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The Hammer of God: A Murderous Blow That Defies Belief | Father Brown · Father Brown | G. K. Chesterton Detective Stories

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: The Father Brown Stories by G.K.
• 0:03
  Speaker 2: Chesterton.
• 0:12
  Speaker 3: We present The Hammer of God, adapted by John Scottney,
• 0:16
  Speaker 3: with Andrew Sachs as Father Brown.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Of God, and.
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: The fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with us all evermore.
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: Amen.
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: Who is it? Can I help you? I'll come down.
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: How do you do, Mr. It's what I must say.
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: It is magnificent. You're rude, Loft.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: I mean. So few survived in England, and the roundheads
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: were so strong in these parts. By that carving, filigree work.
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: You call it? Yes, it is rather fine.
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: I often go out there to pray.
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: To pray? Up there, above the aisle?
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: Well, you can look down on the whole church, and
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: a building as noble as this, what should glorify God
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: in all its parts?
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: Indeed. Yes, I'm sorry I interrupted your devotion.
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: No, no, I just finished saying evensong to myself. Alone,
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: as usual. Vespers, I prefer to call it.
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: Oh.
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: This is an old priory church, you know, and I
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: like to keep the old monastic hours of prayer each day.
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: All of them?
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: Surely.
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: All. Prine, terse, sex, loans, vespers, compliment. I'm matins at midnight.
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: And lords? Oh, no, not lords. But then, latterly, now
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: we do the monks. Two o'clock in the morning is
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: a little inconvenient.
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: Yes, yes.
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: We don't see many Romans in these parts, Father.
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: Oh, Brown, I'm sorry, Father Brown.
• 2:03
  Speaker 4: Well, I've been staying with my sister over at Bungie,
• 2:06
  Speaker 4: and as I had a week to spare, I thought
• 2:08
  Speaker 4: I'd follow the old pilgrim route to Our Lady at Walsingham.
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: Ah, I heard some of your people have revived the shrine. What,
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: ten years ago?
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: Yes, yes, March 1897, actually.
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: There can't be much left of the abbey.
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: How does it go?
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: Bitter, bitter to behold the... grass to grow, where the
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: walls of Walsingham so stately did show. Indeed, yes.
• 2:35
  Speaker 4: Yes, yes, your priory here wasn't the only one to
• 2:38
  Speaker 4: be dismantled by, pardon me, the founder of.
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: The Anglican Church. It must have been quite a place
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: to have a chapel like this. It's superb.
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: Some people do say the tower's disproportionately tall. Oh. It
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: was completely rebuilt in the 14th century. The monks made
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: a fortune out of wool trade, hence St. Cuthbert's, the
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: shepherd's patron, of course.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: Yes, yes, yes.
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: But then my family did well out of it, too.
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: Your family? My brother is a local squire.
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: Ah.
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: We go back a long way. Look, would you like
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: me to show you around the church? Oh, very much. Oh,
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: of course.
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: Tomorrow, if possible. I really ought to find somewhere to
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: stay first.
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: Oh, well, there's only the blue boar. It's simple, but clean.
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: And Thurston, the landlord, is a good sort. Good, good.
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: There's a shortcut out of the west door, then through
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: the blacksmith's yard, which immediately abuts on it. I'll show you.
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: Oh, thank you, sir.
• 3:45
  Speaker 5: I hope you'll be comfortable here, father. We don't have
• 3:47
  Speaker 5: many visitors. It's a quiet village, not much other animals.
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: Thank you, Mrs.
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: Thurston. Thank you. I'm sure it will be perfect. Thank you.
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: The rector spoke very highly of you. Oh, Mr.
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: Bergic.
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: He's a good man.
• 3:57
  Speaker 5: A little strange in his ways, but a good man.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: Not like his brother.
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: Oh, his brother. The squire. Supper will be at half
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: past seven, father, if that suits you.
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: Oh, yes. Thank you so much. Thank you.
• 4:14
  Speaker 6: A very good evening to you, rector.
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: Evening, rector, I said.
• 4:20
  Speaker 6: Wilfred.
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: Wilfred. What a word for your own brother. That's a
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: bit unchristian for a parson, isn't it? So, Norman. What
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: in heaven's name are you doing sitting outside the blue
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: boar in the dark? Oh, I see. You're having your
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: last drink on Tuesday night or your first drink on
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: Wednesday morning?
• 4:43
  Speaker 6: Well, that midnight's striking, wasn't it?
