The Pale Horse

Interactive Transcript

Speaker A Is this the priest's house? Is it Father Gorman you were looking for?

Speaker B Yeah.

Speaker C He's wanted.

Speaker A Who wants him? What for? Well, there's a woman who says she's dying.

Speaker C Benthall street, number 23.

Speaker A Mrs. Coppin sent me. This is a Catholic place, isn't it? The woman says the vicar won, too. It's a Catholic place, all right. I'll fetch him straight away. What's the name of the poor woman that says she's dying, Davies? Mrs. Davis.

Speaker D Telefontaine. You remember that Telefontaine? Yes. Sanford, Sanford.

Speaker B And Hesketh Dubois.

Speaker D Esketh Dubois.

Speaker B It must be stopped. You will stop them?

Speaker D I will do what is necessary, Mrs. Davis.

Speaker E You can trust me.

Speaker B Such wickedness. Such terrible evil. The bearer of death. The Pale. The Pale Horse.

Speaker C Foreign we present Stephanie Cole, Jeremy Clyde.

Speaker E Mary Wimbush, Terence Alexander, Hilda Schroeder, and.

Speaker C The BBC Radio Drama Company in Agatha Christie's the Pale Horse. I've done your padre for you, Inspector.

Speaker E And what's the verdict?

Speaker C I've saved the technical business for the coroner. But, sir, the priest was hit with a heavy caution. The first blow probably killed him, but whoever it was made absolutely sure. It's quite a nasty business.

Speaker E Who on earth would want to kill a poor parish priest? Couldn't have had much money on him.

Speaker C Was it robbery?

Speaker E Pockets were turned out, the lining of his cassock ripped open.

Speaker D Conagan.

Speaker A Why?

Speaker D Batteries head in.

Speaker C There's two possible answers. It could have been done by a vicious young thug who likes violence for violence's sake. And there are plenty of them about.

Speaker E And the other answer?

Speaker C Somebody had it in for Father Gorman.

Speaker D Is that likely?

Speaker E Most unlikely. He was a popular man, well loved in the district. No enemies, as far as one can tell. But there's one thing that is rather curious. There was something on him that the killer didn't get. It was in his shoe.

Speaker C What the hell was he doing in his shoe?

Speaker E He had holes in his pockets.

Speaker D Huh.

Speaker E His housekeeper, who, by way of being a bit of a slut, never kept his clothes mended. She said that now and again Father Gorman would slip a paper or a letter down the inside of his shoe.

Speaker D So that he could keep it safe.

Speaker C And what was this paper?

Speaker E I've got it here. It's a list of names.

Speaker C Let me see. Parkinson, Short, Tuckerton, Harmons, with Corrigan. Well, I'm on the list anyhow. Sanford, Delafontaine, Hesketh, Dubois.

Speaker E You never met Father Gorman?

Speaker C Never. No. There are dozens of Corrigans. Anyway, what's the list supposed to mean?

Speaker E Father Gorman had been to see a woman called Mrs. Davis. She was very ill and wanted to see a priest. He was with her for about half an hour. She died just before the ambulance arrived.

Speaker C To take her to hospital. Always the way.

Speaker E The next we hear of Father Gorman is at Tony's place. It's the local greasy spoon. Father Gorman asked for a cup of coffee. Then he asked Tony if he could give him a piece of paper, this scrap of paper.

Speaker C So what happened then?

Speaker E When Tony brought the coffee, the priest was writing this list out. Shortly afterwards, he left, leaving his coffee practically untasted. For which I don't blame him.

Speaker D Anybody else in the place?

Speaker E Three young lads were sitting at one table. An elderly man came in and sat at another. He went away without ordering.

Speaker C He followed Father Gorman.

Speaker E Could be Tony didn't notice when he went. Well, we're asking for anyone who saw Father Gorman between a quarter to 8 and 8:15 to get in touch with us. Nobody's come forward yet but 30 days.

Speaker C So this list is the only thing you've got to go on?

Speaker E I think it's important.

Speaker C The dying woman told him something. Something she wanted to get off her conscience. And he wrote these names down before he forgot them.

Speaker E Could have been blackmail.

Speaker C They're an honor sort of names, mine included. And no addresses. Hesketh Dubois. There can't be many of them about. Pass the telephone, Director.

Speaker E Here we.

Speaker A Go.

Speaker C John Hesketh, plumber.

Speaker D Sir.

Speaker C Isidore Hesketh.

Speaker D Here we are.

Speaker C Just the one. Hesketh Dubois, lady. 49 Ellesmere Square, Southwest 1.

Speaker D What say we just ring her up?

Speaker E Saying what?

Speaker D Her inspiration will come.

Speaker C Go ahead. Grosvenor 644578.

Speaker E Of course, there's no way of knowing whether the list has anything to do with the murder at all. Could just have been a common old garden coshing. It was pretty foggy.

Speaker C Hello.

Speaker A Is that Lady Hesketh Dubois House?

Speaker C Could I speak to her, please? Oh. Oh, I see. I am sorry. So that's why you were so ready.

Speaker D To let me ring up.

Speaker E She died last April. We don't really neglect the obvious.

Speaker C Six months ago.

Speaker D She didn't commit suicide or anything like that?

Speaker E No.

Speaker C She died of a tumor on the brain.

Speaker D And you knew all along.

Speaker C Even so, I'd.

Speaker D I'd like to do a little investigating.

Speaker C On my own account, if you've no objection.

Speaker E Because of the name Corrigan?

Speaker C Something like that. So where do we go from here?

Speaker A Think of the person on whom suspicion is least likely to fall. Do you know who said that?

Speaker C Sherlock Holmes.

Speaker A Wilkie Collins. Up to now it's always worked like a dream with me. It never fails. But this time, Mark, I'm really cornered. I just can't think up how anyone gets away with murder in real life.

Speaker D Nonsense.

Speaker C You've been doing it for years.

Speaker A Not in real life, Mark. Murder part's quite easy. It's the covering up that's so difficult. Tell me, Mark, do you think it's possible to kill someone by remote control?

Speaker C Surely you're not going to have someone killed with a death ray? Ariadne. That sort of thing went out in the 20s.

Speaker A No, no, no, no. I mean black magic.

Speaker C Wax figures with pins in them.

Speaker A Oh, goodness, no. I did that in the reign of Mystery. But queer things do happen in Africa, the West Indies. People just curl up and die. Voodoo or juju. You know what I mean.

Speaker C You mean your new story is about death by voodoo?

Speaker A It's just a passing thought. The moment. It's a good old fashioned blunt instrument. But how could he have failed to notice it? I've been trying for days. I cannot see a way round.

Speaker C You don't have to tear your hair out.

Speaker A Nonsense. Hair's tough. Though when I had measles at 14 with a very high temperature, it did come out all round the front. And it was six whole months before it grew properly again. Awful for a girl. And I thought of it yesterday when I was visiting Mary de la Fontaine. Her hair was coming out just like mine did.

Speaker C I saw a girl pull another girl's hair out by the roots not long ago.

Speaker D You must go to some funny places.

Speaker C There was a coffee bar in Chelsea.

Speaker A What on earth drove you to a place like that?

Speaker C Desperation. I was trying to write an article on Mogul architecture.

Speaker A That doesn't seem much of an excuse.

Speaker C Anyway, the girl didn't seem to notice great tufts of red hair torn out of her scalp and she didn't bat an eyelid.

Speaker A Who on earth was this girl?

Speaker C Tommy Tucker, they called her.

Speaker A What?

Speaker C Thomasina Tuckerton. An heiress with a taste for lowlife. She'd stolen the other girl's boyfriend. And do you know, a week later I read in the Times that she was dead. I mean, there wouldn't be another girl with a name like that.

Speaker A I'm sure there couldn't. You didn't come here to talk about girls having their hair torn out.

Speaker C Frankly, no. The fact is that my cousin Rhoda Despard is organizing a church fete at Much Deeping and she wondered if you.

Speaker A Could persuade your famous friend Ariadne OT Oliver to open it.

Speaker C Oh, no, you wouldn't have to open it. All you'd have to do would be to sit in a tent and sign your books.

Speaker A Would I have to wear a hat?

Speaker C I'm sure it's all totally informal and it would only be for an hour or two. And after that there'll be a cricket match and a fancy dress competition.

Speaker A That's it. Of course there's a cricket match. Oh, what a good thing you came round, Mark.

Speaker C I don't quite see what.

Speaker A That's why he doesn't notice. Greenwood. It's been lovely to see you, Mark, but what I've got to do now is work this out.

Speaker C That's all right. I've got to get to the theatre anyway. But about this fate.

Speaker A I'll think about it. Now, where on earth did I put my glasses? I don't see what more I can tell you, Inspector. I told it all before to your sergeant. I don't know who Mrs. Davies was or where she came from.

Speaker E She had a job, presumably?

Speaker A Yes, if you can call it a job. She worked for one of those customer research organisations.

Speaker E She didn't mention where she came from, what part of the country?

Speaker B I don't think she was a Londoner. Came from somewhere up north, I'd say.

Speaker E And there's nothing you can tell me about her? Nothing unusual?

Speaker D Not really.

Speaker A Though when she got ill, she seemed to be worrying about something. I got the impression it might have been to do with that firm she was working for.

Speaker C Possibly.

Speaker E Did she say anything else?

Speaker A She went down with a high fever, could hardly climb the stairs. I must have a priest, she says, and quickly, or it'll be too late. So I sent Mike for Father Gorman. While we were waiting. She kept muttering about wickedness.

Speaker E Wickedness?

Speaker A And something about a horse.

Speaker B Horse racing it might have been.

Speaker A It's got to be stopped. That's what she said.

Speaker D Wickedness.

Speaker A Mark.

Speaker D Good Lord.

Speaker A Mark Easterbrook.

Speaker C I live and breathe. Wonderful to see you.

Speaker D There's a table for you just here, if you can. Best sit next to us, that is.

Speaker B We'd love to. It's not reserved or anything? No.

Speaker E Madame.

Speaker D Let me take your coat.

Speaker B Thank you.

Speaker D This is my particular pet, Poppy.

Speaker B Hello.

Speaker D Meet Mark and Hermia.

Speaker B Hello.

Speaker C Hello. Hello, Poppy.

Speaker D Mark and Hermia are very serious and high brand, and you must try and live up to them.

Speaker C I bet you two have just come.

Speaker D From a really boring play.

