Ariadne and Mark go visiting in the company of Rhonda and her husband Colonel Despard, Reverend Caleb Dane Calthrop and his wife, and Ginger, an art restorer. First, they visit Mr Venables, the man who owns the manor and has an arrangement of objects he has collected in his travels. Venables is disabled due to the polio he suffered from years ago.
After Venables, the vicar and his wife leave, and the rest of them go to the Pale Horse. Mark finds the three women there, Thyrza, Sybil and Bella awe-inspiring. Sybil, who tends to wear saris and exotic clothes, and Bella, the cook, causes an uncomfortable first impression on Mark. Then he has a conversation with Thyrza about the powers they three have, and she mentions that it is possible to get rid of people in the distance. The wish to die is there, so the only thing to do is to persuade those people to die. This conversation leaves Mark confused.
Ariadne says that she needs to go as she is attending the funeral of Mary Delafontaine, a friend of hers. This is another name on the list, and Mark checks the pub in the village and in the register there are several names of the list. Mark is convinced that the common element of those names is death.
Inspector Lejeaune receives a letter from the chemist, Mr Osborne, who has moved to Bournemouth and was the man who described the man following Father Gorman. In the letter Mr Osborne says that he attending a fete in Much Deeping and saw the man who was following the priest there. He says that his name is Venables and this time he was in a wheelchair.
Corrigan and Mark meet, and Mark tells him about being at the fete and meeting Mr Venables. Yet, he says that the man has been paralyzed for many years, so it is not possible for him to be the man following Father Gorman. Mark also tells him about Thyrza's theory, which Corrigan considers nonsense. Yet, Mark says that the common element to the people on the list is that they died of natural causes and their deaths were convenient. As Corrigan's name is on the list, Mark tells his friend to be careful.
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