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: Well, that's a nice scholastic point, isn't it, Mr. Martin?
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: I'm surprised, Thurston, that you say drinking so late. Surprised, Wilfred?
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: Why surprised?
• 4:58
  Speaker 6: Since as head of our distinguished and ancient family, I
• 5:02
  Speaker 6: own a damn deal. Like the rest of the whole
• 5:04
  Speaker 6: stinking village, they will stay serving me as long as I.
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: Damn well please. Good night, Norman. Oh, will you have
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: to pray in your precious church? Yes. You're a strange one, Wilfred.
• 5:15
  Speaker 6: Always praying in odd places and at odd times.
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: Unless, of course, you're off to see Mrs.
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: Barnes. What do you mean?
• 5:23
  Speaker 6: Very convenient for you, that place being bang next door
• 5:26
  Speaker 6: to the church, and the beauteous Mrs.
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: Barnes being so accommodating. Don't sully me with your own filth, Norman.
• 5:35
  Speaker 6: Well, if the parson won't go to comfort a lonely
• 5:37
  Speaker 6: member of his flock, then, like the good landlord I am,
• 5:42
  Speaker 6: I must watch. sleeplessly over my people. I'm off to
• 5:48
  Speaker 6: pay a call on Mrs. Barnes myself.
• 5:52
  Speaker 4: Norman.
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: Yes? Are you never afraid of thunderbolts?
• 5:56
  Speaker 6: Why, this sudden interest in meteorology, dear brother.
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: I mean, do you never think that God might strike
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: you in the street? You and your fairy tales. If
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: you do not fear God, you've good reason to fear man. Ha! Barnes,
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: the blacksmith, is the biggest and strongest man for 40
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: miles around. Half the village knows of your liaison with
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: his wife. He's away until late tomorrow morning.
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: I'll be out of his wife's bed.
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: Long before that. Still, kind of you to warn me.
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: Where's that bottle? And if he comes back unexpectedly?
• 6:34
  Speaker 6: Why do you think I'm wearing Father's old deerstalker?
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: I don't know. Your taste in dress has always been bizarre, Norman,
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: especially when you're drunk.
• 6:44
  Speaker 6: Because underneath it is... There. The bassinet from the long gallery.
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: That old helmet. Norman, you're absurd.
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: On the contrary.
• 6:56
  Speaker 6: Unlike you, my interest in things medieval is purely practical.
• 7:00
  Speaker 6: If Barnes turns up and tries.
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: To bit me off the head, the last of the.
• 7:03
  Speaker 6: Burdicks is protected by the armor of his forefathers.
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: And Mrs. Barnes? She can fend for herself.
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: And so, Brother Wilfred, good night.
• 7:16
  Speaker 6: Go and pray, Parson, in some unlikely corner of your
• 7:19
  Speaker 6: drafty church with its cold flint tower pointing at the moon.
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: I've warmer work to do.
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: Don't bother to.
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: Pray for me. Oh, yes, Norman, there's a prayer for you.
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: Cursed are the unmerciful, fornicators and adulterers, covetous persons, idolaters, slanderers, drunkards,
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: and extortioners. Amen.
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: So I thought I'd come early. It's such a beautiful morning,
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: isn't it? And just to check that you really do
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: celebrate Prime. Sure enough, sharp at six, here you were, Mr.
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: Burdick.
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: Burdrick, that's B-O-E-D, is it? It's a Saxon name, surely?
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: Yes, yes. We were one of the few Saxon families
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: allowed to keep our lands by the Conqueror. Oh? Yes,
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: it was said to be in recompense for my ancestor
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: betraying Herod the Wake to the Normans.
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: Ah.
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: If so, it was an act not uncharacteristic of my family.
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: My brother, I fear, is.
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: Yes? Yes.
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: Well, I won't bore you with family matters.
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: Oh, dear. Oh, dear. Who is that unfortunate creature?
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: They call him Mad Joe.
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: He's... Oh, poor fellow.
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: He's the blacksmith's brother. I've not seen him in here before.
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: The blacksmith's wife is a member of my congregation, but
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: the blacksmith himself is a staunch nonconformist. So is Joe,
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: if he's anything.
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: Thank you.
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: It always has been, right back to Puritan days. Would
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: you excuse me, Father Brown? I must see if I
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: can find out what he wants. Of course, of course.
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: I mustn't interfere with your pastoral duty. Besides, I must
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: get back to breakfast.