Speaker A A Macbeth, actually, The Old Vic.

Speaker B And it wasn't the least boring.

Speaker C And what did they do with the witches this time?

Speaker A Oh, they were awful.

Speaker C I thought they were very funny.

Speaker A They always come on with all that.

Speaker D Smoke and thunder and lightning.

Speaker C If I were doing Macbeth, I'd make them very ordinary.

Speaker D Just sly, quiet old women. Like the witches in a country village.

Speaker B But there aren't any witches nowadays, are there?

Speaker C You say that because you're a London girl.

Speaker D There's still a witch in every village in rural England.

Speaker B I don't like the country. Macbeth turned up as the third murderer.

Speaker A Is that usual?

Speaker C No, it's been done before.

Speaker D But then what hasn't?

Speaker C It simply shows that Macbeth couldn't trust anybody. Not even hired murderers.

Speaker D How convenient it must have been in.

Speaker C The good old days to be able to call in a handy murderer whenever you want a little job done.

Speaker B But it is done.

Speaker A What are they called?

Speaker B Contract killings.

Speaker C Oh, I don't mean big time gangsters. I mean ordinary, everyday folk who want.

Speaker D To get rid of someone.

Speaker C A business rival.

Speaker D Aunt Evelyn.

Speaker C So rich and so unfortunately long lived.

Speaker D How convenient if you could ring up.

Speaker C Harrods and say, please send along two.

Speaker D Good murderers, will you?

Speaker B But one can do that in a way, can't Walt?

Speaker D What way, Poppy?

Speaker B Well, I mean, people can do this.

Speaker A If they want to.

Speaker B People like us, you said. Only I believe it's very expensive.

Speaker C What on earth are you talking about?

Speaker B That thing they call the pale horse.

Speaker A That sort of thing. The pale horse.

Speaker D What kind of pale horse?

Speaker B Oh, I expect I've got it wrong. It was just something somebody mentioned.

Speaker C I think what you need, my girl.

Speaker D Is another glass of wine. And it's time we all had some food. Waiter.

Speaker A Waiter.

Speaker D Oh, good morning, Inspector Lejeune.

Speaker C Good morning.

Speaker D Won't you come through? Thank you. Doreen will look after the shop, won't you, Doreen?

Speaker B Yes, Mr. Osborne.

Speaker D This way, Inspector. We can talk quite privately in here. I'll just draw the curtain across.

Speaker E Very nice little business you've got here, Ms. Osborne. Love all those colored bottles and pretty jars.

Speaker D Good old fashioned family chemists. My grandfather was here and my father before me. Mind you, I didn't see it that way. When I was young, I wanted to go on the stage. A year and a half in provincial rep soon cured me of that. But I'm selling the business now. I'm getting a good price for it. And I've made a down payment on a nice little bungalow near Bournemouth. Retire while you can still enjoy life. That's my motto.

Speaker E You said you had some information that you thought might interest us, Mr. Osborne.

Speaker D Yes, that's right. I think I may have seen your murderer.

Speaker E Really?

Speaker D It wasn't a busy evening. We keep open until 8 on Thursdays. And my young lady was behind the counter. I'd gone to the door to look at the weather, thinking to myself that the fog was coming down very fast. And I saw Father Gorman coming along on the other side of the street.

Speaker C You knew him?

Speaker D Oh, he'd called in a few times. Anyway, he was going in the direction of West Street. A little way behind him, there was another man. It wouldn't have entered my head to notice him. But quite suddenly, this second man came to a halt just when he was level with my door.

Speaker A I wondered why he'd stopped.

Speaker D And then I noticed that Father Gorman, a little way ahead, had slowed down almost to a stop. Then he started on again. And the second man started to move.

Speaker E Also, as if he was following him.

Speaker D That's what I'm sure he was doing now. Not that I thought anything about it at the time. What with the fog coming down, I lost sight of both of them almost at once.

Speaker E Can you describe this man at all?

Speaker D Well, yes, I think so. He was a tall man.

Speaker E How tall?

Speaker D Nearly six feet, I'd say. Although he might have seemed taller than he was because he was very thin. Sloping shoulders he had.

Speaker A And a definite Adam's apple.

Speaker D Grew his hair rather long under his homburg. Great beak of a nose. Very noticeable.

Speaker A Age? About 55.

Speaker D I'm going by his walk.

Speaker E A very detailed description. Mr. Osborne, do you think you would recognize this man if you saw him again?

Speaker D Oh, yes, Inspector, I would recognize him. I never forget a face.

Speaker C Blacksmith. 73841.

Speaker A I've thought about it, and I'll come. Thought about signing books at your cousin's fate in Much Deeping? I'll come if she still wants me to.

Speaker C That's frightfully nice of you, Harry. And he'll put you up, of course. Rhodes is married to a chap called Guy Despard. Colonel Despard, actually. You'll find them very hospitable.

Speaker A Of course, I shall have to cope with all those people who say how much they like my books. Perhaps we could lose them all and sneak off and have a drink in the Pale Horse.

Speaker C The Pale Horse?

Speaker A Well, isn't that the name of the pub in Much Deepling? Or is it the Pink Horse? Or perhaps it's somewhere else. I may have just imagined it. Anyway, I'll see you there.

Speaker C Flaxman 73841.

Speaker D Mr. Easterbrook?

Speaker C That's right.

Speaker D My name is Soames White solicitors.

Speaker C I'm ringing you about the estate of.

Speaker D Your late godmother, Lady Hesketh Dubois. Under the Terms of her will? You are entitled to choose three of her pictures.

Speaker C That was very thoughtful of her.

Speaker D There is nothing valuable, of course.

Speaker C I seem to remember some very charming watercolors of Indian scenes.

Speaker E Quite so.

Speaker D Probate has now been granted and the executors are arranging for the sale of her. London. If you go round to Ellesmere Square in the near future.

Speaker C I'll go now. Oh, good morning. I was wondering if you could. I don't live here. I was just leaving. You'll need to see the caretaker. Don't I know you? Aren't you Jim Corrigan? Mark Easterbrook. Well, it must be 15 years. You were at Baylis. And you were at Wadham? Yes.

Speaker A What are you doing here?

Speaker C I'm collecting some watercolors left to me by my godmother.

Speaker D Your godmother?

Speaker C Lady Hesketh Dubois? She was your godmother?

Speaker A Yes.

Speaker C What's so unusual about that?

Speaker A Nothing.

Speaker C Except that I called round here hoping to find out something about her. I suppose you don't have time for a spot of lunch?

Speaker D There's a little place just off Lowndes Square.

Speaker C And my godmother was on this list?

Speaker D Yes.

Speaker C And he was such an unusual name. I thought it would be pretty easy to track down. But what did you hope to find out?

Speaker D I'm not quite sure.

Speaker C I wanted to follow up the idea.

Speaker D That she might have been blackmailed.

Speaker C Blackmailed?

Speaker D Good Lord.

Speaker C I shouldn't think that's very likely. Who else is on this list of yours? Got a copy of it here. Parkinson. I know two Parkinson's. And there was a Sanford who used to be rector of our church when I was a boy. Tuckerton? That's odd. Not Thomasina Tuckson? I suppose it could be, for all I know.

Speaker D Who is she?

Speaker C What does she do? Nothing now. One week she was having her hair torn out in a coffee bar and the next I noticed her death in the Times. De la Fontaine. I've heard that name lately, but I can't remember where. Corrigan. Is that why you're taking such an interest? Do you think it might be you? I devoutly hope not. I have a feeling that it's unlucky to have your name on that list.

Speaker A Why?

Speaker C Do you think it's got something to do with blackmail? Oh, it was Inspector Lejeune's idea. It seemed the most likely possibility. But there are plenty of others. But I thought you were a pathologist. Do you always take such an interest in the police side of your work? No. No, I don't. But seeing my own name on the list made me want to find out what it was all about. One Corrigan to the rescue of another Corrigan. And Inspector Lejean's got quite a lot on his plate at the moment, so.

Speaker D He'S got nothing against me ferreting about.

Speaker C Well, I don't think I can give you a useful lead about Lady Hesketh Dubois. She led far too blameless a life to have been blackmailed. Any other Hesketh Dubois that you know about? She didn't have any children. Her husband died some time ago. She got a nephew and niece, I think, but not of that name. I can't think of any reason for her to be on your list. If someone killed that priest to get their hands on the list, the reason must have been pretty important.

Speaker A Oh, I do love fireworks. They make me feel like a child again. Such a wonderful way to round off the day.

Speaker C Did you have a successful siding session, or whatever you call it?

Speaker A 63 books at five bobber time, Colonel. I suppose it wasn't too bad, but people do ask such funny questions. One man wanted to know whether I had ever tried out poisons or on myself.

Speaker B Can I top you up, Mrs. Oliver?

Speaker A Oh, thank you.

Speaker B How about you, Mr. Easterbrook?

Speaker C Oh, thank you very much.

Speaker B Everyone calls me Ginger.

Speaker C Ah, thank you, Ginger.

Speaker B I think that at Horsefall cheated over the bottle of champagne her nephew got it.

Speaker A Lady Brookbank looked pretty embarrassed when she won that pin. All in all, we didn't come out of it too badly.

Speaker C Better than last year, Rhoda.

Speaker A It wouldn't have been very difficult. We got rained off last year. Yes, Damps squib was particularly appropriate.

Speaker C Didn't you burn your hand or something, Vicar?

Speaker D A Roman cand.

Speaker A I was so determined to get the thing to light. That's why I'm keeping my distance this year.

Speaker C I thought the King's Arms was particularly generous. Five bottles of whiskey and five of gin. Pretty sporting of them. The King's Arms. I thought you said the pub was called the Pale Horse. Ariadne.

Speaker A I did say. I might have imagined it. Oh, no, you didn't imagine it, Mrs. Oliver. There used to be a pub called the Pale Horse, but it's just an ordinary house now.

Speaker C I wouldn't call it ordinary.

Speaker D Mostly 16th century. But I do think they should have changed the name.

Speaker A Oh, no.

Speaker B It would have been awfully silly to call it Wayside or Fairview. I think it's much better to call it the Pale Horse. And there's the lovely old sign. Still, they've got it framed in the hall.

Speaker C Who's there.

Speaker A It belongs to Thursa Gray. You may have seen her today. Tall, rather mannish looking. Close cropped hair.

Speaker C She's very much into the occult.

