shadow of britain

Chapter 433 Paris Officialdom
"Born in Versailles?"

Samson was stunned at first, and then his expression became excited. As an orthodox royalist among the royalists, he couldn't help but have a burst of exciting speculations in his mind.

"You... are you a distinguished Bourbon?"

Alexandre Dumas couldn't help laughing when he heard this and said: "Unfortunately, Mr. Samson, you guessed wrong. He is not on the side of Bourbon, but one of the leaders of the Bonapartists."

When Samson heard this, he immediately turned pale with fright. Even the hand holding the coffee cup trembled and he almost spilled the coffee on the table: "This... you mean, a Bonaparte?"

Vidocq took a look at Louis' appearance, and then suddenly remembered the letter that Coconut Tree sent him back from London. He suddenly understood the identity of the noble Bonaparte in front of him.

He bowed his head humbly and asked: "Are you the son of the 'Queen of the Netherlands in Paris'?"

When Samson heard this, he couldn't help but stood up and exclaimed: "Oh! My God!"

His exclamation immediately attracted the attention of many diners in the cafe.

Upon seeing this, Vidocq quickly pushed Samson back to the chair. He lowered his voice and scolded: "Samson! Look what stupid thing you are doing? Don't you know that there are many orthodox dynasty die-hards near the Kaidosai Mansion? Are the elements gathering? Or are you here to cause trouble today?"

Samson replied: "No, just because my father helped them execute Robespierre, it already gave them a happy feeling that their great revenge was revenged, so they did not pursue us, father and son, and let me continue to go back." Do my job."

Alexandre Dumas, who was having fun while drinking onion soup, suddenly became unhappy when he heard this. He asked: "Why?"

Samson, who had just recovered from the shock, finally realized that there seemed to be something wrong with his behavior.

Alexandre Dumas heard the string of names coming out of Samson's mouth and couldn't help but quipped: "Dandon, Robespierre and Saint-Just, plus Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Louis." , the Samson family was merciful to the Bonapartes, after all, the Republicans and the orthodox dynasty faction had people in their hands, but Bonaparte had none."

Arthur asked in surprise: "Do you usually keep the machine at home?"

He took off his hat in embarrassment and apologized to Louis in a low voice: "I... No, Your Excellency, I have no offense to you. You know, our Samson family has always fulfilled our duties during the Napoleon Empire. I have not caused any trouble to this society, I...Oh, God! Forgive me, Your Excellency, I actually hate Republicans more than Bonapartists."

"Machine?" Arthur asked: "Are you talking about the famous guillotine?"

Samson saw the kind gentleman speaking, smiled and nodded: "Yes, but I prefer to call it a machine. The guillotine sounds too bloody."

Vidocq took a sip of coffee: "But I remember, didn't your father also execute Danton of the Montagnards on Robespierre's order? Didn't the Thermidorists cause any trouble for you after they went up?"

Arthur changed the subject and turned the conversation to Vidocq: "By the way, I almost forgot to ask you. What happened to the Paris Police Department, and why were you suddenly dismissed?"

When Arthur heard this, he suddenly asked out of curiosity: "Can I make a humble request? If it's convenient for you, could you show me around the machine? I want to know how it operates. ”

Samson shook his head and said: "No, that's not the reason why they let me out. It's because my father, as the executioner, executed Robespierre and Saint-Just cleanly. Therefore, the Thermidorians felt that There should be no problem with the political leanings of the Samson family.”

When Louis heard this, he also became interested: "So, the reason why you think Bonaparte is better than the Republican Party is because Napoleon later released you from prison?"

Samson defended himself and said, "Sir, I don't mean to offend, but I hope you can understand that those people were not in the hands of me and my father, but in the hands of the machine."

Samson said bluntly: "Sir, do you still remember what I said before that I once wanted to join the army when I was young? At that time, I actually did so. But not long after I joined the army, the Thermidor coup happened It happened that the Thermidorians, who had just come to power at that time, put me in jail because they suspected that I supported Robespierre.”

Vidocq joked: "Maybe when my detective agency can no longer operate, I should also consider buying a machine to play with. After all, this is the golden rice bowl passed down from generation to generation. There is simply no more stable job in Paris than this."

