Father Brown xx-xx-xx The Dagger with Wings

Summary

Podcast Summary: Harold's Old Time Radio – "Father Brown: The Dagger with Wings"

Episode Information:

• Title: Father Brown xx-xx-xx The Dagger with Wings
• Release Date: July 13, 2025
• Host/Author: Harold's Old Time Radio
• Description: Relive the Golden Age of Radio with classic radio shows before television, featuring beloved characters like Father Brown, The Shadow, and Dragnet.

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Introduction

In the July 13, 2025 episode of Harold's Old Time Radio, listeners are transported back to the enchanting era of radio dramas with "Father Brown: The Dagger with Wings." This adaptation, originally by G.K. Chesterton and brilliantly brought to life by Archie Campbell, immerses the audience in a suspenseful mystery blending elements of the supernatural with sharp detective work.

Plot Overview

The episode centers around Father Brown, a perceptive and compassionate priest who becomes involved in a perplexing case involving the Aylmer family. The story unfolds on a frosty December morning when Dr. Boyne, the county medical officer, seeks Father Brown's unique insight into a troubling situation.

Key Events:

1. The Mysterious Request for Protection ([00:18] - [05:52])

   • Narrator: Introduces Father Brown's peculiar habit and sets the stage for the mysterious call from Arnold Aylmer, the youngest of three brothers who fears for his life due to threats from their adopted brother, John Streake.
   • Dr. Boyne: Explains the background of the case, detailing the suspicious deaths of Arnold's brothers and the unsettled inheritance left by their late father, Aylmer.

2. Father Brown's Investigation Begins ([05:52] - [11:05])

   • Father Brown accepts the request to investigate Arnold Aylmer's fears of being hunted by Streake, who allegedly resorts to black magic.
   • Father Brown: Expresses skepticism about the supernatural claims but remains committed to uncovering the truth.

3. Entering the Aylmer Residence ([12:16] - [20:53])

   • Narrator: Describes the imposing yet neglected Aylmer house, setting a foreboding atmosphere.
   • Father Brown: Observes incongruities within the house, such as the presence of a modern telephone in an otherwise Victorian setting, hinting at hidden secrets.
   • Arnold Aylmer: Makes his dramatic entrance, clad in a dressing gown, and begins to share his encounters with John Streake, reinforcing the narrative of black magic and vengeance.

4. The Confrontation ([26:24] - [38:47])

   • Arnold Aylmer: Narrates his encounters with Strake, describing the eerie disappearance of servants and the supernatural elements surrounding Streake's actions.
   • Father Brown: Detects inconsistencies in Arnold's story, particularly focusing on the absence of footprints and the peculiar manner of Streake's supposed supernatural abilities.
   • Inspector Collins: Makes his appearance, leading to the revelation that John Strake has been apprehended based on Father Brown's deductions.

5. The Unveiling of the Truth ([38:47] - [44:55])

   • Father Brown: Delivers a compelling analysis of Strake's deception, emphasizing the power of storytelling and psychological manipulation over actual supernatural forces.
   • Dr. Boyne: Expresses confusion, highlighting the complexity of the case and Father Brown's insightful deductions.
   • Conclusion: Father Brown triumphs by exposing Strake's elaborate ruse, restoring peace to the Aylmer family.

Key Characters and Dynamics

• Father Brown (Leslie French): The astute and empathetic priest who relies on his deep understanding of human nature to solve mysteries. His ability to discern truth from deception is pivotal in unraveling the case against John Strake.

  • Notable Quote ([33:43]):
    • Father Brown: "All things are from God, Doctor. Above all reason and imagination and the great gifts of the mind, which we must not forget their origin even in their perversion."

• Dr. Boyne (Hugh Ross): The medical officer seeking Father Brown's assistance. Initially skeptical, he relies on Father Brown's insights to navigate the complexities of the case.

  • Notable Quote ([05:26]):
    • Dr. Boyne: "That is where you come into it, Father Brown. I want someone of sense who isn't an official to go up and have a Talk with this Mr. Arnold Aylmer and form an impression of him."

• Arnold Aylmer (Sam Dastore): The youngest of the Aylmer brothers, who believes he is being targeted by his adopted brother, John Streake. His account intertwines elements of black magic, contributing to the mystery's depth.

  • Notable Quote ([14:17]):
    • Arnold Aylmer: "The man who is hounding us all to death is a devil incarnate and his power is from hell."

• John Strake (Peter Yap): The antagonist who employs psychological manipulation and fabricated supernatural elements to instill fear and claim vengeance.

  • Notable Quote ([22:17]):
    • Father Brown: "He was a very learned man and a lucid lawyer. Quiet man with a very refined intellectual face. Now, that's the sort of man who sells himself to the devil."

• Inspector Collins (Stephen Thorne): Represents the official authority, whose interaction with Father Brown culminates in the apprehension of Strake.

  • Notable Quote ([32:17]):
    • Father Brown: "That man there is none other than John Strake. And I accuse him of the murder of Arnold Aylmer, as well as of his two brothers, and the attempted murder of myself."

Major Discussions and Insights

1. The Intersection of Superstition and Rationality ([14:00] - [18:54])

   • The dialogue delves into the tension between perceived supernatural threats and logical explanations. Arnold Aylmer firmly believes in black magic and its lethal capabilities, whereas Father Brown remains grounded, seeking rational explanations behind the mysterious events.

2. Psychological Manipulation vs. Actual Supernatural Forces ([38:47] - [44:55])

   • Father Brown articulates how John Strake's prowess lies not in actual magical abilities but in his capacity to manipulate perceptions and instill fear through elaborate storytelling and psychological tactics.

