"Aha, found you!" "Anyone else in there with you?" "Don't be silly." "'All irregularities will be handled 'by the forces controlling each dimension." "'Transuranic heavy elements may not be used where there is life." "'Medium atomic weights are available." "'Gold, Lead," "'Copper," "'Jet, Diamond, Radium," "'Sapphire, Silver and Steel." "'Sapphire and Steel have been assigned. '" "Annabelle?" " Annabelle?" " Howard!" " What on earth are you doing?" " What the devil's going on?" "!" " Oh, my God!" " Veronica, you're spoiling it all." "We weren't gong to play Murders till after dinner." "She's not playing, is she, Arthur?" "No." "No, she's not playing." "The girl's dead." "'Did it kill Veronica or did someone in this house do it?" "'" "'It could be one and the same. '" "Who would have done such a thing?" "Almost anyone." "Almost anyone in this house, Emma." "Poor, poor, lovely girl." "Felix, ring for the police, will you?" "Greville, get something to cover the body." "That storm's come out of nowhere." " Somebody's missing." " I don't think so." "Tony Purnell, someone should tell him." "Maybe he already knows." "Everyone has to remember where they were and what they were doing." " When?" " Within the last..." " Ten minutes?" " Yes." "Within the last... ten minutes." "I can't even remember yesterday - I can't even remember coming here." " But..." " Get on with it." " The knife, sir." " What about it?" "It's one of our carving knives." "I laid it in the dining room earlier." "That would make it accessible to anyone." " Cover the poor girl." " Then there were nine." " What's she babbling about?" " Arthur, there were ten of us here." " I didn't really check..." " You." "Me..." "Emma and..." " 'What's my name?" "' - 'Miles. '" " Miles." " Thank you." "Howard." "Virginia." "Annabelle... and..." " Felix." " Yes?" " Veronica Blamey." " That's nine." "And Tony Purnell makes ten." "Wherever he is." " Did you get the police?" " No, I couldn't." " Why not?" " The telephone's dead." " Dead?" " That's significant." " Why is it?" " A dead telephone?" "Because it means this house is cut off." "All part of the device." "This is not a damn story, this is real." "Is it?" "We're not cut off, the storm has affected the telephone." "Felix!" "Be a good chap, get in your car and nip down to the village." "Annabelle and I motored down with the McDees." "I would go with pleasure but I didn't bring a car!" " Greville will take you." " Mr Harborough?" "Sir?" "The rest of us had better look for Purnell." "I'm going upstairs." " The door's locked!" " Impossible, sir." "That fog... it's icy cold." " It won't open, sir!" " Don't be so stupid, Greville!" "You're right, it won't." "The window." "Howard, smash the window." "'It has completely isolated this house. '" "'There's no way out?" "'" "'No conventional way out, no. '" "'Which one of them, Sapphire?" "'Which one of them killed her?" "'" "'Which one of them does it control?" "'" "'Maybe it's one and the same. '" "Hello?" "Hello, operator?" "Hello?" "!" "Oh, it's you." "Look, the phone's dead and..." "It is a time change, most likely." "And there is a logical reason for using this house." "It says here that it's on a ley line." "It runs across this part of the country and through this building." "Mm, it's a perfect place for turning the clock back." "And the summer solstice, the perfect time." "Have you any idea who it's using?" "Nothing definite." "I need to get closer to make contact." " Well then, make contact." " Steel, I need something tangible." "Tony Purnell's champagne glass." "It's his last physical contact since the girl's death." "No one has touched it since he put it down." "You can start there." "'Anthony Purnell, son of a merchant banker." "'Fast cars, expensive clothes... 