A master criminal, his surname "Flambeau" is an alias, the French word for a flaming torch.
[1] His last appearance as a thief occurs in "The Flying Stars", in which Father Brown persuades him to return his loot and to give up the criminal life.
As a reformed criminal, Flambeau assists Father Brown in a number of other short stories, beginning with "The Invisible Man".
Retiring as a detective, he marries and settles in a Spanish castle, raises a large family and lives in a blissful state of domesticity.
It has been suggested that Agatha Christie's famous detective Hercule Poirot was inspired by the character.