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The Absence of Mr Glass: Two Voices, One Locked Room | Father Brown · Father Brown | G. K. Chesterton Detective Stories

• 0:07
  Speaker 1: We present The Absence of Mr Glass, adapted for radio
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: by John Scottney, with Andrew Sachs as Father Brown, Olivier
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: Pierre as Flambeau, and Bernard Archer as Dr Orion Hood.
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: Oh, I'm sorry.
• 0:29
  Speaker 3: I've got the kettle on.
• 0:35
  Speaker 4: Ah, excuse me.
• 0:36
  Speaker 3: Yes, what do you want?
• 0:38
  Speaker 5: My name is Brown, Father Brown. I believe a friend
• 0:42
  Speaker 5: of mine, a Monsieur Flambeau, is a guest here.
• 0:44
  Speaker 3: Monsieur Flambeau? Oh, come in.
• 0:47
  Speaker 6: Thank you.
• 0:48
  Speaker 3: Wait here.
• 0:49
  Speaker 5: Oh, thank you so much.
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: Monsieur Flambeau, there's a clerical gentleman here says he knows you.
• 0:59
  Speaker 6: Father Brown? Yes.
• 1:01
  Speaker 7: Ah, my dear Father Brown. What a pleasure to see you.
• 1:06
  Speaker 7: You had my message.
• 1:07
  Speaker 6: Oh, indeed, yes.
• 1:08
  Speaker 7: As soon as I learned you were visiting the resort,
• 1:11
  Speaker 7: I told Mr., um, the gentleman who lives here, and he,
• 1:16
  Speaker 7: my host, is most anxious to make her acquaintance. Please,
• 1:22
  Speaker 7: would you tell the master Father Brown is here?
• 1:25
  Speaker 5: Very good, sir. Flounder, what is this? Why all this secrecy?
• 1:30
  Speaker 5: The gentleman who lives here, the master, my host, who
• 1:34
  Speaker 5: is it you're staying with?
• 1:35
  Speaker 4: Let us simply say a very eminent consulting detective now
• 1:40
  Speaker 4: living in retirement on the south coast and devoting himself
• 1:45
  Speaker 4: to beekeeping.
• 1:48
  Speaker 5: Good heavens!
• 1:49
  Speaker 7: You don't mean.
• 1:51
  Speaker 5: Indeed.
• 1:53
  Speaker 7: My host does not like his real name to be used.
• 1:56
  Speaker 5: Oh, but surely he has nothing to be ashamed of.
• 1:58
  Speaker 7: No, no, no, no, but since his retirement from his
• 2:01
  Speaker 7: all-too-well-known address in.
• 2:04
  Speaker 4: Baker Street.
• 2:05
  Speaker 7: He has no desire to be plagued by heads of
• 2:07
  Speaker 7: state and baffled detectives every time a case of more
• 2:11
  Speaker 7: than usual complexity comes out.
• 2:14
  Speaker 4: So he chooses to call himself Dr.
• 2:16
  Speaker 5: Hood.
• 2:17
  Speaker 7: Dr.
• 2:17
  Speaker 5: Hood?
• 2:18
  Speaker 6: Dr. Orion Hood, my dear Father Brown.
• 2:22
  Speaker 7: Ah, Dr.
• 2:22
  Speaker 6: Hood.
• 2:22
  Speaker 4: Hello.
• 2:24
  Speaker 6: The name Hood may be assumed, but as it happens,
• 2:28
  Speaker 6: the title of doctor is not. I hold the degrees
• 2:31
  Speaker 6: of doctor of letters from several universities... though I am not,
• 2:35
  Speaker 6: my regret, a doctor of medicine like my old colleague
• 2:38
  Speaker 6: and chronicler.
• 2:40
  Speaker 4: Ah, yes.
• 2:40
  Speaker 6: But I observe that it is blustery on the coast,
• 2:43
  Speaker 6: so blustery, I perceive, that you abandoned your original intention
• 2:47
  Speaker 6: of walking from the town by the seashore and instead
• 2:50
  Speaker 6: turned inland and came over the down. Oh, sir, mon dieu,
• 2:55
  Speaker 6: you deduced so much. My dear sir, excellent. Elementary, my
• 2:59
  Speaker 6: dear Framboise. Elementary. Well, you know my methods. Father Brown's
• 3:04
  Speaker 6: sutan is covered in specks of salt, which suggests that
• 3:07
  Speaker 6: a strong wind has blown sea spray onto it. Yes.
• 3:11
  Speaker 6: But it is no longer wet, so it has had
• 3:13
  Speaker 6: time to dry. Therefore, it must be some time since
• 3:16
  Speaker 6: he left the seashore.
• 3:18
  Speaker 4: Of course.
• 3:18
  Speaker 5: You will, of course, have noticed that his.
• 3:19
  Speaker 6: Boots have both sand and the chalky mud of the
• 3:22
  Speaker 6: Downs on them. I'm so sorry. I must wipe them.
• 3:24
  Speaker 7: Come through to my study.
• 3:26
  Speaker 8: Oh.
• 3:26
  Speaker 6: My admirable housekeeper has prepared us tea and muffin.
• 3:29
  Speaker 5: Oh, that's not true.
• 3:30
  Speaker 6: That's not true.
• 3:32
  Speaker 7: Thank you so much.
• 3:33
  Speaker 4: Thank you.
• 3:35
  Speaker 6: Mrs.
• 3:35
  Speaker 7: Bush, we're at party now.
• 3:37
  Speaker 6: There will be three of us.
• 3:38
  Speaker 5: Yes, sir.
• 3:40
  Speaker 6: You are no doubt wondering why I have invited Monsieur
• 3:43
  Speaker 6: Frambo to stay with me, Father Brown.
