shadow of britain

Chapter 76 Maliciousness and Goodwill in the World
In the parish of St. Giles in the early morning, three police officers came to the corridor of No. 27 Church Lane.

Arthur's hand hung in front of the door for a long time, but he never knocked on it.

His mind was a little messed up, and he didn't know how to tell Robin's parents the cold truth.

He lost the determination and ferocity he had when he attacked the gravedigger last night.

Just like what Agares said, in this world, killing people is easy, but saving people is difficult.

And when the promise of saving people was made, but it was not fulfilled, how to face this reality is even more difficult.

The three of them stood in a silent stalemate for a long time, and in the end it was Tom, who had always been considered the most courageous, who broke the silence.

"Arthur, would you like me to come?"

Arthur glanced back at him, forced a smile, then shook his head slightly.

He breathed a sigh of relief, and then finally made up his mind to knock on the peeling paint door in front of him.

But before he could make a move, the door was suddenly opened with a creak.

Standing behind the door was a bearded man and a woman in a washed-out white dress.

There are some bloodshot eyes in their eyes that represent lack of sleep, and there is an unpleasant smell of fermented sweat on their bodies.

Seeing Arthur in uniform, the man was stunned at first, then took a step back vigilantly, and asked, "What do you guys do?"

"We..." Arthur opened his mouth, but the words that should have been uttered immediately were blocked in his throat, and he couldn't utter them no matter what.

When Tony saw the woman's face, which was somewhat similar to Robin's, the originally strong Scotland Yard police officer burst into tears.

He held the small milky white coffin that was very light, and tears fell into the cracks of the coffin bit by bit.

Tony lowered his head and shook his head slowly: "Sir, madam, I'm sorry. As a policeman, I feel very...very sorry for you."

The man and the woman stared at the coffin for a long time, and found that Tony's face seemed familiar, so they suddenly understood what was going on.

"You...you are the police officer who accepted our report? Then...this...this is Robin?"

Tom also took off his hat and said, "Sir, I'm sorry. Although we have tried our best to bring the murderer to justice, Robin had already..."

The man stared at the coffin for a long time, but shook his head again and again. He didn't break down and cry bitterly like everyone imagined, and he didn't point at their noses and yell at them like the three police officers expected.

He's stronger than anyone else thinks, unbelievably strong.

He just reached out and touched his daughter's coffin, and stood there quietly. He even had the energy to comfort the three police officers in turn.

"It's okay, it's not your fault. From the day Robin disappeared, I guessed that this would probably be the result. In St. Giles, it's normal for children to die. It's so normal that it almost paralyzes me.

Gentlemen, as you may not know, we have had seven children, but now we are down to two.Robin's death is actually pretty good, at least there, there are three brothers and one sister taking care of her.

She might have a better life there than here, as long as her brothers and sisters can be more promising than her father.

I'm sorry, Mr. Inspector, but I'm no good. "

Robin's mother bent down, put her head on the coffin and listened, as if she was feeling Robin's heartbeat.

She read in her mouth: "From a long time ago, she told me that she didn't want to go to the factory anymore. She said that her body hurts here and there, and even her mind is dizzy. But there is no way, the family lacks money, and we Still have to let her go.

If she doesn't go, we will be kicked out of this place without that little wage.It's good to die, we have dragged her down, and she has dragged us down, she deserves a better life, but we can't afford it. "

Speaking of this, the man suddenly said to Arthur: "Mr. Police Officer, can you give us the coffin? With Robin's body, we can receive a funeral subsidy from the funeral mutual aid association we joined. The money is enough We'll give Robin a decent funeral and have some extra to spare."

The man said these words, as if he was talking about an ordinary story, perhaps for people living in the parish of St. Giles, this is no longer surprising.

Hearing this, Tom couldn't help tugging at Arthur's sleeve.

Of course Arthur understood what he meant.

According to Scotland Yard, many of the funeral societies in St. Giles Parish have direct ties to the gravediggers.

It is thanks to the tip-offs of these funeral societies that gravediggers can so quickly determine where there are bodies awaiting burial.

Arthur didn't tell Robin's parents the truth, but just asked, "How much grant can you get from the funeral mutual aid society?"