'money... women..." "' It's that barrier again, Steel. '" "Break through it." "'Tony Purnell..." "He was here only a few days ago." "'June the 18th. '" "'This year?" "Who did he come to see?" "Mullrine?" "'" "'No, no, he was in London." "'Purnell came to see someone else in this house." "'Mullrine's secretary!" "'" "'Purnell came to see?" "' 'Ann Shaw." "'In Mullrine's office, here." "'Behind that green door." "'They're kissing..." "'No..." "Oh, she's angry with him." "'She knows about Veronica Blamey." "She's jealous. '" "'He tells her not to worry." "'He says Veronica will not be a threat." "'He says he can easily get rid of her." " Purnell." " Where?" "I don't know." "Somewhere in the house." "A gunshot, I think." "When?" "Soon." "What on earth?" " Sir." " What is it?" "There's no sign of Mr Purnell, sir." " No sign at all?" " No servants have seen him." "That's impossible." "A man can't disappear into thin air." "At least try to grow up." " Did you find anything?" " Nothing." "His room's a shambles." "He's not there." " I can't find him anywhere." " He can't get out." "That's right, no one can." "Now look here, I want to know what the devil's going on." " For starters, who are you two?" " I beg your pardon?" " We're not gate-crashers." " That's not the question!" "Yes, who are you?" "I don't remember." "Remember..." "I doubt if any of you can remember very much." " What are you talking about?" " A tear in the fabric of time." "I read somewhere that the inability to remember is one symptom." " Sorry, you're not making sense." " I can remember perfectly." " Can you?" " Yes." "Where were you three days ago?" "Here." " No." " London, then." " Correct." " What were you doing there?" " What I always do." "Business." " Go on." "At my club, the Denver, for lunch and in the evening to the Tivoli." " Impossible." " Are you calling me a liar?" "Sir, it is impossible for you to have done those things." "The Tivoli closed its doors for the last time in 1934 and the Denver was, I believe, blitzed in 1941." " You see?" " It's some sort of trick!" "Is it?" "Where were you yesterday, Mr Harborough?" "Where did you have lunch today, Mrs Harborough?" "What is the registration number of your car, Mr McDee?" "Can't remember?" "No?" "Well, what kind of a car is it?" "What make, Mr McDee?" "Well, it's a..." "Oh, no." "Oh, yes." "By now none of us can remember arriving here tonight." " Nor why we came." " Come and sit down, Miles." "Thank you." "Now it is impossible to know what is happening outside this house." "Assuming that there is an outside to the house." "The clock is moving backwards." "For the moment there is no past..." "and no future." "There was a murder, I remember that." " Was there?" " I found the body!" "Don't be stupid!" "Then let us refresh our memories." " If Greville would kindly..." " Of course, sir!" "...remove the sheet from the body." " Look here, that's obscene." " Sir?" "Yes, go ahead." "...changing, bodies disappearing." "There's no logic, I don't like it!" "The girl was murdered, there was a knife in her back!" "And now she's gone and Tony Purnell's disappeared." " There is a logic to it." " Rubbish!" "If we can find it." "My memory's gone completely, I can't remember where I had lunch today." "I can't even remember my own car." " No logic and no sense to it." " No, there is a sense to it." "You see, Lord Mullrine provided the setting - a party, a celebration back in 1930, everything authentic." "And set in a house that sits astride an ancient ley line." "Miles, what exactly is a ley line?" "A line of increased magnetic activity on the earth's surface." " Birds navigate by them." " And then there's the date." "The summer solstice." "No, it's all very significant." "June the 21st, 1930." "That's today!" "Yes, today, but 50 years ago." "What was he doing?" "I mean, what was he working on?" "Why don't you ask him yourself - he's here." " You can't interrupt him!" " This is absurd!" "Felix, no!" "Don't you dare go in there." "You can't get in, anyway." "Tony Purnell may be in there." "We're talking about George McDee." "About his work." "George never talks about his work, at least until it's finished." "You must have some idea." " Yes, it's a medicine of some sort." " Medicine?" "Yes, he's in there messing about with genetics." "Biology and all that." "Have you ever heard anything so ludicrous!" "'Genetic engineering!" "' 'Serum biology!" "'" "Someone at the Ministry swallowed the idea." " It's very secret." "Hush-hush." " A medicine for which disease?" "All of them - he's talking about giving it to the whole population." "George..." "'What was he doing, Sapphire?" "What was he working