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: Joe, Joe, what is it?
• 9:21
  Speaker 5: That's what I like to see, an ice-cream plate, Father.
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: Were they all right, then, the floaters?
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: Oh, yes, delicious, Mrs.
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: Thurston.
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: Oh, it's St.
• 9:27
  Speaker 5: Cuthbert's earlier, were you? The rector, he seems to spend
• 9:30
  Speaker 5: all his time there. When he's not praying, he's pottering
• 9:32
  Speaker 5: about fixing the woodwork or something. His brother, the squire,
• 9:35
  Speaker 5: said he cared more about Gothic architecture than God. Oh,
• 9:39
  Speaker 5: that reminds me. I must apologise to you for this
• 9:41
  Speaker 5: quiet baby last night. He's got a coarse tongue on him,
• 9:44
  Speaker 5: especially when he's in drink.
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: No, not at all.
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: I feel sorry for you.
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: Toast, father.
• 9:48
  Speaker 5: You normally don't make... Oh, come on in.
• 9:52
  Speaker 4: That's open.
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: Hey, listen.
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: Let me use your telephone, will you?
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: I got a telephone at Quarters Aves, Richard. Oh, sorry,
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: I didn't know you had company.
• 9:59
  Speaker 5: Father Brown, this is Constable Barton. Wait, what is it, Walter,
• 10:03
  Speaker 5: what's happened?
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: It's the Squire.
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: What's he done this time?
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: Nothing. No, never will do nothing again. He's dead.
• 10:11
  Speaker 7: Murdered by Simeon Barnes, the blacksmith.
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: The Squire?
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: Oh, it's horrible. Oh, you had it coming to him,
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: I'll say that. What, you catched Simeon, did you?
• 10:22
  Speaker 6: Oh, no, no.
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: He's disappeared, he has.
• 10:24
  Speaker 7: But Gibbs the cobbler, he found the squire in Simeon's yard.
• 10:27
  Speaker 7: He'd obviously, saving your presence, reverend, just spent the.
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: Night with Simeon's missus. Couldn't be the first time.
• 10:33
  Speaker 7: I reckon the blacksmith bumped into the squire this morning
• 10:35
  Speaker 7: on his way home from wherever he'd been. He sees
• 10:37
  Speaker 7: the squire coming out of his house, puts two and
• 10:39
  Speaker 7: two together, then on the spur of the moment picks
• 10:42
  Speaker 7: up a hammer and hits him.
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: It was done with a hammer.
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: Still lying there it is. And it was definitely the
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: blacksmith who did it?
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: Oh, no question, reverend.
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: Squire Scully smashed to bits. Right gory mess it is.
• 10:55
  Speaker 7: No one round here's got the strength to do that,
• 10:57
  Speaker 7: save Simeon Barnes.
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: And he's the man who had most reason for doing it. Right,
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: stand back, please, folks. Inspector says no-one's got to touch
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: the body. Not as I reckon anybody would want to
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: much state it's in.
• 11:13
  Speaker 7: Oh, and Gibbs, he says you wasn't supposed to touch
• 11:16
  Speaker 7: the armour neither.
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: He should be here soon, Inspector.
• 11:19
  Speaker 7: George Ruffin's got to meet him at the station with
• 11:21
  Speaker 7: his kick.
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: Oi, Gibbs, you heard.
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: Leave it alone.
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: They can't hang Simeon, you know, Constable. Crime of passion.
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: That means an automatic acquittal.
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: Isn't that true, Doctor?
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: Mr Gibbs, you're talking through your hat, sir. That's France.
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: If it's true anywhere.
• 11:37
  Speaker 5: Has anyone told Wilfred?
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: Where is he? A terse.
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: Nine o'clock. He should be on his way up here
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: towards the church.
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: Well, I'll be... You're quite right. Here he is.
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: Rector!
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: Rector! Dr. Wesley, Father Brown, what has happened?
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: What are all these people? Now.
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: Oh, it's him. Oh, my God. God have mercy on
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: his soul. Come into the church, Wilfred, away from all
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: these people. Well, I've prayed for my brother's soul and
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: sought forgiveness for his many sins.
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: Yes, yes, so have I. And for all who commit sins.
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: His head has... I had no idea.
• 12:28
  Speaker 3: It must have been an incredible blow. even for a
• 12:32
  Speaker 3: man as strong as Simeon Barnes.