   • Notable Quote ([43:23]):

     • Father Brown: "It was his whole game with me to be as idealistic as possible. That sort of man may be dripping with gore, but he will always be able to tell you sincerely that Buddhism is better than Christianity."

3. The Power of Storytelling and Imagination ([38:46] - [44:55])

   • Father Brown highlights the profound impact of narrative and imagination, illustrating how Strake's storytelling serves as a facade for his criminal intentions.

   • Notable Quote ([38:17]):

     • Father Brown: "All things are from God, Doctor. Above all reason and imagination and the great gifts of the mind, which we must not forget their origin even in their perversion."

4. Faith vs. Skepticism ([33:17] - [44:55])

   • The episode explores the balance between faith and skepticism, with Father Brown exemplifying a harmonious blend of spiritual belief and analytical reasoning.

Conclusions

"Father Brown: The Dagger with Wings" masterfully intertwines supernatural motifs with a grounded detective narrative. Through Father Brown's insightful investigation, the episode underscores the triumph of reason and empathy over fear and deception. The rich dialogue and character interactions not only drive the plot forward but also offer profound reflections on human nature, belief systems, and the power of storytelling.

Listeners are left with a deep appreciation for Father Brown's unwavering commitment to uncovering the truth, regardless of the seemingly insurmountable odds or the allure of mystical explanations. This episode stands as a testament to the enduring appeal of classic radio dramas that combine intellectual rigor with captivating storytelling.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• Dr. Boyne ([05:26]): "That's where the doubt comes in. There's no proof that they were murdered, but they might possibly have been."

• Father Brown ([14:00]): "All evil has one origin. But how do you know they were not normal murders?"

• Arnold Aylmer ([17:52]): "I do not believe it."

• Father Brown ([33:37]): "Oscar Streak was an inventive and imaginative liar with great presence of mind in producing his lies."

• Inspector Collins ([31:50]): "We'll come to that in due course, Mr. Strake, if that in truth be your name."

• Father Brown ([38:46]): "It was his whole game with me to be as idealistic as possible. That sort of man may be dripping with gore, but he will always be able to tell you sincerely that Buddhism is better than Christianity."

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Closing Thoughts

"Father Brown: The Dagger with Wings" exemplifies the timeless charm of Golden Age radio dramas. With its intricate plot, well-developed characters, and engaging dialogue, the episode not only entertains but also invites listeners to ponder deeper philosophical questions about truth, belief, and the human psyche. Whether you're a longtime fan or new to the series, this episode promises a riveting auditory experience that stays true to the legacy of its classic roots.

Transcript

[Uncle]

I' ma put you on, nephew.

[Dr. Boyne]

All right, unc.

[Father Brown]

Welcome to McDonald's. Can I take your order, miss?

[Uncle]

I've been hitting up McDonald's for years. Now it's back. We need snack wraps.

[Father Brown]

What's a snack wrap?

[Uncle]

It's the return of something great. Snack wrap is back.

[Narrator]

At one period of his life, my friend Father Brown found it difficult to hang his hat on a hat peg without repressing a slight chudder. The cause of this curious idiosyncrasy was indeed a mere detail in much more complicated events. But it was, I believe, the only detail that remained to him in his busy life to remind him of the whole strange business. Its remote origin was to be found in the facts which led Dr. Boyne, the medical officer attached to the county police force, to send for Father Brown on a particular frosty morning in December.

[Dr. Boyne]

Come in. Ah, Father Brown.

[Father Brown]

Hello, Dr. Byrne.

[Dr. Boyne]

Come in, my dear man. Sit you down.

[Father Brown]

Ah, thank you.

[Dr. Boyne]

Nice of you to drop in.

[Father Brown]

Well, you wanted to see me. I understand.

[Dr. Boyne]

I'm not so sure that I do. You know, I'm not sure about anything yet. I'm hanged if I can make out whether it's a case for a doctor or a policeman or a priest.

[Father Brown]

Well, as I suppose you are both a policeman and a doctor, I seem to be in rather a minority.

[Dr. Boyne]

An instructed minority, let us say. I mean, I know you've had to do a little in our line as well as your own.

[Father Brown]

It's true I have stepped rather outside my priestly duties on occasion, and very.

[Dr. Boyne]

Successfully, if I may be allowed to say so. But it's precious hard to know whether this particular business is in your line or ours, or merely in the line of the commissioners in lunacy.

[Father Brown]

You intrigue me, Doctor. Pray continue.

[Dr. Boyne]

Come over to this window for a moment.

[Father Brown]

Certainly.

[Dr. Boyne]

You see that large white house on the hill?

[Father Brown]

One could hardly avoid doing so. An imposing looking place even at this distance.

[Dr. Boyne]

But somewhat gone to seed in recent years, I'm told. Well, the point is, we've just had a message from the man who lives. It is asking us for protection. Protection against what he describes as a murderous persecution.

[Father Brown]

Fear of persecution is a not uncommon delusion with certain individuals. I've even encountered it amongst my own flock. But murderous, you say?

[Dr. Boyne]

His words, not mine. However, if you'll bear with me, I'd better tell you the story from the beginning. We've gone into the facts as far as we could, of course. Well, it seems that a man named Aylmer, who was a wealthy landowner in these Parts married rather late in life and had three sons. But in his bachelor days, when he thought he would have no heir, he adopted a boy whom he thought very brilliant and promising, who went by the name of John Streake.

[Father Brown]

Some distant relative, no doubt.

[Dr. Boyne]

No, no. His origins seem to be vague. Some say he was a foundling and others insist that he was a gypsy. I think this last notion's mixed up with the fact that Aylmer, in his old age dabbled in all sorts of dingy occultism and the three sons insisted that Streake encouraged him in it.

[Father Brown]

And a great many other things beside that, I'll be bound.