• 3:45
  Speaker 4: Why, yes, as a matter of fact, Mr.
• 3:47
  Speaker 6: Hood. Hood, Father Brown. During his singular criminal career, Monsieur
• 3:53
  Speaker 6: Frambo had a hand in several cases which, I must say,
• 3:57
  Speaker 6: taxed my powers to the limits.
• 3:59
  Speaker 7: Oh, you are too kind.
• 4:00
  Speaker 6: No, no, no. And he's kindly agreed to be my
• 4:03
  Speaker 6: guest for a few days and discuss them with me.
• 4:06
  Speaker 6: But pray sit down, gentlemen. Oh, thank you.
• 4:09
  Speaker 4: Stop!
• 4:10
  Speaker 6: Father Brown, no. I beg you, do not sit there.
• 4:14
  Speaker 7: Why?
• 4:14
  Speaker 4: What is it?
• 4:15
  Speaker 6: Oh, good heavens.
• 4:17
  Speaker 7: My violins.
• 4:18
  Speaker 6: Oh, so sorry. I'm afraid my habits remain somewhat untidy. Do, do,
• 4:23
  Speaker 6: please sit down. And if you'd care to fill your pipe,
• 4:28
  Speaker 6: I have some excellent Balkan tobacco somewhere. Somewhere. Where did
• 4:34
  Speaker 6: I put it? It's in a slipper, a Persian slipper.
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: It's stuck to the mantelpiece with a knife, sir.
• 4:42
  Speaker 6: Oh, yes, yes, of course, thank you. Old habits die hard, gentlemen.
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: They do indeed, sir.
• 4:49
  Speaker 6: That will be all, thank you, Mrs. Bush. Yes, sir.
• 4:52
  Speaker 6: Very good, sir. Now, Father Brown.
• 4:56
  Speaker 5: Yes, sir.
• 4:57
  Speaker 6: You are visiting one of your former parishioners, Mrs. McNabb,
• 5:01
  Speaker 6: a widow who is in some distress about her daughter. Yes, yes.
• 5:06
  Speaker 5: Goodness, how could you deduce that?
• 5:08
  Speaker 6: Oh, my methods are sometimes quite straightforward and... When Mrs.
• 5:12
  Speaker 6: McNabb saw Thrombo in town yesterday, she recognized him as
• 5:16
  Speaker 6: a close friend of her old parish priest and a
• 5:19
  Speaker 6: frequent visitor to your room.
• 5:21
  Speaker 7: And it was she who told me you were coming
• 5:22
  Speaker 7: down to see her.
• 5:24
  Speaker 6: Mrs.
• 5:24
  Speaker 5: McNabb lives in one of those straggly houses near the
• 5:27
  Speaker 5: town's end.
• 5:28
  Speaker 7: She has one daughter. Maggie?
• 5:30
  Speaker 5: Yes.
• 5:31
  Speaker 6: Pray proceed.
• 5:33
  Speaker 5: She lets lodgings and at the moment has just the
• 5:36
  Speaker 5: one lodger, This young man called Mr... Todd Hunter.
• 5:40
  Speaker 6: Todd Hunter.
• 5:41
  Speaker 9: And he wants to marry the young woman. And what
• 5:44
  Speaker 9: does she want? Why, she wants to marry him. That's
• 5:47
  Speaker 9: just the awful complication. You see, she won't let them
• 5:51
  Speaker 9: get married.
• 5:51
  Speaker 7: Mrs. McNabb won't.
• 5:53
  Speaker 6: And the fellow is an ingenious rascal, no doubt. I
• 5:57
  Speaker 6: recall a similar case, once brought to me by an
• 6:00
  Speaker 6: illustrious client.
• 6:01
  Speaker 4: Yes, I'm sure.
• 6:02
  Speaker 5: But young James Todd Hunter is a very decent man,
• 6:05
  Speaker 5: as far as I know.
• 6:06
  Speaker 7: He seems to have quite a pocketful of money, but
• 6:08
  Speaker 7: nobody knows what his trade is.
• 6:10
  Speaker 5: Mrs. McNabb is quite sure it's something dreadful and probably
• 6:14
  Speaker 5: connected with dynamite.
• 6:16
  Speaker 4: Ah, yes.
• 6:17
  Speaker 6: In the case of the illustrious client, my own experience... No, no, no.
• 6:21
  Speaker 5: The dynamite must be of a shy and noiseless sort,
• 6:24
  Speaker 5: for no one's heard its.
• 6:26
  Speaker 7: Yet it seems the poor fellow shuts himself up for
• 6:29
  Speaker 7: several hours a day and works away at something behind
• 6:32
  Speaker 7: a locked door.
• 6:33
  Speaker 6: Mrs.
• 6:34
  Speaker 7: McNabb is very distraught.
• 6:36
  Speaker 5: She told me a strange tale of two voices heard
• 6:40
  Speaker 5: talking in the room, though when she opened the door,
• 6:43
  Speaker 5: Todd Hunter was alone.
• 6:44
  Speaker 6: Interesting.
• 6:46
  Speaker 7: But also, he has a huge trunk in the corner
• 6:48
  Speaker 7: of his room which he keeps locked all day.
• 6:51
  Speaker 5: Mrs.
• 6:52
  Speaker 7: McNabb even half-suggested that this other man crawls out from
• 6:56
  Speaker 7: it every night.
• 6:57
  Speaker 6: No doubt it is full of Transylvanian soil.
• 7:02
  Speaker 5: What?
• 7:02
  Speaker 7: Sorry, I don't quite follow. Transylvanian.
• 7:05
  Speaker 6: What is this disturbance?
• 7:08
  Speaker 3: Thank heavens you're here. Calm yourself, young lady, calm yourself.
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: I'm extremely sorry, Dr.
