transcript

Speaker 1:
[00:00] Welcome back, everyone, to 1001 Classic Short Stories & Tales. This is your host, John Hagadorn. We're bringing you a Kenneth Moore Father Brown production called The Dagger with Wings. It's a story of a fourth son who happens to be adopted and claims his real father is the devil, and he's taking out the whole family for the inheritance. Kenneth Moore plays Father Brown in this production, which is over 50 years old. And now, our story. Are they near? Are they coming?

Speaker 2:
[01:26] Very near. I hear the beating of their wings. Are you resolved to go on? Yes.

Speaker 1:
[01:41] Take this.

Speaker 3:
[01:53] What must I do?

Speaker 2:
[01:56] Say after me, angels of Lucifer, dark angels.

Speaker 3:
[02:07] Angels of Lucifer, dark angels.

Speaker 2:
[02:12] Know by this sign that I give my body and my soul to the service of your master.

Speaker 3:
[02:21] Know by this sign that I give my body and my soul to the service of your master.

Speaker 1:
[02:35] No!

Speaker 3:
[02:40] I...

Speaker 4:
[02:41] I...

Speaker 1:
[02:42] I can't.

Speaker 4:
[03:48] That is not at all well. Well, that's made me why he wants to see me.

Speaker 3:
[03:53] I'll make him cry, Miss.

Speaker 4:
[04:00] Will you please wait here? Yes. Thank you.

Speaker 5:
[04:23] Yes, Mr. O, I will see you. We've had to put him down here for the moment. He's had rather an after-call. If you would care to leave your umbrella.

Speaker 4:
[04:38] Ah, thank you. Thank you, Nurse. Mr. Augustus Elmer?

Speaker 3:
[04:51] Father Brown?

Speaker 4:
[04:52] Yes, yes?

Speaker 3:
[04:53] I hope you didn't mind my sending for you. You must forgive this makeshift bedroom. I can't manage those damn stairs. Do sit down. I don't know who else to turn to.

Speaker 4:
[05:12] Why me, particularly?

Speaker 3:
[05:14] Well, you see, I was brought up a Catholic and I still think of myself as one.

Speaker 4:
[05:20] Yes. Do you go to church?

Speaker 3:
[05:23] I've been in bad health since I came here to live. Climate of Essex doesn't suit me. You do understand, don't you?

Speaker 4:
[05:31] Oh, yes, yes. I think so. And now that you're in even poorer health, you wish to get back into the fold. Well, perhaps you'd better tell me what it is that's troubling you, Mr. Brown.

Speaker 3:
[05:43] Well, I hardly know where to begin. I've done all the usual things, of course. I wasn't over scrupulous how I made my money. I was in the textile trade in Lancashire. I couldn't afford to be soft.

Speaker 4:
[06:00] Sins of the flesh?

Speaker 3:
[06:03] Nothing much. I married late in life. The wife died when our third son was born.

Speaker 4:
[06:09] You have three sons?

Speaker 3:
[06:11] Four. Three of our own and one adopted. The circumstances of that were rather unusual. The lad was found wandering around the village and no one knew where he came from. About five years old he was. An intelligent youngster with a sort of gypsy look about him. Insisted his name was John Strayed but we could never trace his parents. A wife took pity on him and we brought him up with the others.

Speaker 4:
[06:44] Yes, but surely at that age he should be able to tell you where he came from.

Speaker 3:
[06:48] He told us right enough. Trouble was to us something different each time and not just to us either. The village priest, the local constable, each of them was told an entirely convincing story about his real parentage but was never the same twice running. One day he'd be the son of wealthy parents who'd been drowned at sea. The next he was the child of a gypsy fortune teller. And once he scared the wits out of the wife by telling her his father was the devil.

Speaker 4:
[07:24] The devil? Oh, dear, oh, dear, I say. A born novelist, in fact.

Speaker 3:
[07:30] Even worse than that. A lad with a terrible genius for telling lies. So I thought at first. Now I sometimes wonder whether lies and truth aren't just two faces of the same reality. Is that possible, do you think?

Speaker 4:
[07:50] No, no, I don't.

Speaker 3:
[07:52] But you must think...

Speaker 4:
[07:53] What comes from God, Mr. Elmer, lies from the devil.

Speaker 3:
[07:56] Aye, but couldn't it be, though, that they're just two sides of the same coin?

Speaker 4:
[08:03] What, God and the devil? And is this what he says, this adopted son of yours? What's his name?

Speaker 3:
[08:08] John Strafe.

Speaker 4:
[08:09] Oh, yes, yes. And does he also have a theory that eternity is like some enormous wheel with cycles of birth and death and reincarnation going round and round like a snake biting its own tail?

Speaker 3:
[08:23] Aye, as a matter of fact, he does.

Speaker 4:
[08:26] Yes, and he's an even bigger rascal than you think he is. People who think like that, Mr. Elmer, are invariably bad hats.

Speaker 3:
[08:34] I don't want you to get the idea that John is entirely evil.

