Before You Begin

Before you begin.

Near Westminster, Father Brown and Flambeau encounter a tall office building marked by a great golden eye. Its upper floor belongs to Kalon, a magnificent prophet of Apollo whose followers gather below to watch him greet the sun at noon.

In the offices beneath him work the Stacey sisters: Pauline, forceful and fiercely independent, and Joan, practical and self-possessed. Their modern typewriters and passenger lift seem far removed from ancient ritual - until a sudden crash turns the building's vertical order into an impossible mystery.

First published in 1910, "The Eye of Apollo" is the tenth Father Brown story. Chesterton sets public spectacle against private perception, asking what a perfect witness, a perfect alibi, and a brilliant pair of eyes may still fail to reveal.