• 7:13
  Speaker 4: Hood.
• 7:13
  Speaker 3: I tried to stop her, but this young woman said
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: she must see the famous detective and.
• 7:18
  Speaker 6: I see. Well, it is a most irregular proceeding, but.
• 7:22
  Speaker 5: Excuse me.
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: Interrupting, Your Honor, but I must see Father Brown at once.
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: It's a matter of extreme urgency.
• 7:28
  Speaker 6: Father Brown? Oh, I see. Then you are Maggie McNabb,
• 7:34
  Speaker 6: I presume?
• 7:35
  Speaker 3: How did you know that, sir?
• 7:36
  Speaker 6: Oh, it's obvious, my dear young lady. Father Brown arrived
• 7:39
  Speaker 6: in the town early today in order to visit your family.
• 7:43
  Speaker 6: He is unlikely to be acquainted with anyone else here,
• 7:45
  Speaker 6: certainly not anyone who reposes such trust in him that
• 7:48
  Speaker 6: in an emergency they travelled two miles out here to
• 7:51
  Speaker 6: seek his assistance rather than summon the immediate aid of
• 7:55
  Speaker 6: the local police. Now, I beg you, tell us what
• 7:59
  Speaker 6: has happened. And, Flumbo?
• 8:01
  Speaker 7: Yes?
• 8:01
  Speaker 6: Ask my man to get the dog cart ready. I
• 8:03
  Speaker 6: dare venture we shall be needing it.
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: I have a four-wheeler waiting outside, sir.
• 8:08
  Speaker 6: You are indeed a young lady of enterprise. Come, gentlemen,
• 8:12
  Speaker 6: let us hear Miss McNabb's story in the cab.
• 8:19
  Speaker 5: Now then, Maggie, tell us what has happened.
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: Oh, Father Brown, I'm terribly afraid that James... James has
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: been murdered.
• 8:30
  Speaker 6: What?
• 8:31
  Speaker 3: That man Glass has been with him again.
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: I heard it all through the door. They were talking
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: quite plain. James speaks low with a bow, and the
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: other voice was high and quavery.
• 8:43
  Speaker 6: That man Glass? Who is he, Mr Glass?
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: The truth I don't know, sir. I know nothing about
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: him except his name is Glass. They were quarrelling about money,
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: I think. I heard James say again and again.
• 8:59
  Speaker 3: Damn it, Mr. Glass, and then two, three, Mr. Glass,
• 9:04
  Speaker 3: damn it.
• 9:05
  Speaker 7: But what makes you think the young man has been murdered?
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: Well, after I heard their quarrelling, there was a silence.
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: I tried to break the door down, but I couldn't.
• 9:16
  Speaker 7: So what did you do?
• 9:17
  Speaker 3: Then I ran round to.
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: The backyard and managed to climb onto the windowsill that
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: looks into the room.
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: It was all dim, but there were all sorts of
• 9:23
  Speaker 3: things scattered about. And I swear I saw.
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: James lying huddled up in a corner, as if he
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: were drugged or strangled.
• 9:33
  Speaker 6: Oh, this is serious.
• 9:35
  Speaker 7: Whip up, Cuddy.
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: There seemed to be some playing cards littered about.
• 9:41
  Speaker 4: Is that so?
• 9:42
  Speaker 3: And some wine glasses.
• 9:43
  Speaker 6: Yes.
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: And that was strange, because James is almost teetotal. Oh,
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: and one of them was broken.
• 9:49
  Speaker 6: Interesting.
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: At least one.
• 9:51
  Speaker 8: And.
• 9:52
  Speaker 3: And there was a gentleman's silk top hat.
• 9:55
  Speaker 4: Top hat?
• 9:56
  Speaker 6: Yes.
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: Oh, my God.
• 9:58
  Speaker 7: What, what?
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: I've just realized what it was.
• 10:02
  Speaker 5: Yes?
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: A long knife or sword lying glinting on the ground.
• 10:06
  Speaker 6: Oh, yes.
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: Oh, Father Brown, I hope James is all right.
• 10:10
  Speaker 6: There, there, my child. Oh! You say Mr. Todd Hunter
• 10:15
  Speaker 6: is not given to strong drinker. Is he in any
• 10:18
  Speaker 6: other way profligate with his money?
• 10:20
  Speaker 5: Is he a gambler? Oh, no, sir.
• 10:23
  Speaker 3: James is very careful. Not mean, you understand.
• 10:28
  Speaker 6: Just careful.
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: We were saving to get married.
• 10:33
  Speaker 6: Oh, come, my dear. Ah, here we are. Gentlemen, come,
• 10:36
  Speaker 6: let us descend. There is no time to waste.
• 10:38
  Speaker 7: Gentlemen.
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: Mrs.
• 10:42
  Speaker 7: McNabb!
• 10:43
  Speaker 6: Mrs. McNabb!
• 10:44
  Speaker 3: My mother isn't at home, sir. But I have the key.
• 10:47
  Speaker 6: Oh, gentlemen... Now, Miss McNabb, I hardly know what we
• 10:51
  Speaker 6: shall find upstairs. You will understand if I say that
• 10:54
  Speaker 6: it would be best if you did not come up
• 10:55
  Speaker 6: for the moment. Father Brown? Yes? Whilst I would greatly
• 10:59
  Speaker 6: value your help upstairs, I feel you can be of
• 11:01
  Speaker 6: even greater assistance to Miss McNabb as her friend and pastor.
• 11:05
  Speaker 6: If you would be good enough to remain with her
• 11:07
  Speaker 6: while Monsieur Frambo and I go up. She seems to
• 11:09
  Speaker 6: be in great.
• 11:11
  Speaker 9: Need of comfort.
