“Now, with a feeling of conscious virtue, I took note of what was going on.”

Mark’s self-worth is challenged at the start of the novel by feelings of inadequacy and a small amount of guilt provided by his sister, who has accused him in the past of being too self-absorbed. Here in the café, he starts to make a conscious effort to act against this instinct and to pay more attention to others and those around him.

“In the blonde’s fingers were large tufts of red hair. She held them aloft gleefully, then dropped them on the floor.”

What seems like a small detail of fact to Mark at this stage (as he is unaware of how unusual it would be for anyone to be able to rip a handful of hair out of someone’s scalp) will become essential evidence at the climax of the novel in the discovery of the link in the various illnesses of the victims—thallium poisoning causes hair-loss in its victims.

“Perhaps it was my life, my quiet scholarly life, immersed in books, shut off from the world, that was the wasted one.”

The tussle in the café and the obituary staring at him from the newspaper cause Mark to question the value of his life and his line of work. The feelings of boredom and stagnation help spur him to investigate the murders and the Pale Horse in the ensuing pages of the novel, sparked here by a reflection on the fleetingness of life.