on?" "'" "'He..." "He's almost succeeded." "'He's very close." "'He's broken the genetic code." "He's replacing..." "'No, he's manipulating the genetic characteristics of a virus." "'It will save thousands of lives." "'One more day, Steel - one more day and he will succeed. '" "'To save lives?" "Then why should it keep him alive?" "'" "'Because he's careless, Steel." "'He will cause the extinction of life on this planet. '" "'So on June 21st 1930 this planet faces extinction?" "Unless... '" "On June 22nd George McDee dies." " No!" "What are you saying?" " That's tomorrow!" "How do you know my grandfather dies tomorrow?" " Because he has to." " If you're so clever, at what time?" "Arthur, we've got a little bit of a problem." ""A little bit of a problem," says Emma." " It's dinner." "Greville's anxious." " Dinner?" "Who can think about dinner?" "Somebody has to." "We've got jugged hare and lots of lovely other things." "The kitchen staff went to a great deal of trouble." "Is nobody hungry?" "Mr Purnell, sir, they've been looking for you!" " Yes, I know." " You all right, sir?" "No, I'm not." "Someone or something tried to kill me." " I'll tell Lord Mullrine, sir." " No!" "Tell Cavendish, tell him I must speak to him." " Yes, sir." " No one else, Greville!" "Just as you say, sir." "Why don't you sit down, sir?" "What is so significant about 1930?" "What happened here 50 years ago?" "If we find out who it is, we'll know." "Try George McDee again." "He must have had this in his hands at some time." " You want a manifestation?" " Yes, from 1922." "It's difficult." "It's a long time ago and it's too dangerous." "Give it a try." "Yes, he was in this room some time during that day." " But I can't tell when." " Sapphire..." "Mr McDee?" "Yes?" "What do you want?" "To talk." "I've no time for that, I've work to do." " Are you one of Arthur's flappers?" " Not exactly." "Aye, well, you'd better get back out there." "Surely Emma's about to organise one of those daft games." "Sardines, I shouldn't wonder." "We've already played that." "I've no time for idle chat." "What do you know of deoxyribonucleic acid, Mr McDee?" "What?" "!" "The transference of coded genetic material." "Cloning bacteria to produce your vaccine." "How do you know about that?" "!" "Has Arthur been blethering?" "!" "Do you know the danger involved?" "There is no danger!" "The only danger is to the millions who may die without my vaccine." "Such procedures must be carefully controlled." " They are controlled!" " Bacteria can escape." " It couldn't happen." " You cannot be certain." "Even if it did they'd be killed off!" "They could never withstand the change in temperature." "Is it not possible for a strain of bacteria not only to withstand the change in temperature but to become immune and therefore lethal?" "Are you a scientist?" "I can tell you what will happen if you don't stop your work." "Are you one of Alec Fleming's lot?" "Others will come later, able to control genetic engineering." " You don't have the facilities!" " I've lost him!" "Of course I have the facilities!" "I've been working on this for six years!" " How dare you!" " Mr Cavendish!" " I'm sorry, did I disturb you?" " Yes, you did, Greville." " It's Mr Purnell, sir." " You found him?" "He's in the dining room, sir." "He appeared somewhat dishevelled." "He said he wanted to see you, sir." " 'Don't go!" "'" " Of course." " Nobody else." " Certainly." "Mr Purnell led me to believe that it was rather urgent, sir." "Don't go, Steel." " What is it?" " Listen." "You told me." "You forgot." " That was a gunshot, sir!" " Yes, it was!" "From inside the dining room." "Nobody takes guns into dining rooms." " Emma, stop your prattling." " It might be Tony." "Where are Howard and Felix?" "Felix went upstairs to get some cigarettes." "I thought Howard was in the library." " No, he isn't." " Well, let's get in there!" "Tony?" "!" "And then there were eight." " Suicide." " It's out of his reach." " He killed her and shot himself." " There's no reason for this!" "There's a reason for all of it." "The time change, the murders," " the barrier around this house." " It's just hard to pinpoint." "If you don't pinpoint it quickly there won't be any of us left!"