• 11:12
  Speaker 7: Yes, of course.
• 11:12
  Speaker 6: Come now, Frambo.
• 11:13
  Speaker 7: There's not a moment to be lost.
• 11:17
  Speaker 6: There. That must be the one. It's the only shut
• 11:19
  Speaker 6: door of any of the rooms that face the garden.
• 11:22
  Speaker 6: Monsieur Formeau, you are a little more burly than Mr.
• 11:25
  Speaker 5: McNabb.
• 11:26
  Speaker 6: Do you think you could break it down?
• 11:27
  Speaker 7: Oh, I should be able to. Oh, it's stronger than
• 11:31
  Speaker 7: I thought. Here, let me try again.
• 11:34
  Speaker 4: Voilà, ça y est.
• 11:39
  Speaker 5: This way.
• 11:41
  Speaker 7: No wonder it wouldn't budge. Look at the size of
• 11:43
  Speaker 7: those bolts.
• 11:44
  Speaker 5: And secure on the inside. That is most remarkable, my
• 11:47
  Speaker 5: dear Thornbow.
• 11:48
  Speaker 6: Now, let us enter. Ah, there, unless I'm greatly mistaken,
• 11:54
  Speaker 6: lies Mr. Todd Hunter. Is he dead? As you hear,
• 11:58
  Speaker 6: he is not.
• 12:00
  Speaker 5: No.
• 12:01
  Speaker 6: No, he appears to be gagged and tied up. Oh,
• 12:04
  Speaker 6: this is most interesting. Most interesting. Yes. Doctor, your stethoscope, please.
• 12:10
  Speaker 7: I am not a doctor. You're thinking of.
• 12:12
  Speaker 6: Yes, of course. Foolish of me.
• 12:17
  Speaker 5: Let me see.
• 12:17
  Speaker 6: Yes. His pulse is a little exalted, but basically normal.
• 12:24
  Speaker 6: There seems to be no sign of injury.
• 12:27
  Speaker 7: Well, aren't you going to untie him?
• 12:29
  Speaker 5: No.
• 12:30
  Speaker 7: But why not?
• 12:32
  Speaker 6: I have my reasons. However, until I am completely sure...
• 12:36
  Speaker 6: I would rather not reveal them. Yes, yes. Here is
• 12:41
  Speaker 6: everything just as that admirable young woman described it. Playing cards,
• 12:46
  Speaker 6: wine goblets, broken and complete top hat. Ah, yes, and
• 12:51
  Speaker 6: here is the sword, I think. Now, this is very curious.
• 12:56
  Speaker 6: Do you observe?
• 12:57
  Speaker 7: My God, yes. There's a drop of blood on it.
• 13:01
  Speaker 6: Oh, that surely in the circumstances might reasonably be expected.
• 13:04
  Speaker 6: What is curious... is that there should be so little blood,
• 13:08
  Speaker 6: a mere drop. Ah, the top hat is remarkable. Now,
• 13:13
  Speaker 6: where is my lens? What do you make of the hat,
• 13:17
  Speaker 6: Monsieur Flambeau?
• 13:18
  Speaker 7: It must belong to Mr.
• 13:19
  Speaker 6: Blatt.
• 13:20
  Speaker 7: It is exceptionally large, much, much too large for Mr.
• 13:23
  Speaker 5: Todd Hunter.
• 13:24
  Speaker 6: I see the faculty of observation is contagious. It is
• 13:29
  Speaker 6: indeed very large. I have only ever known one man
• 13:32
  Speaker 6: with such a large cranium.
• 13:34
  Speaker 7: You don't mean.
• 13:35
  Speaker 6: No, no, no, impossible.
• 13:37
  Speaker 5: It cannot be he, no.
• 13:40
  Speaker 6: Come over here, would you? Yes. Now, would you reach up?
• 13:45
  Speaker 6: Like this? Yes, yes, I thought so. You are a
• 13:49
  Speaker 6: large man, Flambeau, yet you cannot reach within six inches
• 13:52
  Speaker 6: of this gas bracket. But what do you see on
• 13:56
  Speaker 6: the bracket?
• 13:57
  Speaker 7: A small fragment of glass. What of it?
• 14:00
  Speaker 6: You see, but you do not notice.
• 14:03
  Speaker 5: It is a fragment of wine glass.
• 14:05
  Speaker 6: Clearly, the hand holding it must have smashed it against
• 14:08
  Speaker 6: the bracket.
• 14:09
  Speaker 5: Now, Todd Hunter here is quite short, so it must.
• 14:14
  Speaker 6: Be his mysterious visitor.
• 14:16
  Speaker 7: He must be a giant of a man.
• 14:18
  Speaker 6: Yes, but an elderly giant and something of a dandy.
• 14:22
  Speaker 6: His hat is of a stylish shape and... systematically brushed
• 14:25
  Speaker 6: and burnished, though not new.
• 14:28
  Speaker 7: And from this you deduce that he is an old man?
• 14:30
  Speaker 6: No, no, but if you examine it under a lens,
• 14:33
  Speaker 6: it has other peculiarities. The hair of human beings falls
• 14:36
  Speaker 6: out in varying degrees, but always falls out slightly, so
• 14:40
  Speaker 6: I should expect to find a number of hairs on
• 14:42
  Speaker 6: the hatband, but there are very few, and what there
• 14:44
  Speaker 6: are are all pure white, which suggests... An almost bald,
• 14:50
  Speaker 6: white-haired man. An elderly man, as is confirmed by the
• 14:53
  Speaker 6: querulous voice Miss McNabb heard.
• 14:56
  Speaker 4: Who is it?
• 14:56
  Speaker 6: Who's there?
• 14:58
  Speaker 7: It's only me.
• 14:59
  Speaker 8: Mrs.
