did this to Orczy. So give us a chance to investigate the crime scene and the body.’
‘Damn you!’
Poe’s face turned pale, and his whole body trembled as he yelled.
‘Are you going to use the death of a friend as a mere pastime? This is work for the police.’
‘What are you blathering about? When will the police come? How are we going to let them know? Remember what the plastic plates said. By the time the police arrive, we might all be dead except for “The Murderer” and “The Detective.”’
Poe pushed harder in an attempt to close the door. Carr, in turn, used his bony, yellow hands to push Poe’s away.
‘Think about it more carefully and don’t be so stupid, Poe. The next to be murdered might be none other than yourself, you know.’
‘Move away, Carr.’
‘Or is there something else? Why are you so confident that you alone won’t be killed? The only person who can be sure of that is the murderer himself.’
‘What?’
‘Oh, now I’ve got it!’
‘You bastard!’
‘Stop it, you two.’
Poe was ready to jump at Carr. The look on Carr’s face showed he was ready to take Poe on, too. But Van grasped Carr’s arm and pulled him away from the door.
‘What’re you doing, you piece of scum!?’
Carr’s face was crimson with fury as he screamed the words. Taking advantage of the moment, Poe closed the door quickly and locked it.
‘That was unseemly of you, Carr,’ said Ellery, who had just come back from the kitchen unobserved and was holding the remaining six plates in his hands.
‘Poe’s right. Unfortunately.’