The Pale Horse (“Olum Buyusu” in Turkish, by Agatha Christie):
This is one of the interesting books of Agatha Christie that I have read since long time. I liked it a lot.
The story is passing around a small group of so-called a wizard family. They live in an old house called “The Pale Horse”. The hero of the book is Mark Easterbrook. He is searching for a murder of a Father Gorman. Father Gorman visits a patient and then he is murdered. The patient gives him a list of names before she dies. This list is found in the shoe of the Father Gorman.
While searching for the murderer, Mark learns that the wizard family living in the Pale Horse are claiming to kill people remotely. They use this ability to earn money by the help of a lawyer. This lawyer bets with people about dying of a person. Lawyer asks money if a mentioned person dies in a certain period or before a date. The other person who bets and who really wants to get rid of that person, loses the bet and gives money to the lawyer. When bet is set up, the person goes to the Pale Horse for a ceremony of the wizards. After this ceremony, the victim dies because of natural reasons like an illness. Since the victim is always in another city or town, nobody thinks that this is a murder of wizards. In order to investigate this relation, Mark goes to the lawyer to bet. He says that his wife do not want to divorce. Lawyer says that his wife may die before some months. If she dies, lawyer will get some money, if not Mark will get some. Mark is not married. Mark’s friend Ginger is playing the role of his wife. She wears different costumes and change her make-up. Then Ginger stays in another city. Mark is invited to the Pale Horse for a ceremony. During the ceremony, three wizards plays like real magicians.
After two days, Ginger shows real symptoms of a sick person. She tells Mark on the phone that there were only usual people in her apartment during these two days. She did not go out. There were a woman who is making surveys to the people about their purchase routines, a person to read gas meter and other usual people like doorman of the apartment.
The police announces in the newspaper to get information about any person who witnesses during the murder of Father Gorman. A pharmacy owner whose name is Osborne informs that he saw a person who was following the Father on that evening. Then he again sends a letter to police. He declares that he saw that person in another city. That person is called Venables. But he is now invalid. He may not walk, he is now in a wheelchair. But Osborne insists that he is sure that that person behind the Father Gorman was Venables.
Later Osborne is caught near the house of Venables by Mark Easterbrook. Osborne says Mark that he checks Venables if he lies about his disability.
Mark discovers that the reason for the sicknesses is talyum. This poison causes different types of illnesses on the victims. Therefore Ginger is treated and she gets better. Police commissioner Lejeune asks Mark and Osborne to visit Venables. Lejeune explains all the events and details how these crimes are performed. In all of the cases, a surveyor and a technician visit the victim’s apartment. Surveyor asks for the medicaments and other pills used by the victim. Then the technician or a person reading gas meter or electric meter replaces the box of the drug used by the victim. During this time, everybody thinks that Venables are the guilty person. But Lejeune returns to Osborne. He explains that Osborne may not see a person in detail that evening when Father Gorman is passing in front of his street. It was very dark outside. Osborne was guilty.