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: Simeon Barnes? Are they accusing the blacksmith? Oh, no, no, no,
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: not him. He could never be named Mel.
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: Why not?
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: Why not? Why? Because he is nothing if not what
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: they used to call a God-fearing man. His is a harsh, imperious,
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: unforgiving Christianity, but to him the Ten Commandments are an
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: iron law. He could never do this.
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: What don't the Ten Commandments say? Thou shalt not commit adultery.
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: We also say, thou shalt not kill.
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: How did Mrs.
• 13:10
  Speaker 4: Barnes take the squire's death, Doctor?
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: Well, that was the rough thing.
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: She was in tears.
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: Not tears of grief, really. More hysterical. When she saw
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: the corpse, she said, The devil. The devil.
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: And then she muttered something I couldn't hear.
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: And then.
• 13:32
  Speaker 3: I swear she went as if to spit.
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: On the body.
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: What do you think of my brother's injuries, Father Brown?
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: His, um... Oh, I... Well, I don't know. I know
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: very little about... Well, I hardly saw him. But to
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: tell you the truth, I was much more interested in
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: the hammer.
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: The hammer?
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: Yes. Very small, didn't you think? And there's something else
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: about it. I think so, at least. The trouble is...
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: I don't really know much about hammers.
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: Excuse me, gentlemen. Yes, councilman? Inspector Stone from Ipswich.
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: He's here.
• 14:11
  Speaker 7: He'd like you all.
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: To come over to the blue ball.
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: He wants to ask some questions. What's happening, Gibbs?
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: Oh, I reckon he'd bar me, that inspector. Asked me
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: if Squire had any enemies. Do better ask me if
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: he had any friends. Hello, I am Father Brown. Yes,
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: Mr Gibbs. Inspector would like to see you next, sir.
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: He's through to your back room.
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: I'm so sorry.
• 14:36
  Speaker 5: You won't need your own brother, Father.
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: Oh, no, no, no, of course not. Would you mind?
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much.
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: Oh, dear. Father Brown?
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: Yes, yes.
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: Fine.
• 14:52
  Speaker 8: Shut the door, Constable. You know Constable Barton? Yes, yes.
• 14:58
  Speaker 8: I'd just like to confirm... I do say.
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: Oh, thank you, sir.
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: Confirm some times. Yes.
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: Now, according to my records.
• 15:08
  Speaker 8: You passed through the Plaxmas Yard coming from the church
• 15:11
  Speaker 8: at approximately 6.45 a.m.
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: Yes, indeed.
• 15:15
  Speaker 8: I'd like to confirm that the body was not there
• 15:17
  Speaker 8: at the time.
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: Oh, no, no, it wasn't. I'm sure I've noticed it. Inspector,
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: may I ask, what does Mr. Barnes look like? I
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: don't rightly know, sir.
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: What does he look like, Barton? Big fellow, sir. Red hair,
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: cut short.
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: Oh, that is interesting. That's very interesting. Did you, uh,
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: did you see him this morning, sir? This morning? No, no,
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: not this morning.
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: No, no.
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: No, through the window here. He's coming up the lane
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: with two fellows I know from Bungie. That's him, sir. Quick,
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: out the back way.
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: Hey, Simeon. We'd like a word with you.
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: What's going on here?
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: I won't ask you, Mr.
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: Barnes, whether you know anything about what has happened here.
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: You're not bound to say. I hope you don't know.
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: And that you're able to prove it. But I must
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: go through the proper form.
• 16:06
  Speaker 8: Simeon Barnes, I arrest you in the name of His
• 16:09
  Speaker 8: Majesty King Edward VII for the murder of Major Norman Ethelredson,
• 16:14
  Speaker 8: just Berderick.
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: Is Major Berderick dead?
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: Yes, I'm afraid he is.
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: Then he's damned.
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: When did this dog die in his sense? Hey, moderate
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: your language, Simeon.
• 16:26
  Speaker 5: Moderate the Bible's language and I'll moderate mine.
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: When did he die? He was alive at midnight, dead
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: before eight this morning. God is good.
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: Ask me if you wish, Mr. Inspector.
• 16:41
  Speaker 6: But there are two men standing here, good tradesmen of Bungie,
• 16:44
  Speaker 6: who'll swear that they saw me from before midnight till daybreak.
• 16:48
  Speaker 9: And a long offer in the committee room of our.