The man rubbed his messy hair: "We adults pay five pence a week, and children pay three pence a week. According to the subsidy standard, Robin's death should allow us to get three pounds."

Arthur took out the wallet from his pocket, counted out ten brand new banknotes and handed them over.

"Sir, here is ten pounds. This is the compensation for the dereliction of duty of the Scotland Yard police. In addition, we will prepare a suitable funeral for Robin. We will inform you about the place and time of the funeral."

"Funeral..." The man and the woman seemed a little embarrassed, they asked, "Is the church where the funeral is held far away?"

Arthur nodded and said, "It may be a bit far, but I can pay the fare for you two."

The man hesitated for a while, but finally shook his head. He smiled bitterly: "Forget it, Mr. Police Officer, I believe you. The child and I can't fucking leave here. If you miss work for a day, you may be fired. You I also know that finding a job is not easy these days.”

The woman also sighed: "If possible, after the funeral, can you tell us where she was buried? We will visit her when we have time."

Arthur's lips trembled a little, he took a breath, he stood at attention and saluted: "Of course, ma'am, we will of course inform you of the place of burial. Then, goodbye, and I wish you two a bright future !"

He turned around, couldn't help closing his eyes, and took deep breaths repeatedly.

Seeing him like this, Tom and Tony knew that he felt a little uncomfortable, but they couldn't say much.

The two just patted Arthur on the back, and raised their hands to wipe away the tears on their faces: "No way, it's like this these days, people have to live."

Agares was sitting on the crumbling stair railing. He grinned and said, "Arthur, you have to understand that pests do not sting people out of malice, but they use this method to maintain their lives."

Arthur opened his eyes, he looked at the Red Devil, he didn't understand.

But the more he understood, the more painful he felt.The more you know, the more torn you feel.

He murmured: "Perhaps I should have listened to you at the beginning. I really shouldn't have investigated this case."

The red devil's inductive laughter sounded again: "But you still checked, Arthur, do you feel pain? It's right to feel pain, this is the world's punishment for your pursuit of justice and justice.

In a world of darkness, when a ray of light shines into the darkness, then that ray of light is sinful.

Why are you doing these thankless things, and what good is it doing for you?
In this world, people are born every day, and people die every day, but what does that have to do with you?
This world is not clean in the first place, the more you understand, the deeper you will sink in this quagmire.The more you know, the more twisted your mind becomes.

A qualified villain should always maintain a calm mind, a strong body, a clear soul and steely willpower.

Don't let these little things bother you, don't let this garbage pollute you, before it's too late, it's too late!
As long as you can't see these things, you can pretend it didn't happen.

Look at what you look like now, what have you become?

You are still very young, you are only 20 years old, and you are already an inspector of Scotland Yard, and you have a lot of big names who are optimistic about you.

Your glorious future has been laid, look at the gorgeous red carpet in front of you, the road to success and fame within your fingertips, smell the fragrance surrounded by fragrance, and take a look at the golden ladder .

You just need to follow the footsteps of the predecessors step by step, don't look at your feet, but always pay attention to the zenith, there is a beautiful scenery worthy of your appreciation. "

Arthur took the milky white coffin from Tony's hand. Arthur held the coffin in his palm. He felt that the coffin should be heavy, but it was actually very light in his hand.

He started to walk down the stairs when suddenly, a woman's voice sounded from behind him.

"Mr. Police Officer, please wait a moment!"

It was Robin's mother, and she was holding a small wooden box with half missing in her hand, which contained many penny coins.

The woman gently placed the small wooden box on Robin's coffin, and she pleaded softly, pulling back the messy hair around her ears.

"This is the coins that Robin saved for her funeral. I remember she said that she really wanted a beautiful red dress. Please use the money to buy one for her. It's as simple as it gets."

After finishing speaking, Arthur stretched out a big rough hand holding the wooden pony from behind.

Robin's father said: "She said that she wanted to hire a white pony to pull the cart for her at her funeral. But we can't afford it. I can only make her a wooden one. You let her Take it down."

Arthur looked back at the embarrassed couple until he saw them flush and burn.

The couple bowed and said, "Mr. Police Officer, thank you!"

Arthur smiled and took off his hat. He put one arm on his chest and held Robin's coffin in the other, and bowed in return.

"No, I should thank you."

(End of this chapter)