CHAPTER SEVEN: THE FOURTH DAY ON THE ISLAND
1
The noise of people talking.
The voices were not loud, nor did they come from close by. Familiar tones, familiar intonations. And, as background music, the constant pounding of waves. Waves? Yes, the sound of waves….
Slowly, he was dragged out of his sleep. And then.…
He opened his eyes and his body sprang awake on top of the stuffy bed. His hands searched for his glasses and he turned to lie on his back. A white ceiling entered his corrected, clear vision. He sighed wearily.
I’m in the Decagon House.
His throbbing temples ached. With each beat, memories he didn’t care to remember flashed through his mind.
Shaking his head slowly as if it was broken and in need of care, he got out of bed and, with numb movements, put on his clothes. He went over to the window and untied the belt that held both handles in place. He unlocked the window and pushed it open, together with the shutters.
The overgrown lawn. The leaning pine trees. The dark sky, as if coloured by thin ink.
He stretched his arms. He managed to take a deep breath. After inhaling some fresh air he closed the window, locked it once again and tied the belt around the handles. He finally got out of his room.
Ellery and Van were the people talking in the hall. Agatha and Poe were also already up and standing in the kitchen.
‘Morning, Leroux. I’m glad to see you’re all right,’ Ellery said without any hint of humour, pointing at a spot behind Leroux and at a slight angle.
‘What?’
Leroux turned round, put his glasses in his nose and saw, to his surprise:
✦ ✦ ✦
The Second Victim
It was on the door of Carr’s room.
The plastic plate was hanging at eye level, covering Carr’s own nameplate, exactly as had been done with Orczy.
‘Our murderer is a reliable fellow. Glad he went to all that trouble for us.’
Leroux backed away, turned around, and looked at Ellery, who was sitting on one of the chairs with his long legs crossed.
‘You returned the remaining plates to the cupboard drawer, I assume?’
‘Yes. You’re going to suggest we get rid of them, I suppose?’
Ellery put the plates from the drawer on the table and slid them towards Leroux. He counted six plates.
‘But….’
‘As you can see, the plate of “The Second Victim” is still there. The murderer is well prepared. Figured we’d keep an eye on the plates that were first placed here once something happened. Probably has another set of the same plates. And also—keep this a secret from Agatha—.’
Ellery lowered his voice to a whisper and beckoned him to come closer.
‘A secret? Why?’
‘She might become very agitated if we don’t break it to her gently. It happened before she got up, so Van, Poe and I discussed it and decided to hide it.’
‘What did you hide?’
‘What do you think?’
‘No idea.’
‘It was Poe who found it. He woke up around noon and, after washing his face, he happened to take a look at the bath unit in the back. And there.…’
‘There was something there?’
‘Yes. Inside the bathtub lay a hand covered in blood.’
‘What!?’
Leroux put his hand to his mouth.
‘O-Orczy’s?’
‘No, you’re wrong there. It wasn’t Orczy’s hand.’
‘But then whose?’
‘It was Carr’s. Carr’s left hand was cut off and placed there.’
‘No way.’
‘The murderer probably waited for all of us to fall asleep and did it this morning. We didn’t lock the door to Carr’s room. Anyone could have sneaked in and cut off the hand. Given enough time, even Agatha could have done it.’
‘And where’s the hand now?’
‘We put it back in Carr’s bed. We can’t count on the police coming here any time soon and we couldn’t just leave it there either.’
‘But why—.’ Leroux put his fingers to his throbbing temples. ‘But why would the murderer do such a thing?’
‘Why indeed.’
‘Is it an “allusion” again? But even so….’
Agatha and Poe came out of the kitchen and prepared the table. Spaghetti, bread pudding with cheese, potato salad and soup.
Leroux sat down and looked at his wristwatch. It was already three o’clock in the afternoon.
He had only eaten once yesterday. He should have been starving, but he had no appetite at all.
‘Leroux, Poe kept an eye on me all the time, so you can just enjoy your meal without any worries. I also washed all of the tableware again. Or do you think Poe and I are in this together?’ said Agatha sarcastically. She had probably hardly slept. Her lightly made-up face showed signs of fatigue. Her rose-pink lips, too, had lost their usual colour.