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The Blue Cross
by G.K. Chesterton
The man who got off the boat at Harwich had a short black beard. There was
nothing to show that he … a gun in his coat pocket, and nothing to show that HAVE
he was one of the … men in Europe. He was Valentin, the chief of the CLEVER
Paris police, and the … detective in the world. He was coming FAMOUS
from Brussels to London to make the most important arrest of the century.
Flambeau was in England. and the police of three countries … to TRY
catch this famous thief.
In London there was a big meeting of priests from all over the world, and
Valentin … that Flambeau would use this meeting for some criminal GUESS
plan or other. Flambeau was strong and clever, and he enjoyed a joke. Once,
he … down the Rue de Rivoli with a policeman under one arm. RUN
But how was Valentin to find Flambeau? There was one thing to help him.
Flambeau could put on other clothes, or change the way he looked, but he
was a very tall man and could not hide it. Because of this, Valentin was sure
that Flambeau was not on the boat.
He was also sure that Flambeau did not get on the train … from Harwich GO
to London. Only six other people got on during the journey. One short
railwayman, three short farmers, one very short woman, and a very short
priest going up to London from an Essex village.
When Valentin … this last person, he almost laughed. The little priest had SEE
a round, simple face. He had several parcels which he found difficult to
keep together, and a large umbrella which often … to the floor. Many priests FALL
would be coming to London that day, Valentin thought. Coming from their
quiet little towns and villages. This one was explaining to everyone that he
must be careful because he … something made of real silver ‘with blue CARRY
stones’ in one of the parcels.
He got off the train at Stratford in east London with all his parcels, and came
back for his umbrella. When he did, Valentin … him not to tell everyone WARN
about his silver ‘with blue stones’.
The detective was looking for people who were at least two metres tall, because
Flambeau was several centimetres taller than this. He got off the train in central
London and … to the London police to ask for help if he needed it. Then he GO
went for a long walk.
He stopped suddenly in a quiet square. On one side the buildings were higher
than the rest, and there was a small restaurant between the tall … . It stood HOUSE
high above the street, with steps going up to the front door. Valentin stood … LOOK
at it, smoking a cigarette. When he was looking for a criminal, if he had a clue,
he followed it. If he had no clue at all, he followed his own feelings. A man must
begin somewhere. And something about the quiet little restaurant made Valentin
want to start there. He went up the steps, sat down by the window, and asked for
a cup of coffee.
A few minutes later, Valentin was lifting the cup to his lips. But he put it down
quickly. ‘I … salt in it,’ he said, and he looked at the bowl of silvery powder. PUT
It was a sugar bowl. So why did they keep salt in it? There were two full
salt-cellars on his table. What was in them? He tasted it. It was sugar.
He looked around. Except for one or two dark wet stains on the white wall,
there was nothing at all strange in that place. Valentin called the waiter and
asked him to taste the sugar. The waiter was half-asleep, but he … up when WAKE
he tasted the sugar.
‘Do you play this joke on your customers every morning?’ asked Valentin.
The waiter did not know what to say. Then, suddenly, he said, ‘It was the two
priests.’
‘What two priests?’ said Valentin.
‘The two priests who … soup at the wall over there,’ replied the waiter. THROW
Valentin looked again at the dark wet stains.
‘The two of them came in and drank soup here very early this morning,’
the waiter explained. ‘They were both very quiet. One of them paid the bill
and went out. The other took several more minutes to get his things together.
Then he picked up his cup, which was only half empty, and threw it at the wall.
I was in the back room, but I ran out to find the restaurant empty. I tried to
catch them in the street, but they … too far away. They went round the corner BE
into Carstairs Street.’
The detective jumped to his … , put on his hat, and paid his bill. A moment FOOT
later, he was outside.
He walked round into the next street. Although he … and in a hurry, EXCITE
Valentin saw something in the front of a shop that made him stop. The shop
sold fruit, and then were some oranges and some nuts at the front. They each
had cards with … on them. The card on the nuts said ‘Best oranges, two WRITE
for a penny.’ The card on the oranges said: ‘Best nuts, four pence for a bag.
Valentin looked at the two cards. ‘I’ve seen this kind of joke before,’ he thought.
He told the man in the shop about the cards. The man said nothing, but he
put the cards in the right places.
‘Can I ask you a question?’ said Valentin. ‘If two cards in a shop are in the
wrong places, how are they like a priest’s hat that has come to London for
a holiday? Or, why do nuts that are said to be oranges make me think of two
priests, one tall and the other short?’
The man in the shop looked angry. ‘Are you a friend of theirs?’ he said. ‘If you
are, you can tell … that I’ll bang their stupid heads together if they knock THEY
over my apples again!’
‘Did they knock over your apples?’ asked the detective.
‘One of them did,’ said the man.
‘Which way did they go?’ asked Valentin.
‘Up that second road on the left-hand side, and then across the square,’
answered the man.