Samson was somewhat flattered when he heard that the lord from England was actually interested in his work and said: "Sir, I can't refuse your request. If you set a date with Mr. Vidocq and send someone to Ma Just let me know in the alley near Leilu Abbey, and I will be happy to help you and show you and your friends the machinery at home."

Samson heard this and protested: "Mr. Vidocq, the positions in this industry are all fixed, and this craft is not as simple as you think. You may be a good detective, but it is difficult for you to become a good executioner."

Samson nodded and said: "Yes, machines are our production tools and part of the private property of the Samson family. How can an executioner perform his duties without a machine?"

"Oh, brother, dismissal may be too harsh a word. To be precise, I was forced to resign."

"Because of the uprising in Paris last June? I remember that you seemed to have done a good job in that operation!"

Vidoc shook his head and said: "It's not because of this. My subordinates in the Security Department were involved in a lawsuit. One of our police detectives named Léger was accused of abetting. The Security Department was monitoring a The theft gang seemed to be raiding a restaurant on Fontainebleau Street, so I sent Léger to work undercover in that restaurant to try to get the specific time when they committed the theft. Léger was very capable at work. Not long after the restaurant opened, the criminal gang got in touch with him. They wanted to get the restaurant key from Léger and use beeswax to make a new one. I asked Léger to use their plan to implement it. They were caught on the day of the theft.

But those guys insisted in court that they committed the theft because they received the five hundred francs from me. They lied and said that they were not the masterminds of the theft, but me, and that Léger was responsible for instigating them to commit the crime. As for their gang of thieves, they are just working for us security chiefs.

To make matters worse, you also know my habit of recruiting security agents. I like to recruit some experienced gangsters. When he was in Léger's undercover restaurant, he still had a wanted warrant hanging over his head. This matter was brought to the attention of the Legal Director of the Ministry of Internal Affairs by some of my enemies.

Things just got worse and worse. In order to restore the reputation of the Paris Police Department, Director Zissequet also wavered. He also believes that the Ministry of Security's methods of combating crime contain some 'lure' elements. However, thinking of the old relationship between me and him, he did not fire me directly, but kept waiting for me to resign.

I didn't want to make things difficult for him, so I submitted my resignation to him. The director accepted the resignation, but did not tell me to pack up and get out. He just told the public that I had retired and applied for a monthly pension of 500 francs from above. However, this money was stopped last month. . "

When Arthur heard this, he spoke out to defend Vidocq: "Your Excellencies in Paris seem to be even more kind than those in London. At least Whitehall Street gave me a knight's memorial. And on your side, you mentioned I worked hard for them with my head on my butt, but what I got in the end was such ungratefulness.”

Vidocq laughed loudly and said: "Brother, this is all thanks to you having a clean background, instead of being like me, who although I have the name of a policeman, is actually considered a potentially dangerous person and a criminal. molecular.

However, I must say that in my personal opinion, if you want to reduce the crime rate, you should hire people who know the criminals well and have even hung out with them to fight fire with fire. I am willing to take full responsibility for the Fontainebleau theft with my personal resignation and departure, but other police officers of the Security Department should not be implicated, because the whole of Paris needs them. "

When Arthur heard this, he suddenly seemed to understand: "It seems that your wish has not come true."

Vidoc chuckled: "Brother, you guessed it right. Director Risokai is an accountant and an outstanding banker. The financial report of the Security Department shocked him. So as soon as I left, they The Security Department was immediately reorganized. Now the funds of the Security Department have been handed over to the municipal budget department for overall management, and no one with a criminal record will be hired anymore.

Everything is managed in a very standardized manner, so standardized that the security department can no longer produce any brilliant achievements. The place where I have struggled for half my life has now become a strange place to me. That's not the Grand Paris Police Security Department, I prefer to call it 'New Scotland Yard'. "

At this point, Vidocq paused and then continued sourly: "Arthur, I'm not afraid of your jokes. The "Greater Metropolitan Police Department Police Management Regulations" that you participated in the revision were also taken away by Risoko. Reference. In his eyes, this is important material. People like you who are good at writing materials will always be more important than me who work on the streets. It will take a few years to achieve success.”