• 14:59
  Speaker 5: McNabb has returned, so I left young Maggie with her.
• 15:02
  Speaker 7: Oh, Father, but it is magnificent.
• 15:04
  Speaker 5: Mr.
• 15:05
  Speaker 6: Hood... Oh, Doctor... Sorry, sorry.
• 15:08
  Speaker 7: Doctor Hood has established that Mr. Glass is tall from
• 15:11
  Speaker 7: this fragment of broken wine glass on the gas bracket,
• 15:14
  Speaker 7: that he has an enormous cranium and is a dandy
• 15:18
  Speaker 7: from his hat. And also, from his hat, that he
• 15:21
  Speaker 7: is an old man, because his hat band has few
• 15:24
  Speaker 7: hairs on it, and they are pure white.
• 15:26
  Speaker 5: Really, that does indeed sound remarkable. But isn't this poor James?
• 15:33
  Speaker 6: Who?
• 15:34
  Speaker 5: Well, alive, I'm glad to see. But why have you
• 15:36
  Speaker 5: not untied him?
• 15:37
  Speaker 6: I will explain all presently. It was by being too
• 15:40
  Speaker 6: precipitate in the case of the giant rat of Sumatra.
• 15:43
  Speaker 5: I'm sure he's all right.
• 15:45
  Speaker 6: Oh, you have my word of honor. You need have
• 15:47
  Speaker 6: no worries for Mr. Todd Hunter.
• 15:49
  Speaker 7: Oh, well, good.
• 15:51
  Speaker 5: Then do please continue. This is all most interesting.
• 15:53
  Speaker 6: Thank you. Now, I may say that it is possible
• 15:57
  Speaker 6: that the man in glass was bald or nervous to
• 15:59
  Speaker 6: dissipation rather than aid.
• 16:01
  Speaker 8: Mr.
• 16:01
  Speaker 6: Todd Hunter, it has been remarked, is a quiet, thrifty gentleman,
• 16:04
  Speaker 6: essentially an abstainer. These cards and wine cups are no
• 16:08
  Speaker 6: part of his normal habit. They have been produced for
• 16:11
  Speaker 6: a particular companion, but we may go farther. Mr. Todd
• 16:14
  Speaker 6: Hunter may or may not possess this wine service, but
• 16:18
  Speaker 6: he seems to possess no wine. What, then, do these
• 16:22
  Speaker 6: vessels contain?
• 16:25
  Speaker 5: Well, what do you think?
• 16:26
  Speaker 6: Well, I would suggest whiskey or brandy.
• 16:28
  Speaker 7: From a flask in Mr. Grass's pocket.
• 16:30
  Speaker 6: Exactly, exactly. Now we have something like the picture of
• 16:34
  Speaker 6: the man, or at least the type. Tall, elderly, fashionable,
• 16:37
  Speaker 6: but somewhat frayed. Certainly fond of play and strong waters.
• 16:41
  Speaker 6: Perhaps too fond of them. Mr. Glass is a gentleman
• 16:45
  Speaker 6: not unknown on the fringes of society.
• 16:49
  Speaker 5: It is quite remarkable, your construction, my dear sir.
• 16:53
  Speaker 7: Quite remarkable.
• 16:55
  Speaker 5: I must congratulate you on it.
• 16:56
  Speaker 6: Oh, it is merely a simple use of the scientific imagination,
• 16:59
  Speaker 6: Father Brown. My method is founded on the observance of trifles,
• 17:04
  Speaker 6: the application of logic.
• 17:05
  Speaker 5: Oh, yes, yes, indeed.
• 17:07
  Speaker 8: But, uh.
• 17:07
  Speaker 5: Yes?
• 17:08
  Speaker 6: Um... Shouldn't.
• 17:10
  Speaker 5: We tell Miss McNabb that Mr. Todd Hunter is alive?
• 17:14
  Speaker 6: Yes, perhaps it would be as well. Would you call
• 17:17
  Speaker 6: her up, Father Brown? Yes, yes, I will.
• 17:20
  Speaker 5: Miss McNabb?
• 17:21
  Speaker 6: I fear, Monsieur Plombo, that what I have to say
• 17:24
  Speaker 6: may well distress Miss McNabb.
• 17:26
  Speaker 7: What do you mean?
• 17:26
  Speaker 6: Well, we've seen something of the figure and quality of Mr. Glass,
• 17:30
  Speaker 6: and what are the chief facts known of Mr. Todd
• 17:32
  Speaker 6: Hunter here? There are substantially three. that he is economical,
• 17:37
  Speaker 6: that he is more or less wealthy, and that he
• 17:39
  Speaker 6: has a secret. Now, are these not the chief marks
• 17:42
  Speaker 6: of a man who is likely to be blackmailed? James!
• 17:47
  Speaker 7: James!
• 17:48
  Speaker 3: Thank heavens you're all right. Are you all right? Why
• 17:53
  Speaker 3: is James tied up?
• 17:54
  Speaker 6: There are sufficient reasons.
• 17:55
  Speaker 3: Father Brown, why is James still tied up? I, uh.
• 17:59
  Speaker 5: Yes, Doctor Hood, why is he still tied up?
• 18:02
  Speaker 6: Patience, my dear lady, patience. Oh! I was just explaining,
• 18:05
  Speaker 6: Father Brown, that Mr. Todd Hunter is just the kind
• 18:07
  Speaker 6: of man who is likely to be blackmailed.
• 18:09
  Speaker 5: Blackmailed?
• 18:10
  Speaker 6: Now, is it not equally obvious to the trained mind
• 18:13
  Speaker 6: that the faded finery, the profligate habits, and the shrill
• 18:17
  Speaker 6: irritation of Mr. Glass are the unmistakable marks of the
• 18:20
  Speaker 6: kind of man who blackmails?