Speaker D Goes in for spiritualism and chances and magic.

Speaker C Not quite black masses, but that sort of thing.

Speaker B I don't quite see Miss Grey as Madame de Montespan lying naked on a black velvet altar.

Speaker A Ginger. Not in front of the vicar.

Speaker B Oh, sorry, Mr. Calthrop.

Speaker D Don't apologize, my dear.

Speaker A Far worse things on the television.

Speaker C I still want to know who they are. Miss Gray. And who else?

Speaker A Oh, there's a friend who lives with her, Sybil Stamfordis. She acts as a medium, I believe. You must have seen her, the face. She was telling fortunes. Lots of scarabs and bees. And sometimes she puts on a sari. I can't think why. She's never been to India.

Speaker E Then there's Bella.

Speaker A She's their cook.

Speaker D She's also a witch.

Speaker C Comes from Little Dunning. She had quite a reputation for witchcraft there.

Speaker A Runs in the family.

Speaker D Her mother was a witch too.

Speaker C You sound as if you believe in witchcraft, Vicar. Well, of course I do. It's all treated quite matter of factly. Children are told not to tease your cat and people give you a cottage.

Speaker A Cheese or a pot of homemade marm from time to time.

Speaker B The locals believe they're all three of them witches. I wouldn't like to offend none of those three. That's what old Mrs. Crip says.

Speaker A Very exciting. I'd love to meet them.

Speaker C Well, we'll take you over there tomorrow.

Speaker D The old house is really worth seeing.

Speaker A I'll ring up further in the morning. We can go on there after we've had lunch with Mr. Venables. And who is this Mr. Venables?

Speaker D He's really a most interesting man.

Speaker C He's been everywhere and done everything.

Speaker D Knows all sorts of strange things.

Speaker A He had polio, poor soul, and is semi crippled. So he has to go about in a wheelchair. It's very sad because he was a great traveler, I believe. I'm sure you'll take to him, Mrs. Oliver.

Speaker D I met you yesterday in your professional capacity, Mrs. Oliver. Six of your books with signatures. Ideal for birthdays and Christmas presents. I thought you stood up to it very well.

Speaker A It's a strange feeling. I never quite get used to it. But it's the only chance I have to meet my readers face to face. It was awfully good of you to come to the fate, Mr. Venables. After that generous cheque you sent us. I didn't expect you to turn up in person.

Speaker D Oh, you couldn't keep me away. Part of English village life, isn't it? Mind you, this young lady nearly landed me with a live duck.

Speaker B You did buy five tickets, Mr. Venables.

Speaker D I even let Sybil tell my fortune. She did her best to think of something cheerful for me.

Speaker C I don't know what she thought. She was dressed up in that pencil turban. We're seeing her this afternoon. Mrs. Oliver wants to have a look.

Speaker D At the Pale Horse. I can't help wishing it had been left as an inn. I always feel that the place has had a mysterious and unusually wicked past. History seems rather tame to have turned into a des rez for three old maids.

Speaker B Three old maids. Most of the locals are convinced they're up to their ears in witchcraft.

Speaker D Yes, it's a strange thing, witchcraft. I've run into it all over the world. If you believe in it, the power it can hold over you is quite terrifying. Evil is very powerful. Sometimes more powerful than good. I really can't go along with this modern playing down of evil as something that doesn't really exist. Do you believe in the devil, Mrs. Oliver?

Speaker A I was brought up to believe in him, but it seems such a silly idea. You know, horns and a tail and all that.

Speaker D Oh, the devil doesn't have to have horns and a tail. There is evil. Real and tangible evil. And perhaps I am a little worried about the ladies at the Pale Horse. They may be playing with forces that are far stronger than they know. That's quite enough of that. I believe you are an expert on the art of the Middle East, Mr. Easterbrook.

Speaker C Well, obviously my reputation has got around.

Speaker D There are some figures from Isfahan on which I would welcome your opinion.

Speaker C Must be quite a wealthy man, your Mr. Venables. Those jades and the African sculpture. Say nothing of the micen and bow. You're lucky to have such a neighbor.

Speaker A How did he make his money? Or has he always had it?

Speaker C No one knows anything about him.

Speaker E He once told me that the reason.

Speaker D He came to live in Much Deeping was because he knew no one here. It's a bit of a mystery.

Speaker A That's the Pale Horse there, look. The building set back from the road.

Speaker C It looks harmless enough. Rather over restored. Not nearly sinister enough.

Speaker B Wait till you get inside.

Speaker A The Pale Horse. Must be one of the oldest surviving ensigns in the country.

Speaker D Can't see much of it in this light.

Speaker C Looks as if there's something else there.

Speaker B You haven't forgotten, Ms. Gray. You were going to let me clean it for you.

Speaker A No, I haven't forgotten. But I'm still rather doubtful. I suppose you ruin it.

Speaker B Oh, of course I shan't ruin it.

Speaker D It's my job.

Speaker B I work for the Manticore Gallery.

Speaker A Well, I'm not sure that I entirely approve of modern picture restoration. I was appalled when I saw what they'd done to petitions in the National Gallery. Looked as though they'd had a bath in the latest detergent.

Speaker B You can't really prefer them all dark and mustard colored. A lot more would come up with a little cleaning. The horse may even have a rider. There is something else there. Our dear, dear horse. We fell in love with the old sign the second we saw it.

Speaker A I really think it worked on us to buy the place. Sybil, this is Mrs. Oliver and Mr. Easterbrook. Sybil.

Speaker D Stamp, Horse.

Speaker B Did you know that all horses were.

Speaker A Sacred in this country in ancient times?

Speaker B Mrs. Oliver.

Speaker A To the goddess Epona.

Speaker B She was born from a wild mare.

Speaker A Ricotona.

Speaker B Rhiannon.

Speaker A And this is Bella. Tea's ready. Come on through, won't you? Hey. Oh, this used to be the bar. We didn't think there was much point in trying to disguise it. I think it's charming. What lovely chrysanthemums. You got all you want, then? Yes, thank you, Bella. Then I'll leave you to it. Bella is disconcerting, isn't she, Mr. Easterbrook? I noticed the way she looked at you.

Speaker C Yes, she's certainly disconcerting. I heard she got rid of both.

Speaker D Her husbands by turning the evil eye on them. He slowly sickened and pined away.

Speaker A I'm sure you've heard, Mrs. Oliver, that we all practice witchcraft. We've got quite a reputation, you know. Not undeserved, perhaps. Oh, do please help yourselves to tea. Perhaps you could pour ginger.

Speaker B I'd Love to tea, Mrs. Oliver.

Speaker A Thank you. I was always attracted by the occult.

Speaker B Even as a child, I realized that.

Speaker A I had occult powers.

Speaker B I fainted once when I was taken.

Speaker A To tea in a friend's house. Oh, thank you, dear. I knew that something ought to. It happened.

Speaker B And then we got the explanation.

Speaker A There had been a murder there, in that very room.

Speaker C Quite remarkable.

Speaker D Two spoonfuls, please. Ginger.

Speaker A Sinister things have happened in this house, too, but we have taken the necessary steps. The earthbound spirits have been treated a.

Speaker C Kind of spiritual spring cleaning.

Speaker B I suppose you could put it like that.

Speaker A What a remarkably striking sari that is you're wearing.

Speaker B Oh, yes. I got it in India.

Speaker A It was a fascinating place, but I couldn't help feeling it was all too sophisticated. I am one of the Few women who have ever visited. You don't believe any of it, do you, Mr. Easterbrook?

Speaker C Well, I.

Speaker A You're wrong, you know. You can't explain everything away as superstition or fear or religious bigotry. There are elemental truths and elemental powers.

Speaker D There always have been.

Speaker C I don't think I would dispute that.

Speaker A Wise man. Of course, everyone's heard of Barry's Slip Away.

Speaker D I want to show you my library.

Speaker C You've got some astonishingly rare books here, Ms. Grace. Is this an original Malleus Maleficarum?

Speaker A No, hardly. If it was, I would have sold it. But it is 15th century, like this house.

Speaker C Sadduceismus Triumphatus. The Green Wire of Honorius. The Gramorium Verum. Barrett's Magus.

Speaker A It's nice to meet someone who can appreciate one's books.

Speaker C There can't be much about the practice of witchcraft, sorcery and the rest of it that you don't know. What gave you an interest in it in the first place?

Speaker A It's difficult to say, it's been so long. Just idle curiosity at first, and then I got hooked.

Speaker C But do you really believe in it all?

Speaker D Well, I don't believe it.

Speaker C I know, but how? In what way?

Speaker A Why have people come throughout the ages to the necromancer, the sorcerer, the witch doctor? There are only two things that are wanted badly enough to risk damnation.

Speaker D The love potion and the cup of poison.

Speaker A Love and death. The love potion to win the man. You want the Black Mass to keep.

Speaker C Your lover like Madame de Montespan.

Speaker D All the capitalistic circles and incantations or any window dressing.

Speaker A The truth is the aphrodisiac in the draught.

Speaker C And death.

Speaker D Death. Are you so interested in death?

Speaker C Who isn't?

Speaker D There's always been a greater trade in.

Speaker A Death than love potions, voyages and their famous secret poisons. Do you know what they really used? Ordinary white arsenic.

Speaker D Just the same as any little back street wife poisoner. But we've progressed a long way beyond that. Nowadays there are new horizons, new the mind.

Speaker A Knowledge of what the mind is, what.

Speaker D It can be made to do.

Speaker C You mean the witch doctors and medicine man. But surely that won't work unless the victim believes in it.

Speaker D Oh, we've gone much further than the witch doctors. The psychologists have shown the way.

Speaker A The desire for death is there in everyone.

Speaker D Work on that. Work on the death wish.

Speaker C You mean you work on your subject to commit suicide?

Speaker D Nothing as ordinary as that. You've heard of traumatic illness, of course.

Speaker A People who, because of an unconscious, wish to avoid returning to work for instance, develop real ailments. So, in order to destroy your subject, power must be exerted on his secret unconscious self. The death wish that exists in all of us must be stimulated, heightened.

Speaker D Don't you see?

Speaker A A real illness will be induced by that death seeking self.

Speaker C But how do you propose to stimulate this death wish that we possess?

Speaker D That's my secret.

Speaker A There are communications without physical contact.

Speaker C Can you do it?

Speaker A You mustn't ask me to give all my secrets away.

Speaker C Why have you told me all this?

