shadow of britain

Chapter 5 A Difficult Case

The Magistrate's Court was set up not far from Scotland Yard, so Arthur and the others arrived there within a short walk.

But at this time, Tony had already lost his mind on work, and he was worried about the future.

But he was not the most anxious one among all the people present.

A policeman with a tense expression was standing in front of the justice court, pacing slowly, his brows were tightly knit together.Even though it was far away, Arthur could still clearly see the beads of sweat on his temples.

Arthur raised his hand and greeted him: "Tom, are you in charge of escorting the suspect today?"

Officer Tom was almost moved to tears when he saw Arthur's familiar face.

"Arthur, you must help me!"

Arthur turned his head to look at Tony, who was in a daze behind him, and turned to Tom and asked, "What? Is your child going to college too?"

"Going to college? No, my wife is just pregnant, so it's hard to say whether she can give birth smoothly."

"Have you encountered any difficulties?"

"Not yet. But I had two miscarriages before, so you must save me this time."

Arthur shrugged, throwing his hands at him.

"Tom, you must be confused. I'm just a policeman like you. I'm in charge of crime, not childbirth. If you want to help your wife give birth smoothly, you should give her more nutrition and find An experienced midwife. But no matter which one of the above, it is not my job scope."

Tom's anxious palms were sweating, and he said, "I've already contacted the midwife. Although I'm not rich, I try to allocate part of my small salary to buy meat for her every day.

Although everything seems to be going well now, my wife had a dream about God last night.

God said that the reason why she had a miscarriage was because I, the husband, had too many sins in my hands, and I had to atone for my sins, otherwise this time I would also die in the womb. "

"Atonement? Isn't that a priest's job? St. Margaret's is right behind me. You should go straight and turn left."

Tom covered his face and said incoherently: "This time, this time, I'm afraid the pastor won't work."

"does not work?"

Arthur squeezed his chin and thought for a while: "Why don't you buy a boat ticket and go to the Ottoman Empire to ask an imam? Or go to the East and ask a bald monk with a high level of cultivation? Even if God doesn't look at the priest's face, At least take care of the emotions of Allah and Buddha, right? If they don’t work, I also know a red-nosed clown who knows witchcraft, and I can ask him to help you.”

Agareth's phantom flickered for a while: "Arthur, I'm not a clown!"

Tears welled up in Tom's eyes, and he was about to collapse.

"Oh! Arthur, it's about this time, so don't make fun of me. There must be a reason why God chose to appear in my wife's dream at this time. I thought about it over and over again this morning. It must be about the case of little Adam."

"The case of little Adam?"

When Arthur heard the name, his mind sank.

Little Adam's reputation can be described as thunderous in the ears of the patrolmen in this area.

Although he is only a nine-year-old boy, little Adam's criminal record cannot be written on a single page.

As an experienced thief, Little Adam's business scope ranges from breaking into houses and stealing handkerchiefs, to stealing fruits and snatching toys.

However, due to the small amount involved, his sentence is not too long.

Therefore, he can be seen active on the streets of St. Gillos Parish every once in a while, but it won't be long before he is sent back to prison.

Arthur took the file from Tony and quickly found information about Little Adam.

While flipping through the relevant information, he muttered: "I talked to that brat before, trying to make him calm down a little bit. But after I learned about the situation in his family, I realized that it was impossible."

Tony asked, "Why not? Isn't he afraid of going to jail or being flogged?"

Arthur closed the notebook and stared straight at Tony: "Adam told me that prison is more comfortable than his home.

Because he can take a hot shower on the way in and get some clean clothes and socks.

Although he is sometimes bullied by other prisoners inside, prison guards and some conscientious criminals will stop him.

And if he was outside, once he didn't bring money back from the outside, then his pair of bastard parents beat him much harder than the prisoners in prison.

Tony, we're just cops and we can solve part of the law and order problem, but Adam's crime is a social problem and there's nothing we can do about it. "

Later, Arthur said to Tom, who was praying and confessing: "If you feel guilty because of little Adam, then there is no need to do so. Because for him, you put him in prison, which in itself is He is doing good. God will not blame you for this. If you can arrange a prison with better conditions for him, God may reward your kindness."

"But...but this time is different, Arthur!"

Tom cried bitterly: "This time he stabbed a big basket. I'm afraid the case can't be closed in prison. What's worse is that he committed the crime this time at the hands of Sheriff Willox. Let me tell you that we must get this case settled.

Because the Ministry of the Interior just issued a new document the day before yesterday, which stated that a low prosecution success rate would damage the social image of the London Metropolitan Police, so we are required to work towards a 100% prosecution success rate.

You know the character of that old bastard Willox, and if we mess up and put a dent in his honor book, maybe he'll get fired along with it.

My wife is about to have a baby and I can't lose this job.But I also can't watch little Adam die! "

"Death? What crime did he commit this time? Murder or arson?"

"Neither," said Tom tremblingly, "he just stole a lady's umbrella."

Tony was relieved when he heard this: "Tom, can you not be surprised when you speak. How much is an umbrella worth? The magistrate will probably sentence him to prison for a year, and you can arrange a good place for him." Well, it's no big deal."

Tom was trembling all over. "No, Tony, that's a very fine lace-trimmed parasol worth seven shillings and sixpence."

"Seven shillings and sixpence?"

Tony exclaimed in shock: "Damn! More than five shillings will be hanged! Even if the justice of the peace and the jury let him go, he will have to be exiled to Australia for seven or eight years. A nine-year-old kid, exiled to Australia ? He probably died on the boat before reaching the place."

Tom gasped heavily: "If...if it really doesn't work...I...I'll just fight that old bastard Sheriff Willox! This is God's will, I, I should be fine. "

Just as Tom clenched his fists and was about to fight, Arthur put a hand on his shoulder.

It was a warm and sunny smile.

And behind Arthur's smile, Agares also showed a satisfied smile.

"Oh! Arthur, I seem to have seen your naked bad intentions."

Arthur said: "Tom, leave the matter here to me, you can go back to duty. I assure you, little Adam will be fine."

Tom looked surprised: "Have you thought of a way to get the best of both worlds? Oh! God! I knew it! After all, the smartest brain in Scotland Yard is standing here!"

He clenched his fist and waved it fiercely towards the sky: "Arthur! Go and show them, your four years of college are not in vain! Oxford and Cambridge are not worth as much as a leg of London University!"

Arthur looked at the excited Tom, but calmly took off the blue and white armband on his left arm, and handed it to Tom.

His deep voice seemed to be moaning from a demon.

"By the way, say hello to Sergeant Willox and tell that uneducated bastard, Metropolitan Police Constable, Greenwich, Arthur Hastings, to fuck off .”

(End of this chapter)