Speaker 4:
[08:40] Then why are you so afraid of him?

Speaker 3:
[08:44] Well, you were quite right in thinking that I wanted to talk about my transgressions.

Speaker 4:
[08:53] And so far, you talked about nothing but John Strayke.

Speaker 3:
[08:58] Well, the fact is, he's involved me in something that frightens me very much. I don't know how much you know about these things. You probably don't realize the desperate things a man will do when the doctors tell him he's dying.

Speaker 4:
[09:22] It was the litany of the Dark Angels, I suppose.

Speaker 3:
[09:26] How in heaven's name?

Speaker 4:
[09:28] That crucifix, Mr. Elmer, it looks to me as somebody's tried to burn it.

Speaker 3:
[09:33] That was Strayke. He told me he could conjure up demons, that I could have another year of life.

Speaker 4:
[09:39] And a price, no doubt. I'm surprised at you, Mr. Elmer, a businessman who can contemplate a bargain of that nature. Another year on this far from perfect world, as opposed to an eternity in hell? This Mr. John Strayke must be a very persuasive salesman. Perhaps I can talk to him. I'd like to go through the small print with him.

Speaker 3:
[10:01] You seem to take it very lightly, Father.

Speaker 4:
[10:04] Well, that's because I'm not afraid, you see.

Speaker 3:
[10:06] You mean of dying?

Speaker 4:
[10:08] Of death, or at least of all. Oh dear, oh dear. Now, tell me, have you said anything about this to your other sons?

Speaker 3:
[10:16] As long as he's here, Philip and Stephen won't come into the house. My youngest son, Arnold, lives abroad. Ah, yes, I see.

Speaker 4:
[10:27] Well, let's just suppose the doctors are right. Would it be impertinent of me to ask what arrangements you've made at the disposal of your property?

Speaker 3:
[10:39] Strake persuaded me to make a will some months ago.

Speaker 4:
[10:43] Leaving everything to him?

Speaker 3:
[10:45] At the time, it seemed reasonable enough. Me two eldest sons are successful businessmen. Philip's in the city and Stephen runs the factory. The youngest makes a good living out of buying and selling antique silver. They don't need my money.

Speaker 4:
[11:03] And John Strake does.

Speaker 3:
[11:05] He won't get it. After what happened last night, he'll not get a penny. I'm changing that will.

Speaker 4:
[11:34] Well, we know that John Strayke isn't going to get your money. We must see to it, mustn't we? That he doesn't get your soul.

Speaker 3:
[11:42] Sure, it's not too late for that.

Speaker 4:
[11:44] Oh, good heavens, no, it's never too late. And you haven't done anything very, very wicked, you know. Lots of people dabble in black magic of various kinds.

Speaker 3:
[11:55] I only did it because I didn't want to die.

Speaker 4:
[11:58] I'm sure that's a better reason than most. You know, I once had a parishioner who tried to get the devil to help him with tips on the stock exchange. I can assure you, it wasn't half the fight. It wasn't worth half the fight he gave himself. No, no, no. You mustn't be afraid, Mr. Elmend.

Speaker 3:
[12:15] I am afraid.

Speaker 4:
[12:19] Yes, yes, he does sound rather alarming. Surely you must feel better now that you've got all that off your chest.

Speaker 3:
[12:27] I feel so weak. I know he's trying to kill me.

Speaker 4:
[12:34] Well, then, let's now put him right out of our mind, shall we? You know, his magic isn't really very powerful. Look, the fire has hardly touched it.

Speaker 1:
[12:51] We'll return with Father Brown, The Dagger with Wings, right after these sponsor messages. And now back to our story.

Speaker 4:
[13:08] John Streak.

Speaker 6:
[13:09] I hope I haven't disturbed you. I am Simon Vesty, Mr. Elmer's lawyer.

Speaker 4:
[13:13] I'm afraid he no longer has any need for you.

Speaker 7:
[13:23] But how can you possibly say our father was in his right mind?

Speaker 6:
[13:27] I didn't say that, Mr. Aylmer. But the law always presumes a testator knows what he's doing. Unless it's proved otherwise.

Speaker 8:
[13:34] Look, I've talked to a lot of people in the village, and they all say the same. John Strake had the old man completely under his thumb.

Speaker 6:
[13:39] But that's not enough to prove insanity.

Speaker 8:
[13:41] The house was full of books on black magic, alchemy, God knows what. Strake deliberately built up an atmosphere of mystery and fear in order to get father to do whatever he wanted. And it's quite obvious what that was.

Speaker 6:
[13:53] Where is Strake now? Does anybody know?

Speaker 8:
[13:54] What does that matter?

Speaker 6:
[13:56] I was just wondering whether there was any possibility of doing a deal with him.

Speaker 8:
[13:58] A deal with Strake? You must be mental it wouldn't be worth the paper it was written on. That man is the biggest bloody liar the world has ever seen. Isn't that right Philip? You should have heard the stories he used to spin when we were kids together. He'd lie his way out of anything. He's probably in Monte Carlo or somewhere by now. Laughing his head off. And waiting for the lawyers to do his dirty work for him.