• 16:50
  Speaker 6: Revival mission in Bungie, which sits all night, we save
• 16:54
  Speaker 6: souls surpassed.
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: Many others, too, saw me. Yes, I can vouch for
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: both these men from Bungie, Inspector.
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: John Bardswell. Good morning, Father. Oh, good morning, John. And
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: Josiah Risby.
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: I know you both, don't I?
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: You do, sir.
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: You do, Father Brown. And what are you doing here, sir?
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: Josiah Risby.
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: You know this handmaiden of the Scarlet Woman.
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: Of course I do. Everyone in Bungay knows Father Brown,
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: don't they, John?
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: Shame on you, Josiah. And I thought you were a
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: Christian man. My dear fellow.
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: I hope I've convinced you, Inspector. If you ask me.
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: No fleshly power killed the Major.
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: He who in the stillness smoked Sennacherib.
• 17:39
  Speaker 8: He at worst slew the great beast.
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: In high time too, say I. That agent is outside
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: my jurisdiction, Mr Barnes. You are not outsiders. See you
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: to it.
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: Mrs. Thurston, your beer.
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: This is good as your cooking.
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: Thank you, Father. Wilfred, here's your drink. Oh, oh, thank you.
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: Do you know, I can hardly believe it's so early.
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: It's been a long morning.
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: And we're further from the solution than ever.
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: Ah, Father Brown.
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: Yes? I've been thinking about what you said, you know,
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: you know, the hammer being too small. Yes? Yes.
• 18:22
  Speaker 3: I would use a small hammer, I thought, with ten
• 18:25
  Speaker 3: large hammers lying about.
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: Only the kind of person that can't lift.
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: A large hammer, of course. A bold woman might commit
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: ten murders.
• 18:35
  Speaker 3: With a light hammer, but she couldn't kill a cockroach
• 18:37
  Speaker 3: with a heavy one. And, I mean, why do people
• 18:41
  Speaker 3: always assume that the only person who hates a wife's
• 18:44
  Speaker 3: lover is her husband? Nine times out of ten, the
• 18:49
  Speaker 3: person who most hates the wife's lover is the wife herself.
• 18:53
  Speaker 3: And who knows.
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: What insolence and treachery the squire had shown her. No, Dr. Wesley. Mrs.
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: Barnes could not have killed my brother. No woman ever
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: born could have done it. You haven't grasped the whole
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: of it. He was wearing an iron helmet. The blow
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: shattered it like broken glass.
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: Well, I may be wrong. There are objections to everything.
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: But I stick to the main point. No man but
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: an idiot would pick up a little hammer if he
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: could use a big hammer.
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: What did you say? That was the word I was...
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: That was the word I wanted. What did you say?
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: I said no man but an idiot would.
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: Exactly.
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: No man but an idiot did. When I was in
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: church this morning, a madman came in to pray that
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: poor Joe has been wrong all his life. God knows
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: what he prayed, but it's not incredible to suppose that
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: a lunatic would pray before killing a man. But why
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: would he want to kill him? The motive... My brother
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: was always cruelly teasing him. Perhaps he'd seen my brother
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: with his brother's wife and felt he was defending the
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: family honour in some way.
• 20:00
  Speaker 3: By, Jones, this is talking at last.
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: But don't you see this is the only theory that
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: answers both riddles? The little hammer and the big blow.
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: The smith might have struck the big blow, but he
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: would not have chosen the little hammer. His wife might
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: have chosen the little hammer, but could not have struck
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: the blow. A madman, being mad, might have chosen the
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: first thing that came to hand. Yes. And as for
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: the big blow, well, have you never heard, Doctor, that
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: a maniac in his paroxysm may have the strength of ten? No.
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: Of course, Joe could never be prosecuted. If ever a
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: man could plead insanity, it's poor mad Joe.
• 20:45
  Speaker 3: By golly, I believe you've got it.
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: What do you think, Father Brown?
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: Well, you know, I think I prefer Simeon Barnes' idea that,
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: what was it, no fleshly power was involved? But I
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: don't understand, Father. Surely, Father, it has to be the lunatic... Oh,
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: look at the time. I'm... Oh, excuse me, gentlemen. I
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: must go. I have to be in church. It's nearly
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: the sixth hour.
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: Oh, yes, of course.
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: Perhaps when you've finished your office, I might come over
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: and join you? Oh, yes, of course. Of course, Father.
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: What did he mean, the sixth hour? It's almost midday. Well,
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: the monks started their day at six in the morning.
