The Innocence of Father Brown

Flambeau reveals that he believes the most beautiful of his crimes is one that he committed at Christmas. He explains that he always tries to style his crimes around important seasons and days, and he modeled this Christmas crime to match the aesthetic of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. The story then flashes back to that Christmas, when young Ruby Adams is joined by her lover, John Crook, a journalist and socialist, whose sarcastic quips about politics slightly bother her. They are joined for Christmas by her father, Colonel Adams; her godfather, Sir Leopold Fischer; her French-Canadian uncle James Blount; and Father Brown. There, Sir Fischer gifts Ruby three diamonds, which he states are called the “Flying Stars” because they have been stolen so many times (50). Blount receives a letter informing him that the famous French comic actor Florian wishes to see him on business. With some trepidation, he asks the colonel’s permission to allow Florian to join them. When Florian arrives, Blount proposes that they stage an old-fashioned pantomime play for Christmas, expressing his dislike for the fairy-tale-like plays that have grown more popular recently. Ruby dresses as Columbine, Crook dresses as the Harlequin, Colonel Adams dresses as Pantaloon, and Florian dresses as a policeman.