Speaker 6:
[14:21] Well, I have to tell you, there's nothing least eccentric or suspicious about this will. On the contrary, it's a model of how these things should be drawn up.

Speaker 8:
[14:29] Strake would see to that. Who witnessed it?

Speaker 6:
[14:30] The postman and your father's nurse.

Speaker 8:
[14:33] Well, she'd know what kind of a mental state he was in. Can't you find her?

Speaker 6:
[14:36] I'll do my best, but the will was drawn up on the 12th of January, 1928. That's four months ago. He might have been all right then.

Speaker 8:
[14:42] Are you trying to tell us Mr. Vesty that there is nothing you can do?

Speaker 6:
[14:47] There's always something one can do. If we can't show your father was of unsound mind, we'll have a go at undue influence on the part of Straig. Yes, I think that might be more promising.

Speaker 7:
[15:06] Good morning, Mr. Eelman.

Speaker 8:
[15:07] Good morning, Blacker. Now, what's all this about?

Speaker 7:
[15:09] I thought I better tell you, sir, there's a bit of what you might call discontent.

Speaker 8:
[15:13] Now, we've been through all that, and I've told you, without longer shifts, we might as well close down.

Speaker 7:
[15:17] Oh, it's not that, sir. It's a safety aspect.

Speaker 8:
[15:19] Now, look. You know, dumb well, this factory has the finest safety record in the North. If you're thinking of asking for more wages, you have to come up with a better excuse than that.

Speaker 7:
[15:27] It's that wire cage around the big engine. What about it? Well, it's not functioning properly. It's supposed to come down automatic-like. One of the chaps nearly lost his finger yesterday.

Speaker 8:
[15:38] You'll have to be more careful, won't you?

Speaker 7:
[15:40] Come and take a look at it, Mr. Aylmer. You can see it from the catwalk.

Speaker 8:
[15:45] We haven't got unlimited funds, you know. Things are very tight just now.

Speaker 9:
[15:58] It is true that the defendant, Mr. Strick, was the adopted son of a deceased, but there seems no reason why he should be favored above the others in the disposal of the estate, and still less reason why they should be entirely excluded from any benefit. The only possible conclusion, therefore, is that Mr. Strick profited by the absence of the brothers to bring undue influence to bear on his adoptive father. In particular, I was impressed by the evidence of the priest, the Reverend Mr. Brown, who was with Mr. Elmer when he died, and gave the court a very graphic description of his state of mind. I therefore give judgment for the plaintiffs, and declare the will of January 12, 1928, null and void.

Speaker 5:
[17:15] We're back early.

Speaker 7:
[17:19] You're not playing with those damn cards again.

Speaker 5:
[17:22] They always come out the same. It's frightening.

Speaker 8:
[17:28] Why the hell don't you leave them alone?

Speaker 5:
[17:37] I can't live out here in Essex. The whole thing is too ghastly.

Speaker 8:
[17:41] Well, that's how it's been arranged. Stephen and Arnold get most of the money. We get the house.

Speaker 5:
[17:50] I don't see how I can possibly make it into a home with any kind of taste. It's a ghastly house. Oh, it's so different from the flat in London. All these gargoyles and Virginia creeper.

Speaker 8:
[18:01] The main thing is we've got it away from Strake.

Speaker 7:
[18:04] You're never satisfied, Daphne.

Speaker 9:
[18:06] It's a very fine old house.

Speaker 8:
[18:09] You always said the flat was too small.

Speaker 5:
[18:11] At least it was in London. We don't know anyone out here...

Speaker 7:
[18:14] Calm down, Daphne.

Speaker 5:
[18:16] What am I going to do all day? Stuck out here in the middle of this ghastly marsh surrounded by beastly cows?

Speaker 8:
[18:25] Are you expecting someone?

Speaker 5:
[18:27] Yes. That'll be Father Brown.

Speaker 8:
[18:30] Do you mean the chap who gave evidence?

Speaker 5:
[18:32] Yes.

Speaker 7:
[18:32] Well, what's he doing here?

Speaker 5:
[18:34] Well, I asked him to come.

Speaker 8:
[18:35] What the hell for?

Speaker 5:
[18:36] Now, Philip, you heard what he said in the court. That man, Strake, was trying to raise up devils.

Speaker 8:
[18:41] You don't believe that.

Speaker 5:
[18:42] Your father did.

Speaker 8:
[18:43] Oh, for heaven's sake.

Speaker 5:
[18:45] Philip, you are not to be rude to him. If it hadn't been for him, you might not have won.

Speaker 8:
[19:05] Good afternoon.

Speaker 5:
[19:05] Good afternoon, Father. How nice to see you.

Speaker 4:
[19:07] I'm so sorry to be late. I was going to catch the fast train, only they wouldn't let me bring my bicycle.

Speaker 5:
[19:15] Father, you know my husband, don't you?

Speaker 4:
[19:17] Yes, yes, yes, I do indeed. Good afternoon, Mr. Elmer.

