shadow of britain

Chapter 216 Russian Maid

Friday was supposed to be Arthur's working day, but since he removed the specific jurisdiction over the police district, he can allocate all of today's working hours to himself instead of sitting in his office at 4 Whitehall Street inside.

However, although the intensity of today's work has been greatly reduced compared to Arthur's previous work, Arthur is not completely fishing for fish.

In an unassuming corner cafe in the West End of London, Arthur was holding a cup of black tea, looking back and forth with his piercing black eyes at Fiona Ivan, the new Queen of Tower Hamlets sitting opposite him Miss.

At this moment, Arthur only felt that the blonde, who looked weak but actually had a fiery temper, slightly held her chin, lowered her head, her eyes were wandering, and she put her hands on her knees without daring to move, as if she had done something wrong. The awkward posture is very interesting.

Arthur asked: "I told you, don't drink laudanum. Although it has the effect of calming the mind and relieving pain, taking too much will not only cause addiction, but in severe cases, epilepsy, dizziness, and vomiting will occur. Wait for adverse reactions.

And the happiness that that thing can bring to you is always short-lived. Once the illusion disappears, your mood will fall into a long-term trough.If this goes on for a long time, you will suffer mental problems. "

For Arthur's kind words of persuasion, Fiona just blinked her dark gray eyes playfully.

"Please do me a favor, Mr. Hastings. Of course I know you have to control your intake, but you know what a waste of time it is to manage a criminal gang of a hundred people.

If I can't adjust my emotions with some small spices in life, sooner or later I will be pissed off by those stupid people.You must have heard of the case at West India Docks last week?
A stupid donkey under my command actually fought with a dock sailor for the favor of a female textile worker, and a gun was used in the fight.Fortunately, no one was killed, otherwise I really don’t know how to explain this to you. "

Arthur took a sip of the black tea, but felt that the tea was a bit harsh, so he lifted the tin pot full of milk and poured a little more into the teacup.

"How to tell me, it's very simple. You send him to Scotland Yard, and everyone is happy. Don't forget the rules we set, if someone under your command commits a misdemeanor, I will turn a blind eye Close one eye.

But if you committed a felony or treason, then I'm sorry, even if I want to help you, I can't do anything.Although Tower Hamlets is no longer in my charge, the just-promoted Inspector Braden Jones should still be taking good care of you, right? "

Arthur's voice sounds very gentle. If it is combined with today's bright sunshine and the scene of a man and a woman having lunch, this may be called a sweet talk.

But to a woman like Fiona, who has been at the bottom for many years, the big boss is already euphemistically expressing his dissatisfaction with the current work progress.

Although this kind of harsh criticism was not severe, Fiona didn't dare to take it lightly.

She understands how difficult it is for women to make a difference in this era.

For people from London who lived in the materialistic [-]th century, everything was very realistic.

And this point in the underground world, the reaction is more direct and bloody.

Just like the reason why Rowan didn't dare to touch Arthur was not because he was afraid of Arthur's outstanding abilities, but because he didn't dare to confront Lord Brougham and the University of London faculty who were about to take over.

It's not because of her management ability that Fiona can sit firmly on the Diaoyutai, but because the hooligans really don't have the guts to compete with a Superintendent of Scotland Yard.

Perhaps because of these years of experience, Fiona understood a truth very early on - there are many capable people, but very few people with background.

Many people think that ability can solve problems when faced with difficulties.But they overlooked one point, that is, if they want to solve the problem, it is actually possible to rely on the background alone, and the usefulness of the background is far more than that, which is beyond the reach of ordinary capable people.

Therefore, although Fiona seems to be in the limelight now, as soon as she lifts the pleated skirt in Tower Hamlets, countless rampant villains will kneel in front of her, even if she orders these people to lick them like pugs. Shoes, they will not have any opinion.

But as long as Arthur withdrew his support for her, or even showed a slight wavering attitude in front of several of her subordinates, then there would be no need for Scotland Yard to intervene, and Fiona would soon be rushed here smelling of blood The sharks bit and devoured everything.

At that time, I'm afraid even going back to the original situation of playing fairy dance with her companions will be a good ending for Fiona.

But for this lady who has been in the crowd of men all the year round, a few witty words are more useful than a serious answer in this situation.

She held her chin with her slender wrists wearing lace gloves, and leaned forward slightly to close the distance, so that the scent of expensive lavender perfume on her body, which was obviously different from a few months ago, also entered Arthur's mouth and nose. .Fiona blew into Arthur's ear: "So, do you want to punish me?"

