Brady.

Nine little Indian boys sat up very late;
One overslept himself and then there were eight.

3. General John Gordon Macarthur was hit with a life preserver in the head while he sat in his chair on a cliff overlooking the coast of Devon. He sent his wife's lover, Arthur Richmond, to his death on a mission from which the General knew Richmond would not return.

Eight little Indian boys traveling in Devon;
One said he'd stay there and then there were seven.

4. Mr. Thomas Rogers was killed with a wood chopper. He was complicit with Mrs. Rogers in withholding medication from Jennifer Brady.

Seven little Indian boys chopping up sticks;
One chopped himself in halves and then there were six.

5. Miss Emily Caroline Brent was killed by an injection of cyanide into her neck. She caused the suicide of a girl in her service, Beatrice Taylor, by forcing her out of her job for being pregnant.

Six little Indian boys playing with a hive;
A bumblebee stung one and then there were five.

6. Justice Lawrence John Wargrave first faked his own death with Dr. Armstrong's cooperation, then committed suicide in order to make all of the other murders unsolvable. He's responsible for the deaths of all the other guests on Indian Island, and, as a "hanging judge," he was also responsible for the deaths of innocent people who he judged guilty.

Five little Indian boys going in for law;
One got in Chancery and then there were four.

7. Dr. Edward George Armstrong was pushed the cliff near the mansion on Indian Island. He was responsible for the death of Louisa Mary Clees, on whom he operated when he was intoxicated.

Four little Indian boys going out to sea;
A red herring swallowed one and then there were three.

The "red herring" reference is also to Dr. Armstrong's role in assisting Justice Wargrave in his faked death.

8. William Henry Blore was crushed to death by a marble clock shaped like bear. He manufactured false evidence to prosecute James Stephen Landor, whom he later killed in his jail cell.

Three little Indian boys walking in the zoo;
A big bear hugged one and then there were two.

9. Captain Philip Lombard was shot through the heart by Vera Claythorne. He was responsible for the death of twenty-one members of an East African tribe whom he left stranded in the desert with no food or water.

Two Little Indian boys sitting in the sun;
One got frizzled up and then there was one.

10. Vera Elizabeth Claythorne committed suicide. She allowed weak, young Cyril Ogilvie Hamilton to swim too far out to sea, and he drowned while she feigned trying to rescue him.

One little Indian boy left all alone;
He went out and hanged himself and then there were none.

The following stanza in the nursery rhyme in And Then There Were None gives us a clue as to the killer:

Four little soldier boys going out to sea;
A red herring swallowed one and then there were three.

The words "red herring" would act as a signal to the murder mystery devotee. A red herring is a false clue meant to mislead the reader.

The red herring in this mystery is Justice Wargrave's faked death: this misleads readers into the false idea that he cannot be the murderer, when in fact he is. He also kills Dr. Armstrong by pushing him into the ocean so that Armstrong is "swallowed" by the waves. An extremely astute reader would note that the red herring, Justice Wargrave, pushes the doctor into the sea—but, of course, you would have to realize that Justice Wargrave's death was faked to know he is the red herring, which is almost impossible to do until after this is explained.

Although not part of the nursery rhyme, the "justice" in Justice Wargrave's name is also a clue that he is the killer. The killer is dispensing justice to people who got away with murder.

The poem says that the first one choked himself. Anthony Marston, who was a playboy, heavy on the drink and with a lead foot, was the first to die. His sin?  According to the recording,

"Anthony James Marston, that upon the 14th day of Novermber last, you were guilty of the murder of John and Lucy Combes." (pg 47)

It took Anthony a while, but he finally remembered that John and Lucy Combes were two kids he ran over with his car near Cambridge.  His only comment about it was,

"Beastly bad luck." (pg 68)

He insists that it was an accident.

" They rushed out of some cottage or other.  I had my licence suspended for a year.  Beastly nuisance." (pg 68)

He showed absolutely no remorse and hardly remembered the incident.  Slowing down on English roads did not even occur to him, in fact he criticized English roads for not keeping up with the speed of automobiles.  When the group decides that it would be better if they all left the island the next day, Anthony Marston was the only one to object. He felt that they ought to stay and figure out the mystery. He picks up his drink and toasts to crime.

"He picked up his drink and drank it off at a gulp.  Too quickly perhaps.  He choked --- choked badly.  His face contorted, turned purpole.  He gasped for breath -then slid down off his chair, the glass falling from his hand." (pg 74)

It was so sudden and so alarming, everyone just stared at him.  Finally Dr. Armstrong went over and pronounced him dead.  Everyone was astounded because Anthony Marston was young and appeared to be healthy.  Finally Dr. Armstrong tells them that he suspects that there was poison in his drink.

"Everything points to one of the cyanides.......probably Potassium Cyanide.  It acts pretty well instantaneously." (pg 76)

In Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, the nursery rhyme is used to signify the deaths of each of the guests on the island (with each person's death modeled after the corresponding death from the rhyme). According to the rhyme, the first of the ten chokes to death. As the rhyme goes, they "go out to dine. One choked his little self and then there were nine."

This death in the rhyme signals the first death in the story, that of Anthony Marston, who had previously run over two children with his car. Just as the person in the rhyme choked during a meal, so does the killer assign the same fate to Marston. Marston is poisoned, thus beginning the pattern that will recur throughout the novel.

As the novel unfolds, each of the guests will be killed off with no survivors. The killer is not caught, as is usually the case with classic mystery stories, and if the crime is solved, it is only because of a letter written by the killer himself, sent in a bottle out to sea.