Speaker 10:
[19:23] How do you do?

Speaker 5:
[19:24] Won't you sit down, Father?

Speaker 4:
[19:25] Thank you, yes. Now, what seems to be the trouble? You sounded quite worried on the telephone.

Speaker 5:
[19:31] Father, I am sure that there is something evil in this house. You know more about it than anyone.

Speaker 2:
[19:37] Daphne!

Speaker 8:
[19:39] What have you been telling him?

Speaker 5:
[19:42] My husband thinks that I'm a silly little fool, but it is true, isn't it? Can't you feel it yourself?

Speaker 4:
[19:49] Well, it... it does have rather a strong personality, but...

Speaker 5:
[19:54] Personality? Exactly! I almost sense that it's watching me. I have this strange premonition that something beastly is going to happen at any moment. Ever since we moved in here, I have felt that this house has a thoroughly evil character.

Speaker 4:
[20:16] John Strakes character, perhaps?

Speaker 5:
[20:18] I knew he was going to say that. I am convinced that he's still here.

Speaker 4:
[20:24] I suppose a house could be haunted by the living. I've never come across it.

Speaker 8:
[20:28] Well, that's exactly... Well, I've never heard such Tommy rot in all my life. What are you going to do? Go round the place with Bell Book and Campbell?

Speaker 4:
[20:36] He does work sometimes.

Speaker 5:
[20:37] Please!

Speaker 2:
[20:37] No!

Speaker 8:
[20:38] We're not going to have any of that sort of rubbish, thank you. Can't you see my wife's turning herself into a nervous wreck? She doesn't need a priest. She needs a doctor. There's a train back to London in half an hour. Good day.

Speaker 10:
[21:20] Oh, no.

Speaker 4:
[21:22] I'm so sorry, I hope it wasn't my fault.

Speaker 10:
[21:24] You know, if it was anybody else, I'd say it was absent-mindedness. But knowing you, Father Brown, I'd say your mind was preoccupied with matters which might be of possible interest to me.

Speaker 4:
[21:35] Why, bless my soul, it's Inspector Boyne. I had no idea this was going to happen. I'm so sorry, I hope it wasn't my fault. I had no idea this was your manor.

Speaker 10:
[21:42] When I was given this manor, directly I left for hospital. Remember when that fellow tried to blow me up?

Speaker 4:
[21:47] Salvini, the human cannonball. Yes, I remember. Oh dear.

Speaker 10:
[21:51] Well, after that they thought I deserved a bit of peace and quiet.

Speaker 4:
[21:55] Well, that's the most regrettable expression which bears no relation to true peace and quiet. Well, well, well, Inspector. Thank you. Well, I have a feeling it's about to happen again, fairly soon.

Speaker 10:
[22:11] What is it?

Speaker 4:
[22:13] Murder.

Speaker 10:
[22:14] What? You don't believe all that talk about premonitions, do you? Mrs. Aylman's an hysterical woman.

Speaker 9:
[22:20] You said so yourself.

Speaker 10:
[22:21] Now, there may be evil spirits in that house. I wouldn't know that's more your line, Father. But I never heard of any of us getting ourselves murdered by such creatures. No, no, no, no, no, no.

Speaker 4:
[22:30] That's not quite what I meant, Inspector. You see, both the Aylmas are frightened, but for different reasons. Mrs. Aylman's afraid of the supernatural, and that's why she sent for me. And she certainly is getting on her husband's nerves with all this talk of evil spirits and so forth. But that's really not what's worrying him.

Speaker 10:
[22:48] What is, then?

Speaker 4:
[22:50] He thinks that Strake is going to come back and kill him.

Speaker 10:
[22:54] Did he tell you that?

Speaker 4:
[22:56] No, no, no. Of course not. But I noticed that he had a revolver in his jacket pocket. So I don't think it can be Hubgoblins he's frightened of. Do you?

Speaker 5:
[23:12] Philip? Oh, really, you'll ruin your eyesight. Why haven't you got the lights on?

Speaker 2:
[23:23] Is your headache better?

Speaker 5:
[23:25] Yes, thanks. It's so thundery.

Speaker 2:
[23:30] Sherry?

Speaker 5:
[23:32] No, thank you. What were you so busy with?

Speaker 6:
[23:39] Nothing important.

Speaker 5:
[23:42] Well, if you don't want to tell me. I'm sure it's going to rain again. It's so dark. There's nothing the matter, is there, Philip?

Speaker 9:
[23:56] No.

Speaker 5:
[23:58] It's not your rheumatism again, is it? You know, ever since we've moved in here I haven't been able to get warm. Darling, what's this?

Speaker 8:
[24:16] Give that to me.

Speaker 5:
[24:17] Oh, Philip, you haven't been sitting here all afternoon drawing, have you?

Speaker 8:
[24:23] For God's sake, Daphne, shut up.

