Patrick Redfern and Arlena Marshall make no secret that they are flirting with each other. Captain Marshall is very discreet about his feelings, but Christine Redfern is visibly upset.
One morning Arlena is early on the beach. Poirot helps her with her float, and before she rows away, she tells Poirot not to tell anybody. The conclusion that Poirot reaches is that she is to meet Patrick Redfern. However, Patrick appears later, and he seems restless as he does not know where Arlena is. When Miss Emily Brewster tells him that she is going to row to Pixy Island, he agrees to go with her. When they reach the island, they see that there is a woman sunbathing, a hat covering her face. Patrick recognises Arlena, and he and Rachel approach. When he calls her name, she doesn't react, and when he comes closer, he says that she is dead. Emily volunteers to go and fetch the police.
The police surgeon conclude that Arlena was strangled. Poirot is asked to help the police: Ispector Neasdon and Colonel Weston. They start questioning the guests in the hotel. The relevant information is that Arlena was seeing Patrick Redfern. The logical assumption is that one of their spouses is the murderer. However, both Kenneth and Christine have alibis. Kenneth was typewriting some letters in his room, and Christine was with Linda, sketching in a cove. Besides, the surgeon thinks that the murderer was a man. When Christine was questioned, she mentions that some days ago she overheard Arlena talking to a man who was blackmailing her. Christine did not recognise the man's voice. Poirot and the police agree that this is a new clue, but it doesn't make sense that the person who was killed was the victim of the blackmailer, and not the blackmailer.
Since I have read the book before, I know who killed Arlena. What I don't remember is the motive, which I expect to discover soon.
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