The Diary of Vera Claythorne

I couldn't sleep. I rolled in bed thinking about Hugo. I felt like he was so close to me tonight. But was he really? I didn't know. I thought about the gramophone playing the accusations of death of every person in the house. It was frightening. I heard Cyril whining, "I want to swim out to the rock Ms. Claythorne,why can't I swim out to the rock?" I thought about Hugo's arms around me, telling me that he loved me, but was it true? I knew that if the child had been a girl, Hugo would have stayed.

I couldn't sleep. I got up and rushed out of my bed. I went to the dressing table and swallowed three aspirins. I remembered tonight. So many strange things had happened. I shivered as I remembered Anthony Marston's purple face. It was so unlikely how he died by choking on a drink. It was so weird how a China Indian figure was missing. Rogers said he swore he saw ten the other night, but today there were only nine.I glanced at the nursery rhyme hanging in my room. I read the first two lines. It said, "Ten little Indians went out to dine, one choked his little self and then there were nine. What a coincidence, just like this evening! Could the nursery rhyme be related to the death of Anthony Marston. No, it was highly unlikely! I wondered if Anthony Martson wanted to die. Did he want to commit suicide? One thing is for sure, I didn't want to die.