Speaker A And you recognize my books? One needs someone sensitive to talk to.

Speaker C Someone. And.

Speaker A Besides.

Speaker D Yes?

Speaker A I had the idea.

Speaker D Bella has it too.

Speaker A That you might need us.

Speaker C Need you?

Speaker A Bella thinks you came here to find us.

Speaker C She's seldom wrong. Why should I want to find you? That I do not know.

Speaker D Yet.

Speaker C What do they keep all those hens for?

Speaker B They're not hens. They're cockerels. That's what Bella told me. They're useful to us, she said. That's all I could get out of her.

Speaker A I don't like that woman. I don't like her at all. Bella? Oh, sure, she's quite harmless, really. No, no, no. I don't mean her. I mean Sybil. She seems just silly. All that stuff about voodoo and all those reincarnations she was going on about. Why is it that anyone who was a kitchen maid or an ugly old peasant never seems to get reincarnated? All was Egyptian princesses.

Speaker B Perhaps the kitchen maids can't afford the fare.

Speaker A Do you have a railway timetable back.

Speaker B At the house, Colonel?

Speaker A No, I need to look up a train for the morning.

Speaker C You can drive back with me.

Speaker A Oh, that's very kind of you, Mark, but I'd rather take an early train. I've got a funeral tomorrow and I mustn't be late. Mary de la Fontaine was a very dear friend.

Speaker C Of course. That's where I heard the name de la Fontaine. You said something about visiting her in a nursing home.

Speaker A Did I? Most quite likely.

Speaker C What did she die of?

Speaker A Toxic polyneuritis or something like that. All right, Mark, you've gone quite pale.

Speaker C 252.

Speaker D Inspector Lejeune speaking. I don't know whether you remember me, Inspector. My name is Zachariah Osborne.

Speaker E Ah, you're the chemist who reported seeing a man following Father Gorman.

Speaker A That's right.

Speaker D Well, I've seen him again.

Speaker E Where? When?

Speaker D On Saturday, at a place called Much Deeping. I'm living down at Bournemouth now, and Much deeping is about 20 miles away.

Speaker A There was a village fate, and I.

Speaker D Saw that Ariadne Oliver was going to be autographing her books. I am a great admirer of her work.

Speaker E What about the man?

Speaker A Oh, I saw him quite distinctly.

Speaker D He must have met with an accident because he was in a wheelchair.

Speaker A But there was no doubt about it. No doubt at all.

Speaker E And did you manage to find out what his name was?

Speaker D Yes, I did. I made some discreet inquiries and it seems he is a local resident of the name of Venables.

Speaker E Venables.

Speaker D And he lives at Prior's Court, Much Deeping in. They say he's a man of considerable means.

Speaker E And you're certain it's the same man?

Speaker D I take my oath on it. More coffee, Madame?

Speaker A Thank you.

Speaker D Sir.

Speaker C Just a little. Thank you, sir.

Speaker B And this Delafontaine woman was on the list as well?

Speaker C Yes. And what's more, I went over to the King's Arms and sneaked a look in the hotel register. And someone called Parkinson and someone called Sanford had stayed there during the past year. Now both names were on Corrigan's list. And then I noticed the name of Martin Digby. Now if that's the Martin Digby I know, he was Lady Hethcast Dubois nephew and probably came into her money.

Speaker A And do you think that the names.

Speaker B On the list are somehow connected with these middle aged witch ladies at the Pale Horse?

Speaker C Yes, I do. Do you remember Poppy? That girlfriend of David Ardingly?

Speaker A Pale faced girl with a silly voice.

Speaker C She talked about the Pale Horse having some connection with getting rid of who weren't wanted.

Speaker A I got the impression she didn't know what she was talking about.

Speaker C I went round to see her in the flower shop where she works and she denied all knowledge of it. But she was scared stiff, Hermia. She was shaking like a leaf.

Speaker B Mark, you're letting your imagination run riot.

Speaker D I don't think I am.

Speaker C The menace is real. I'm worried about what's going to happen to the other names on that list. The whole thing is real.

Speaker A I dare say your old pussies are quite genuine in believing it themselves.

Speaker B But it's all just fantasy.

Speaker A You can't believe in this sort of thing. You simply can't.

Speaker C I want to get to the bottom of what's going on, Hermia.

Speaker B I think you should. It might be quite interesting.

Speaker A In fact, really rather fun.

Speaker C I wanted to ask if you'd help me. Oh, help me investigate?

Speaker A Oh, I'd love to, Mark, but I just can't.

Speaker B There's my article for the Journal and.

Speaker A There'S still that Byzantium thing.

Speaker C I understand you've got too Much on your plate.

Speaker A And supernatural hijinks in quaint old inns.

Speaker B With dotty old la ladies isn't quite my style. Why don't you try your friend Corrigan?

Speaker C It's unutterable border dash. Isn't it just? But you believe there's something in it, don't you? Let me ask you a question first. This stuff about everyone having a secret urge or wish for death. Is there any scientific truth in that? I'm not a psychiatrist. Strictly between ourselves, I think half these blokes are slightly balmy themselves. You mind if I pull myself another dram? Oh, go ahead. Thank you. So you don't believe in it? What? The power of the death wish. Oh, I believe in it, but these chaps take it much too far. And as for some half baked village spinster being able to induce it by remote control, it's just rubbish. Take my word for it. I'll drop the subject. How are you getting on with that list of names? The boys have been doing their best, but these things take time and a lot of routine work. Names without addresses and Christian names aren't easy to trace and identify. Now, I'd be willing to bet you one thing. Within a fairly recent period, say a year to a year and a half, every one of those names has appeared on a death certificate. Am I right? You are right, for what it's worth. But there's nothing fishy about any of the deaths. Pneumonia, cerebral hemorrhage, tumor on the brain. Nothing in the least suspicious. Ordinary illness leading to death. Just as Thursa Gray claims. Are you really suggesting that that woman can cause someone she's never seen miles away to catch pneumonia and die of it? I'm not suggesting it. She is. I'd like to think it's impossible. But there are certain facts that worry me. There's the casual mention of a pale horse in connection with the removal of unwanted persons. Now, Thursa Gray, who boasts of getting rid of people through induced traumatic illness, lives in a place called the Pale Horse in Much Deeping and it's.

Speaker A Just a minute.

Speaker C Where did you say? Much Deeping?

Speaker A Is it?

Speaker C Somewhere near Bournemouth. It's about 15 miles away. I suppose you didn't come across somebody called Venables down there? Certainly I do.

Speaker D What's he like?

Speaker C Well, he's a most remarkable man. A really powerful personality. Although he's completely crippled by polio.

Speaker A What?

Speaker C He had polio some years ago. He's paralyzed from the waist down. Thought it was too good to be true. How do you mean? Well, it's just that a chemist called Osborne saw a man following Father Gorman on the night he was killed. And he very positively identified that man as Venables. He saw him at some village fate. Venables was at the village fate. But he couldn't have been the man who was following Gorman. He was so positive about it, according to Inspector Lejeune. Well, I suppose it is impossible from the medical point of view that the paralysis could be fixed. No, of course not. Limbs would be atrophied. It's a pity, in a way this organization for getting rid of unwanted people really exists. Venables is just the kind of brain that I can see running it. All these people who died so tidily in their beds were the people who profited by their death. Someone always profits by death to a.

Speaker D Greater or lesser degree.

Speaker C Lady Hesketh Dubois left about £50,000. A niece and nephew inherit. Nephew lives in Canada, the niece in the north of England. Thomasina Tuckerton was a wealthy heiress. If she died unmarried before the age of 21, the money reverted to her stepmother, which it did. Mrs. Delafontaine left her money to a cousin in Kenya. Curious how many of them are so far away. The three possible Sanfords I've checked up on. One was an RC who wouldn't give his wife a divorce. The Harmon's worth on the list could have been a blackmailer. And quite a few people would have liked to have seen out of the way. So what you're saying is that all these deaths were convenient deaths? Rather. Looks like it. I've got to investigate this pale horse business. Will you help me? Of course not.

Speaker D It's rubbish.

Speaker C Even though your name's on the list? I told you, it's a common name. And don't think that your Witch of Endor is going to strike me down with a duodenal ulcer or Spanish flu. Sorry, Mark, but it's no go. In any case, my boss thinks I spent too much time on the case already. So back to pathology for me. Oh, don't worry. I've just thought of somebody who might help me.

Speaker A Ariadne.

Speaker C Oliver Ariadne, this is Mark Easterbrook.

Speaker A Oh, Mark. Look, this isn't a very convenient time to call. I've just realized that Major Crediton couldn't possibly have been at the scene of the crime and he's got to be.

Speaker C It won't take a second. Can you tell me the name of that girl who was staying at the house for the fete?

Speaker A I expect so. Ginger. That was her name.

Speaker C Well, I doubt if she was christened Ginger. What was her other name?

Speaker A I've got it written down here somewhere. And her address and phone number.

Speaker C Phone number? That's marvelous.

Speaker A I'm glad you reminded me. I was going to send her one of my books. Such a bright girl. Yes. Here we are. She lives in Gardner Mews, Calgary Place. Yes, and her number is Capricorn 359-8787.

Speaker C And what's her name?

Speaker A Corrigan.

Speaker C What?

Speaker A Catherine Corrigan. It is. Something the matter?

Speaker C No, nothing. Thanks a lot and good luck with the Major.

Speaker B But it's quite terrifying, I must admit. I've always thought they were just three dotty old ladies, but it all sounds too close to be just coincidence. What are you going to do about it?

Speaker C I'm not sure. I need to get inside it all somehow.

Speaker B You seem to have one or two leads. Perhaps I can help.

Speaker C What about your work?

Speaker B Oh, they're fairly easy going at the gallery and there's plenty I can do outside office hours. What about that Poppy girl? She obviously knows something.

Speaker C Yes, but she got frightened and sheared off when I tried to ask her questions. She definitely wouldn't talk.

Speaker B That's where I can help. She tells me things she wouldn't tell you. Can you arrange for us to meet your friends and her and you and me? A show or dinner or something.

Speaker C That shouldn't present much of a problem.

Speaker B As for you, I believe your best bet would be the Thomasina Tuckerton angle. There seem to be two possibilities. The stepmother or the girl she had the fight with. Have you any idea what the girl's name was?

Speaker C Not a clue, I'm afraid.

Speaker B The wicked stepmother's probably the better bet anyway. After all, she was the one who got the money. You'll have to tackle her. It's more up your street than mine.

