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A character in And Then There Were None

Philip Lombard

The soldier of fortune with a revolver in his luggage and twenty-one dead men behind him, paid a hundred guineas to come.

What they want

To come through it, as he has come through everything, and to find out who is paying.

The book

And Then There Were NoneAgatha Christie, 1939

Ten strangers on an island off Devon, a nursery rhyme on the wall, and no detective coming to save anyone.

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At a glance

In the book
Ex-soldier, hired for a hundred guineas
Charged with
The deaths of twenty-one men of an East African tribe
Where he appears
Throughout

Who they are in the book

Spoiler-free

Lombard has been where things are dangerous and says so. He was hired through a solicitor for a hundred guineas and told nothing, and he has brought a revolver, which he mentions to nobody until the killing starts. The record charges him with leaving twenty-one men of an East African tribe to die, and he is the only guest who says yes, he did, and it was a matter of survival.

He is the book's man of action, and its most honest voice. He reasons well, trusts his instincts, and is wrong about the one thing that matters. His half-formed alliance with Vera is the closest the novel comes to warmth.

How Philip Lombard Is Portrayed

Appearance, manner, and tone — as the book sketches them, in our words.

  • The revolverIn his luggage from the start; he admits to it only when the deaths begin, and it is stolen from his room.
  • The admissionThe only guest who answers the record with a plain yes.
  • The walkLight and quiet, like a big cat, the narration says; Vera notices it on the first evening.
  • The feeA hundred guineas from a solicitor called Isaac Morris, and no explanation.
  • The reasoningHe works the problem aloud with Blore and Armstrong, and is the first to suspect Wargrave.
  • The grinWolfish, the book says; he smiles when things get worse.
Their ending, and the commentary — spoilers aheadHow the book leaves them, what happened after, and what the record says. Open when you're ready.

Lombard suspected Wargrave from early on and could not prove it. On the beach, with Blore dead and Armstrong's body in the rocks, Vera takes the revolver from his pocket and shoots him. He was the ninth to die.

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