Speaker 5:
[24:25] Just striking me is rather funny, that's all. You're always complaining about how overworked you are, yet you find time to sit here all afternoon drawing silly pictures. There is no need to snap. You don't care what happens to my nerves, do you? Cooped up in this wretched place all day while you go off to London? It's not exactly what I married before, you know, to sit here all by myself all day. And when you do come home, you don't even talk to me! Where are you going?

Speaker 2:
[24:50] I need some fresh air!

Speaker 5:
[24:51] You'll get soaked! Hello? I'd like to make a call to London, please. Kensington 326. Hello, mommy.

Speaker 6:
[25:36] I don't know if you were planning to make any special arrangements for your sister-in-law, Mr. Ayelmer.

Speaker 8:
[25:40] Daphne will be all right. She's money of her own.

Speaker 6:
[25:43] Well, as I told you, under the terms of the court order relating to your father's estate, the house will now belong to you. I'm afraid it hasn't been very happy residence for your family. Have you considered selling?

Speaker 8:
[25:56] I was going to ask you that, Vesty. That would be an order, would it?

Speaker 6:
[25:58] Yes. You're perfectly entitled to dispose of the property. But before you come to any firm decision, might I make a suggestion?

Speaker 10:
[26:06] What's that?

Speaker 6:
[26:07] I received a letter this morning from your younger brother, Mr. Arnold Elmer. It seems he's thinking of making his home in this country.

Speaker 8:
[26:15] Oh, he never told me that.

Speaker 6:
[26:17] His decision may be connected with your recent bereavement.

Speaker 10:
[26:19] You mean Philip?

Speaker 6:
[26:21] It may be that he wants that rather imposing mansion to remain within the family. Many must know that you, Mr. Elmer, being unmarried and with your business interests in the north of England, are unlikely to have any use for a house in the wilds of Essex.

Speaker 8:
[26:32] Are you saying that Arnold might want to make me an offer for the house?

Speaker 6:
[26:35] An antique dealer can live anywhere. Perhaps he has plans to turn it into a show place.

Speaker 8:
[26:39] You're a crafty devil, Vester. I suppose he wrote you and asked you to try to get it for him on the cheap.

Speaker 6:
[26:44] As your family solicitor, I shall naturally try to do whatever's best for both of you.

Speaker 8:
[26:47] Well, when Arnold arrives, you better tell him to come up north and we'll have a chat. If he wants it that badly, he'll have to pay for it.

Speaker 6:
[26:55] Mr. Elmer, perhaps I shouldn't ask this, but have you any idea why your brother killed himself?

Speaker 8:
[27:02] Disturbed balance of the mind, that's what the coroner said, isn't it?

Speaker 6:
[27:05] But he was in good health, happily married, and there was certainly nothing wrong with his investments. I find it all very puzzling.

Speaker 8:
[27:12] Philip killed himself because he was a coward. He couldn't face the idea that there was someone who hated him so much that he'd sworn to kill him, that wherever he went there was someone watching and waiting for the chance to cut him down.

Speaker 6:
[27:21] You mean John Strake?

Speaker 8:
[27:23] A man like that doesn't take kindly to losing a fortune when he thinks he's got his hands on it. And he always knew that Philip was the weakest minded of us three. I'm prepared to bet he's been hounding him these last few months, threatening to get him one way or another, bringing up the house in the middle of the night, sending anonymous letters.

Speaker 6:
[27:40] But if this was so, shouldn't you have said so at the inquest?

Speaker 8:
[27:44] I didn't have the evidence then, but I'm pretty certain now. You see this morning, I got a letter like that myself. Good day, Mr. Vesty. It's quite specific, Mr. Elmer.

Speaker 9:
[28:03] Tomorrow you'll be dead.

Speaker 8:
[28:05] Could be a practical joker, I suppose. I thought that I wouldn't have sent for you. Do you have any employees who have got a grudge against you? There's absolutely no doubt about who sent it. I didn't ring up the police station and ask for Sherlock Holden's. I just wanted someone to sit around and keep his eye on things.

Speaker 9:
[28:19] Yes, I understand.

Speaker 8:
[28:21] I mean, even a lunatic's not going to try and kill me while you're here. Guess who's the one it is?

Speaker 5:
[28:25] The works manager just telephoned. Your brother's arrived and has taken him on a tour of the factory.

Speaker 8:
[28:30] Well, why the hell didn't he bring him up here?

Speaker 7:
[28:32] I'm only telling you what Mr. Purvis told me.

Speaker 8:
[28:35] I'll be damned snooping around. That's what he's doing. I'll be back in a minute.

Speaker 10:
[28:43] Hon, what are you doing down there? Come up here! Old Mr. Elmer has a quarrel with Strake. Makes arrangements to cut him out of his will and dies, apparently for natural causes, before he can see his lawyer. Three sons go to court and win their case. Then Strake starts sending them threatening letters. A month later, Philip Elmer is found dead, apparently by his own hand. And a little after that, Stephen meets with a horrible death in his own factory. Oh, by the way, you're... You're very good health, Father.

Speaker 4:
[29:34] And you're good health too, Inspector.