Speaker C I'd have to have some pretext for going to see her.

Speaker B It shouldn't be too difficult for you. You're someone, you see, an art historian, and you've got letters after your name. Mrs. Tuckerton will probably be tickled to death to see you.

Speaker C And the pretext?

Speaker B Something about her house. Didn't you say it was by Nash or somebody like that?

Speaker C But it isn't my period.

Speaker B She's not going to know that. All you've got to do is get your foot in the door. Somehow or other, you slip the pale horse into your conversation and see how she reacts. If she has any kind of a guilty conscience, she's bound to show some sign.

Speaker C And if she does?

Speaker B Then we'll Know we're on the right track. Once we're sure, we can go full steam ahead. Do you think I could have another drink?

Speaker A Of course.

Speaker C Do forgive me. Such a relief to have someone to talk to about this, who doesn't think I'm off my head. Jules, same again, please.

Speaker D Yes, Mr. Easterbrook.

Speaker B You mustn't get the idea that I'm a dipso or something. It's just that it's all rather exciting. There's something else that's occurred to me. Why do you think Thursa Gray told you all she did tell you? Why was she so forthcoming? Why you in particular?

Speaker C I have no idea.

Speaker B Look at it this way. This Poppy creature knows all about the Pale Horse. In a vague kind of a way. Probably she's heard some talk about it. She's worried because of what she let slip to you. And perhaps you tell somebody this. Anyway, they remember your name.

Speaker C Go on.

Speaker B The next thing is that you turn up at Much Deeping. You're brought to the Pale Horse. Presumably you've asked to be taken there. And what happens? Thursa Gray goes into her sales talk.

Speaker D One Perno for madame. One dry martini.

Speaker C Ah, thank you, Jules. But I remember now. She said I had the idea you may need her.

Speaker B So you are, then.

Speaker C Do you think she can do what she claims to do?

Speaker B Personally, I'd be inclined to say, of course she can't. But odd things can happen. I don't think it's true, but I'm terribly afraid it might be.

Speaker C There must be some way of finding out whether we're imagining it all.

Speaker B That's where Mrs. Tuckerton comes in. We need to prove a link between Father Gorman's list and the Pale Horse.

Speaker A Fancy your being interested in this house, Mr. Easterbrook. Of course, I knew it was built by John Nash. My husband told me so. But I never realized it would be interesting to a person like you.

Speaker C It's a particularly unusual design for Nash. The internal layout is a complete breakaway from his usual practice.

Speaker A Oh, I'm afraid I'm terribly stupid about that sort of thing. I know nothing about architecture. What I do know is that the house is far too big for me.

Speaker B I put it up for sale.

Speaker A It's lucky you called when you did. I'll take you round, and then we'll have tea in the Octagon Room. I shan't miss it at all, I assure you.

Speaker B I want to travel.

Speaker A I. I hate this miserable climate, and I want to get into the sunshine. I think I shall winter in Egypt. I never had the chance to do that while Tommy was alive. My late husband, he never wanted to go anywhere.

Speaker C I imagine he had a good many business interests that kept him in the country.

Speaker A That's right. And he was a very lonely man. I was much younger than he was. Of course, he missed his first wife very much and didn't know what to do with his daughter.

Speaker B He doted on her, absolutely doted on her.

Speaker C You know, I have an idea I may have met your daughter stepdaughter once. Was she called Thomasina?

Speaker B Yes, she was.

Speaker A How odd.

Speaker C Somewhere in Chelsea, I think.

Speaker A Chelsea? Yes, it would be. She used to hang around some very odd places. Her father had no control over her at all. She was even threatening to get married. Some totally unsuitable person.

Speaker B It wasn't easy being her stepmother.

Speaker C I'm sure it wasn't.

Speaker B In a way, it was quite a.

Speaker A Relief when she insisted on leaving home.

Speaker B But she got in with the most undesirable set.

Speaker C I rather gathered that.

Speaker B Poor Thomasina. But perhaps you don't know.

Speaker A She died about a month ago. Encephalitis. Very sudden. It's a disease that attacks young people, I believe. Very sad.

Speaker C I did know that she was dead. Thank you very much for showing me over your house, Mrs. Tuckerton. I can't tell you what a valuable experience it's been.

Speaker A It's been a pleasure, Mr. Easterbrook.

Speaker C By the way, I believe you know the Pale Horse, don't you?

Speaker A The Pale Horse? What do you mean by the Pale Horse?

Speaker C Oh, my mistake. There's a very interesting old pub in Much Deeping. I was down there the other day and was taken to see it. It's been very charmingly converted, keeping all the atmosphere. I certainly thought your name was mentioned. But perhaps it was your daughter who had been down there.

Speaker A I've never even heard of the place. I know nothing about it at all.

Speaker C She was white as a sheet and was shaking with panic.

Speaker B So now we know.

Speaker C Yes, now we know. So what do we do next?

Speaker B You make a little trip to Birmingham.

Speaker C On earth. Should I go to Birmingham?

Speaker B To see a man called Bradley.

Speaker C What is all this?

Speaker B I've been working on Poppy in a big way. I told you I could get something out of her if I tried. Once I got her softened up, it was easy.

Speaker C How did you manage that?

Speaker B We had lunch together and I went on about my love life. I told her I'd fallen for a married man with an impossible wife who wouldn't divorce him, made his life hell. And how she was an invalid, always in pain, but not likely to die for years. Really. Much better for her if she did die. Said I had a good mind to try the Pale Horse, but I didn't really know how to set about it. And wouldn't it be terribly expensive? And Poppy said yes, she thought it would. She'd heard they charged the earth, so I said I'd try it anyway. How did one set about it? Poppy came across with the address of this man, Bradley. You had to go to him first, she said, to settle the business side.

Speaker C She told you this? Quite openly.

Speaker B You wouldn't understand. The point is that if a girl tells things to another girl, it doesn't really count. And after all, Mark, if what we think is true, the business has to be more or less advertised, doesn't it? I mean, they must want new clients all the time. So are you going to Birmingham to see Mr. Bradley?

Speaker C Oh, yes, if he exists. What's he supposed to be, anyway? Can't call himself the agent for the Pale Horse.

Speaker B Not quite. He calls himself a commission agent. I can't wait to find out what he comes up with.

Speaker D Sit down, won't you? That chair there, that's quite comfortable, Alex.

Speaker C Funny sort of day, isn't it? Doesn't seem to be able to make up its mind whether it's gonna rain or not.

Speaker D I don't believe you came here all the way to talk about the weather. What can I do for you?

Speaker C How much, Mr. Bradley?

Speaker D Well, well, well. If you can't talk about the weather, you just jump in at the defense.

Speaker C What's the answer?

Speaker D We haven't introduced ourselves yet, have we? I don't know your name at the moment.

Speaker C I don't really think I feel inclined to tell you.

Speaker D Cautious, aren't we?

Speaker C Cautious?

Speaker D So who sent you to me? Who is our mutual friend again?

Speaker C I can't tell you. A friend of mine has a friend who knows a friend of yours.

Speaker D That's the way a lot of my clients come. Some of their problems are rather delicate. You know my profession, I take it? Turf commission agent. You're interested in horses?

Speaker C I'm not a racing man.

Speaker D Oh, there are many aspects of the horse racing, hunting, betting.

Speaker A Any particular horse you had in mind?

Speaker C A pale horse.

Speaker D Very good. You yourself, if I may say so, seem to be a rather dark horse. You mustn't be nervous.

Speaker C Why mustn't I?

Speaker D I can assure you that you needn't have any anxiety. I am a lawyer myself, despite, of course. Otherwise I wouldn't be here. But I can assure you I know the law. Everything I recommend is perfectly legal and above board. It's just a question of a bet.

Speaker C A bet?

Speaker D Yes.

Speaker C I don't really understand this business of the pale horse.

Speaker D And that worries you? Yes, it worries a lot of people. Frankly, I don't understand it myself. But it gets results.

Speaker C If you could tell me a little more about it.

Speaker A Do you know the place at all?

Speaker D Yes.

Speaker C I was staying nearby with some friends. They took me there.

Speaker D Charming old house. Full of historical interest. Did you meet my friend Thirza Gray?

Speaker C Yes, I did. She really is most extraordinary woman.

Speaker D Isn't she just? You hit it. Exactly. An extraordinary woman. And she has extraordinary powers.

Speaker C But surely the things she claims, they're just not possible.

Speaker D That's just the point. The things she claims to do are impossible. Everybody would say so. In a court of law, for instance. The whole thing would be ridiculed. In this day and age, one really can't credit that. Someone can send out thought while he was sitting in a cottage in Sussex and cause someone to sicken and die of a convenient disease out in Capri or somewhere like that.

Speaker C Is that what she claims?

Speaker D Oh, yes. And I do believe without any doubt that Thursa Gray does know beforehand when someone is going to die. It's a gift she has. Lets assume a hypothetical case. Someone, yourself or another, would like to know very much when, let's say, Great Aunt Eliza is going to die. Nothing unkind in it. Nothing wrong. It's just a matter of business convenience. Will there be a useful sum of money coming in by next November? Now, that is where I come in. I am a betting man. Naturally, you wouldn't want to bet on the old girl's passing out.

Speaker A So we put it this way.

Speaker D You bet me a certain sum that Aunt Eliza will be alive and kicking by Christmas. I bet you that she won't. Nothing against that, is there?

Speaker C So what happens?

Speaker D We draw up a contract and sign it. If you're right, I pay you. If you're wrong, you pay me.

Speaker C What? Terms.

Speaker D That's where he came in, isn't it? In some cases it depends on the funds available to the client. An inconvenient husband or a blackmailer or something of the sort would depend on how much my client could afford to pay. I don't make it clear. Bet. With poor clients, the odds would work out normally at 500 to 1. Whew.

Speaker C That's pretty steep.

Speaker D My wager is pretty steep. To prophesy somebody's death to within two weeks means pretty long odds.

Speaker C Supposing you lose?

Speaker D That's just too bad. I pay up.

Speaker C And if I lose? I pay up. Supposing I don't?

Speaker D Oh, I wouldn't advise that. I really wouldn't.

Speaker C I must think it over.

Speaker D Certainly think it over. If you decide to do business, come back and we'll go into the matter fully.

Speaker A There's no rush.

Speaker D Take your time.