Seeing that he was in such a low mood, Alexandre Dumas couldn't help comforting him: "Mr. Vidocq, it would be a good thing for you to step back at this time. Go and accompany your wife or lovers. Go and confuse , Fool those young and beautiful shop girls who love to hear legendary stories, or go to the theater dressing room to greet the actresses who are waiting for the servant to come out. There are actually quite a lot of things you can do, your legendary stories. It’s far from over.”

When Vidocq heard Alexandre Dumas start the conversation, he couldn't help but show a smile that showed success: "You're right, from now on, I will not be bound by that damn system. My love affair is a One after another, in love, I am like a cloud, floating wherever I want, and to get those lovely girls, the first thing I need is money.

As you all know, I have spent the past quarter of a century chasing criminals. The Paris Metropolitan Police does not use me, but some people do.

The rich live in big villas, ride in open carriages drawn by purebred English horses, wear Chevreul brand clothes, Walker brand gloves, Bondoni hats, and Gangano boots. Yes, the cane was Thomasson's, and even the cigar box was made by Gironx. As long as I can solve their problems, remuneration is not a problem at all.

As for the city of Paris and the country of France, we lack everything but criminals. I know that there are many swindlers who were born in the family of Zhong Ming Ding Shi. Later, their families fell into poverty, but they could not change their bad habits of extravagance and waste, so they wandered around the palace every day, selling their worthless fake antiques.

There are also some daring ones who like to pretend to be bankers, rent an office in the most prosperous neighborhood of Paris, recruit a few young and beautiful ladies to sit there and pretend to be cashiers, and then let salesmen trick fools into doing banking business here. They operated honestly for a period of time, and after everyone regarded them as serious people, they began to make a fortune by altering the bills and asking other banks to accept them. When they had almost made enough money, they disappeared without a trace overnight, and then moved to a new place and continued to open under a new name.

It is not an exaggeration to say that there should be about 10 scammers in France, and they are active in every corner of society. In Paris, there are at least five thousand. Let's assume that such an idle person can swindle francs a day. Five thousand swindlers can swindle francs a day, million francs a month, and million francs a year!

Gentlemen, do you know how huge this market is? The Vidocq Detective Agency has so much to offer! Since the detective agency opened, every morning as soon as it opens, those bankers and businessmen can literally break through the door. In order to recover their business losses, these guys have always been very generous with their prices. "

Having said this, Vidocq winked at Arthur and said: "Brother, I know you are not in such a hurry to go to Hanover. Are you interested in taking advantage of this period to work part-time here? Everyone in Paris knows that Detective Vitoria Doc's name, but they still don't know what kind of guy Sir Arthur Hastings, the Archduke of Scotland Yard, is.

Or we can do the next best thing. It’s okay if you don’t want to handle the case. You only need to go to my place for breakfast every day, fall in love with the girls in my detective agency, and tell your legendary stories. Don't be shy, girls in Paris are much more enthusiastic than you think.

As for the rest of the time, you don't have to do anything at my place. You only need to show off your knighthood when those big clients come, and show off to them the "Police Management Regulations of the Greater London Police Department" that you wrote. , I can still offer you a pretty generous reward. "

When Arthur heard this, he finally understood what Vidocq was planning.

To put it bluntly, this guy is trying to use his knighthood and work experience as Scotland Yard Assistant Commissioner of Police to attract clients for the newly opened detective agency.

I have to say that Vidocq's mind is really sharp. Even if such a capable person comes out of the security department, he can become a millionaire immediately if he is given a period of time.

Arthur smiled and said: "Of course I would be honored to be able to help you. But if you let me work at the detective agency, I may not be able to make mistakes in the schedule."

Vidocq's eyes rolled, and he thought Arthur wanted to reject him: "Brother, if it's a price issue, just tell me the number, and I will try my best to meet your request even if I have difficulties."

Arthur waved his hand and said: "Mr. Vidocq, this is not a matter of money. After all, when I come to Paris this time, I have to meet many friends, and I have to go to the Paris Academy of Sciences during my time. Of course, the most important thing is that I also I need to accompany Louis to meet with His Majesty the King of your country at the Tuileries Palace. However, if you have any big clients and you need me to go with you, I don't mind doing this for you. I have long been fascinated by the Paris social banquets that Mr. Talleyrand and I have talked about many times.”

(End of this chapter)