Speaker 10:
[29:36] Now, in heaven's name, what has all that had up to?

Speaker 4:
[29:39] One natural death, one suicide, and one accident on the face of it.

Speaker 10:
[29:43] Ah, but you and I are not concerned with the face of things, are we?

Speaker 4:
[29:46] Inspector, I know. You're hoping I'll say that Strake has laid a family curse on the Elmers. That's the trouble with being a priest. He didn't expect you to believe anything.

Speaker 10:
[29:54] All right, what do you suggest?

Speaker 9:
[29:55] Pure coincidence.

Speaker 4:
[29:58] I think old Mr. Elmer more or less frightened himself to death. Philip may have committed suicide.

Speaker 10:
[30:05] Look, I examined the body half an hour after it was found. It was in the middle of the lawn. A wet lawn that would have left any mark. And there wasn't another footprint anywhere near the body. Now, if somebody else killed him, they'd have had a swoop down from the sky.

Speaker 4:
[30:19] All right then, Philip committed suicide. And Stephen, according to the evidence of that inquest, was a rather stingy kind of fellow who would not spend money replacing worn-out machinery. So when the main belt snapped... Yes, in a way, I suppose it was his fault, yes.

Speaker 10:
[30:36] In fact, you don't think Strake had anything to do with anything?

Speaker 4:
[30:39] Yes, of course he did, Inspector. It was Strake who got old Mr. Ailman to such a state. And when he sent threatening letters to the Suns, each of them reacted according to their different temperaments. Philip got frightened and Stephen got careless. Yes, of course he was responsible for their deaths.

Speaker 10:
[30:54] And the police can't lay a hand on him.

Speaker 4:
[30:58] That rather depends on what he tries to do to the third Sun, doesn't it? He's moved into the house, I gather. I haven't called yet. I understand he's having some domestic difficulties.

Speaker 10:
[31:07] What do you mean?

Speaker 4:
[31:07] Well, he's having difficulty in finding any domestics. Nobody in the village wants to work in that house anymore. They think it's haunted. He's living there alone, I believe. Poor chap. I dare say he's as frightened as all his brothers were.

Speaker 10:
[31:21] He doesn't have to live there. After all, he did get the house for nothing.

Speaker 4:
[31:23] Yes.

Speaker 10:
[31:25] You know, come to think of it, he's done rather well, as Mr. Arnold Aylmer.

Speaker 4:
[31:31] Yes, I suppose he has. Oh, goodness me. You don't think that...

Speaker 10:
[31:39] Well, his motive for getting rid of them is just as good as Strakes. And he's finished up with the whole caboodle, hasn't he? The house, the money, everything.

Speaker 4:
[31:46] Oh, dear, oh, dear, oh, dear. Now, have I your permission to go and talk to him?

Speaker 10:
[31:50] My lord, no, I'm not so sure he'd be too pleased to have you poking around up there.

Speaker 4:
[31:54] Nobody ever notices me. It'd be different if half a dozen of your men went marching into the grounds. Oh, or perhaps on second thoughts it might be just as well, just in case, did he?

Speaker 10:
[32:04] Very well, Father.

Speaker 4:
[32:05] Bye, Inspector. No, no, better not. Don't get so damp in all that shrubbery. I'll go alone.

Speaker 10:
[33:23] Mr. Elmer?

Speaker 4:
[33:25] Mr. Arnold Elmer?

Speaker 11:
[33:28] I am Arnold Elmer. I'm out of the way of expecting visitors.

Speaker 4:
[33:33] Yes, I did hear that you were living alone. That's why I took the liberty of letting myself in. Oh, I do hope I haven't got you out of bed.

Speaker 11:
[33:40] Who are you and what do you want?

Speaker 4:
[33:41] My name is Brown, Father Brown. I had some slight acquaintance with your father. In fact, I was with him when he died.

Speaker 11:
[33:48] I see.

Speaker 4:
[33:51] I do hope I helped set his mind at rest. I wished he'd sent for me earlier, poor man. He seemed to think that the devil had singled him out for particular attention.

Speaker 11:
[34:00] Not the devil himself perhaps, but certainly a demon. He told you about this adopted son of his.

Speaker 4:
[34:07] John Strake. Yes, indeed he did. Unfortunately, Mr. Strake had left before I arrived. That's a pity. I should have liked a word with him.

Speaker 11:
[34:14] As a priest, you would know not once that you were in the presence of great evil. Have you seen a photograph of him?

Speaker 4:
[34:21] Well, there wouldn't be any, would there? Well, I mean, if Mr. Strake was really practicing black magic, he wouldn't allow any photographs to be taken. He'd know that if they fell into the hands of an enemy, they could be used in all sorts of unpleasant ways. In the pin through the heart, for instance. Oh, I don't think he'd take that risk.

Speaker 11:
[34:40] Oh, Ernest, do you know this?

Speaker 4:
[34:42] Oh, I pick up all sorts of information.

Speaker 11:
[34:46] Do you have any idea what it's like to be pursued by a man like that? To know that he means to destroy you as he destroyed your father and your brothers?