[Dr. Boyne]

Quite so. They say Streake was an amazing scoundrel, an astounding liar. But that might be a natural prejudice in the light of what happened when the old man died. It was found that he left practically everything to the adopted son. The three real sons disputed the will, and they said that the father had been frightened into making such a deposition and, not to put too fine a point on it, driven into a state of gibbering idiocy.

[Father Brown]

Ah, dear me. These family quarrels are always most distressing.

[Dr. Boyne]

Anyhow, they seem to have proved something about the dead man's mental condition, for the court set aside the will and the sons inherit it.

[Father Brown]

A meet and proper decision, no doubt. Not to the liking of the adopted son, I imagine.

[Dr. Boyne]

No, indeed. From all accounts, he reacted violently as his straight broke out in the most dreadful fashion and swore he would kill all three of them one after the other, and that nothing could hide them from his vengeance. It is the third or last of the brothers, Arnold Aylmer, who's asking for police protection.

[Father Brown]

Third and last?

[Dr. Boyne]

Yes. The other two are dead. Oh, that is where the doubt comes in. There's no proof that they were murdered, but they might possibly have been. The eldest, who took up his position as squire, was supposed to have committed suicide in his garden. The second, who went into trade as a manufacturer, was knocked on the head by machinery in his factory. We might very well have taken a false step and fallen. But if Streak did kill them, he's certainly very cunning in his manner of getting to work and getting away again.

[Father Brown]

On the other hand, I suppose it could be that the whole thing is a mania of conspiracy founded on coincidence.

[Dr. Boyne]

That is where you come into it, Father Brown. I want someone of sense who isn't an official to go up and have a Talk with this Mr. Arnold Aylmer and form an impression of him. You know what a man with a delusion is like and how a Man looks when he's telling the truth. I want you to be the advance guard before we take the matter up.

[Father Brown]

It seems rather odd that you haven't had to take it up before. Is there any particular reason why he should send for you now?

[Dr. Boyne]

He does give a reason. He declares that all his servants have suddenly gone on strike and left him so that he's obliged to call on the police to look after his house.

[Father Brown]

Would you suppose there's any truth in his claim? The whole thing sounds like the whim of some half witted crank.

[Dr. Boyne]

Inquiries have made confirm that there has been a general exodus of servants from that house on the hill. Apparently the servants account of the matter is that their employer had become quite impossible in his fidgets and fears that he wanted them to guard his house like sentries or sit up like night nurses in hospital. So with one voice they announced that he was a lunatic and left. Of course that doesn't prove he is a lunatic. But it does seem rather rum in these days for a man to expect his valet or his parlourmaid to act as an armed guard.

[Father Brown]

So he wants a policeman to act as his parlor maid because his parlor maid won't act as a policeman.

[Dr. Boyne]

I thought that rather thick too. But I can't take the responsibility of a flat refusal till I've tried a compromise. You are the compromise.

[Father Brown]

Oh, very well. I'll go and call on him now. If you like.

[Narrator]

Good man.

[Dr. Boyne]

I felt sure I could count on you.

[Father Brown]

I could have done with a thicker overcoat. It's getting colder at every step. And it's about to snow again by the look of those great livid clouds. Oh, slippery too. Dear me, me, the snow has started to fall already. I'd better put up my broly. Ah, at last. These must be the entrance gates. Good luck. I should reach the house before this first flurry becomes a blizzard. An ornate enough piece of iron working all conscience. More suitable, I'd say, as the approach to some Italian villa than to an English country house. I suppose the gates have not been locked. So far so good. A drop of oil might not come amiss. Boyne was right. The place does appear to have been somewhat neglected. Those shrubs and evergreens have been allowed to run riot and no mistake. It's too northern to be called luxuriant. More like an arctic jungle.

[Narrator]

So it was in some sense with the house that now came into Father Brown's view. It stood as if waist high in a stunted forest of shrubs and bushes. Its classical facade and row of columns might have looked out on the Mediterranean, but now seemed to be withering in the wind of the North Sea. Carved masks of comedy and tragedy looked down upon the gray confusion of the garden paths now rapidly disappearing under a layer of snow. But the faces seem to be frostbitten. The very volutes of the capitals might have curled up with the cold. Father Brown mounted the steps to a square porch flanked by pillars, knocked at the door. But four minutes afterwards, he knocked again.

[Father Brown]

I hope I'm not to be kept standing out here all day. After all, I'm not an Eskimo. No one in front of the house, apparently. Perhaps there's a side door somewhere. I'll try there. Bless my soul, how thickly the snow's lying already. Ah. Ah, here we are. Is it locked, I wonder? Bolted or fastened in some way? Perhaps the eccentric Mr. Aylmer has barricaded himself too deep in the house to hear any kind of summons. Or perhaps he assumes that any summons must signal the arrival of the avenging John Stake. Oh, dear. Oh, well. It's unlikely the departing servants will have seen too carefully to the defenses. They may easily have overlooked a window. If nothing else, it's worth trying. At any rate, not such a large place after all.

[Uncle]

But I'mma put you on, nephew.

[Dr. Boyne]

All right, unc.

[Father Brown]

Welcome to McDonald's. Can I take your order, miss?

[Uncle]

I've been hitting up McDonald's for years. Now it's back. We need snack wraps.

[Father Brown]

What's a snack wrap?

[Uncle]

It's the return of something great. Snack wrap is back.

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[Father Brown]

Perhaps a trifle pretentious. Ah, what have we here? Behind this creeper, a French window and left Ajar. Oh, dear. I dislike entering another man's house in this fashion. But needs must, when the devil leads.

