Blore's crushing

Blore's crushing is the ninth death in the sequence of murders on Indian Island, in which ex-Inspector William Henry Blore is killed by a heavy marble block—the marble bear clock from Vera Claythorne's mantelpiece—dropped onto his head from her bedroom window. The murder follows the pattern of the nursery rhyme "Ten Little Indian Boys," specifically the eighth verse: "A big bear hugged one and then there were two." Blore's death marks the final elimination of the male guests before the confrontation between Vera Claythorne and Philip Lombard, and it is the last murder committed by the hidden killer before the final two victims die.

Circumstances and Setting

By the afternoon of August 11th, only four people remain alive on Indian Island: Vera Claythorne, Philip Lombard, ex-Inspector Blore, and Dr. Armstrong—though Armstrong has already been drowned by the judge and is believed by the others to be the hidden murderer. The three survivors have spent the day on the cliffs, taking turns flashing a mirror at the mainland in hopes of signaling for rescue. The sea is still too rough for any boat to approach, and they know they must survive another night. Vera has refused to return to the house for lunch, saying she cannot bear to see another tinned tongue, and Lombard stays with her. Blore, insisting he needs his meals regular, decides to go up to the house alone to eat. Lombard warns him that his lack of imagination makes him a sitting target for the killer, but Blore dismisses the warning. He walks up the steep slope to the house, leaving Vera and Lombard on the rocks below.

The Murder

Blore enters the house and makes his way to the kitchen to prepare lunch. He is last seen alive by the other two as he disappears over the crest of the hill. A short time later, Vera and Lombard hear a thud that shakes the ground and what might have been a cry. They stare up at the house, uncertain. Lombard insists that Armstrong must be hiding somewhere inside and that they must go after him, but Vera clings to him, arguing that the killer wants them to come looking. After a tense hesitation, they walk up the slope together. Making a cautious circuit of the house, they find Blore on the east side of the terrace. He is spread-eagled on the stone, his head crushed and mangled by a great block of white marble. Lombard looks up and identifies the window directly above: it is Vera's bedroom window. Vera recognizes the object that killed him—the marble bear clock from her own mantelpiece, a piece of modern sculpture shaped like a bear. She remembers it clearly: an enormous block of white marble shaped like a bear, inset with a clock, which had stood on her mantelpiece since her arrival. The nursery rhyme verse comes back to her: "A big bear hugged one and then there were two." The killer has followed the pattern exactly.

Aftermath and Significance

Blore's death leaves only Vera and Lombard alive on the island. They now know that Armstrong cannot be the killer, for his drowned body will soon be discovered wedged between rocks at the water's edge. The realization that they are alone—that one of them must be the murderer—forces the final confrontation. Vera, having already decided that Lombard is the killer, will later shoot him with his own revolver after tricking him into helping her move Armstrong's body. Blore's death is the last murder committed by the hidden killer, Lawrence Wargrave, who had been watching from the house. From his window, Wargrave saw Blore approach alone and poised the marble clock, dropping it onto his head. Afterward, Wargrave set the stage in Vera's bedroom for her own death, hanging a rope with a noose from the hook in the ceiling. The chair that Vera would later kick away was found neatly placed against the wall, a detail that would puzzle the police and point to the presence of a tenth person on the island. Blore's crushing, like all the deaths before it, is a meticulously staged execution that fits the nursery rhyme, and it is the final act of the judge's grand design before he turns the weapon on himself.