33 pages 1 hour read

Agatha Christie

The Pale Horse

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1961

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Chapters 16-20

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 16 Summary

Meeting with Bradley for a second time, Mark arranges terms for the wager upon the death of Mrs. Easterbrook at 1,800 to 1. After demanding full details of the arrangement, Bradley tells Mark to bring something personal belonging to his wife to the women at the Pale Horse, and then to avoid London and anywhere else the victim might be until the wager is ended.

Chapter 17 Summary

Discovering Mark’s intention to visit the Pale Horse, his cousin Rhoda is surprised to find he is interested in their entertainments. Walking in town they run into Thyrza, who tells Mark not to eat heavily and to appear at precisely seven o’clock. Before he visits the inn, Mark stops in at the vicarage to speak with Mrs. Calthrop and tell her the plan, including his upcoming visit to a séance at the Pale Horse. Giving him her blessing and a promise of her prayers, she sends Mark down the road to the inn and his fate.

Received without pomp or circumstance, Mark begins to let his guard down and suspects that he has been overthinking: “What is there to fear here?” (183). Allowing himself to be led to the old barn, Mark discovers a table in the center of the floor, covered in a purple, velvet cloth.

Related Titles

By Agatha Christie

Study Guide

logo

A Murder Is Announced

Agatha Christie

A Murder Is Announced

Agatha Christie

Study Guide

logo

A Pocket Full of Rye

Agatha Christie

A Pocket Full of Rye

Agatha Christie

Study Guide

logo

Murder at the Vicarage

Agatha Christie

Murder at the Vicarage

Agatha Christie

Study Guide

logo

Murder on the Orient Express

Agatha Christie

Murder on the Orient Express

Agatha Christie

Plot Summary

logo

Poirot Investigates

Agatha Christie

Poirot Investigates

Agatha Christie

Study Guide

logo

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

Agatha Christie

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

Agatha Christie

Study Guide

logo

The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Agatha Christie

The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Agatha Christie