• 18:23
  Speaker 7: And so these two men met here today and quarreled
• 18:26
  Speaker 7: using blows and a bare weapon?
• 18:28
  Speaker 6: Perhaps, although it is a maxim of mine never to.
• 18:31
  Speaker 3: Are you going to take these robes off?
• 18:33
  Speaker 7: No.
• 18:33
  Speaker 8: Hmm.
• 18:35
  Speaker 6: I think those ropes will do very well till your
• 18:38
  Speaker 6: friends the police bring the handcuffs.
• 18:40
  Speaker 3: What do you mean?
• 18:41
  Speaker 6: Because you find Mr. Todd Hunter tied up, you all
• 18:44
  Speaker 6: jump to the conclusion that Mr. Glass had tied him up,
• 18:46
  Speaker 6: and then, I suppose, escaped. Well, there are four objections
• 18:49
  Speaker 6: to this. I shall be very interested to hear them.
• 18:51
  Speaker 3: So should I.
• 18:52
  Speaker 6: Very well, you shall. First, why should a gentleman as
• 18:56
  Speaker 6: dressy as our friend Glass leave his hat behind if
• 18:59
  Speaker 6: he left of his own free will? Second, how did
• 19:03
  Speaker 6: he leave?
• 19:04
  Speaker 5: How do you mean?
• 19:05
  Speaker 6: The window is secured by iron bars. The door, as
• 19:08
  Speaker 6: you discovered, Mr. Fombo, was bolted from the inside very securely. Thirdly,
• 19:13
  Speaker 6: this blade here has a tiny touch of blood at
• 19:16
  Speaker 6: the point, but there is no wound on Mr. Todd Hunter. Mr.
• 19:20
  Speaker 6: Glass took that wound away with him.
• 19:22
  Speaker 3: He took it away with him?
• 19:24
  Speaker 6: Dead or alive, Miss McNab. Consider... Is it not much
• 19:28
  Speaker 6: more likely that the blackmailed person would try to kill
• 19:31
  Speaker 6: his incubus rather than the blackmailer would try to kill
• 19:34
  Speaker 6: the goose that lays his golden eggs? Here I think
• 19:37
  Speaker 6: we have a pretty common story. Todd Hunter was being
• 19:41
  Speaker 6: blackmailed and... Yes, yes, but the ropes. Ah, the ropes.
• 19:46
  Speaker 6: I have looked at all.
• 19:48
  Speaker 5: The knots on Mr.
• 19:48
  Speaker 6: Todd Hunter... You will recall, my dear Flombo, it was
• 19:51
  Speaker 6: the first thing I did upon entering the room. Yes.
• 19:54
  Speaker 6: I have made quite a study of knots. I have
• 19:56
  Speaker 6: even written a small monograph on the subject. Come, I
• 20:01
  Speaker 6: suspected something of the sort the moment I realized the
• 20:03
  Speaker 6: door was bolted from the inside. Every one of these
• 20:07
  Speaker 6: knots Mr. Todd Hunter made himself, and each is so
• 20:10
  Speaker 6: designed that he might loosen it himself. You are a
• 20:15
  Speaker 6: formidable antagonist, Mr.
• 20:16
  Speaker 8: Todd Hunter.
• 20:17
  Speaker 6: A man of singular ingenuity.
• 20:20
  Speaker 7: You mean that.
• 20:21
  Speaker 6: Yes, yes, this whole affair of the ropes is a
• 20:23
  Speaker 6: clever trick, a fake, to make us think him the
• 20:26
  Speaker 6: victim of the struggle instead of the wretched glass.
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: Then where is Mr Glass?
• 20:31
  Speaker 6: Well, I do not wish to distress you, Miss McNair,
• 20:34
  Speaker 6: but your mother may not have been far off the
• 20:36
  Speaker 6: mark when she attributed a sinister value to that extremely
• 20:40
  Speaker 6: large trunk in the corner. I suspect... that if we
• 20:44
  Speaker 6: were able to obtain the keys to it, we would find... Say.
• 20:48
  Speaker 5: It again, please.
• 20:49
  Speaker 6: What?
• 20:50
  Speaker 5: Do you mean that those knots are tied by Mr.
• 20:53
  Speaker 5: Todd Hunter?
• 20:54
  Speaker 6: Yes.
• 20:55
  Speaker 5: And that they're tied in such a way that it
• 20:57
  Speaker 5: is intended that he should be able also to untie
• 21:00
  Speaker 5: them himself? Precisely.
• 21:02
  Speaker 6: That is what I mean.
• 21:03
  Speaker 5: Jerusalem. I wondered if it could possibly be it. Excuse me.
• 21:09
  Speaker 6: Mr.
• 21:10
  Speaker 5: Todd Hunter, may I just.
• 21:12
  Speaker 4: Oh.
• 21:12
  Speaker 7: Oh.
• 21:13
  Speaker 5: Oh, yes, yes, I see what you mean. But, uh....
• 21:19
  Speaker 6: Father Brown?
• 21:20
  Speaker 5: Yes, yes, you're right, that's it, that's it. Can't you
• 21:23
  Speaker 5: see it in the man's face?
• 21:25
  Speaker 7: What on earth do you mean?
• 21:26
  Speaker 5: But look at his eyes.
• 21:27
  Speaker 3: His eyes do look queer. You brute! I believe it's
• 21:31
  Speaker 3: hurting him. James, James, are you all right?
• 21:35
  Speaker 6: No, no, not that I think. The eyes have a certain,
• 21:40
  Speaker 6: what shall I say, singular expression, but I would... Interpret
• 21:43
  Speaker 6: those transverse wrinkles as expressing rather such slight psychological abnormality. Oh, gosh. What?
