shadow of britain

Chapter 211 The Uninvited Guest

After leaving the Duke of Wellington's mansion, Arthur chose to walk home through Hyde Park in order to save the cost of a carriage ride.

Although his current income level is not bad in London, in order to raise money for the upcoming newspaper, Arthur has almost spent all his savings.

However, this is still just a drop in the bucket. If he hadn't been busy with the London meeting recently, he might have taken time to go to the London Stock Exchange to find Lionel Rothschild to withdraw his thousand pounds of stock.

The sun had just set in the west at this time, and if he followed his usual work schedule, he should have to go back to the Scotland Yard office to sit for a while.

The reason why he can leave work early is also thanks to the transfer application given to him by Director Luo Wan.

Today, he is no longer in charge of any specific police district in London, but is responsible for investigating criminal cases that have a greater impact on society.

But having said that, although the law and order in London is chaotic, most of the crimes are for money, so the types of cases generally focus on theft and robbery. As for the kind of brutal murders that will cause social panic, it is really rare.

Ever since Arthur was sent to the Criminal Investigation Department last week, he felt like he was going to rot.

Although it was Rowan's ultimate goal to make him idle and moldy, if it was normal, Arthur would have been unable to sit still for a week, planning to go to a showdown with Rowan.

But since he inexplicably discovered that Lord Brougham had such a backer behind him, Arthur has gradually become accustomed to this kind of work content that comes in late and leaves early.

Because he knew in his heart that if Director Luo Wan didn't give him anything to do now, he definitely wasn't pushing him out according to the original plan, but simply didn't dare.

Judging from the opinions of the Lord Chancellor's Chamber and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he will probably be sent to the London District Attorney's Office as a police representative in the future.

If he was offended, Rowan might not need to go to the Magistrate's Court for any case he wanted to handle in the future, and the case would be withdrawn directly from Arthur.

The other superintendents of Scotland Yard are also very aware of this truth, so during this period of time they all greeted this little brother who only supervised three people, and they all stood at the door of his office before lunch time Line up to buy him tea.

Even if Arthur skipped work for no reason, no one would dare to accuse him, not to mention that he couldn't find anyone today because he was doing something for the Duke of Wellington.

Although the Duke of Wellington was defeated by the Whigs in Parliament, it seemed that he was weak, but only an idiot would think that he could step on the spiritual leader of the British Army casually.

Even if anyone among them dares to show the slightest disrespect to His Excellency the Duke, then before the generals of the army come to trouble them, the old subordinates in Scotland Yard who have served under the Duke will have to give them a few pounds first. eyedrops.

You know, even the former King George IV and the current King William IV and the Duke of Wellington have to speak in a friendly manner. If anyone doesn't take him seriously, he is simply joking about his own future.

Agares flapped the black bat wings behind Arthur, and the red devil rubbed his hands and said with a smirk: "Arthur, how is it? Does it feel good to be paid without going to work?"

Arthur lit his pipe and replied as he walked: "I have to say, it's really cool. Now I can finally understand why those centrist MPs were easily bribed by the Tories before.

All you have to do is tie your vote to the Tory Party and you can get a job where you don't have to do anything and have an annual salary of four to five hundred pounds.Where can I find such good things? "

The Red Devil smirked and said: "Then you have tasted the sweetness now, haven't you changed your mind yet? Join the Tory Party, elect a MP or something?"

Arthur blew out smoke rings and said, "Sorry, Agares, even if you make a flower out of the MP, I don't intend to do it. Even if I have to vote for a MP someday, I won't." Join the Whigs or the Tories.

For the two parties, only the centrists need to win over. As for those backbenchers who have little influence, they will vote along with the party regardless of whether they are assigned a job. What about wasting time and money on them?
After all, this kind of paid position is also very valuable, and good steel must be spent on the blade. "

As soon as Arthur finished speaking this paragraph, he suddenly discovered that not far ahead, standing at the door of his home, was an old man whom he had no memory of.

The old man looked up at the house number, then lowered his head to check carefully with the small note in his hand.

When Arthur saw this, he couldn't help feeling suspicious.He pretended that everything was normal and leaned over, and said enthusiastically, "Sir, is there anything I can do to help you?"