Speaker 4:
[34:56] Oh, I don't think you should jump to those conclusions, Mr. Elmer. We don't know that John Strake had anything to do with those tragedies.

Speaker 11:
[35:06] In the case of my brother Philip, I wasn't sure at first. He was found shot, you know, on the lawn out there with his revolver beside him. It had been raining heavily, and the grass was still drenched. But apart from my brother's footprints, there were no others.

Speaker 4:
[35:22] He must have killed himself.

Speaker 11:
[35:25] Yes, perhaps, perhaps, he did. But I shall always be certain in my own mind that he was murdered and that the murderer came and went without leaving any trace.

Speaker 4:
[35:35] Oh, but that's impossible, Mr. Ed.

Speaker 11:
[35:36] So are miracles, Father Brown. And if God can perform them, perhaps the devil can too.

Speaker 4:
[35:45] But your brother Stephen's death, surely that can have been nothing but an accident?

Speaker 11:
[35:50] I was on the factory floor when Stephen died. He came out onto the catwalk outside his office and called my name. I looked up at him, and he must have been about 40 feet above me. And then as our eyes met, I became conscious of something else, of something monstrous hanging in the shadows of the factory roof above his head. It was shaped like the figure of a man, but made huge by the great black cloak it wore. I was going to cry out when suddenly there was a sound like the cracking of a whip, and something wrapped itself round Stephen's body and dragged him. Have you seen the letters my brothers got before they died?

Speaker 4:
[36:35] Yes, I did see them at the inquest on your brother Philip. I remember they were signed with some sort of symbol. It was a winged dagger.

Speaker 11:
[36:44] Do you know what that signifies, Father Brown?

Speaker 4:
[36:45] No, some sort of magic sign, I suppose.

Speaker 11:
[36:48] But don't you see any connection between that symbol and the manner of my brother's deaths? A winged dagger, a weapon of death that is able to strike swiftly from a distance. Philip was found shot on his own lawn with his own revolver beside him and not a trace of any other footprints disturbing the wet grass about him. Stephen was alone on that catwalk when he died. Alone that is, except for the great dark figure I saw hovering on the roof above him. In both cases, death came apparently out of the air on wings. Yes, and both my brothers had received pieces of paper with the drawing of a winged dagger on it. Like this one.

Speaker 4:
[37:35] Death comes today as it came to your brothers. Oh yes, but you mustn't let these sorts of things stupefy you, these demons.

Speaker 11:
[37:43] Then you do believe that Straykey is a demon.

Speaker 4:
[37:46] I believe all sorts of things, Mr. Elmer. As I was saying, these demons, they make us feel helpless by trying to make us feel hopeless.

Speaker 11:
[37:53] Yes, you're right, you're right of course. But you'll find out that I'm not so hopeless as you imagine.

Speaker 7:
[37:58] I'm not so helpless either.

Speaker 11:
[38:00] Perhaps I have more hope, better help than you think. You see, I believe my unfortunate brothers died because they were using the wrong weapons. Philip always carried a revolver and that's how his death came to be called suicide. Stephen had police protection but he also had a sense of the ridiculous. He couldn't ask a policeman to climb out with him out onto a catwalk where he's only gonna be for a few seconds. You see, neither of them realized, neither of them understood that there's only one effective weapon against black magic and that's white magic.

Speaker 10:
[38:29] Oh dear, dear.

Speaker 11:
[38:30] Or perhaps I should say silver. Come with me for a moment. They are beautiful, aren't they? I've collected these pieces in every corner of the world.

Speaker 4:
[39:01] Just look at it all. I knew it was going to snow. There's white magic for you at any rate.

Speaker 11:
[39:13] Do you know why I chose this particular piece, Father Brown?

Speaker 4:
[39:16] No.

Speaker 11:
[39:17] Because I can load it with this sort of bullet.

Speaker 4:
[39:22] But that's an apostle's...

Speaker 11:
[39:24] Didn't you know that when a man has sold his soul to the devil, he can only be killed by a silver bullet?

Speaker 4:
[39:28] But how can you bear to destroy anything so beautiful?

Speaker 11:
[39:30] When the straight comes from me, I shan't rely on the protection of the police or a lead bullet. Let me see what else do we need. Powder, wadding, and we'll need some sort of ramrod.

Speaker 4:
[39:43] I feel a little bloated, Mr. Hammett. I think I'll get my cloak. Put me through to the police station, please. Inspector Boyne. Inspector Boyne. He's what? He's not there. Oh dear, oh dear. No, no matter. No matter.

Speaker 2:
[40:32] My brothers are avenged at last.

Speaker 4:
[41:01] It really looks as if he's swooped down like a great bird.

Speaker 11:
[41:09] How else could he have come? Look at the snow. Do you see any footprints on it beside yours and mine? There's not a mark on it for miles. Except for this foul black blot.

Speaker 4:
[41:25] That cloak, it's very curious.