• 21:50
  Speaker 5: Can't you see that he's laughing?
• 21:53
  Speaker 6: Laughing?
• 21:54
  Speaker 5: What on earth is there to laugh at? Well, not
• 21:56
  Speaker 5: to put too fine a point on it, I think
• 21:59
  Speaker 5: he's laughing at you. And indeed, I'm a little inclined
• 22:02
  Speaker 5: to laugh at myself. And now I know the profession
• 22:05
  Speaker 5: of Mr. Todd Hunter. Or rather, the profession he aspires to.
• 22:09
  Speaker 6: Is this relevant? I hardly think what Mr. Todd Hunter
• 22:12
  Speaker 6: does for a living is germane to the issue.
• 22:15
  Speaker 7: You amaze me, my friend.
• 22:16
  Speaker 6: Oh, no, but Mr.
• 22:17
  Speaker 5: Todd Hunter would like to amaze you.
• 22:20
  Speaker 7: My dear Mr.
• 22:21
  Speaker 5: Todd Hunter, please bear with me a moment. What a
• 22:24
  Speaker 5: fool I was to forget we are in a seaside town.
• 22:28
  Speaker 3: Father Brown, I don't understand.
• 22:30
  Speaker 5: Dr. Hood, you are a great poet.
• 22:33
  Speaker 6: I beg your pardon?
• 22:34
  Speaker 5: You have called an uncreated being out of the void.
• 22:38
  Speaker 5: How much more godlike that is than if you had
• 22:40
  Speaker 5: only ferreted out the mere facts.
• 22:42
  Speaker 4: Indeed.
• 22:43
  Speaker 5: Mere facts are rather ordinary by comparison.
• 22:46
  Speaker 6: Father Brown, I have long admired your successes in my field, but.
• 22:50
  Speaker 5: Mere trifles. Trifles compared to your triumphs.
• 22:54
  Speaker 6: Oh, well, you should not believe all you read. But now,
• 22:58
  Speaker 6: I confess, I have no notion what you are talking about.
• 23:01
  Speaker 6: My facts are all inevitable, though necessarily incomplete. A place
• 23:06
  Speaker 6: may be permitted to intuition or poetry, if you prefer
• 23:10
  Speaker 6: the term, but... Only because the corresponding details cannot as
• 23:13
  Speaker 6: yet be ascertained in the absence of Mr. Glass.
• 23:17
  Speaker 4: Ah, that's it.
• 23:18
  Speaker 5: That is it. That's the first idea to get fixed.
• 23:21
  Speaker 5: The absence of Mr.
• 23:23
  Speaker 6: Glass.
• 23:24
  Speaker 5: He is so extremely absent. I suppose that there never
• 23:28
  Speaker 5: was anybody as absent as Mr. Glass.
• 23:30
  Speaker 7: Do you mean he is absent from town?
• 23:33
  Speaker 5: I mean he is absent from everywhere. He's absent from
• 23:36
  Speaker 5: the nature of things, so to speak.
• 23:38
  Speaker 6: Do you seriously mean that there is.
• 23:40
  Speaker 5: No such person? Oh, it does seem a pity.
• 23:43
  Speaker 6: Then how do you explain the first proof we found?
• 23:47
  Speaker 6: If there is no Mr. Glass, sir, whose hat is this?
• 23:53
  Speaker 7: It is yours, is it not, Mr.
• 23:55
  Speaker 6: Todd? But, uh... Look, it doesn't fit him.
• 24:02
  Speaker 5: He couldn't possibly wear it. My friend, I never said
• 24:05
  Speaker 5: he could wear it. I said it was his hat. Or,
• 24:07
  Speaker 5: if you insist on a shade of difference, a hat
• 24:10
  Speaker 5: that is his.
• 24:11
  Speaker 3: How do you mean?
• 24:12
  Speaker 5: Well, Maggie, if you go to a hatter's shop, you'll
• 24:16
  Speaker 5: see lots of hats that belong to the hatter, but
• 24:19
  Speaker 5: none of them his hat.
• 24:20
  Speaker 7: Ah, but the hatter can get money out of his
• 24:23
  Speaker 7: stock of new hats. What could Mr. Todd Hunter get
• 24:26
  Speaker 7: out of his exceptionally large old hat?
• 24:28
  Speaker 6: Hmm?
• 24:29
  Speaker 5: Rabbits.
• 24:30
  Speaker 7: Rabbits?
• 24:31
  Speaker 5: White rabbits. The hat has few traces of hair, not
• 24:36
  Speaker 5: because Mr. Glass is bald, but because it has never
• 24:39
  Speaker 5: been worn. If you were to examine those white hairs
• 24:43
  Speaker 5: you saw under a microscope, Doctor Hood, you would find
• 24:46
  Speaker 5: they are not human, but rabbit. Lost while the white
• 24:50
  Speaker 5: rabbit was being pulled out of the hat.
• 24:52
  Speaker 4: Extraordinary.
• 24:54
  Speaker 5: It's the same with the sword.
• 24:56
  Speaker 7: Rabbit.
• 24:57
  Speaker 5: Mr. Todd Hunter has no wound on him, but he
• 25:00
  Speaker 5: has a slight wound inside him. Yes, which to judge
• 25:05
  Speaker 5: from the expression on his face is not a serious one.
• 25:08
  Speaker 5: And the cards are for card tricks. They're scattered about
• 25:13
  Speaker 5: because Mr. Todd Hunter is not yet very good at
• 25:16
  Speaker 5: card tricks any more than he is as yet good
• 25:19
  Speaker 5: at sword swallowing. Hence the slight nick.
• 25:23
  Speaker 3: What about the robes? This gentleman says James should be
• 25:26
  Speaker 3: able to escape from them.
