When the body of Rogers is found in chapter 11 of And Then There Were None, there is a deep wound in the back of his head which corresponds with the blade of a large wood chopper leaning against the door. There is blood on the chopper, making it even clearer that this is the murder weapon.

As Dr. Armstrong examines the wound to give his professional opinion on the force that would have been needed to inflict it, Mr. Blore dusts the handle of the chopper for fingerprints using the flour sifter from the kitchen. Blore is a professional detective and a former police inspector. It would have been a natural part of his investigative procedure to dust for fingerprints, as this had been part of British police training since the 1890s.

Blore does not find any fingerprints, and he announces that the handle of the chopper has been wiped since the blow was struck. A set of fingerprints other than those of Rogers on the handle of the chopper would have been a very valuable clue—possibly conclusive, depending on the state of the fingerprints. Even if an exact match were to prove impossible, several people could probably have been eliminated. However, as with the earlier murders, the killer has been singularly efficient in removing clues.