Sir William Dugdale

In the novel The Pale Horse, Sir William Dugdale, F.R.C.P. is an eminent Harley Street doctor. He confirmed for Inspector Lejeune that Mr Venables had in fact been afflicted by polio and that his legs had atrophied. This disposed of the possibility, as suggested by the pharmacist Zachariah Osbourne, that the disability could have been faked.

Perhaps reflecting the differences in legal systems, Inspector Lejeune appeared to be able to get this information quite easily from Sir William. In the French adaptation Le cheval pâle, commissaire Laurence had to persuade the pathologist Euphrasie Maillol to chat up the doctor, in the hope that she could elicit this otherwise confidential information from her medical colleague