Shadow of great britain

London, Westminster, in a restaurant next to Trafalgar Square.

In the far corner of the restaurant, four men wearing big-brimmed hats and dressed in black were sitting.

A few months ago, their dark and sober outfits would have definitely attracted the attention of others in the restaurant.

But now we are in the cholera period, when everyone is wrapped up tightly, even wearing all kinds of weird filter respirators or other heavy protective clothing, a heavy black coat does not look special. Strange.

The haggard Mr. Bernie Harrison looked at the Scotland Yard dignitaries in front of him, forced a smile on his face, handed over the menu on the table, and spoke.

"If you want to eat something, just order it. I'll take care of all the meals today."

Alexandre Dumas raised his chin and said with a smile: "Mr. Harrison, are you trying to bribe us? Although Scotland Yard's remuneration is not as generous as your cosmetics company, we can still afford a meal."

Harrison held his forehead and sighed: "Sir, please don't misunderstand me. I will not do that kind of stupid thing. Mr. Hastings has refused my enthusiastic donation worth a thousand pounds before. I don't think a meal is enough." You can buy him off just by eating."

"One thousand pounds?" Alexandre Dumas turned to Arthur beside him and asked, "What else is there?"

Arthur took a sip of tea: "I told you earlier, Benjamin's parliamentary position is worth more than fifteen hundred pounds. I had already incurred a loss of more than one thousand pounds before he was elected."

Alexandre Dumas suddenly understood after hearing this. He looked at Harrison and said: "After a long time of quarrel, was Benjamin's parliamentary seat originally supposed to belong to you?"

Harrison smiled wryly and waved his hand: "I won't mention the past. Ever since that incident, I have been completely abandoned by the Tory Party. Even if that position is not reserved for Mr. Disraeli, he will be." In the hands of others. Alas, I have been having bad luck this whole year. What is bad luck? This is called bad luck."

Louis on the side said coldly: "In the final analysis, you have to blame yourself for not being careful."

When Harrison heard this, he immediately became furious: "I just made some inconsequential mistakes! Speaking of looking for flowers and asking for willows, at least half of the upper and lower chambers combined are unclean. I am I was unlucky enough to bump into a Polish lady, so the Whigs used the Polish issue as an excuse, which completely ruined my reputation!

Oh, by the way, I can't say it's all about luck. After all, Mr. Hastings knows the inside story quite well. The Polish beauty must have been carefully selected after rounds, right? What benefit did the Whigs do to you, that you are willing to do this for them, even at the expense of framing an upright British gentleman, a noble member of the House of Commons? "

In response to Harrison's complaint, Arthur just put down his teacup and responded calmly.

"Mr. Harrison, although I understand your anger. But I still have to remind you that you should feel lucky when you find a lady lying on the bed instead of a gentleman. A lady will only make you Lose your parliamentary seat and a gentleman gets you a death sentence.

Although the government is still promoting the reform of the "Bloody Act", due to social concepts and the support of the clergy group, I think that for a long period of time, inappropriate behavior between same-sex people will not be removed from the hanging list. Please go out. "

When Harrison heard this, his face suddenly turned pale, and even the hand pointing at Arthur trembled slightly.

"Have you ever considered killing me directly?"

Arthur did not answer him directly, but tactfully reminded him: "Aren't you curious why the Tories didn't even consider taking a cold approach to save your seat after the incident? As you said before, there is no such thing as sentiment. It is not uncommon among members of parliament for people to even have several long-term concubines.

Although your behavior is a little out of line compared to others, it is not completely unforgivable. So you should know exactly what you did that the Tory caucus finds inexcusable.

The Whigs want to attack their opponents, while the Tories feel that traitors are unforgivable. Even if I, a policeman with no political affiliation, read your words, I feel they are really inappropriate. So, Mr. Harrison, when it comes to this, you really have only yourself to blame. "

The more Harrison listened, the paler his face became. Of course he knew that Arthur was talking about his conspiracy to bring down Sir Peel.

However, no matter how hard he tried, Harrison could not figure out how Arthur and the Tory Party knew about this.

His lips trembled and he asked softly: "Someone leaked the news to you? Can you tell me who it is?"

Arthur took a piece of bread and dipped it into the cream soup in the bowl: "Mr. Harrison, can you keep it a secret?"

"sure!"

Arthur smiled and shrugged: "Then I can do that too."

