"Twenty to four... only twenty to four... perhaps the clock has stopped... I don't understand - no, I don't understand...
This sort of thing can't happen... it is happening...
Why don't we wake up?
Wake up - Judgement Day - not that!
If I could only think...
My head - something's happening in my head - it's going to burst - it's going to split... This sort of thing can't happen... What's the time?
Oh, God! it's only a quarter to four."
"I must keep my head... I must keep my head... If only I keep my head... It's all perfectly clear - all worked out.
But nobody must suspect.
It may do the trick.
It must!
Which one?
That's the question - which one?
I think - yes, I rather think - yes - him."
When the clock struck five they all jumped.
Vera said: "Does any one - want tea?"
There was a moment's silence.
Blore said:
"I'd like a cup."
Vera rose.
She said: "I'll go and make it.
You can all stay here."
Mr. Justice Wargrave said gently: "I think, my dear young lady, we would all prefer to come and watch you make it."
Vera stared, then gave a short rather hysterical laugh.
She said: "Of course!
You would!"
Five people went into the kitchen.
Tea was made and drunk by Vera and Blore.
The other three had whiskey - opening a fresh bottle and using a siphon from a nailed up case.
The judge murmured with a reptilian smile: "We must be very careful..."
They went back again to the drawing-room.
Although it was summer the room was dark.
Lombard switched on the lights but they did not come on.
He said: "Of course! The engine's not been run today since Rogers hasn't been there to see to it."
He hesitated and said: "We could go out and get it going, I suppose."
Mr. Justice Wargrave said: "There are packets of candles in the larder, I saw them, better use those."
Lombard went out.
The other four sat watching each other.
He came back with a box of candles and a pile of saucers.
Five candles were lit and placed about the room.
The time was a quarter to six.
II At twenty past six, Vera felt that to sit there longer was unbearable.
She would go to her room and bathe her aching head and temples in cold water.
She got up and went towards the door.
Then she remembered and came back and got a candle out of the box.
She lighted it, let a little wax pour into a saucer and stuck the candle firmly to it. Then she went out of the room, shutting the door behind her and leaving the four men inside.
She went up the stairs and along the passage to her room.
As she opened her door, she suddenly halted and stood stock still.
Her nostrils quivered.
The sea... The smell of the sea at St. Tredennick...