The old man glanced back at Arthur, who was dressed neatly, and after thinking for a while, he asked, "Thank you very much for your enthusiastic help. My unlucky old man is indeed in a little trouble now. This is Arthur Black. Mr. Stings' residence?"

Arthur heard the other party's initiative to mention it, and finally remembered an anecdote that he encountered in his daily work.

Arthur said: "If you are looking for Mr. Hastings, you may be disappointed. He has been busy with work recently and has been leaving early and returning late. Now it is not easy to meet him during the day."

"Really?" When the old gentleman heard this, he joked with his cane: "That's all, meeting him is just incidental. The main reason why I came here is..."

But before he finished his words, there was a burst of surprised shouts from behind Arthur. It was Alexandre Dumas who had just returned from the market with a paper bag full of ingredients.

"Monsieur François Vidoc?"

François Vidoc?
As soon as Arthur heard the name, he immediately became highly alert.

He originally thought that the old gentleman in front of him might be a neighbor who had just moved nearby, or a thief who had set out in advance to commit a crime.

But he never expected that the man with the mustache in front of him was actually his senior in the Paris police circle, the head of the detective department of the Paris Security Brigade and the Greater Paris Police Department——Francois Vidot gram.

In view of Alexandre Dumas's special status as a wanted man in France and his fear of French people who don't like to play cards according to routines, Arthur pretended to move inadvertently and stood between Vidok and Alexandre Dumas.

But of course, Arthur's small actions could not escape Vidok's eyes, and of course he could see what Arthur meant by doing so.

Vidok asked: "Mr. Hastings, is it a little impolite for you to do this? Although Alexander's head is indeed worth two bucks, I'm not poor enough to take his head Go for the bounty."

Arthur didn't panic when Vidok saw through his hands and feet. He smiled apologetically and said, "It turns out that you have already seen who I am. With such a keen insight, it is no wonder that you can enjoy such a high reputation in the French police circle." Reputation. I have nothing against you as a person. I even respect you. I bought a copy of your "Memoirs" as soon as it was published in England. If I do the math, I should still be you The first batch of fans in the UK. However, to ensure the safety of Mr. Alexandre Dumas is an order issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Whether you have malicious intentions or not, I need to exercise the utmost caution. For this Just a little bit, please understand.”

Vidok just narrowed his eyes when he heard this.

He didn't seem to like Arthur's answer very much.

"That's all..." He breathed out, as if he didn't intend to argue with Arthur anymore.

But as soon as the words fell, Vidok's shoulders sank and he ran towards Arthur.

Arthur didn't dodge Vidok's knockdown, he just stood there and stood there.

The two shoulders collided, and Arthur remained motionless, while Vidok, who was in his 50s, was staggered and almost fell to the ground.

Seeing this situation, Dumas hurriedly stopped him and said, "Mr. Vidok, don't bother. If there is a fight, neither of you may be his opponent."

But it was too late for Alexandre Dumas to say this. As soon as Vidok raised his cane, Arthur dodged it sideways.

Then, Arthur, who appeared behind Vidocq, pressed his arms on his forearms and shoulders quite skillfully. With a little force, Vidocq was subdued by him.

Vidok gritted his teeth in pain, and couldn't help but cursed: "Damn it! If I were 30 years younger, the one who is under the pressure right now will be you."

Dumas shouted: "Arthur, it's almost enough. Mr. Vidoc didn't come to arrest me. I had friendship with him when I was in France. The reward I brought with this head should not be enough to let He betrayed our friendship."

Arthur raised his eyebrows when he heard the words: "Alexander, you said this. If you are arrested and returned to France later, I won't care about you."

Alexandre Dumas said carelessly: "You don't need to be responsible, you should let him go quickly."

When Arthur heard this, he finally let go of Vidocq's arm and said to him apologetically: "I'm sorry, sir, my reaction may have been a bit excessive."

Vidok turned his arm, covered his sore neck and said, "Young man, you have a lot of strength."

Dumas saw that Vidok was let go, he hurried up to support him and said, "You must have something to do when you came to look for me this time?"

"Well, there is indeed a little thing." Vidok took out a few letters from his jacket pocket and handed them over to him: "Someone asked me to bring you something."

Out of the corner of Arthur's eye, Arthur glanced over the cover of the letter and saw only one signature—Victor Hugo.

　The second update will be posted tomorrow morning

　　
　
(End of this chapter)