• 25:28
  Speaker 5: Ah, precisely, he should be able to. He is also
• 25:31
  Speaker 5: practising to be an escapologist. At present, he seems better
• 25:34
  Speaker 5: able to tie himself in knots than to escape from
• 25:37
  Speaker 5: those knots.
• 25:38
  Speaker 3: But what about the two voices I heard?
• 25:41
  Speaker 5: Have you never heard a ventriloquist?
• 25:44
  Speaker 6: Your occupation is clearly deserved. You are a singularly ingenious person.
• 25:49
  Speaker 6: But there is just one part of Mr. Glass you
• 25:51
  Speaker 6: have not succeeded in explaining away. Yes? His name. Miss
• 25:56
  Speaker 6: McNabb distinctly heard Mr. Todd Hunter say.
• 25:59
  Speaker 5: Damn it, Mr.
• 26:00
  Speaker 6: Glass.
• 26:01
  Speaker 5: Well, that's the silliest part of the whole silly story.
• 26:05
  Speaker 5: Since he manifestly is unable to escape from his own
• 26:08
  Speaker 5: bonds of flambeau, would you cut him free with his
• 26:11
  Speaker 5: own sword?
• 26:12
  Speaker 4: Certainly.
• 26:13
  Speaker 5: Yes, then perhaps Mr. Todd Hunter will explain.
• 26:16
  Speaker 6: Oh, thank you.
• 26:18
  Speaker 3: James, are you all right?
• 26:19
  Speaker 6: Yes, Maggie, I'm all right. Oh, he's beginning to think
• 26:23
  Speaker 6: they'd never release me. I must apologize, Mr. Todd Hunter.
• 26:26
  Speaker 3: I should think so, too.
• 26:27
  Speaker 4: Oh, no, not at all, not at all.
• 26:29
  Speaker 6: A perfectly natural mistake.
• 26:31
  Speaker 7: But who is this Mr.
• 26:32
  Speaker 6: Glass?
• 26:33
  Speaker 8: Ah, well, you see, I was practicing juggling with glasses.
• 26:39
  Speaker 8: Only I haven't quite got the knack of it yet.
• 26:41
  Speaker 8: To tell you the truth, I nearly did myself a
• 26:43
  Speaker 8: nasty injury when one shattered against the gas bracket.
• 26:46
  Speaker 6: Oh, I see.
• 26:47
  Speaker 8: Yeah, and I tend to talk to myself when I'm concentrating.
• 26:50
  Speaker 8: It's a silly habit, I know. So as I tossed
• 26:53
  Speaker 8: the glasses up, I'd say, one, two, three, and so on.
• 26:58
  Speaker 8: Only I kept missing them. Every time I missed a glass,
• 27:00
  Speaker 8: I'm afraid I used rather strong language. What you heard
• 27:04
  Speaker 8: me saying was, one, two, three, et cetera, then, missed
• 27:09
  Speaker 8: a glass.
• 27:10
  Speaker 5: Miss Glass.
• 27:12
  Speaker 6: Miss Glass.
• 27:15
  Speaker 8: Oh, and by the way, I had to lock the door,
• 27:18
  Speaker 8: partly because I didn't want Miss McNabb seeing the tricks
• 27:20
  Speaker 8: till I got them right, partly because, well, it's a
• 27:23
  Speaker 8: thing about being a magician.
• 27:24
  Speaker 6: You've got to keep your secrets secret. Oh, my card. Oh,
• 27:30
  Speaker 6: thank you. Zaladin, the world's greatest conjurer, contortionist, ventriloquist, and
• 27:36
  Speaker 6: human kangaroo.
• 27:38
  Speaker 8: Zaladin.
• 27:40
  Speaker 6: You'll be appearing next month at the Empire Pavilion. You
• 27:43
  Speaker 6: are Zaladin, the world's greatest conjurer, et cetera.
• 27:46
  Speaker 8: Yeah, well, I know it's coming on a bit strong, sir,
• 27:48
  Speaker 8: but that's the nature of these things, you know. The
• 27:50
  Speaker 8: truth is, gentlemen, I've just been left a bit of
• 27:53
  Speaker 8: money and took the opportunity to get started in the business.
• 27:56
  Speaker 8: All that world's greatest stuff.
• 27:58
  Speaker 6: Well, I'm afraid I rather overestimated my powers. Oh, dear James.
• 28:02
  Speaker 6: You are not the only person to have done that, Mr.
• 28:05
  Speaker 5: Todd Hunter.
• 28:06
  Speaker 6: I thought I had schooled myself to believe only the
• 28:09
  Speaker 6: empirical evidence of my eyes, for which reason I'm obliged
• 28:13
  Speaker 6: to tell you, Father Brown, I cannot believe in a deity.
• 28:16
  Speaker 5: Oh.
• 28:17
  Speaker 6: And yet, I confess, I believe the whole romantic fantasy
• 28:21
  Speaker 6: I had spun myself.
• 28:24
  Speaker 5: How could that be? Well, you will excuse me for
• 28:28
  Speaker 5: saying so, Dr. Hood, but I have often observed that
• 28:32
  Speaker 5: when people cease to believe in God, they.
• 28:36
  Speaker 5: They do not then, as one might expect, believe in nothing.
• 28:40
  Speaker 5: It is rather the case that they will believe in anything.
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: In The Absence of Mr Glass by G.K. Chesterton, the
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: part of Father Brown was played by Andrew Sachs. Flambeau,
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: Olivier Pierre. Orion Hood, Bernard Archerd. Maggie, Deborah Makepeace. Todd Hunter,
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: Kim Wald. Housekeeper, Margaret Ward. The Absence of Mr Glass
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: was adapted by John Scottney and directed in Bristol by
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: Alec Reid.