Speaker B Sooner or later we've got to find out what really happens at the Pale Horse. There's only one way to do that. One of us has to go to Bradley as a genuine client.

Speaker C I don't like it.

Speaker B Why?

Speaker C We'd have to have a real victim. Can't just invent somebody. They'd almost certainly check up.

Speaker B And we'd have to have a real reason for getting rid of him.

Speaker C He'd have to agree. It's a lot to ask.

Speaker B Who is there that you or I would want to get rid of? There's my Uncle Max. I suppose I'll come into a very nice packet when he goes, but he's over 70 and more or less gaga, so it would be more sensible for me to wait.

Speaker A What about you?

Speaker B Have you got any relatives who are going to leave you any money?

Speaker C No one at all.

Speaker B It's a pity you've never married. We could have cooked up a bit of bigamy if you had. Oh, dear. Have I put my foot in?

Speaker C Doesn't matter. It's a long time ago. I rather doubt if there's anyone now who knows about it.

Speaker B You married someone?

Speaker C Yes, while I was at Cambridge.

Speaker B What happened?

Speaker C We went to Italy. In the Long Vac. There was a car accident. She was killed outright.

Speaker B And you?

Speaker C I wasn't in the car. She was with somebody else.

Speaker B I'm sorry. You were married in England?

Speaker C Yes. A registry office in Peterborough.

Speaker B But she died in Italy?

Speaker C Yes.

Speaker B So there will be no record of her death in England?

Speaker C No.

Speaker B Then what more do you want? Nothing. Could be simpler. You're desperately in love with someone and you want to marry her. But you don't know whether your wife is still alive. You parted years ago and haven't heard from her since. Then she suddenly reappears. She refuses to give you a divorce and threatens to go to your young woman and spill the beans.

Speaker C Who's my young woman? You?

Speaker B Certainly not. I'm the wrong type. I'd probably be happy to live in sin with you. No. That statuesque brunette you go around with?

Speaker C Hermia Redcliffe. But what about the wife? They'll want details where she lives and so on.

Speaker B Brace yourself. I'm your wife.

Speaker C What?

Speaker B There's no need to be so taken aback. It's not a proposal.

Speaker C But you'd be putting yourself in danger.

Speaker B That's my lookout.

Speaker C It wouldn't hold water for a moment.

Speaker D Oh, yes, it would.

Speaker B I arrive at a furnished flat with a suitcase or two with foreign labels. I take the flat in the name of Mrs. Easterbrook. And who on earth is going to say I'm not? They can verify the marriage by checking at Somerset House. They can easily find out about your friendship with Hermia. So why should there be any doughs?

Speaker C But suppose something happens to you?

Speaker B It won't. I'm forewarned and forearmed. I know what somebody's going to try and do to me. I'm in good health and I simply cannot believe I'll develop gallstones or meningitis because old Thursa draws pentagrams on the floor and Sybil goes into a trance.

Speaker C I don't like it. I don't like to think of you alone in some place under a false name, with no one to keep an eye on you. I think before we embark on this, we ought to tell the police what we intend to do.

Speaker E But you don't mean to tell me that you actually believe any of this?

Speaker C That's the beauty of it. Nobody could possibly believe it. But I've established the link between that list and the Pale Horse.

Speaker E Even if you have, there's not sufficient evidence for me to investigate the place. It's not even in my parish.

Speaker C Well, I'm not asking you to do anything, Inspector. There's a chance that I may be able to get to know a little more about how it works. But I thought I ought to let you in on it first, just in case anything goes wrong. You see, this friend of mine is taking one hell of a risk by playing the part of the victim.

Speaker D So what's this wife of yours been doing to you?

Speaker C She's come back. It's as simple as that.

Speaker D What did you think had happened to her?

Speaker C Actually, I suppose I assumed she must be dead. She never wrote or anything. I never had news of her.

Speaker D The truth is, you wanted to put her out of your mind.

Speaker C You see, it wasn't as though I wanted to marry somebody else.

Speaker D But now you do?

Speaker C Well, yes, as a matter of fact, I do.

Speaker D Tell me all about it.

Speaker C I don't want the girl brought into it. She doesn't even know about my wife. I don't want to tell you anything about her.

Speaker D Quite natural.

Speaker A But what about divorce?

Speaker D Isn't that the most obvious solution?

Speaker C My wife simply won't hear of it.

Speaker D Deary, deary me.

Speaker C Now that I'm Successful? She wants to come back to me. She's utterly unreasonable. Reasonable. She knows there's someone else and she's acting nasty.

Speaker D She's quite young.

Speaker C I take it she'll live for years.

Speaker D Oh, yes. Well, you never know, Mr. Easterbrook. She's been living abroad, I think you said.

Speaker C So she tells me. I've no idea where she's been.

Speaker D May have been out east. Sometimes, you know, you pick up a germ in those parts. Dormant for years. Then you come back home and suddenly it blows up. I've known two or three cases like that might happen. In this case, if it will help to cheer you up, I'll bet a small amount on it, 1500 to one that the lady dies between now and Christmas. How's that?

Speaker C It'll have to be sooner. She's threatening to go to my girlfriend and make trouble. I can't risk that.

Speaker D Alter the odds, then. We'll say 1800 to 1. Your wife's a goner in under a month. I've got a sort of feeling about it. If you'll just sign here.

Speaker C Is this legally binding?

Speaker D I don't think that it'll ever be put to the test. Bet's a bet. We don't like Welshes.

Speaker C I shan't welsh.

Speaker D I'm sure you won't, Mr. Easterbrook. Now for the details. Mrs. Easterbrook, I take it, is now living in London. Where exactly?

Speaker C I've got the address here, thank you.

Speaker D The next thing is to arrange an appointment with Miss Gray. And she'll want you to take something your wife has worn. A glove or a handkerchief, anything like that.

Speaker C I suppose I could manage that.

Speaker D And then you go down to Much Deeping, I think. You said you had friends or relations in the neighborhood.

Speaker C A cousin.

Speaker D Aha. And doubtless your cousin will put you up for a day or two. And after that, Miss Gray will then be in charge. Afterwards, I would suggest that you take a little trip abroad. The Italian Riviera is very pleasant at this time of the year. Just for a week or two.

Speaker C It's not convenient for me to go abroad at present.

Speaker D Well, then stay in England if you must, but definitely not London. Now, I must strongly advise. Not London.

Speaker C Why not?

Speaker D Clients are only guaranteed absolute safety if they obey orders.

Speaker C What about Bournemouth? Would Bournemouth do?

Speaker A Yes, Bournemouth would be adequate.

Speaker D Stay at a hotel, make a few acquaintances, be seen in their company. The blameless life. That is what we aim at.

Speaker A Are you really going to a seance.

Speaker C At Thirza's this very evening? Why not?

Speaker A I never knew you were interested in that sort of thing, Mark.

Speaker C I thought it was such a peculiar setup that day we went over there. I'm curious to see what sort of show they put on.

Speaker A I shall come with you. I've always wanted to go.

Speaker D You do nothing of the sort, Rhoda.

Speaker A Oh, but I don't believe in spirit and all that, Guy. You know I don't. I just want to go for the fun of it.

Speaker D That sort of business isn't fun. There may be something genuine to it. There probably is. But it doesn't have a good effect on people who go out of idle curiosity.

Speaker A Then you ought to persuade Mark, too.

Speaker C Mark's not my responsibility in any case, Rhoda. Miss Gray was most emphatic. One outsider is quite enough, she said. And she was being deadly serious.

Speaker A I want you to sit in this chair here.

Speaker C Right.

Speaker A I must impress on you, Mr. Easterbrook, the necessity of remaining absolutely still. On no account must you move from the chair.

Speaker D You would be putting your life at risk.

Speaker A This is no child's game. I am dealing with forces that are dangerous to those who don't know how to handle them. The couch on which Sybil is to lie is protected, as you see, by a circle inscribed with cabalistic signs from the Grimorium Verum. The brazier and the copper bowl in which Bella will make the sacrifice are both protected by the sign of tetragrammaton.

Speaker C I see that you've put your remarkable library to good use.

Speaker A Although our rituals are based on those of antiquity, we do not scorn the 20th century. As you see, we also employ a wave transmitter. The old magic and the new. The old knowledge of belief, the new knowledge of science. Together they will prevail. You have brought what you were instructed to bring.

Speaker C A glove, I hope? That will do.

Speaker A Most suitable physical emanations from the wearer.

Speaker C Quite strong.

Speaker A Bella, Cybil, we are ready. There are clouds over the face of the moon tonight. I do hope that won't interfere. Please don't adopt a skeptical frame of mind, Mr. Easterbrook. It does so hinder things.

Speaker C I won't, I promise you.

Speaker A Mr. Easterbrook has not come here to mock.

Speaker D Are you quite comfortable, Sybil?

Speaker B Yes, thank you, dear.

Speaker A Oh, if you could just shade that lamp.

Speaker B Too much light is harmful to a complete trance.

Speaker A Is that better? Perfect. Then I think we are ready. Bella, put his left hand in my left hand. I invoke and conjure thee, Spirit.

Speaker B I command thee by anchor.

Speaker A Amican Amadeus, Theodonius, Anito.

Speaker B I. I exalt and command thee, O Spirit, come presently.

Speaker C Why.

Speaker A Have you brought me to this place. Is that Mechandal? I am Macandoor. Are you prepared to submit to my desire and my will? I am. Will you undertake to protect the body of the Dosu that lies here and which you now inhabit from all physical injury and harm? Will you dedicate its vital force to my purpose, that that purpose may be accomplished through it?

Speaker D I will.

Speaker A Will you so dedicate this body that death may pass through it, obeying such natural laws as may be available in the body of the recipient?

Speaker D The dead must be sent to cause death. It shall be so. Now, Bella.

Speaker A Place the inverted cross on her breast.

Speaker B All is ready.

Speaker A I don't suppose you're much impressed, are you, Mr. Easterbrook? Some of our visitors are. To you, I dare say. It's all so much mumu jumbo, but don't be too sure. Ritual, a pattern of words and phrases sanctified by time and usage, has an.

Speaker D Effect on the human spirit.

Speaker A These old time incantations, they play their part. Bellas preparing to sacrifice a cockerel. You don't care for it much, do you?

Speaker D She's intoning the death spell. Oh, it's old, you know. Very old.