Speaker 11:
[41:27] It's such trifle too long for him, wouldn't you say? He wasn't a very tall man. That cloak would have trailed behind him on the ground, therefore.

Speaker 4:
[41:37] Oh. Oh, Mr. Elmer. Shall we leave his body here? Or shall we take it upstairs to your room?

Speaker 11:
[41:52] I'll call for the police in a minute. First I'm going to have a drink. You can see you're still doubtful, Father Brown.

Speaker 2:
[42:27] Did you see the thing with your own eyes?

Speaker 4:
[42:30] Yes.

Speaker 11:
[42:33] You have no business to be an unbeliever, Father Brown. Weird things, strange things without any explanation, you're stuck in trade, surely.

Speaker 4:
[42:44] Well, yes, it's true. I do believe some things. Yes, I do. Therefore, I don't believe other things.

Speaker 7:
[42:51] Oh, you do.

Speaker 11:
[42:52] You do.

Speaker 2:
[42:53] We all do.

Speaker 11:
[43:06] Take reincarnation, for example. Every one of us believes in his heart that the human soul goes round and round through the ages like a circling star or like a snake biting his own tail.

Speaker 2:
[43:20] All things return again and again.

Speaker 11:
[43:24] Perhaps John Strake and I have always been enemies in many shapes and at many times. But since we need each other and seek each other out, is it not possible that this eternal hatred is also an eternal love? Do you not realize, Father Brown, do you not believe beyond all your other beliefs that there is but one reality where all things merge into one? Hatred into love, man into the devil, the devil into God? No. No.

Speaker 2:
[43:53] How can you say no? You've seen part of that eternal drama with your own eyes. You've seen John Strake try to kill Arnold Elmer. That black magic you've seen Arnold Elmer kill John Strake by white magic and yet you still don't believe it?

Speaker 4:
[44:06] No, I don't.

Speaker 11:
[44:10] May I ask why he notes?

Speaker 4:
[44:13] Because you're not Arnold Elmer. You're John Strake. And you've just killed the last of the brothers. And it's his body that's lying out there in the snow. But the Apostle's spoon, you see... Oh, the Apostle Spoon. Now, you wouldn't deliberately break a thing like that, would you, Inspector? So why should a man who spent his whole life collecting antique silver?

Speaker 10:
[45:01] Having gone to all that trouble, I mean, why didn't he look at the piston?

Speaker 4:
[45:03] Well, he couldn't find the powder or the ramrod or something or other, I suppose. The shot I heard must have come from his own revolver. The silver bullet, the idea, the silver bullet must have been an inspiration.

Speaker 10:
[45:13] Tell me this, when you first saw him, did you really believe that it was Arnold Elmer?

Speaker 4:
[45:18] Oh my goodness, yes. It was a dressing gown, you see. I mean, a dressing gown is one of the really good disguises I've ever come across. I mean, when you see a man in a dressing gown in a house, you naturally assume that he's in his own home, don't you? Well, when he came through that stained glass door, I thought he'd come from the bedroom. Then I remembered that that was the makeshift sick room that they'd made up for poor old Mr. Elmer. Of course, he was stupid of me not to have thought of that. You see, he hadn't been in that room at all. He'd come straight in from the garden. And when I realized that, I knew exactly what had happened.

Speaker 2:
[47:29] Who's that?

Speaker 4:
[47:30] Then he adorned on his strange and fertile mind the idea of exchanging roles with his dead enemy. He'd already assumed the part of Arnold Elmer. So why shouldn't Arnold Elmer's corpse be passed off as John Strakes? The idea must have appealed to the man's odd twisted imagination. It was like some horrible fancy-dressed ball with the two mortal enemies going there dressed in each other's clothes.

Speaker 10:
[47:58] Fancy-dressed ball? Sounds more to me like a dance of death.

Speaker 4:
[48:03] With one of the partners already dead.

Speaker 10:
[48:07] Henry, you know, the body in the snow...

Speaker 4:
[48:11] Remember I said that the stained glass door suddenly blazed with a red light. It was like a huge blood stain spreading across the carpet. I couldn't think when it was at first. And then I realized of course it was the light reflected from the snow outside. Now that must have been the moment when Strake opened the garden doors to throw the corpse out onto the terrace.

Speaker 10:
[48:31] Having of course dressed him in his own long black cloak.

Speaker 4:
[48:34] Yes, yes, yes. You know, it really did look like a great black bird lying there. The cloak was too long of course and he used that fact to weave his extraordinary story about a ghostly creature that flew through the air. He used everything, don't you see? The man was an artist using every circumstance that came along.

Speaker 10:
[48:54] Instead of creating he preferred to destroy.

Speaker 4:
[48:56] Yes, yes. What a great novelist the man would have made. Do you know, Inspector, I shall never be able to look at a coat stand again without a shadow.

Speaker 1:
[49:55] Thank you for joining us at 1001 Classic Short Stories & Tales. This is your host, John Hagedorn. Hope you enjoyed the story. If you did, send us a kind review. Until next time, take care, and we'll be back soon.