Oakbridge

Oakbridge is the small Devon railway station where all the guests bound for Indian Island alight, serving as the first point of assembly for the eight strangers who have been lured by the mysterious U. N. Owen. It is at Oakbridge that the guests first encounter one another, that Vera Claythorne volunteers to wait for the slow train from Exeter, and that the party divides into two taxis for the onward journey to Sticklehaven. The station thus functions as the threshold between the ordinary world and the isolated nightmare of Indian Island, and its name recurs in the nursery rhyme that frames the murders.

Location and Setting

Oakbridge is a minor station on the Devon branch line, the nearest railhead to the coastal village of Sticklehaven and, beyond it, Indian Island. The letter that Vera Claythorne receives from "Una Nancy Owen" instructs her to take the 12:40 from Paddington and states that she will be met at Oakbridge station. Mr. Justice Wargrave's letter from Constance Culmington similarly directs him to the 12:40 from Paddington and promises a meeting at Oakbridge. The station thus serves as the designated arrival point for every guest, regardless of their point of origin or the story they have been told to explain their invitation.

The Assembly of the Guests

When the train from Paddington arrives, a little group of people stands in momentary uncertainty outside Oakbridge station, porters with suitcases behind them. A local taxi driver, speaking in a soft Devon voice, asks, "You'm for Indian Island, maybe?" and four voices give assent, followed immediately by quick surreptitious glances at each other. The driver explains that two taxis are available, one of which must wait for the slow train from Exeter, which is due in five minutes and will bring one more gentleman. Vera Claythorne, her secretarial position clear in her mind, speaks at once: "I'll wait," she says, "if you will go on?" She looks at the other three with the slight suggestion of command that comes from having occupied a position of authority. Miss Brent thanks her stiffly and enters one taxi with Mr. Justice Wargrave. Captain Lombard chooses to wait with Vera, introducing himself as Philip Lombard. The two wait beside a sunny wall, exchanging conventional remarks about the weather and the journey, until the slow train from Exeter arrives and General Macarthur appears at the exit from the platform, his porter staggering slightly under the weight of a solid leather suitcase. Vera comes forward in a competent manner, introduces herself as Mrs. Owen's secretary, and presents Mr. Lombard. The three of them then get into the waiting taxi and drive through the sleepy streets of little Oakbridge before continuing about a mile on the main Plymouth road and plunging into a maze of steep, green, narrow cross-country lanes.

Narrative Significance

Oakbridge marks the point at which the guests' separate journeys converge and the first tentative social interactions among them occur. It is also the last ordinary place they visit before the isolation of Indian Island begins. The station's name appears in the framed nursery rhyme that hangs in every bedroom on the island: "Eight little Indian boys travelling in Devon; One said he'd stay there and then there were seven." The rhyme's reference to Devon travel thus directly echoes the guests' own journey through Oakbridge, and the station becomes part of the pattern of ominous foreshadowing that pervades the novel. In his manuscript confession, Lawrence Wargrave notes that he selected his victims with care and that none of his plans miscarried; the smooth assembly at Oakbridge confirms that the elaborate baiting of each guest had succeeded exactly as he intended.