Speaker A Handed down from mother to daughter. Nel Meltat. Now we are ready. Sybil, Diana, Helen. You are set free from your mortal sheath which the spirit Mechandle guards safe before you. You are free to be one with the owner of this God. Like all human beings, her goal in life is towards death. The weak spout.

Speaker D There's always a weak spot deep in the tissues of the flesh.

Speaker A Through weakness comes strength. The strength and peace of death.

Speaker D The tissues of the body obey the mind.

Speaker A Command them towards death. Death. Death.

Speaker B Hit name. Melta.

Speaker A Blood. Blood. Blood. Death. Death. Death. Hello, Ginger.

Speaker C Are you all right?

Speaker B Of course I'm all right. Why shouldn't I be?

Speaker C I just thought you might have had bad dreams or something.

Speaker B Well, I didn't. So tell me all about it.

Speaker C It was all rather pathetic, really. Sybil lay on a couch and went into a trance.

Speaker B Was it Black velvet? And did she have nothing on?

Speaker C Well, actually, she wore quite a lot of clothes. Peacock blue.

Speaker B And what about Bella?

Speaker C That really was rather beastly. She killed a white cock and then dipped your glove in the blood.

Speaker B Oh, nasty.

Speaker C Have you had any suspicious callers?

Speaker B Only what you might expect. The milkman, the man to read the gas meter. I checked his credentials. A woman asking me what cosmetics and patent medicines I used. An old lady who wanted a subscription for blind dogs. Oh, and one of the flat porters mended a fuse for Me?

Speaker C Seems harmless enough.

Speaker B What were you expecting?

Speaker C Well, I really don't know.

Speaker B So, what are you going to do with yourself?

Speaker C I've agreed to stay on another night with Rhoda. So I'm rather stuck. I thought I might call in on Venables. I still think there's something rather mysterious about him.

Speaker A I suppose you might say that.

Speaker D I've always known what I wanted. Money for me was always a means to one end. Infinite leisure in which to contemplate the beautiful things of this world, natural and artificial. And since to go and see them in their natural surroundings has of late years been denied me, I have them brought here from all over the world.

Speaker C But money still has to be found. Aren't you rather limited, stuck down here in the country?

Speaker D I don't need to go outside this room to make money. I have all the latest technology at my disposal. Machines that can supply me with the answers to my questions in seconds. Compared to hours or days of human.

Speaker C Labour, technology that can take the place of man.

Speaker A There still has to be man.

Speaker D The controller, man the thinker who works out the questions to ask.

Speaker C Man, the superman wielding power, but never known to wield power. Perhaps a man who sits in his chair and pulls the strings.

Speaker D Are you casting me for the part, Mr. Easterbrook? I do wish it was so. One needs something to compensate for this humiliating incapacity. No, I am ill fitted for the.

Speaker C Role of your Superman.

Speaker D But you're right, in a sense. I have never believed in laborious toil. Only the fool toils. One must think, plan the campaign in every detail. The secret of all success is something quite simple. But it has to be discovered. And once one has done that, others can put it into execution.

Speaker C A kind of master plan.

Speaker A Exactly.

Speaker D But tell me, what has brought you back to much deepening? It can't be that you wanted to cheer up an invalid on a dull evening.

Speaker C No, I came down here with a very definite purpose.

Speaker D And what was that?

Speaker C To attend one of Thursa Gray's seances.

Speaker D And were you impressed? Or did you find it all great? Nonsense.

Speaker C I don't know. There is a kind of power there. Power?

Speaker D The power of the Pale Horse. Yes, I heard it spoken of, and I'm sure those dear ladies believe in it. It's harmless tomfoolery.

Speaker C Harmless?

Speaker D Well, how could they possibly injure anybody, Mr. Easterbrook?

Speaker C How indeed. But it's getting late and I must hurry back. Rhoda will be wondering what's happened to me.

Speaker D Oh, do give her my regards. We must arrange another luncheon party soon. You're sure you can find your way out?

Speaker C Oh, certainly. Thank you. Good night. Thank you for your company. I've forgotten how really dark it gets in the country. Can't see a thing. Who's there?

Speaker D Oh, I'm so sorry. I. I didn't mean to startle you.

Speaker C Oh, I should have brought a torch. Are you going to the house?

Speaker D Oh, no, I'm on my way to the bus stop to get a bus back to the Bournemouth. Have you been to visit Mr. Venables?

Speaker C Yes, I have.

Speaker D I take it that he's a friend of yours.

Speaker C Hardly a friend. I've only met him once before.

Speaker D Oh, you must think it rather odd of me to be lurking about in his garden like this. I really would like to explain, Mr. Easterbrook. My name is Osborne. Zachariah Osborne. There is quite a respectable little cafe at the petrol station a close to to the bus stop.

Speaker A Perhaps you will allow me to offer.

Speaker B You a cup of coffee.

Speaker D But then I heard from Inspector Lejeune that Mr. Venables had been a cripple for some years as a result of polio. He said I must have been misled by a chance resemblance.

Speaker C Which would seem to settle the matter.

Speaker D I'm an obstinate man, Mr. Easterbrook. As the days have passed by, I have felt more more and more sure that I was right. And I have obtained some very interesting information. Mr. Venables was seen by the local doctor in much Deeping when he first arrived. But that doctor retired and went to live abroad. The present man has never attended Mr. Venables.

Speaker C But I scarcely see how that affects the situation.

Speaker D Well, just suppose that Mr. Venables makes contact with with a genuine polio case in poor circumstances who resembles him in a general kind of way. Venables makes a proposition. He knows that the local GP intends to retire soon. Venables is known in much deeping. He bribes the genuine Povio victim to be examined by the GP calling himself Venables. Mr. Venable is thoroughly documented as a polio sufferer with atrophied limbs.

Speaker C But this is pure speculation.

Speaker D That was why I was outside Venables house tonight. I wanted to take a peep through his windows to see what happens when he is alone. Oh, but there's my butt. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to explain.

Speaker C I found a quiet little hotel just outside Boscombe. It's got a couple of nice unobtrusive side exits. I might be able to sneak up to London to see you.

Speaker B You oughtn't to, really. I suppose I must Say, it'd be rather heaven if you did. You've no idea how boring it is being stuck in here by myself. Perhaps I could slip out and meet you somewhere.

Speaker C Ginger, what's the matter with your voice?

Speaker B Nothing. I've just got a sore throat or something, that's all.

Speaker C Oh, for goodness sake.

Speaker B I mean, look, anyone can have a sore throat. I'm starting a cold, I expect, or a touch of flu.

Speaker C Tell me exactly how you're feeling.

Speaker B You mustn't, baas. I'm aching a bit all over. You know the kind of thing, temperature. Well, perhaps just a bit. Look, really, there isn't anything to panic about.

Speaker C We've got to take every precaution. Ring up your doctor and get him to come and see you straight away.

Speaker B If you insist. But don't think I'm a terrible fuss putt.

Speaker C Ms. Corrigan's ill. It could be serious.

Speaker E Have you any idea what's wrong with her?

Speaker C Her doctor doesn't seem to know. She's got a temperature. She aches all over. She can't bear anything touching her. And her hair's starting to fall out. But isn't some sort of specialist you can call in?

Speaker E I'm a policeman, not a doctor. What sort of specialist?

Speaker C I don't know. Someone who knows something about suggestion and hypnotism and brainwashing and all that of kind. Kind of thing. I'm worried about that damn box.

Speaker E What damn box?

Speaker C That wave transmitter of Thursa Grays.

Speaker E Things like that don't exist outside science fiction. But I agree we should call somebody in. Maybe a false alarm, but it may be some kind of induced psychosomatic illness. Can't afford to take risks.

Speaker C There is somebody else who may be able to help.

Speaker E And who's that?

Speaker C A girl called Poppy. She was the one who put me onto the Pale Horse in the first place.

Speaker B So it was you. You're the man with the invalid wife who was getting in the way of you and Ginger. She told me all about it. She wanted to know about the Pale Horse.

Speaker D Yes.

Speaker C And somehow it's all gone very wrong. It all seems to have recoiled on her. Did you ever hear of that happening before? She really seems to be very ill.

Speaker B I've never known it happen that way.

Speaker C What do you mean?

Speaker B I've heard of things happening when people didn't pay up. There was a man who fell in front of a tube train. Well, she was a sweet girl, Ginger. I wish I could help. I mean, Brandon might know something, I suppose.

Speaker C Who's she?

Speaker B She used to work with some consumer research outfit, you know, asking people about what kind of toothpaste they use, that kind of thing. But she got worried and gave it up.

Speaker C You mean she thought it might be connected with a pale horse in some way?

Speaker B I don't know about that. She got frightened. I think I got her address if you want it.

Speaker C Easterbrook.

Speaker A Oh, Mark, I've been trying to get you for days. It's Ariadne.

Speaker C Look, Ariadne, I really haven't got time to talk now.

Speaker A This is important.

Speaker C I'll bring you back this evening.

Speaker A No, Mark, I want to talk about it now.

Speaker C Very well. Go on.

Speaker A Well, Millie. She's the woman who does for me. She's got tonsillitis.

Speaker C Well, I'm sorry to hear that, but I really.

Speaker A So I rang up the agency and asked them to send someone. Right.

Speaker C I really don't see what this has got to do with.

Speaker A This morning a woman came along and who do you think it turned out to be?

Speaker C I can't imagine.

Speaker A Edith Bins.

Speaker C Really? Look, Harry, I've got.

Speaker A She worked for your godmother, Lady Hesketh Dubois. Now, we got to talking about her last illness and she happened to mention that when the poor lady was taken into hospital, her lovely white hair was coming out in handfuls.

Speaker C Good Lord.

Speaker A Yes, and that set me thinking. Now, the same thing happened to my friend Mary Delafontaine. And to that girl you saw in the coffee bar.

Speaker C And to Ginger.

Speaker A You know, I'm something of an expert on poisons. I suddenly realized what they must all have been suffering from.

Speaker E Thallium poisoning.

Speaker C They verified that?

Speaker E No doubt about it.

Speaker C And is Ginger going to be all right? Do they know how to treat it?

Speaker E There's a very good chance you'll pull through. Now they know what's wrong.

Speaker C So that's the simple truth about the Pale Horse. No witchcraft, no hypnotism, no death rays. Plain old fashioned poison. The horse. Pale Horse setup was bogus. And the beauty of it was that it was all totally safe. If Thursa Gray was charged with murder, it'll be laughed out of court.

