Shadow of great britain

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 spent almost all of 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 was just setting at this time, and if he followed his usual work schedule, he would have to go back to his office at Scotland Yard to sit for a while.

The reason why he was able to leave work early was thanks to the transfer application that Director Luo Wan gave him.

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

But having said that, although the security in London is chaotic, most crimes are committed for money, so the types of cases are generally concentrated in theft and robbery. As for the kind of brutal murders that can cause social panic, they are really rare.

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

Although leaving him idle was the ultimate goal of Luo Wan, if it were normal times, Arthur would have been unable to sit still for a week and was planning to have a showdown with Luo Wan.

But ever since he inexplicably discovered that he actually had a backer like Lord Brougham behind him, Arthur has gradually become accustomed to this kind of work content of arriving late and leaving early.

Because he knew in his heart that Director Luo Wan was definitely not squeezing him out as planned by not giving him anything to do now, but simply because he didn't dare.

Depending on the intentions of the Chancery 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 is offended, any case Luowan wants to handle in the future may not need to go to the magistrate's court, but will be dropped directly by Arthur.

The other superintendents of Scotland Yard also knew this very well, so during this period they all greeted this young man who only had three people in charge with a smile. Lunch time had not yet come, and they were all at the door of his office one by one. Queue up to treat him to 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 and seemed to be in a moment of weakness, only an idiot would think that he could just step on the spiritual leader of the British Army.

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, the current King William IV, and the Duke of Wellington have to talk in a friendly manner. Anyone who doesn't take him seriously is simply making a joke about his own future.

Agares was flapping his black bat wings behind Arthur. The red devil rubbed his hands and said with a bad smile: "Arthur, how are you? Doesn't it feel good to still get paid even though you don't go 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 said with a evil smile: "Now that you have tasted the sweetness, haven't you changed your mind yet? Join the Tory Party and elect a member of parliament or something?"

Arthur blew out a smoke ring and said: "I'm sorry, Agares, even if you praise the congressman for a flower, I don't plan to do it. Even if one day I have no choice but to elect a congressman, I won't Join the Whigs or the Tories.

For both parties, only the centrists need to be fought over. As for those backbenchers of the party who have little influence, regardless of whether they are assigned a position or not, they will vote with the party. In this case, why bother to vote in the party? 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 and checked it carefully with the small piece of paper in his hand.

When Arthur saw this, he couldn't help but feel 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 looked back at Arthur, who was neatly dressed. After thinking for a moment, he asked: "Thank you very much for your enthusiastic help. I am an unlucky old man who is indeed in a little trouble now. Is this Arthur Black?" Mr. Stings’ residence?”

When Arthur heard the other party mention it, he finally remembered an anecdote that he encountered in his daily work.

Arthur said: "If you are here to see Mr. Hastings, you may be disappointed. He has been busy with work recently and has been leaving early and coming home late. It is not easy to see him during the day now."

"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 speaking, there was a cry of surprise from behind Arthur. It was Alexandre Dumas who had just returned from the market with a paper bag full of ingredients.

"Monsieur François Vidocq?"

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 a mustache in front of him was actually his senior in the Paris police, the head of the Paris Security Brigade and the Detective Department of the Grand Paris Police Department - François Vidor gram.

In view of Alexandre Dumas's special status as a wanted criminal in France and his fear of the French who never like to play their cards according to routines, Arthur pretended to move casually and stood between Vidocq and Alexandre Dumas.

But of course Arthur's little moves couldn't escape Vidocq's eyes, and he could certainly see what Arthur meant by doing this.

Vidocq asked: "Mr. Hastings, are you being a little rude by doing this? Although Alexander's head is indeed worth two pence, I am not poor enough to take his head. To exchange for reward money."

Arthur did not panic when Vidocq saw through his hands and feet. He smiled apologetically: "So you have already figured out who I am. With such a keen insight, it is no wonder that you can enjoy such a high status in the French police." Reputation. I have no objection to you as a person. I even respect you very much. After your "Memoirs" was published in the UK, I bought a copy as soon as possible. If I count hard, I should still be you. The first fans in the UK. However, ensuring 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. Regardless of whether you have malicious intentions or not, I need to exercise the utmost caution. Regarding this Just a little bit, please understand.”

When Vidocq heard this, he just narrowed his eyes.

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

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

But as soon as he finished speaking, Vidocq's shoulders sank and he bumped towards Arthur.

Arthur did not dodge Vidocq's blow, he just stood there and stood there.

The shoulders of the two collided, Arthur remained motionless, but Vidocq, who was in his fifties, staggered and almost fell to the ground.

Seeing this situation, Alexandre Dumas hurriedly stopped him and said, "Mr. Vidocq, don't bother. If we fight, you may not be his opponent."

But it was too late for Alexandre Dumas to say this. As soon as Vidocq's cane was raised, 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.

Vidoc grinned in pain and couldn't help but cursed: "Damn it! If I were thirty years younger, I would be the one who is under pressure right now."

Alexandre Dumas shouted: "Arthur, that's about it. Mr. Vidocq is not here to arrest me. I had friendship with him when I was in France. The reward for my head should not be enough to arrest me." He betrayed our friendship."

Arthur raised his eyebrows when he heard this: "Alexander, this is what you said. If you are captured and taken back to France later, I will not 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."

Vidocq turned his arms, covered his sore neck and said, "Young man, you are quite strong."

Seeing Vidocq being released, Alexandre Dumas hurriedly came up to help him and said, "You came to see me this time. You must have something to do?"

"Well, there is indeed something wrong." Vidocq took out a few letters from his coat pocket and handed them to him: "I was asked to bring you something."

Arthur glanced at the cover of the letter from the corner of his eye and saw only one signature - Victor Hugo.

The second update will be posted tomorrow morning