In her book ‘And Then There Were None’, Agatha Christie uses unique variety of murder methods to kill all ten characters that were invited in the house of the owner of the famous ‘Indian’ island. Amongst these methods, poisoning is the one that will be briefly examined in this toxicology ...
In her book ‘And Then There Were None’, Agatha Christie uses unique variety of murder methods to kill all ten characters that were invited in the house of the owner of the famous ‘Indian’ island. Amongst these methods, poisoning is the one that will be briefly examined in this toxicology report along with the scientific accuracy and the symptoms of the poison that was used. In the novel two of the victims were poisoned by the same chemical substance, in the same room of the house, in two different ways and times.
The murderer’s motive is revealed at the end of the novel and is common for all ten individuals as he describes in his letter that was found later on: ‘From an early age I knew very strongly the lust to kill.. I wanted to kill. But side by side with this went a contradictory trait-a strong sense of justice.’ As it is also going to be described during the crime scenes, the murderer wanted to give an end to all those individuals that were responsible for other people’s deaths.
The poisoning of Anthony James Marston
The first poisoning of this novel takes place the first night that all the strangers arrived on the island. The dinner of the first night was served. Later that night a weird atmosphere was created as a gramophone played a recording of all the names of the guests and the crimes that they have committed. After admitting that he had accidentally killed some guys while driving, the victim named Anthony James Marston filled his glass with whiskey and soda. It was after this moment that he started chocking. ‘His face contorted, turned purple. He gasped for breath then slid down off his chair, the glass falling from his hand.’ Marston was now dead in the floor of the dining room. Immediately after he died, a doctor among the individuals confirmed that he got poisoned. ‘Yes. Can’t say exactly. Everything points to one of the Cyanides. No distinctive smell of Prussic Acid, probably Potassium Cyanide. It acts pretty well instantaneously.’
The poisoning of Emily Caroline Brent
Emily Brent was a middle-aged woman, quiet and mysterious. She was the fifth person found dead in the Indian island, while enjoying her coffee in the dining room. As she was observing a bee that was trying to enter from the window, someone behind her had already prepared a hypodermic syringe. The rest of the guests found her dead in the same chair, covered in blood, with blue lips and staring eyes. A mark was also found on the right side of her neck, it was from the syringe. It was later identified from the doctor that the same poison as the one that killed Marston was used, Potassium Cyanide.
Scientific analysis of the poison
Method of delive
The two victims were poisonryed in different ways. The poison for Marston was delivered through his drink, so the method of delivery was ingestion. ‘His glass was lying about on some table or other. I think-though I can’t be sure, it was on the little table near the window. The window was open. Somebody could have slipped a dose of the Cyanide into the glass’.
On the other hand, the poisoning of Emily Brent occurred through skin exposure as a hypodermic syringe transferred the poison through her neck. Both methods are scientifically accurate as Potassium Cyanide can be delivered by various ways including ingestion and skin exposure. Other efficient ways of delivery are eye exposure and inhalation.
Accuracy of signs and symptoms
Both victims died almost immediately after they have been exposed to the poison, which is a scientifically accurate method as potassium cyanide causes instantaneous death. In the first case, Marston started choking, his face contorted and afterwards it turned purple leading to immediate death. The scientific information about cyanide poisoning indicate that people who are poisoned by ingestion die from cardiac arrest, asphyxiation, and corrosion of the lining of the esophagus and stomach.
Emily Brent died by skin exposure of the poison, but she was found about half an hour later in the same position as they had left her. ‘And then they saw her face-suffused with blood, with blue lips and staring eyes.’ as the author describes the dead body when it was found. There could have been blood running from her neck because of the injection and probably the color of her lips was blue because she was dead. She, also, died from asphyxiation and especially skin exposure to the poison can contribute to whole-body toxicity, which leads to immediate death and proves that her symptoms are accurate.
Diagnosis of the character’s death
It is already known that the author uses an accurate poison that exists in real life. Moreover, she thought to introduce one of the characters as a qualified doctor who can identify the cause of the unexpected deaths, named Dr. Armstrong. He seems to be aware of the poison by smelling the murder weapons and by diagnosing the symptoms of the poisoned ones. Agatha Christie had probably studied a lot about the specific poison as everything that she writes is 100% accurate and could be clearly represented in real life.
Overall evaluation of poisoning accuracy
Agatha Christie murdered her victims with Potassium Cyanide, that can be used until now as a poison. Additionally, she clearly states the method of delivery and the symptoms of the victims, which are highly accurate in the scientific world. On the other hand, for these two crime actions it would be more accurate to describe the way the victims felt from the point of the exposure until the death scene in order for scientists to be able to match the crimes of this novel to reality.
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