Speaker E You think that she's the ruling spirit?

Speaker C As far as the Pale Horse is concerned, yes. But she's not the real brains of the show. A mastermind is someone who has no connection whatever with the victim.

Speaker E Any ideas on that?

Speaker C I'm not sure. A common factor seems to be that on every occasion some pleasant, harmless seeming woman calls with a questionnaire on behalf of a consumer research agency.

Speaker E And you think she plants the poison?

Speaker C I suspect it's not as simple as that. I think we ought to talk to a woman called Eileen Brandon. She works in a music shop off the Tottenham Court Road.

Speaker A I left because I had a feeling.

Speaker B That there were things going on that.

Speaker A I didn't know about.

Speaker E You mean you didn't think it was a genuine concern?

Speaker B The questions didn't seem to follow up any particular line of research.

Speaker A It was if there were a cloak for something else.

Speaker B Sometimes I'd be asking about cereals and cake mixes, sometimes cosmetics, face powders, lipsticks and so on. Another time it might be patent medicines, brands of aspirin, cough pastels, mouthwashes.

Speaker E You were not asked to supply samples of any particular goods?

Speaker B No, never.

Speaker E You merely asked questions and noted down the answers?

Speaker A Yes. I wasn't the only one who thought.

Speaker B Something funny was going on. I got talking to another woman, a Mrs. Davis. She said that she'd overheard that the whole setup was a racket of some kind. And then she added something really strange. I feel like Typhoid Mary, she said.

Speaker C Typhoid Mary?

Speaker B She said. Some of the people I call on seem to curl their toes up and.

Speaker A Pass away just from having had one look at me.

Speaker E And that was all she said?

Speaker A On that occasion, yes. But sometime later, after I'd left, I saw her in a cafe in Greek Street.

Speaker B We talked a bit, and I told her why I'd got another job. I asked her if she'd found out what it was all about.

Speaker A She said, I can't be sure, but I'll tell you. I recognized someone the other day coming.

Speaker B Out of a house where he'd no.

Speaker A Business to be and carrying a bag of tools.

Speaker B What was he doing there, I'd like to know.

Speaker A And she asked me if I'd heard.

Speaker B Of a pub called the Pale Horse. I asked her what the Pale Horse.

Speaker A Had to do with it.

Speaker C And what did she say?

Speaker A She told me to read my Bible.

Speaker E The real question is, who was the man Mrs. Davis recognized coming out of a house where he had no business to be and pretending to be a workman of some kind? If she recognized him, he may have recognized her. And if she passed on that particular item of information to Father Gorman it was vital that he should be silenced before he could tell anyone. You agree?

Speaker C Oh, yes, I agree.

Speaker E And you've no idea who the man is?

Speaker C Yes, I have an idea.

Speaker E We haven't got a shred of evidence.

Speaker C Nothing except.

Speaker E Yes, I think it's time we paid your Mr. Venables a visit. And we'll take Osborne along with us just to see why he's so certain that Venables is the killer.

Speaker D You seem to be spending a good deal of time in this part of the world, Mr. Easterbrook. Do sit down. Thank you. And you, Inspector. And who is this gentleman?

Speaker E This is Mr. Osborne.

Speaker D How do you do?

Speaker E I'll explain why he's here when we come to him.

Speaker D So, what can I do for you, Inspector?

Speaker E I'm making inquiries about the death of a Catholic priest, Father Gorman, on 8th September in West Street, Paddington, at around 8 o' clock in the evening. We believe you may be able to assist us.

Speaker D I'd be only too happy to do so. But I've never heard of Father Gordon.

Speaker E Well, I've been given to understand that you were in the neighborhood at the time of his death.

Speaker D Paddington was not a part of the world I really know at all. Look, what exactly is all this about?

Speaker E Father Gorman had been called out to the deathbed of a woman nearby. She'd become entangled with a criminal organization. An organization which specialized in the removal of unwanted persons curtains. His headquarters are said to be a place called the Pale Horse.

Speaker A Ah, now I begin to understand.

Speaker D So that is what brings you to our pleasant rural neighborhood, my friend? Thursa Grad. All her occult nonsense. Well, don't tell me that Scotland Yard or wherever you come from, take this seriously.

Speaker E We take it very seriously, Mr. Venables.

Speaker D Would you really believe that Thursa Gray is bringing about people's deaths by invoking the power of the devil?

Speaker E Oh, no. The cause of death is much less complicated. Thallium poisoning.

Speaker D Thallium? I don't think I've ever heard of it.

Speaker E It's used extensively as rat poison, occasionally as a depilatory for children with ringworm. It can be obtained very easily. Incidentally, there's a packet of it tucked away in the corner of your potting shed.

Speaker D My potting shed?

Speaker C Someone must have put it there.

Speaker D I know nothing about it.

Speaker E Is that so? Would you like me to tell you how this little removal racket was worked?

Speaker D I can see that you're determined.

Speaker E To the client. The person who wants an inconvenient person eliminated is intended to believe that the person he wants removed dies as a.

Speaker D Result of this witchcraft, when in reality it wouldn't kill a black beetle.

Speaker E But behind the scenes, certain women are detailed to canvas the intended victim with a questionnaire. What toilet articles or cosmetics do you use? What brand of cornflakes?

Speaker D But I don't see what this has to do with murder.

Speaker E And so to the last stage. The only action performed by the Originator of the scheme in person. He may be wearing a mansion flat porter's uniform. He may be a plumber or an electrician or calling to read the gas meter. Whatever role he's playing, his real object is simple. The substitution of a preparation he brings with him for a similar article. Which he knows as the result of the questionnaire that his victim uses. And that preparation contains thallium.

Speaker D But how do you come to know all this?

Speaker E When we have suspicions of a certain person, there are ways of making sure.

Speaker D Indeed? Such as?

Speaker E Nothing very remarkable. A hidden camera, for instance. We've got some excellent pictures of the uniform, flat porter, gas man and so on. Our man was disguised, of course, but even so, he's been recognized quite easily. Recognition is an interesting thing, Mr. Venables. For instance, Mr. Osborne here is willing to swear he saw you following Father Gorman on the night of the murder.

Speaker A He saw me.

Speaker D And I did see you.

Speaker A I described you exactly.

Speaker E Rather too exactly. Perhaps because you didn't see Mr. Venables that night. When you were standing outside the doorway of your shop. You weren't standing there at all. You were across the street yourself following Father Gorman until he turned into West Street. Then you came up with him and killed him.

Speaker A This is ridiculous.

Speaker E Mr. Osborne has been under observation for some time. And he was unwise enough to plant a packet of thallium salts in your potting shed. Not knowing of your disability, he had amused himself by casting you as the villain of the piece. Being a very obstinate as well as a very stupid man. He refused to admit he'd made a bloomer.

Speaker A Stupid? You dare to call me stupid?

Speaker D Could you have done what I have.

Speaker A Done if you had any idea?

Speaker E You shouldn't have tried to be so clever, you know why? If you just sat back in that shop of yours and let well alone I shouldn't be here now warning you, as it's my duty to do so. That anything you say will be taken down and may be used as evidence against you.

Speaker C Did you always suspect Osborne? Right from the beginning. What did he do that put you onto it?

Speaker E Well, straight away he started telling lies. He said he'd seen a man following Father Gorman. And he gave us a very detailed description. But he couldn't possibly have seen him that closely across the street on a foggy night. It was obviously a description of somebody he'd actually seen. I'd say he'd probably come across Venables one day sitting in his car and didn't realize he was a cripple.

Speaker C But what made him go on insisting it was Venables when he knew he was paranoid.

Speaker E Vanity, I suppose. Typical criminal vanity. He wasn't going to admit for one moment that he'd been wrong. Like a fool, he stuck to his guns and put forward all sorts of preposterous theories.

Speaker C But it was an ingenious idea.

Speaker E Yep, one's got to give him that. See, what beats me, it always does, is how a man can be so clever yet be such a perfect fool. So that's the end of the Pale Horse?

Speaker C Not quite. I think there's one more thing to be cleaned up. Oh, what's that? The old inside Ginger was no sooner out of hospital than she was off to Much Deeping. With Thursa Gray and her little coven out of the way, she wanted to investigate the Pale Horse itself.

Speaker B Look what was hidden under all those centuries of grime. I was sure the horse had a rider. And there he is, a grinning skeleton with a scythe.

Speaker C And I looked and behold a pale horse. And his name that sat on him was Death. And the grave followed with him. The Book of Revelations.

Speaker B Most appropriate, really.

Speaker C When Eileen Brandon asked Mrs. Davis about the Pale Horse, she told her to look in the Bible.

Speaker B I suppose I had a very narrow escape. I look such a freak. Do you mind?

Speaker C Oh, darling, your hair will grow again very soon.

Speaker B You're quite sure you don't want to go back to that Hermia creature?

Speaker C I'm quite sure. After all these weeks of calling you Mrs. Easterbrook, I've got rather used to the idea.

Speaker B And you're sure you won't have to call up the power of the Pale Horse to get rid of me?

Speaker C I think we can forget about the power of the Pale Horse. With the Weird Sisters safely out of the way, it's going to go back to what it used to be a pub. In Agatha Christie's the Pale Horse, Mark.

Speaker E Easterbrook was played by Jeremy Clyde, Ariadne.

Speaker C Oliver by Stephanie Cole, Mr. Venables by Terence Alexander and Ginger by Federe Holmes, Thursa Gray, Mary Wimbush, Sybil Jill Graham.

Speaker E Bella Hilda Schroeder, Inspector Lejeune, Jonathan Adams.

Speaker C Jim Corrigan, Stephen Hodson, Zachariah Osborne, John Fleming, Rhoda Despard, Jilly Mears Colonel Despard.

Speaker E John Evitz, Hermia Geraldine Fitzgerald Poppy Theresa.

Speaker C Gallagher, David Ardingly, Matthew Morgan Bradley, John.

Speaker E Badley, Soames White, John Church, Mrs. Tuckerton.

Speaker C Melinda Walker, Mrs. Coppins, Diana Payan, Eileen Brandon, Melanie Hudson, the Reverend Calthrop, Philip Anthony, Mrs. Davis, Sandra James Young, Mrs. Geraghty Kate Binchy, Father Gorman, Keith Drinkle and Mike David Thorpe. The Pale Horse was dramatized for radio by Michael Bakewell and directed by Enid Williams.

Speaker B Sam.

The Pale Horse

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