Alexandre Dumas crossed his arms and nodded: "Mr. Harrison, don't think of us as idiots. Even the draftsmen of the Royal Navy know that parliamentarians are like hollow carved windows. They look like they are tightly closed, but in fact they are not. Even the wind can’t hold it.”

"But I am no longer a member of Parliament."

"Oh! That's even worse!" Dumas exclaimed: "It is the defeated members who talk the most."

When Harrison heard this, he suddenly felt like an eggplant beaten by frost, so wilted that he could hardly lift his head.

For the past few months, he had always thought that his misfortune was due to the young superintendent of Scotland Yard in front of him. Only now did he understand that the conspiracy was far deeper than he had guessed beforehand.

Harrison covered his head and tried desperately to recall the people who knew the inside story, but no matter how he thought about it, the emotion in his heart was nothing but anger.

At this time, he sadly discovered that there seemed to be few people he could afford to offend who knew the inside story.

Harrison's expression was full of mixed emotions, but Arthur didn't even bother to look up. He just cut the veal steak on the dinner plate in an orderly manner.

The knife cut along the texture of the beef inch by inch. Arthur smiled and said casually: "Mr. Harrison, do you know? I like to make friends very much. I have many friends, including those who write poems and novels. I like to make friends with people who play the piano, play stocks, study animals, and are animals myself. However, among various groups, I would not choose to be friends with judges. "

Harrison suddenly frowned when he heard Arthur's inexplicable conversation. He seemed to sense something, but he was not sure.

Harrison leaned forward and asked softly: "Can I ask the specific reason?"

"It's very simple."

Arthur put down his knife and fork and said, "Because those who are judges enjoy the sense of control over the fate of others. If he is a guy with a sense of justice, then he may be less affected. And if his own will is not firm, then letting such a guy become a judge will be a big deal.

Great figures like Francis Bacon can be confused by the desire for money, let alone ordinary people. Moreover, although Bacon accepted corruption and bribery, one thing about him is still worthy of recognition, that is, he relied on his own efforts to obtain the position of justice, rather than by betraying his family, especially his wife. "

Harrison narrowed his eyes: "You're right, Superintendent Hastings, there is a reason why you have reached such a position at such a young age. Let me think about it, if I remember correctly, Bacon walked on The road to corruption and bribery started when he became the Crown Counsel, that is, the Deputy Attorney General of Britain, right?”

Arthur smiled and nodded: "There is indeed a reason why you were elected as a member of Parliament. Your knowledge is very broad. Of course, Bacon's successful path is no longer easy to replicate today. Britain's current appointment system is far better than that of the 17th century. Sound, not to mention the Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions across the country, even the Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions in the London District Attorney's Office was carefully appointed by the noble Lords of the Whig Cabinet."

Harrison leaned back on the chair with a glass of wine and carefully thought about Arthur's words. He suddenly sneered and said: "That's no wonder. I thought he and Viscount Melbourne were really fighting an extramarital affair lawsuit. They had been arguing for a long time. It’s because the promise of uneven distribution of spoils was not fulfilled!”

Louis, who knew the ins and outs of the matter, glanced at Arthur with a strange expression: "Sir, are you really okay with saying that?"

Unexpectedly, before Arthur could reply, Harrison had already spoken first: "What's wrong? Mr. Hastings just talked to me about some principles of friendship."

Arthur rolled up the napkin tied around his neck and wiped his mouth: "That's right, Mr. Harrison. It seems that we don't have nothing in common. But after talking about the principles of friendship, shouldn't we get to the point?"

When Harrison heard this, he was just worried. Anyway, he had nothing to lose now, so it wouldn't be a big deal even if he confessed everything.

Moreover, he came specifically to find Arthur today just to clear away the suspicion on himself.

Harrison said: "As for my previous case, which was the accidental death of the maid at home, it was indeed an accident. But before I reveal the truth, I need you to promise me that you will not be involved in this matter." Continue to pursue me."

"As long as you can prove that you are not a murderer and other minor issues, I can exempt you from the remaining misdemeanor charges on behalf of Scotland Yard."

"Really?"

Arthur nodded and said: "Everything the British police say is true to its word. Don't forget the Burke gang murder and corpse robbery that occurred in Edinburgh two years ago. At that time, the Edinburgh police were struggling to find Burke's whereabouts and There were clues in several other murders, so another principal, William Hare, was offered a pardon for hanging as long as he could reveal the whereabouts of Burke and several other bodies.