In response to Fiona's hint, Arthur just put down the coffee cup calmly, and then calmly took out the Scotland Yard officer's proud 'civilization staff' from his windbreaker and slapped it on the table: "Are you sure?"

Fiona looked at the Civilization Staff, her eyelids twitched three times: "Although I know you have always been violent, but this..."

Arthur said calmly: "Come on, Fiona, you are very lucky today, because my flintlock pistol was left with Mr. Wheatstone. Otherwise, I wouldn't have taught you a lesson with the Civilization Staff."

Hearing this, the red devil sitting at the next table got a golden wig out of nowhere, and conjured up a pair of Kazilan's big eyes like Fiona's with belladonna eye drops.

The Red Devil clasped his hands together and imitated Fiona's inner monologue with his deliberately disgusting flaming red lips: "Damn it, who can tell my old lady which country this Arthur Hastings came from?" Stupid ass?"

Arthur stopped holding the white porcelain teacup, staring at Fiona's pretty face and said, "If you want to scold me, you can say it face to face. I still have the ability to bear it. If you You can feel better when you scold, at least you can drink a bottle of laudanum when you go back, which will definitely be a good thing for your state when you start your work."

"Calling you? No, no, Mr. Hastings, you may have misunderstood. It's too late for me to admire you. You may not know that a guy like you has always been very popular with girls."

Fiona laughed at Yanyan, completely unable to see any trace of blush on her face covered with pale concealer powder.Not only that, she also raised her arms in a cooperative manner to compare with the civilized staff on the table.

"Look, even if I don't look at your handsome appearance and strong figure, I must at least be afraid of your force, right? Look, this stick is almost as thick as my forearm. If I get hit by a stick, I might You can't get out of bed for days, girls can't stand that kind of thing. You'd better take that to some of the toughest men in London, like Fred."

When Arthur heard this, he just smoothed his hair: "Very well, Fiona, forget it if you talk dirty in front of me. How dare you question my sexual orientation? You really think I am Can’t you hear anything?”

When Fiona heard this, her bright smile froze suddenly: "You...you understand...no, what are you talking about? How dare I ridicule you, after all, there are three NO. 40 Girls are counting on you to eat. If I bring them all for you to see, I can't get into your eyes, it doesn't mean they can't."

Arthur tapped his fingers on the table impatiently: "Fiona, what I want to talk to you about now is not the girl's problem, but your problem. You messed with me, why should I go to them?"

"You..." Upon hearing this, Fiona stared at Arthur for a while, then glanced at the Civilization Staff on the table, and immediately showed a crying expression: "Are you serious? "

Arthur shook his head and said, "Although I'm not very civilized, I'm not going to do it directly to a lady. But what you just said can't be left alone. Well, I have a job in my hand. If If you can complete it smoothly, then the matter just now will be written off. But if you mess up, then the reward for sending someone to follow Hetherington and Mrs. Norton will be..."

When Fiona heard this, she was so angry that her teeth were itchy, and after a long time, this Superintendent of Scotland Yard, who was a few years younger than her, was just trying to renege on his debt.

She knew a long time ago that there is no good person in the police, and almost all men are bad people. Even if these two identities are combined into one, they can't be positive.

But before she could finish greeting Arthur in her mind, she heard a gentle voice speaking again.

Arthur smiled and said, "However, Fiona, don't rush to get angry. Correspondingly, if you can complete the next task, not only will the previous task be paid as usual, but I will pay you double of.

The reason I'm announcing this to you is not because I want to take away your dues.Rather, the Criminal Investigation Department, which I am currently in charge of, has almost no office funds.And the other organization I control is a temporary organization, so naturally it does not enjoy financial allocations.

But if you can complete this order, then I have the confidence to apply to my superiors to transform the temporary organization into a permanent organization. In this way, I will naturally have money on hand.

Or, even if it can't be changed from temporary to permanent, at least I can use this to apply for a special bonus from the Ministry of the Interior.I have money, so I can pay you naturally. "

When Fiona heard this, the anger in her chest gradually subsided. She pursed her lips and put on a pure and bright smile: "So, Mr. Hastings, what is the mission this time?"

Arthur took out a folded recruitment notice from the inner pocket of his coat and threw it in front of Fiona: "Your surname is Ivan, and your father is a second-generation immigrant from Russia to London. I really hope he I taught you Russian or German well before I died of illness, otherwise your beautiful foreign appearance would be completely blind."

Fiona started to work, just glanced at it, then raised her head in surprise and said, "You want me to go to the Russian embassy to apply for a job as a maid?"

(End of this chapter)