[Narrator]

The room or hall in which our friend found himself was comfortable enough in an old fashioned way, with a staircase leading up from it on one side and a door leading out from it on the other. Facing him was another door with red stained glass let into it. On a table to the right stood a sort of aquarium in which fishes and similar things moved about in the greenish water. Opposite it, in an ornamental pot, a large plant of the palm variety. By contrast, a telephone in a curtained alcove came as something of a surprise to Father Brown.

[Father Brown]

Well, I'm blessed to find so modern an instrument in such dusty and Victorian surroundings. That's incongruous, to say the least.

[Arnold Aylmer]

Who is that?

[Father Brown]

Oh, could I see Mr. Aylmer?

[Arnold Aylmer]

I have. Mr. Aylmer. You must excuse my dressing gown. I have got out of the way of expecting visitors.

[Father Brown]

I'm wondering whether it is quite true that you never expect visitors.

[Arnold Aylmer]

You're right. I always expect one visitor and he may be the last.

[Father Brown]

I sincerely hope not, but at least I'm relieved to infer that I do not look like him.

[Arnold Aylmer]

You certainly do not. From your habit, I assume you are a man of God.

[Father Brown]

Yes. My name is Father Brown. Some friends of mine have told me about your trouble and asked me to see if I could do anything to help you. The truth is, I have some little experience in affairs like these.

[Arnold Aylmer]

There are no affairs like this.

[Father Brown]

You mean that the tragedies in your unfortunate family were not normal deaths?

[Arnold Aylmer]

I mean, they weren't even normal murders. The man who is hounding us all to death is a devil incarnate and his power is from hell.

[Father Brown]

All evil has one origin. But how do you know they were not normal murders?

[Arnold Aylmer]

Why are we talking in the hall? Come in and sit down. Be seated, if you please, and I will endeavor to explain.

[Father Brown]

Oh, thank you.

[Arnold Aylmer]

I have come to these conclusions by reason because, unfortunately, reason really leads there. I have read a great many books on this subject. But what I tell you does not rest on what I have read, but what I have seen. Do I make myself clear?

[Father Brown]

Perfectly.

[Arnold Aylmer]

In my elder brother's case, I was not certain at first there were no marks or footprints where he was found shot on the lawn here, the pistol beside him. But that morning he had received a threatening letter, certainly from our enemy. For it was marked with a sign like a winged dagger.

[Father Brown]

A dagger with wings.

[Arnold Aylmer]

Just another of his infernal cabalistic tricks, is it not?

[Father Brown]

Possible that your brother may have taken his own life.

[Arnold Aylmer]

That was the verdict of the time. Although a servant in the house swore she had seen a figure moving along a garden wall, shortly after she had heard a shot. She said whatever it was, it was too large to be a cat or a prowling dog.

[Father Brown]

She could have been mistaken.

[Arnold Aylmer]

That is possible, of course. All I can say is that if the murderer came, he left no traces.

[Father Brown]

But your other brother, Stephen, How?

[Arnold Aylmer]

When he died, it was different. Before that I had only surmised. Since then, I have known. On the day of his death, a machine was working in an open scaffolding under the factory tower. I scaled the platform. A moment or two after he had fallen under the iron hammer that struck him. I did not see anything else strike him. But I saw what I saw. You must take my word for what I'm going to tell you now. A great drift of factory smoke was rolling between me and the tower above. But through a rift, I saw, standing at the very top of it, a dark human figure muffled in what looked like a black cloak. Then the smoke came between us. When it cleared, I looked up again at the distant chimney. There was nobody there. I'm a rational man, Father Brown, but how, I ask you, had he reached that dizzy, inapproachable turret? And how did he leave it? My brother's head was smashed beyond recognition, but his body was not much damaged. In his pocket we found one of those warning messages, dated the previous day and stamped with the same flying dagger.

[Father Brown]

This symbol of the flying dagger. Might not its use be merely arbitrary, accidentally?

[Arnold Aylmer]

Nothing about that abominable man is accidental. He is all design, though it is indeed a dark and intricate design, woven out of all sorts of secret languages and signs and nameless evils. I do not pretend to know all that is conveyed by this symbol, but it seems surely it must have some relation to all that has befallen my unfortunate family.

[Father Brown]

The coincidence is certainly very great.

[Arnold Aylmer]

Is that all? Is there no connection, then, between the idea of a winged weapon and the mystery by which my brother Philip was struck dead on his own lawn, without the slightest trace of any footprint or disturbance of the grass? Is there no connection between the dagger and that figure which hung on the far top of that chimney tower, clad in a cloak for wings?

[Father Brown]

Do you mean that he is in a perpetual state of levitation?

[Arnold Aylmer]

It was a common prediction of the Dark Ages that the Antichrist would be able to fly. Anyhow, there was the flying dagger on the warnings, and whether or not it could fly, it could certainly strike.

[Father Brown]

What sort of paper were these messages written on?

[Arnold Aylmer]

You can see what they're like for yourself, for I got one this very morning. I have it in my pocket now. Yes, here it is.

[Father Brown]

Torn from an artist's sketchbook, I would say. There's no mistaking the symbol. It clearly represents a dagger adorned with wings. Death comes the day after this, as it came to your brother. Mr. Aylmer, you must not let this sort of stuff stupefy you. These devils always try to make us helpless by making us hopeless.

[Arnold Aylmer]

You're right. And the devil shall find that I'm not so hopeless after all. Nor so helpless. Perhaps I have more hope and better help than you fancy.

[Father Brown]

I don't follow you, I'm afraid my.

[Arnold Aylmer]

Unfortunate brothers failed because they used the wrong weapons. Philip carried a revolver and that was how his death came to be called suicide.

[Father Brown]

The weapon was found beside his body, you said.

[Arnold Aylmer]

That is so. With one chamber empty, I believe my brother tried to defend himself, not to take his own life.