• 21:26
  Speaker 4: Hence they called midday the sixth hour.
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: Sixth.
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: It was their third office.
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: So you see, Father, although to a great extent we
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: escaped the ravages of the Puritans, I've had to contend
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: with the ravages of time.
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: Yes, you've done wonders, Mr.
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: Burdick.
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: Mrs. Thurston told me you were a handyman, but that
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: you're a carpenter, a craftsman. That's hard to tell which
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: poppy heads are original.
• 21:56
  Speaker 4: And which ones are carved by you.
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: It's just... Still, I.
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: Suppose if a blacksmith can be a preacher, there's no
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: reason why a clergyman shouldn't be a master carpenter. Well,
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: I'm hardly the first. What? Oh, yes, indeed it is.
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: I wonder, would it perhaps be possible to go up
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: your famous tower?
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: I'd like to see the view.
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: As you wish.
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: But be warned, it's a long haul. Oh, yes.
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: Here. Oh, look at that. Might be a map of
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: the world, mightn't it, down there?
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 22:40
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: Do you come up here to pray, too, Mr.
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: Burdick? Yes, frequently. It all looks so tranquil from here,
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: the village, the rich, flat farmlands. You can sometimes see
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: the sea.
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: That's the smith's yard, isn't it, immediately below?
• 22:58
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: Do you know There's a kind of Titan energy in
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: medieval architecture. It always seems to be rushing away. Seen
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: from below, this church springs up like a fountain at
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: the stars. And from here, it's more like a cataract
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: pouring into a voiceless pit.
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: Be careful of looking so sharply down. It can be.
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: disturbing.
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: Yes, there's a monstrous disproportion. From below, this huge stone griffon... Yes,
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: it looks quite small and harmless.
• 23:30
  Speaker 4: But from here, it's like a great dragon stalking the fields.
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: You know, heights were made to be looked at, not
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: looked from.
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: Yes, one may fall.
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: One's soul may fall if one's body doesn't. I scarcely
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: understand you. I think there's something rather dangerous about standing
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: on these high places.
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: Even to pray. Father?
• 23:59
  Speaker 4: Yes?
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: You don't believe Mad Joe, did it, do you?
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: No. It would explain the small hammer.
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: Yes, but we know he didn't do it, don't we?
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: Joe would have used a blacksmith's hammer, a hammer used
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: to work metal. But the weapon was a hammer of
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: another kind, one used for working wood. A carpenter's hammer.
• 24:30
  Speaker 4: Father Brown, you know, there was a man once who
• 24:34
  Speaker 4: began by worshipping with others, kneeling on the floor before
• 24:38
  Speaker 4: the altar, but who grew fond of high and lonely
• 24:42
  Speaker 4: places to pray from.
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: And in one of those dizzy places where the world
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: seemed to turn under him like a wheel, his brain
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: turned also, and he came to fancy he was God.
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: It must seem easy to judge the world from up here,
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: Do you believe it is given to you to strike
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: down the sinner?
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: You? Are you a devil?
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: I am a man, and therefore have all devils in
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: my heart. From here it all looks so simple, doesn't it?
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: Whether you come up here to pray, or with a
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: set of carpenter's tools to mend a wooden railing. To
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: look down and see all men as insects. To see
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: one particular poisonous insect.
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: How do you understand all this?
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: It's so simple, not just to judge, but to execute sentence.
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: For you have at hand here one of the awful
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: engines of nature, gravitation, that mad and quickening rush by
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: which all things of the earth fly back to her heart,
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: the dreadful, unfleshly power of gravitation, whereby if dropped from
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: a great height, even a small hammer would strike as
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: a lethal bullet, No, no, no. Come back. Come here. No, no.
• 26:02
  Speaker 9: I will quite simply not allow you to jump. That
• 26:07
  Speaker 9: door leads to hell. Now come down, down to earth
• 26:10
  Speaker 9: with me. You're not yet far wrong as assassins go.
• 26:16
  Speaker 9: You would not allow the crime to be fixed on the.
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: Smith or his wife. You tried to fix it on
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: the imbecile who could not be punished. Come. Come. Come
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: away from these stone-carved angels and devil. Come down, down
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: into the world of men. And when we reach the
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: floor of the nave, I will leave you there at
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: ground level to make your own decision. And then go
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: your own way as free as the wind. I will
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: seal this with the seal of the confessional. Now, I've
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: said my last word.