Eugène Dacosta

In Le cheval pâle, the French Télévisions film adaptation of Agatha Christie's The Pale Horse, for the Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie TV series, Eugène Dacosta is the parallel of Mr Venables in the original story.

Like in the original story, the pharmacist Lucien Cornille saw Dacosta pass by (this time he was in a car) around the time Père François was murdered. Cornille gave a detailed description. Commissaire Laurence called on Dacosta and found that he was a cripple, suffering from multiple sclerosis and able to move only on crutches. However, unlike the original story, other elements are inserted to make him seem more of a plausible suspect. Dacosta actually owned the fair where the occult women maintained their tent. He knew them as his employees. Secondly, like Venables, he had a house full of exotic art works, and in this case, actually has a statuette of a pale horse with death as the rider. Third, Dacosta is always accompanied by his helper and friend Hyppolite who would be strong and mobile enough to execute the various killings. Cornille also goes further to implicate Dacosta by planting a bag of thallium in his garden, just as Osborne does in the original novel.

Eugène Dacosta is portrayed by Thierry Hancisse.