[Father Brown]

And the other brother, Stephen, had police protection.

[Arnold Aylmer]

But he had too great a sense of the ridiculous to allow a policeman to follow him up a ladder to a scaffolding where he stood only for a moment. My brothers were both scoffers. Sceptics, if you like. And for that they paid with their lives.

[Father Brown]

Skeptics? Sceptical? Of what, may I ask?

[Arnold Aylmer]

Of the strange mysticism of my father's last days. I always knew there was more in the old man than they understood. By studying magic, he fell at last under the blight of black magic. The black magic of this scoundrel Strake. And that is where my brothers were wrong. The antidote to black magic is not brute force or worldly wisdom. The antidote to black magic is white magic.

[Father Brown]

That rather depends on what you mean by white magic.

[Arnold Aylmer]

I mean silver magic. Do you know what I mean by silver magic?

[Father Brown]

I must confess that I don't.

[Arnold Aylmer]

Come, then. I will show you. This way, please.

[Narrator]

The door with the red glass opened into a long, narrow corridor, ending in another door into the garden. Through its glazed panels, Father Brown could see that the lawns and the sweeping fall of the country beyond were covered with the shining pallor of snow.

[Father Brown]

Here is white magic, anyhow.

[Arnold Aylmer]

What do you mean?

[Father Brown]

Look for yourself.

[Arnold Aylmer]

Oh, yes, the snow. It's going to lie, without a doubt. But pray follow me.

[Narrator]

As they made their way along the passage, Father Brown noticed that on one side was an ordinary hat stand with the ordinary dingy cluster of old hats and overcoats. And beside It a single door leading, no doubt, from the proprietor's bedroom. On the other side of the passage was something more interesting. A dark oak sideboard laid out with some old silver and overhung by a trophy of old weapons. Pistols and other firearms. Here, Arnold Elmer halted.

[Arnold Aylmer]

Do you see this long, antiquated sort of pistol with the wide mouth?

[Father Brown]

Yeah.

[Arnold Aylmer]

Do you know why I choose this old blunderbuss?

[Father Brown]

I can't say I do.

[Arnold Aylmer]

Because I can load it with this kind of bullet.

[Father Brown]

Silver teaspoon?

[Arnold Aylmer]

Yes. A silver apostle spoon. I merely have to break off the small figure at the top.

[Father Brown]

So.

[Arnold Aylmer]

And I have my silver bullet. Now let us go back into the other room. Sit down, won't you?

[Father Brown]

Oh, thank you.

[Arnold Aylmer]

Tell me, did you ever read about the death of Dundee?

[Father Brown]

Dundee? Oh, you mean the man who persecuted the Scottish Covenanters?

[Arnold Aylmer]

None other. Did you know that he could only be shot with a silver bullet because he had sold himself to the devil?

[Father Brown]

So it was said.

[Arnold Aylmer]

That's one comfort about you, Father Brown. At least you know enough to believe in the devil.

[Father Brown]

Oh, yes, I believe in the devil. What I don't believe in is the Dundee. Have you ever heard of Dalrymple of Stair?

[Arnold Aylmer]

No.

[Father Brown]

At any rate, you've heard of what he did. He was the man who made the Massacre of Glencoe.

[Arnold Aylmer]

But I always thought it was the Campbell.

[Father Brown]

Maybe. Yet it was Dalrymple who instigated the slaughter.

[Arnold Aylmer]

He.

[Father Brown]

He was a very learned man and a lucid lawyer. Quiet man with a very refined intellectual face. Now, that's the sort of man who sells himself to the devil.

[Arnold Aylmer]

By God, you are right. A refined intellectual face. That is the face of John Strake. If you will wait here a little while, I will show you something.

[Father Brown]

Dear me. A madman, without a doubt. And one impelled by a single crazy obsession.

[Uncle]

I'mma put you on, nephew.

[Dr. Boyne]

All right, unc.

[Father Brown]

Welcome to McDonald's. Can I take your order, miss?

[Uncle]

I've been hitting up McDonald's for years. Now it's back. We need snack wraps.

[Father Brown]

What's a snack wrap?

[Uncle]

It's the return of something great. Snack wrap is back.

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[Father Brown]

I suppose he's gone back to that old sideboard. Or possibly to his bedroom. But why? What can be in his mind?

[Narrator]

Father Brown gazed abstractedly at the carpet where a faint red glimmer shone from the glass in the doorway. Once it seemed to brighten like a ruby and then it darkened again as if the sun of that stormy day had passed from cloud to cloud. Nothing moved except the aquatic creatures which floated to and fro in the dim green bowl. Father Brown was thinking hard. A minute or two later he got up and slipped quietly to the alcove of the telephone.

[Father Brown]

Dr. Boyne? It's me, Father Brown.

[Dr. Boyne]

Ah, yes. What's the trouble, old chap?

[Father Brown]

I wanted to tell you about Aylmer and his affairs.

[Dr. Boyne]

Oh, good. So you've managed to see it?

[Father Brown]

Yes, I'm in his house at the moment.

[Dr. Boyne]

Did you get anything out?

[Father Brown]

Yes, I did. It's a queer story, but I rather think there's something in it. I haven't time to go into details now, but if I were you, I'd send some men up here straight away. Four or five, I think, and surround the house.

[Dr. Boyne]

Surround the house?

[Father Brown]

Why?

[Dr. Boyne]

What are you expecting to happen?

[Father Brown]

Well, I can't tell. But if anything does happen there'll probably be something startling in the way of an escape. My advice to your people is to send your men up here at once. We've no time to lose.

[Dr. Boyne]

Very well, I'll take your word for it.

