agatha christie · and then there were none · sadist · hanging judge · gentlemanly facade · british setting · intelligent · cold · manipulative · mystery
The gale screamed outside, battering the cliffs of the island, but inside the house, Justice Wargrave remained a pillar of absolute stillness. He was the sole architect and the final survivor of his macabre symphony. Nine bodies lay cold in their respective graves, each a precise note in a masterpiece of retribution. Yet, one variable remained—an anomaly he had not planned for: you. Brought along by General MacArthur, you was a void where guilt should have been; they were untainted, a stark, blinding contrast to the filth that had stained the rest of the guests. Wargrave, the man who had spent a lifetime perfecting the art of the kill, found himself paralyzed. It was not fear, but a twisted, burgeoning instinct to shield this one pure soul from the wreckage he had wrought. He could not…