The Innocence of Father Brown
G. K. Chesterton
eBook
(, Jan. 22, 2014)
The Innocence of Father Brown is a collection of short stories written by English novelist G. K. Chesterton which were published in 1911.Father Brown is a short, stumpy Roman Catholic Church priest, "formerly of Cobhole in Essex, and now working in London", with shapeless clothes and a large umbrella, and an uncanny insight into human evil. He makes his first appearance in the story "The Blue Cross" and continues through the five volumes of short stories, often assisted by the reformed criminal M. Hercule Flambeau. Father Brown also appears in a story "The Donnington Affair" that has a rather curious history.The Blue Cross: Father Brown ensures a remarkable occurrence happens at each stop on his travels with the great thief Flambeau, allowing the the detective Valentin to catch up to them and apprehend Flambeau.The Secret Garden: Father Brown discovers that the atheist Valentin murdered an American considering donating a large sum of money to the Catholic church by observing broken twigs far from a tree and the critical observation that the beheading was done so that head that was found would be assumed to be that of the body.The Queer Feet: Father Brown prevents Flambeau from stealing the ornate silverware of the Twelve Fishers by noticing that the footsteps upstairs sometimes walked like that of a loafer, a gentleman, and a waiter, a strange pattern that was solved with the observation that a gentleman's attire is very similar to a waiter's. Flambeau played both parts masterly, but was prevented from absconding with his prize by Father Brown's astute actions.The Flying Stars: Flambeau steals costly diamonds from a Christmas party by dressing up as the harlequin (which requires lots of flashy glass) in a classic Christmas skit, in the process actually beating up a real policeman, but is turned from a life of crime when Father Brown tells him where his, currently relatively moral, thefts will lead.The Invisible Man: Father Brown solves a murder where no one saw anyone enter or leave an apartment complex by observing that the postman is effectively unseen, his presence is so routine and usual that people who are looking for someone entering or leaving may not even consider the postman.The Honor of Israel Gow: The death of a nobleman is investigated by Father Brown and the now private investigator Flambeau. The piles of snuff, candles with no sticks, and the manuscripts with the name of God removed are not dark evil, but merely Israel Gow, who was promised all the gold in the house taking only and exactly what he was given.The Wrong Shape: Father Brown's noting that death of famous writer who had taken ill must have been a murder because the pieces of paper that he had written on were cut inconsistently, causing the doctor who killed the writer because he loved the writer's wife, to confess the murder to Father Brown.The Sins of Prince Saradine: Prince Saradine acquired many enemies who wanted to kill them and had a brother who blackmailed him. Father Brown discovers that after Saradine learned of an former exploit of Flambeau's, Saradine gave his property to his brother who had finally bled him dry and lives as his brothers' butler, thus causing his enemy to think his brother was the real Saradine.The Hammer of God: Father Brown shows a (presumably Episcopal) curate that his failure to pray humbly on the ground, instead of high on the spire, lead him to take God's justice out on his brother, and by his actions, Father Brown leads the curate to repentance.The Eye of Apollo: Father Brown reveals that a priest of the new religion of sun-worshipers kills a blind woman by building a romantic relationship with her, then calling to her that the elevator was ready and then soundlessly taking it to the next floor so that she falls to her death (this was before automatic doors), but that he was cheated out of the inheritance that she had left him by her sister who had left a founta