[Father Brown]

Oh, thank you, Doctor. Well, that's all for the present. Goodbye. No sign of Aylmer? Just as well, since his absence gave me time to make my call. Ah, well, nothing for it but to wait. Impatience. Curious how the light filters through that glass door, shedding its blood red pattern on the carpet. Bloody. That's an ill omen. In the circumstances, I might say. Ah, now it's disappeared again. Strange how it comes and goes. Angels defend us.

[Arnold Aylmer]

What kind of glory? Bit of the white magic glory. Bit of the silver bullet. That hellhound has hunted once too often. And my brothers are avenged at last.

[Father Brown]

Merciful heaven. What Mischief have you done, Aylmer? No one here.

[Arnold Aylmer]

Ah.

[Father Brown]

The bedroom perhaps Locked. That's odd. The keyhole? No, nothing to be seen except a bare room outside. Then it must be there, if anywhere. Dear God. What have we here?

[Narrator]

In the field of snow, which had been so blank a little before, lay a black object. At first glance it looked like an enormous bat. But approaching nearer, Father Brown saw that it was the body of a man fallen on its face, the head covered by a broad black hat. The appearance of bat's wings came from the loose sleeves of a vast black cloak spread out to their utmost length on either side. Peering beneath the hat, Father Brown got a glimpse of the face. It was indeed as Aylmer had described. Refined, intellectual, even skeptical and austere.

[Father Brown]

John Strake. The face of John Strake. Well, I'm jiggered. It really does look like some vast voice vampire that has swooped down like a bird.

[Arnold Aylmer]

How else could he have come?

[Father Brown]

Ail me? You startle me, no doubt, but you.

[Arnold Aylmer]

Haven'T answered my question. If he had not flown, how could he have come?

[Father Brown]

Well, I suppose he could have walked.

[Arnold Aylmer]

Walked? Look at the snow. It's unspotted. Pure as the white magic you yourself called it. There are no footsteps, but a few of yours and mine. There are none approaching the house from anywhere.

[Father Brown]

You're right. There are none.

[Arnold Aylmer]

I'll tell you something else. That cloak he flies with. It's too long to walk. He was not a tall man and it would trail behind him like a royal train. Stretch it out over his body if you like, and see.

[Father Brown]

How did it happen?

[Arnold Aylmer]

I looked out of the door and was turning back when there came a kind of rushing of wind all around me as if I were being buffeted by a wheel revolving in midair. I spun round somehow and fired blindly. And then I saw nothing but what you see here before you. Nor would you have seen it now if I'd not had a silver shot in my gun. But for that it would have been another body than John Strake's lying there.

[Father Brown]

Well, what shall we do? Leave it lying here in the snow? Or would you like it taken into your room? I suppose that is your bedroom in the passage.

[Arnold Aylmer]

No, no. We must leave it there until the police have seen it.

[Father Brown]

Oh, yes.

[Arnold Aylmer]

Besides, I've had as much of such things as I can stand for the moment. Whatever else happens, I'm going to have a drink. After that they can hang me if they like. There must be brandy somewhere in the house. Where are those blasted servants? Hidden it?

[Father Brown]

Why not try that small cupboard in the corner there?

[Arnold Aylmer]

Yes, of course. Why didn't I think of that before? Ah, here we are. A full decanter and glasses as well. Yes. Brandy all right? That's better. Care for a drink yourself?

[Father Brown]

Thank you, no.

[Arnold Aylmer]

Well, it's up to you. Nothing like a drop of spirit to restore a man's confidence.

[Father Brown]

Damnation. Gideon. You very nearly upset that bowl of fish.

[Arnold Aylmer]

Not myself, you know. Not myself at all. Legs, let me down. You see, it's only to be expected after what I've gone through.

[Father Brown]

Oh.

[Arnold Aylmer]

Sure you won't join me?

[Father Brown]

Not for me, thanks.

[Arnold Aylmer]

I see you are still doubtful, though you have seen the thing with your own eyes. Believe me, Father Brown, there was something more behind the quarrel between the spirit of Strake and the spirit of the house of Aylmer. It's your business to believe in things.

[Father Brown]

Oh, I do believe in some things, of course. And therefore, of course, I don't believe in other things.

[Arnold Aylmer]

You do believe it. You believe everything. We all believe everything, even when we deny everything. The soul goes round upon a wheel of stars and all things return. Perhaps. Drake and I have striven in many shapes. Beast against beast and bird against bird. And perhaps we shall strive forever. We seek and need each other. Even that eternal hatred is an eternal love.

[Father Brown]

No.

[Arnold Aylmer]

What is the good of saying no? You have seen part of that eternal drama with your own eyes. You have seen the threat of John Strake to slay Arnold Aylmer by black magic. You have seen Arnold Aylmer slay John Strake by white magic. You see Arnold Aylmer alive and talking to you now. And yet you do not believe it.

[Father Brown]

No, I do not believe it.

[Arnold Aylmer]

Why not?

[Father Brown]

Because you are not Arnold Aylmer. I know who you are. Your name is John Strake and you have murdered the last of the brothers who is lying outside in the snow.

[Arnold Aylmer]

What? What are you saying? By heavens, I'll have your life for this.

[Father Brown]

Ah. Put that pistol down. You'll not help yourself by adding one more victim to your crime. The place is surrounded and there's no way of escape.

[Arnold Aylmer]

This house. Surrounded? I'll not believe you. The police?

[Inspector Collins]

That's right, sir. Inspector Collins of the Essays Constabulary.

[Dr. Boyne]

Inspector.

[Inspector Collins]

And if you take my advice, you better let one of my men take charge of that pistol. See to it, will you, Robinson?

[Dr. Boyne]

Very good, sir.

[Arnold Aylmer]

By what right do you.

