Mark recognises the symptoms are of thallium poisoning, not some sort of satanic assassination.

Moreover, Ginger has begun to shed her own hair. The same thing happened to Lady Hesketh-Dubois, and Thomasina's hair was easily pulled out during the fight. When Mrs Brandon is interviewed, she reveals that both she and Mrs Davis worked for the organisation, which surveyed targeted people about what foods, cosmetics and proprietary medicines they used.ДЄriadne Oliver contacts Mark with a key connection that she has made: another victim of the Pale Horse (Mary Delafontaine) has lost her hair during her illness. In desperation, Mark turns to Poppy again, who mentions that friend (Eileen Brandon) resigned from a research organisation called CRC (Customers' Reactions Classified) that seems to be connected with the Pale Horse. Shortly afterwards, Ginger falls ill and begins to decline rapidly. At a ritual of some kind at the Pale Horse, Mark witnesses Thyrza apparently channel a malignant spirit through an electrical apparatus. With the agreement of Inspector Lejeune and the co-operation of Ginger, Mark agrees to solicit the murder of his first wife, who will be played by Ginger. (One client who refused fell in front of an oncoming train and was killed). If the person in question does die within that time, the client must pay. Ginger obtains from Poppy an address in Birmingham, where Mark meets Mr Bradley, a disbarred lawyer, who outlines the means by which the Pale Horse functions without breaking the law - that Bradley bets someone will die within a certain period of time and the client bets otherwise. Mark also makes an ally of Katherine 'Ginger' Corrigan, a girl whom he has met in the area, and who successfully draws Poppy out about the Pale Horse organisation. He does, however, receive support from Ariadne Oliver, and from a vicar's wife, Dane Calthrop, who wants him to stop whatever evil might be taking place. Mark's girlfriend, Hermia, does not take his growing fears seriously and he becomes disaffected with her. Even though he finds out that the man, Venables, is crippled by polio, and is incapable of standing due to the atrophy of his legs, Osborne remains certain of his identification and suggests that Venables could have faked his disability. Later, Osborne tells the police that he has seen the same man in a wheelchair. As part of the police investigation, a witness, Zachariah Osborne, describes a man seen following Father Gorman shortly before the murder. In retrospect, it seems to Mark that she has been outlining to him a service that she would be willing to provide. Mark also visits the Pale Horse, and Thyrza Grey discusses with him the ability to kill at a distance, which she claims to have developed. Visiting houses in the area, he meets Mr Venables, a man who uses a wheelchair and has no apparent explanation for his substantial wealth. The house is inhabited by three modern 'witches', led by Thyrza Grey. When Mark goes to a village fete, organised by his cousin, at Much Deeping, with the famous mystery writer, Ariadne Oliver, he hears about a house which has been converted from an old inn called the Pale Horse. He begins to fear that the list contains the names of those who are dead or are shortly to die. The list includes the names Corrigan, Tuckerton and Hesketh-Dubois (the same name as Mark's godmother who has recently died of what appear to be natural causes). When Mark encounters the police surgeon, Corrigan, he learns of the list of surnames found in the shoe of a murdered priest called Father Gorman.

At dinner with a friend, a woman named Poppy Stirling mentions something called the Pale Horse that arranges deaths, but is suddenly scared at having mentioned it and will say no more. Soon afterwards, he finds out that one of the girls, Thomasina Tuckerton, has died. Mark Easterbrook, the central character of the book and its principal narrator, sees a fight between two girls in a Chelsea coffee bar, during which one pulls out some of the other's hair at the roots. In the following summary, events are not given in strict narrative order. As the police begin to investigate, a young hero begins to piece together evidence that sets him upon a converging path. Before he can take action, however, he is struck dead in the fog.

3.1 Characters repeated in other Christie worksДЄ dying woman, Mrs Davis, gives her last confession to Father Gorman, a Roman Catholic priest, but along with her confession she gives him a list of names and a terrible secret.

Agatha christie the pale horse