Agatha carefully opened the door and peeked into the hall.
Nobody there. It didn’t seem as though anyone was up yet.
She’d had a good night’s rest, thanks to Poe’s sleeping tablets. She’d slept like the dead until she woke up moments ago. She didn’t remember having any dreams. It had been a satisfying sleep, almost baffling, considering the dangerous situation they were in.
Her body felt rested. Her nerves had also calmed down.
I should thank Poe.
Agatha slowly tiptoed into the hall.
Hugging the wall, she quietly made her way to the bathroom. Her eyes scanned the space carefully, her ears alert to any noise.
Even in the morning light, the hall of the Decagon House appeared distorted. Her eyes were held by the strange shadows covering the white walls, not giving her a chance to take a good look around.
It really seemed as though no one was up yet. She could only hear the relentless noise of the waves.
She entered the bathroom and left the door half open, not forgetting to check the toilet and bath unit in the back for any surprises.
She stood in front of the dressing table and stared into the mirror. In the gloomy darkness, she saw herself dressed in a white one-piece dress.
The circles beneath her eyes had become less dark. But since coming to the island, her cheeks had become visibly hollow and she looked pale. That, coupled with her dull, dry hair made her even doubt whether she was really looking at herself.
Agatha sighed as she brushed her hair. Recalling not only the murders but also her own unseemly behaviour the previous night, she sighed again.
She wanted to be beautiful and dignified always. Always, no matter what happened, no matter where she found herself. She had always prided herself on being such a woman.
But the face she had just washed, looking back at her in the mirror….
It wasn’t beautiful. Not a hint of dignity.
Nothing to save her.
I should use some brighter make-up.
Agatha pondered as she opened her make-up pouch. Abnormal murders, abnormal circumstances, abnormal ideas. This was the only consolation she had within this maddening, abnormal reality.
Today I won’t use my rose-pink lipstick, but the red one.
She didn’t care anymore for how the others looked at her on this island. All she had on her mind was what she could see in the mirror.
✦ ✦ ✦
2
Van was woken by the alarm of his wristwatch.
Ten in the morning? Got to get up.
His shoulders were stiff and his joints hurt. He hadn’t had as much sleep as he’d hoped. He put his fingers to the eyelids of his puffy eyes. He felt nausea in his stomach.
Are the others still asleep?
He sat upright and listened for any noise as he lit a cigarette. He felt dizzy when the smoke reached his lungs. He knew both his body and mind were completely drained.
Will I be able to make it back home safely?
He stared aimlessly into nothing as he thought the case over in his mind.
To be honest, he was scared. Incredibly afraid. If possible, he would burst out in tears like a little child and run away back home.
A shudder went through his body, after which Van put his cigarette out and got up.
He went out in the hall and noticed that a door to his left, two rooms away, was half-open. It was the bathroom, one door before the kitchen.
Someone’s up already, he thought.
But even so, I don’t hear anything. Someone probably went to the toilet and forgot to close the door.
The door opened towards the kitchen. Van approached the door from the right, circling round the centre table. He couldn’t hear anything.
He put his left hand on the back of each of the blue chairs that surrounded the table. He could hear the beat of his heart grow louder. As he came closer, he could see more of the bathroom through the half-open door. And then he saw it.
‘Ah!’
Van let out a faint cry, as if he was being strangled. He felt his whole body tremble. He was frozen to the spot.
A white figure was lying beyond the door to the bathroom.
A delicate lace one-piece dress. A thin, lifeless arm extended. Black hair spread across the floor. It was the body of Agatha, totally lifeless.
‘A…A….’
Van stood still, his right hand to his mouth. In the back of his throat, the impulse to yell out and the urge to throw up were competing. His voice wouldn’t follow his command.
He put a hand on a chair, his body bent forward. With shaky legs he desperately made his way to Poe’s room.
✦ ✦ ✦
The violent beating on his door made Poe sit up.
‘What? What’s the matter?’
It only took a moment for him to banish sleep, push his blanket away, roll out of bed and rush to the door.
‘Who is it? What happened?’
There was no answer.
The beating on the door stopped and in its place came a soft whimpering noise. Poe unlocked the door quickly and turned the knob. But something was blocking the door.
‘Hello, who’s there?’
He put his body weight against the door and pushed it open with his shoulders. He managed to squeeze into the hall through the gap he made.
It was Van who was leaning against the door. Both hands were pressed against his mouth and his back trembled pitifully.
‘What’s the matter, Van? You okay?’
Poe placed his hand on Van’s back. Holding one hand to his mouth, Van pointed with the other hand towards the door of the bathroom adjacent to Poe’s room.
‘Hmm?’
The door was half open. He couldn’t see inside from where he was.
‘What’s there?’
‘A-Agatha….’
Van had not even finished what he was trying to say when Poe cried out, removing his hand from Van’s back.
‘Agatha? But Van, are you yourself all right?’
Van nodded, still whimpering painfully. Poe reached the bathroom. He peered inside through the half open door.
‘Ellery! Leroux! Wake up! Get up now!’ Poe bellowed.
✦ ✦ ✦
Ellery was awakened by the violent beating on someone’s door.
It wasn’t his door. He had guessed that something had happened when a deep voice cried out.
‘That’s Poe. That means….’
Ellery quickly got out of bed and grabbed his cardigan. His right ankle wrapped in bandages no longer felt as painful as before.
He could still hear Poe. It seemed as if he were talking to Van. Then he then heard him crying out even louder.
‘Agatha?’
Even as Ellery put his hand on the doorknob, he could hear Leroux’s and his name being called.
‘What’s the matter?’ answered Ellery as he opened the door.
Van was on all fours in front of Poe’s room. The door to the right, the door of the bathroom, precisely opposite Ellery’s own door, was completely open. Was it Agatha who was lying there face down? Poe stood beside her. He was crouching on one knee.
‘Has Agatha been murdered?’
‘Appears so.’
Poe turned around to Ellery.
‘Van is feeling bad. Help him throw up.’
‘Got it.’
Ellery went to Van, helped him get up and took him to the kitchen.
‘You aren’t poisoned?’
‘No, I just suddenly…when I found Agatha…,’ Van groaned, his head over the sink. Ellery rubbed his back.
‘Drink some water. Your stomach is all empty now. There’s nothing to throw up.’
‘I-I’m alright. I’ll get it myself. You’d better go to the bathroom.’
‘Okay.’
Ellery turned, left the kitchen, and went to Poe in the bathroom.
‘Is she dead, Poe?’
Poe closed his eyes and nodded.
‘Poison again. Prussic acid, I think.’
Poe had turned Agatha’s body face upwards. Her eyes were wide-open. The expression frozen on her slightly open mouth was not one of pain, but of surprise.
Poe put his hands to her eyelids and closed her eyes, which gave her an almost unbelievably peaceful face. She appeared to have just finished putting on her make-up. Her coloured cheeks gave the illusion of life. Her reds lips seemed as if they would start talking at any moment. The faint, sweet smell hanging in the air was what had led Poe to his suspicion.
‘Ah….’
Ellery frowned deeply.
‘So this is the infamous smell of almonds.’
‘Yes. Anyway, let’s carry her to her room.’
Van came stumbling from the kitchen just as Poe reached for the body’s shoulders. He put his back to the wall and looked across the hall with a blood-drained face.
‘Hey, where’s Leroux?’
‘Leroux?’
‘Now you mention him….’
Ellery and Poe noticed the door to Leroux’s room for the first time and cried out simultaneously.