[Inspector Collins]

We'll come to that in due course, Mr. Strake, if that in truth be your name. Meanwhile, perhaps Father Brown here will Explain matters rather more fully.

[Father Brown]

Certainly, Inspector. That man there is none other than John Strake. And I accuse him of the murder of Arnold Aylmer, as well as of his two brothers, and the attempted murder of myself.

[Inspector Collins]

Thank you, Father Brown. That's all I needed to know. John Strake, I'm taking you into custody on a charge of willful murder. And it is my duty to warn you that anything you say now will be taken down and may be used in evidence.

[Dr. Boyne]

You know, what beats me is the mentality of a man like Strake. Not only does he appear to have confessed his crimes with very little prompting by the police, but from what Inspector Collins tells me, he even seemed inclined to boast to them as victories.

[Father Brown]

Instead of weaving all that wild romance about winged vampires and silver bullets, he might have put an ordinary leaden bullet into me and walked out of the house.

[Dr. Boyne]

I wonder he didn't. Coffee, Father?

[Father Brown]

Thank you. Thank you.

[Dr. Boyne]

I don't understand it. But then I don't understand anything yet. How on earth did you discover what you did?

[Father Brown]

Oh, you yourself, Doctor, provided me with very valuable information. Especially the one one piece of information that really counted.

[Dr. Boyne]

And what was that?

[Father Brown]

Your statement. That Streake was an inventive and imaginative liar with great presence of mind in producing his lies, and this afternoon he needed it. His mistake, perhaps. His only one was in choosing a preternatural story. He had a notion that because I'm a clergyman, I would believe anything.

[Dr. Boyne]

Other folk have little notions of that kind too, you know. But you must really begin at the beginning.

[Father Brown]

The beginning of it was a dressing gown. Yes. It's quite the bestest guys I've ever known. How so? Oh, when you meet a man in a house with a dressing gown on, you assume quite automatically that he's in his own house. I assumed it myself. But afterwards, queer little things began to happen.

[Dr. Boyne]

Such as?

[Father Brown]

When he took the pistol down in the horse, he clicked it at arm's length as a man does to make sure a strange weapon isn't loaded.

[Dr. Boyne]

But surely he would know whether the pistols in his hole were loaded or not.

[Father Brown]

Precisely. Then later on, I didn't like the way he had to look for the brandy or the way he barged into the bowl of fishes. Now, a man who has a fragile thing of that sort in his rooms gets a quite mechanical habit of avoiding it. But the first real point was this. He came out of the passage between the two doors, and in that passage there's only one other door leading to a room. So I assumed it was the bedroom he'd just come from. I tried the handle, but it was locked. I thought, this is odd. And then I looked through the keyhole. It was an utterly bare room. No bed, no anything. Therefore he'd not come from inside any room, but from outside the house. And when I saw that, I think I saw the whole picture as I do now, just as it happened. Go on.

[Dr. Boyne]

Don't keep in suspense.

[Father Brown]

Poor Arnold Aylmer doubtless slept and perhaps lived upstairs. But this afternoon he came out of his room in his dressing gown, descended the stairs and passed through the red glass door at the end of the passage. Black against the winter daylight, he saw a tall bearded man in a broad brimmed black hat and a large flapping black cloak. He did not see much more in this world. Strake.

[Arnold Aylmer]

Yes, John Strake, your family's sworn and mortal foe. What do you seek here? Your life. That is what I seek. Aylmer, I have come here to kill you. You can't do that.

[Father Brown]

No. Stay where you are.

[Arnold Aylmer]

To kill you, I say.

[Father Brown]

No.

[Arnold Aylmer]

I've done you no wrong. I've done all the to kill you. And so, at last the score is settled. Arnold Aylmer has paid his debt. The last of the foes who robbed me of my inheritance.

[Father Brown]

What's that?

[Arnold Aylmer]

Footsteps. There's someone in the house. What do I do now? I can't be caught here with a body at my feet. I must act and act quickly.

[Father Brown]

Those footsteps, Doctor, were mine. I had just entered by the French window. The murderous reaction was a miracle of promptitude. He took off his big black hat and cloak and put on the dead man's dressing gown. Then he did a thing that affects my fancy as even more grisly than the rest. He hung the corpse like a coat on one of the hat pigs. He draped it in the long cloak and covered the head entirely with his own wide hat.

[Dr. Boyne]

Holy Moose is the mad master. The strength of the very devil he has.

[Father Brown]

But it was the only way of hiding a body in that little passage with the locked door.

[Dr. Boyne]

You maze.

[Arnold Aylmer]

Me?

[Father Brown]

I myself walked past that hat stand once without thinking it was anything but a hat stand. I think that unconsciousness of mine will always give me a shiver.

[Dr. Boyne]

Your story has done that to me already. But what next? Surely he must have realized that you might discover the corpse at any moment and hung where it was. It was a corpse calling for a certain amount of explanation, was it not?

[Father Brown]

Quite so. And therefore he adopted the bolder stroke of discovering and explaining it himself.

[Dr. Boyne]

How do you mean he had already.

[Father Brown]

Assumed the part of Arnold Ahilme? Why should not his dead enemy assume the part of John Strake?

[Dr. Boyne]

Hmm. I'm reminded of that old tale of some frightful fancy dress ball to which two mortal enemies went dressed up as each other.

[Father Brown]

Only in this case, the fancy dress ball was to be a dance of death. And one of the dancers would be dead. That is why I can imagine him smiling.

[Dr. Boyne]

Smiling?

[Father Brown]

All things are from God, Doctor. Above all reason and imagination and the great gifts of the mind, which we must not forget their origin even in their perversion. Now, this man had in him a very noble power to be perverted. The power of telling stories. He was a great novelist, only he twisted his fictive power to practical evil ends.

