Shadow of great britain

Friday was supposed to be Arthur's working day, but since relinquishing the specific jurisdiction over the police district, he can allocate all working hours today to himself instead of sitting in the 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.

In an inconspicuous corner cafe in the West End of London, Arthur was holding a black tea cup and looking back and forth at the new Queen of Tower Hamlets, Fiona Ivan, who was sitting opposite him with his sharp black eyes. 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, stay away from laudanum. Although it has the effect of calming the mind and relieving pain, taking too much will not only cause addiction, but also cause epilepsy, dizziness, and vomiting in severe cases." Wait for adverse reactions.

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

In response to Arthur's kind words, Fiona just blinked her dark gray eyes playfully.

"Please be kind to me, Mr. Hastings. Of course I know I need to control my intake, but you have to know what a waste of energy it is to manage a criminal gang of a hundred people.

If I can't adjust my mood with some little spices in life, sooner or later I'm going to get pissed off by those idiots. You must have heard about the case that happened at the West India Dock last week, right?

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, only to find that the tea was a bit astringent, so he picked up the tin pot filled with milk and poured a little more into the tea cup.

"How do you explain it to me? It's very simple. You send him to Scotland Yard and everyone will be happy. Don't forget the rules we have set. If one of your men commits a minor crime, I will turn a blind eye. Close one eye.

But if the crime committed is a felony or a crime of 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 newly promoted Inspector Brendan Jones should still be taking good care of you, right? "

Arthur's voice sounded very gentle. If combined with the bright sunshine today and the scene of a man and a woman having lunch together, this might be called sweet words.

But to the ears of a woman like Fiona, who has been working 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 reprimand was not harsh, Fiona did not 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 19th century, everything was very realistic.

And this is reflected in the underground world in a more direct and bloody way.

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 go head-to-head with Lord Brougham and the people from the University of London who were about to take over.

Fiona's ability to sit firmly in Diaoyutai is not due to her management skills, but because the ruffians really don't have the guts to compete with a Scotland Yard superintendent.

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

Many people think that ability can solve problems when they face difficulties. But they ignore one thing, that is, if you want to solve problems, you can actually rely on background alone, and the use of background goes far beyond this, which is beyond the reach of ordinary capable people.

Therefore, even though Fiona seems to be in the limelight right now, as soon as she lifts her pleated skirt in Tower Hamlets, countless domineering villains will kneel down in front of her, even if she orders them to lick like a pug. Shoes, they won't have any problem with them either.

But as long as Arthur withdraws his support for her, or even shows the slightest wavering in his attitude in front of several of her subordinates, then there will be no need for Scotland Yard to take action. Fiona will soon be rushed over smelling the smell of blood. The sharks bit into pieces and devoured everything.

At that time, I am afraid that even returning to the original situation of teaming up with her companions to engage in fairy dance will become a good ending for Fiona.

But for this lady who has been among men all year round, a few witticisms are more useful in this situation than a serious answer.

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, 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 civilized staff and her eyelids twitched three times: "Although I know you have always been violent, but this..."

Arthur said calmly: "Come on, Fiona, you are lucky today because my flintlock pistol was left with Mr. Wheatstone. Otherwise, I would not have taught you a lesson with the rod of civilization."

When the red devil sitting at the next table heard this, he got a blond wig from nowhere and transformed into a pair of big Kazuran eyes like Fiona who had taken Belladonna eye drops.

The Red Devil clasped his hands together and used his deliberately disgusting flaming red lips to imitate Fiona's inner monologue: "Fuck, who can tell me where this Arthur Hastings comes from? Stinky idiot?"

Arthur's hand holding up the white porcelain teacup suddenly paused. He stared at Fiona's beautiful face and said, "If you want to scold me, you can say it in person. I still have the tolerance for this. If you It will make you feel better if you curse, and at least you will have one less bottle of laudanum to drink when you go back, which will definitely be a good thing for your work status."

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

Fiona smiled brightly, and there was no trace of blushing at all on her pale concealer face. Not only that, she also raised her arm to compare with the civilized staff on the table.

"Look, even if I don't admire 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 one, I might You can't get out of bed for days, and a girl's family can't afford that. You'd better use this to deal with the toughest men in London, like Fred, for example."

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 suddenly froze: "You...you understand...No, what did you say? How dare I ridicule you? After all, there are three or four people in Tower Hamlets." Girls No. 10 are counting on you to eat. How about I bring them all for you to see? Just because I can't get into your eyes doesn't mean they can't."

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

"You..." When Fiona heard this, she stared at Arthur for a while, then glanced at the civilized staff on the table, and then showed a tearless expression: "Are you serious? "

Arthur shook his head and said: "Although I am not very civilized, I will not attack a lady directly. But what you just said cannot be ignored. Well, I have a job in hand. If If you can complete it smoothly, then what happened just now will be wiped out. But if you mess up, then the reward for sending someone to follow Hetherington and Mrs. Norton will be..."

Fiona was so angry when she heard this that she was furious for a long time. It turned out that this Scotland Yard superintendent, who was a few years younger than her, was just trying to default on his debt.

She had known that there was not a single good person among the police, and almost all men were bad. Even if these two identities were combined into one, they would not be able to be both positive and negative.

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

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

The reason why I am announcing this to you is not because I want to deny you the compensation you deserve. But the Criminal Investigation Department that I am currently in charge of has almost no office funds at all. The other organization I control is a temporary organization, so naturally it does not enjoy financial funding.

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

Or, even if it cannot be made temporary into permanent, at least I can apply for a special bonus from the Ministry of Internal Affairs based on this matter. If I have money, I can naturally pay you. "

When Fiona heard this, the breath in her chest gradually disappeared. 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 job 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 who came to London. I really hope that he I taught you Russian or German well before I died of illness, otherwise your beautiful and exotic appearance would be completely in vain."

Fiona opened the matter, just glanced at it, then raised her head in surprise and said: "You want me to apply for a job as a maid at the Russian Embassy?"