‘Thanks,’ said Valentin, and … away. On the other side of the second HURRY
square, he found a policeman. ‘Have you seen two priests?’ he asked.
The policeman laughed. ‘I have, sir. One of them stood in the middle of the
road, dropping parcels everywhere.’
‘Which way did they go?’ asked Valentin.
‘They went on one of those yellow buses over there,’ answered the policeman.
‘Those that go to Hampstead.’ Valentin told the policeman who he was,
then said, ‘Call two of your men to come with me.’
In two minutes, an inspector and another detective arrived. ‘Well, sir,’ began
the inspector. ‘How..?’
‘I’ll tell you on the top of that bus,’ said Valentin.
When the three of them … on the top seats, the inspector said, SIT
‘A taxi is quicker.’
‘True,’ said Valentin. ‘But we … where we’re going. All we can do NOT KNOW
is look for some strange thing.’
‘What kind of strange thing?’ asked the inspector.
‘Any kind of strange thing,’ replied Valentin. The yellow bus went slowly up
the roads to the north of the city. The French detective became quiet.
Lunch-time came and went, and the long roads seemed to go on for ever.
Valentin sat … and watched everything that went by. The two other SILENT
detectives were almost asleep when he suddenly shouted. They quickly
followed Valentin off the bus without knowing why.
‘Over there!’ said Valentin. ‘The place with the … window!’ He was BREAK
looking at a restaurant. It had a large window with a hole in the middle
of the glass.
‘How do we know that the window has anything to do with them?’
asked the inspector.
Valentin became angry. ‘Know?’ he said. ‘We can’t know. But don’t you
understand? We must either follow one wild chance, or go home to bed.’
They followed him into the restaurant where the three of them ate a meal
at a small table. Valentin looked at the little star of broken glass, but learned
nothing from it.
‘Your window is broken,’ he said, … his bill. PAY
‘Yes, sir,’ replied the waiter. ‘It was very strange how it happened.’
‘Tell me,’ said Valentin.
‘Two of those priests came in,’ said the waiter. ‘Those foreign priests who
are in the city at the moment. They had a cheap and quiet little lunch, and
one of them paid for it and went out. The other was just going to follow him
when I realized something. «Wait!» I said to the one who was nearly out of
the door. «You’ve paid too much.» And I picked up the bill to show him. But
I got a surprise.’
‘What do you mean?’ asked Valentin.
‘I was sure that I’d put four shillings on that bill,’ said the waiter. ‘But now
I saw that it was fourteen.’
‘Then what happened?’ said Valentin.
‘The priest at the door said, «That will pay for the window.» «What window?»
I asked. «The one that I’m going to break,» he said. And he broke the window
with his umbrella! I went after him, but I wasn’t quick enough. They went up
Bullock Street so fast, I couldn’t catch them.’
‘Bullock Street!’ said Valentin, and he ran up that road as quickly as the
strange pair that he … . Their journey took them through dark, FOLLOW
narrow streets, and the inspector guessed that they would finally reach
some part of Hampstead Heath. Suddenly, Valentin stopped in front of
a small, brightly-lit sweet-shop. After a moment, he went inside and bought
some chocolate. He began to ask the shop woman a question, but she
spoke … . ONE
She saw the inspector behind him and immediately said. ‘If you’re the police
and you … about that parcel, I’ve already sent it off.’ COME
‘Parcel!’ repeated Valentin.
‘I mean the parcel that the priest left,’ said the woman.
‘Quickly!’ said Valentin. ‘Tell us what happened!’
‘They came in half an hour ago,’ said the woman. ‘They bought some sweets,
and then went off towards the Heath. Then one ran back into the shop and
said, «Did I leave a parcel?» I looked around but couldn’t see one. He said.
«Never mind. But if you do find it, please send it to this address.» He left the
address, and a shilling for me. But after he went, I looked again and found
that there was a parcel, so I posted it. I can’t remember the address now,
but it was somewhere in Westminster.’
‘Is Hampstead Heath near here?’ asked Valentin. ‘Straight on for fifteen minutes,’
said the woman. Valentin hurried out and began to run. The others followed him.
The street they went through was full of evening shadows. Then they were out
on the open Heath, and Valentin saw the two black shapes that he … for. LOOK
They were a long way away, but Valentin saw that one was smaller than the other
and that the bigger man was over two metres tall. He hurried on. As he got
closer, he saw something surprising, but something which he … . ALREADY GUESS
The small man was the priest from the Harwich train, the one who had talked
about his parcels.
Earlier that day, Valentin … that a Father Brown from Essex was DISCOVER
bringing a very old silver cross, with valuable blue jewels, to show to some of
the foreign priests who were meeting in London. Valentin was sure that if he
was able to find out about this, then Flambeau was able to find out, too.