[Arnold Aylmer]

Yes, go on.

[Father Brown]

Well, it all began with his deceiving old Aylmer with elaborate falsehoods and intellectual inventions. And gradually the urge grew stronger and he became more and more vain of his skill in developing them. That is what the young Aylmers meant by saying that he could always cast a spell over their father. It was the sort of spell that the storyteller cast over the tyrant in the Arabian Nights. He could always produce more Arabian Nights, if ever his neck was in danger. And today his neck was in danger.

[Dr. Boyne]

But I'm still not clear where this sidetracking is getting us. Surely the fellow's a cold blooded and callous murderer and that's all there is to it.

[Father Brown]

That may be so, but I'm sure, as I say, that he enjoyed it as fantasy as well as a conspiracy. He set about the task of telling the true story the wrong way round, of treating the dead man as living and the live man as dead. He had already got into Aylmer's dressing gown. He now proceeded to get into Aylmer's body and soul. He looked at that corpse as if it were his own. And he decked it out, not only in his own dark garments, but in a whole dark fairy tale about the black bird that could only fall by the silver bullet. He completed the exchange by flinging the corpse out on the snow as the corpse of Streak. It spread eagled in that strange fashion that suggested the sweeping descent of a bird of prey. From this he did his best to work up a creepy conception of Streak to explain the absence of footprints.

[Narrator]

What a rogue.

[Father Brown]

And for one piece of artistic impudence, I hugely admire him. He actually turned one of the contradictions in his case into. Into an argument voice. He pointed out that the man's cloak, being too long for him proved that he never walked the ground like an ordinary mortal. But he looked at me very hard while he said that. And something told me at that moment he was trying a very big bluff.

[Dr. Boyne]

Had you discovered the truth by then, I wonder, when you suspected and when you were sure.

[Father Brown]

I think I really suspected when I telephoned you. And yet it was nothing more than the red light from the closed door, brightening and darkening on the carpet, that had set me thinking. I was sitting alone, and as I gazed down at that crimson patch at my feet it looked like a splash of blood that grew vivid as it cried for vengeance. Why, I asked myself, should it change like that, that I knew the sun had not come out? It could only be because the second door behind it had been opened and shut. Someone had gone out into the garden, letting daylight shine along the passage. I began to feel that that person had gone out to do something. It was then I decided to call you. But as to when I was certain, that's a different matter. You see, if he had gone out and seen his enemy, then he would at once have raised the alarm. He did not. It was only some moments later that the fracas occurred.

[Dr. Boyne]

The cry, the pistol shot, and Strake's entrance with the pistol in his hand.

[Father Brown]

Yes, indeed. It boils down to this.

[Dr. Boyne]

Then you say that Arnold Aylmer was killed before you appeared on the scene.

[Father Brown]

Before or immediately after. That is so.

[Dr. Boyne]

But that his body was not thrown out onto the snow until sometime later.

[Father Brown]

Yes.

[Dr. Boyne]

And that the pistol shot you heard later still had nothing to do with his death?

[Father Brown]

Nothing whatsoever. It was all part and parcel of Streak's crazy notion to hoodwink me. I knew that right at the end he was trying to hypnotize me, just as once he did with old Aylmer, no doubt. But it wasn't only the way he said it. It was what he said it was. The religion and the philosophy of.

[Dr. Boyne]

Oh, I'm afraid I'm a practical man, and I don't bother much about religion and philosophy.

[Father Brown]

You'll never be a practical man till you do. There's just one simple little fact that I've learned simply as a practical man. I've scarcely ever met a criminal who, if he philosophized at all, didn't philosophize along those lines of Orientalism, reincarnation and the wheel of death, destiny and so forth. It is the religion of rascals. I knew it was a rascal who was speaking.

[Dr. Boyne]

I should have thought that the rascal could pretty well profess any religion he chose.

[Father Brown]

It was his whole game with me to be as idealistic as possible. That sort of man may be dripping with gore, but he will always be able to tell you sincerely that Buddhism is better than Christianity. Nay. He will tell you in all sincerity that Buddhism is more Christian than Christianity. That alone is enough to throw a ghastly ray of light on his notion of Christianity.

[Dr. Boyne]

Upon my soul, I can't make out whether you're denouncing or defending him.

[Father Brown]

It isn't offending a man to say he's a genius, far from it. And it is simply a psychological fact that an artist will always betray himself by some sort of st. Sincerity.

[Dr. Boyne]

I'll take your word for that.

[Father Brown]

You'll have to, Doctor, for I must be on my way. Thank you for your excellent coffee and for putting me in the way of an extremely interesting experience.

[Dr. Boyne]

Thank you, Father Brown.

[Father Brown]

Good night.

[Dr. Boyne]

Good night.

[Narrator]

When Father Brown set his face homeward, the cold had grown more intense and it was somehow intoxicating. It was a piercing cold, but it was not a killing cold. It tingled with truth and it divided truth from error with a blade like ice. My friend hardly understood his own mood as he drank deeper and deeper draughts of that virginal vivacity of the air. Some forgotten muddle and morbidity seemed to be left behind or wiped out as the snow had painted out the footprints.

[Arnold Aylmer]

Of the man of Blood.

[Narrator]

And as he shuffled onwards through the snow, our little priest muttered to himself.

[Father Brown]

And yet he's right about there being a white magic, if he only knows where to look for it.

[Dr. Boyne]

That was the Dagger with Wings by G.K. chesterton. Adapted by Archie Campbell, with Leslie French as Father Brown and William Rushton as G.K. chesterton. Dr. Boyne was played by Hugh Ross, John Strake by Peter Yap, Arnold Aylmer by Sam Dastore and Inspector Collins by Stephen Thorne. The production was by Christopher Venning.