Afterwards, although the police's decision was questioned, and Edinburgh citizens even stormed the Edinburgh Police Station on a large scale, they still sent a special car to put Hale on the departure ship. We can keep our promise when dealing with a serial killer as heinous as Hale. If you really didn't participate in the murder, there's no need to worry about us breaking our promise. "

"this……"

Harrison thought about it for a long time, then hesitantly nodded and said, "Okay. Actually, it all started when I returned home from a banquet that evening. At that time, my friend, Judge George Norton, was drunk and unconscious, so I I asked him to ride back with me in a carriage. Who knew that halfway through the carriage, I happened to meet two other servants sent by my wife, one was the footman who drove the car, and the other was the maid who came to deliver my coat. But Norton was really drunk that day. He recognized my maid as his wife, pointed at her, started yelling, and even hit her with a cushion on the car seat. My maid was frightened and ran away. While running, he fell into the river next to him..."

When Arthur heard this, he frowned and said, "Mr. Harrison, are you planning to tell me that the person drowned? If this is the case, we should have found a lot from the mouth, nose, and lungs of the deceased. Silt, especially in places like the Thames River, this feature should be more obvious."

Harrison hurriedly defended: "That's not what I want to say. If it was really this maid who died, then I wouldn't have the guts to report the crime. After all, if this person died, he would more or less have something to do with me."

"Who is that dead?"

Harrison took a deep breath and said: "After my maid fell into the river, I immediately sent a groom to fish her out. But after we were busy and worked hard to rescue her, I discovered that Norton The guy was sleeping soundly in the car. I was about to get angry at him, but then I thought, maybe I can use this matter further... The maid in my house is new here not long ago, while the previous one was It’s because her hands and feet are dirty, so I’m considering whether to fire her.”

Alexandre Dumas's eyes widened when he heard this and said: "You don't want to say that this is the maid who died, do you?"

Harrison nodded and said: "It was indeed her, but the girl died the day before the incident. I was still thinking about how to notify her family to take her back and bury her, but after this happened, I I thought I might be able to use this topic to my advantage..."

Arthur turned to ask: "If that's the case, how can we explain the excessive arsenic found in the bodies of the deceased?"

Harrison said awkwardly: "Mr. Hastings, didn't I just say it before? This girl's hands and feet are not clean. She often steals things from my house, especially those cosmetics that can beautify the skin. You can get it from her The detection of excessive arsenic in her stomach only shows that my past guesses about her were correct.

And if you don't believe me, you can always ask several other servants in my house to testify. I gave them a silence order before, but it seems that it is no longer necessary. Of course, if the previous incident had not happened, my wife would definitely be willing to speak for me. But since The Times published that story, we are now separated. "

Louis pinched his chin and asked: "So, the reason why Judge Norton submitted a fake autopsy report before was because he mistakenly thought he killed someone?"

"Half and half."

Harrison pursed his lips: "In addition to being acquitted, he was also thinking about regaining the favor of the Tory Party figures through this case and returning to the House of Commons. However, it seems now that he should have already I completely gave up on this idea, so I betrayed my friend Qiurong and planned to follow the path of the Whig Party to get a job as Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions in the London District Attorney's Office. What a pity! This bastard was tricked by the Viscount of Melbourne after all. It can be seen that fools will always be there. Those who have been deceived will not remember it long, and they will have to do it again."

When Louis heard this, he and Alexandre Dumas looked at each other. They never thought that the case that made Scotland Yard feel like a powerful enemy was actually a farce created by these two idiots at the last minute.

The series of chain reactions triggered by this case even almost affected the political stability of the Tories and Whigs.

Arthur nodded slightly and said, "In that case, are you willing to accuse Judge Norton of perjury in court?"

"As for this, it depends on the situation..."

Harrison didn't dare to say anything because he obviously had another more serious matter that needed to be clarified.

Harrison said: "Mr. Hastings, I can swear to God that I have nothing to do with the assassination in Liverpool. Although the two of us had a bit of a feud before, it did not affect our personal feelings. Especially now, you I can even be a pair of good friends.

As for the Polish girl you sent, I really didn’t have much contact with her anymore. Of course, what I mean is that I didn't take the initiative to contact her, but she took the initiative to come to me, so the responsibility cannot be placed on me. "