He was also sure that Flambeau planned to steal the cross. And it was not
surprising that Flambeau, looking and talking like a priest, had been able to
make the simple little man come to Hampstead Heath. What Valentin could not
understand were the strange clues that had brought him there too. Soup on a wall,
nuts … oranges, and broken windows. CALL
The detectives followed the two across the wilder part of the Heath, then lost
them for a few minutes. When they saw them again, the two priests … SIT
on a seat, having a serious conversation. Valentin and his friends hid behind
a tree and listened to them talking.
It was then that Valentin began to wonder if he was right. The two men on the
seat were talking … about the ideas of their church. Valentin could almost CALM
hear the other two detectives laughing at him. They … all this way, only COME
to listen to the talk of two gentle old priests!
Father Brown was speaking. ‘Look at the stars, like jewels in the sky. But even
in those other worlds, there must be some laws of reason and … .’ GOOD
Valentin was about to move away, but the words of the tall priest stopped him.
‘Who can understand the mystery of the stars?’ Then he added calmly, ‘Just give
me the silver cross, will you? We’re all alone here, and I could pull you to pieces
easily.’
The small priest did … . He continued to look up at the stars. Perhaps he NOT MOVE
had not understood. Or perhaps he was too afraid to move.
‘Yes,’ said the tall priest, in the same low voice. ‘I am Flambeau. Now, give me
that cross.’
‘No,’ replied the other priest.
Flambeau suddenly laughed. ‘No, you … it to me, you simple little priest,’ NOT GIVE
he said, ‘because I already have it in my pocket!’
The small man looked at him. ‘Are you sure?’
Flambeau laughed again. ‘Yes, you stupid man. I knew which of your parcels
contained the jewelled cross, so I made a careful copy of the parcel. And now
you, my friend, have that copy parcel and I have the jewels. It’s easily done,
Father Brown, easily done!’
Father Brown did not look worried. ‘Yes, very easily. I remember another man
who used copy parcels for many years,’ he said. ‘I remembered him when
I began to wonder about you.’
‘Wonder about me?’ said Flambeau. ‘When did you begin to wonder about me?
When I brought you up to the Heath?’
‘No, no,’ said Father Brown. ‘When we first met. I saw that little shape under
the arm of your coat, where you keep your knife.’
‘How did you know that?’ cried Flambeau.
‘When I was a priest in Hartlepool,’ said Father Brown, ‘there were three … MAN
who hid their knives in the same way. So I watched you. I saw you change
the parcels… and I changed them back. Then I left the right one behind.’
‘Left it behind?’ repeated Flambeau.
‘I went back to the sweet-shop,’ explained Father Brown, ‘and asked the woman
if she saw … leave a parcel. Then I gave her an address if it was found. I knew I
I hadn’t left a parcel, but when I went away again, I did leave one. She has
posted it to a friend of mine in Westminster.’ He went on sadly, ‘I learnt that
from a man in Hartlepool, too. He did it with handbags which he stole at railway
stations, but he’s a good man now. People tell priests things, you see.’
Flambeau pulled a parcel from his pocket and opened it. There was only paper
and stones inside it. He jumped up angrily and shouted, ‘I don’t believe you.
You’ve got the silver cross on you, and I’m going to take it from you!’
‘No,’ said Father Brown, and he stood up. ‘You won’t take it from me. First,
because I really haven’t got it. And second, because we are not alone.
Behind that tree are two strong policemen and the cleverest detective alive.
How did they come here? I’ll tell you. I wasn’t sure if you were a thief, so I tried
several things. A man usually says if he finds salt in his coffee. If he doesn’t, he
has a reason for keeping quiet. I changed the salt and sugar, and you kept quiet.
A man usually says if his bill is too big. If he doesn’t, he has a reason for saying
nothing. I changed your bill, and you paid it.’
Flambeau did not seem to be able to move.
‘I wanted to be sure the police could follow us,’ Father Brown went on. ‘At every
place we went to, I did something which people would talk about. Only little things
— a soup stain on a wall, some apples that were knocked over, a broken window.
But I saved the cross.’
‘How do you know all these things?’ cried Flambeau.
The shadow of a smile went across the round face of Father Brown. ‘By being
a simple little priest, I suppose,’ he said. ‘If you listen to enough men telling you
about their crimes, you are sure to learn something.’
The three policemen moved out from behind the tree.
Flambeau knew when he had lost a battle, and he was famous for his politeness.
He took off his hat to Valentin and smiled.
‘Do not take your hat off to me, my friend,’ said Valentin. ‘Let us both take them
off to Father Brown.’
And they both stood with their hats off while the little Essex priest looked around
for his umbrella.
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warned, went, houses, looking, have put, woke, threw, were, feet, was excited, writing, them, hurried, were sitting, don’t know, silently, broken, paying, was following, first, have come, was looking, had already guessed, had discovered, called, were sitting, calmly, had come, goodness,
did not move, won’t give, men, me.
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