Shadow of great britain

Never rely on violence when you can win through deception.

——Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince

The street scene in Paris looked particularly charming in the afterglow of dusk, but no one in the detective agency had the intention to appreciate it. Everyone's attention was almost entirely attracted by Arthur's oral experience of hunting down the assassin on the day of the explosion at the Caydossay Mansion.

Perhaps for the swineherds in the York countryside, it was extremely difficult to tell lies.

But for Sir Arthur Hastings, who received a history education from the University of London, worked as a police detective at Scotland Yard for three years, and published "The Hastings Detective Collection", making up stories has almost become a One of his professional habits.

Historical records are full of stories, and the original authors, such as Guizot and Thiers, believed deeply in the so-called inevitability and advancement they said. While they refuted the opinions of historians from centuries ago, they also flaunted their own supreme truth. Little did they know that just a few centuries later, they would also be labeled as reactionaries by those who came after them.

But they don't have to complain too much, because the latecomers will also be slapped to death on the beach by the latecomers. Just like this, passed down from generation to generation, each generation is a reactionary selling different stories.

As for Scotland Yard, the administrative documents there are full of lies. In order to flaunt themselves in front of parliament and get more funds from the budget, senior police officers spend more time on the flexible use of statistics than on public security management. But even so, Arthur can still pat his chest and say that Scotland Yard is still the most honest and efficient agency among the British government departments.

But this is not because the senior police officers are more talented than the old bureaucrats in the various departments in Whitehall Street. It is simply because Scotland Yard has been established for a relatively short time and the department structure is relatively simple. There are only a few levels between Director Rowan at the top and ordinary police officers at the bottom, so even if the police officers want to be bureaucratic, they cannot be bureaucratic.

As for "The Hastings Detective Collection", let alone that. This industry relies on making up stories. Isn't it easy to make up lies as long as you are prepared in advance?

Arthur was sitting in an armchair by the window, holding a cup of hot tea in his hand, with a slightly thoughtful look on his face.

He did not conceal everything he saw, but he only omitted the part about the royalists' secret strongholds and made slight changes to his pursuit route.

He spends most of his scenes depicting the costumes of assassins. He has also worked as a police detective, so he is well aware of the bad habits of their profession.

For a detective, especially a famous detective like Vidocq, most of them think that they are very smart, and they are indeed very smart, and they will be very conceited because of their intelligence.

It is precisely because of this personality trait that police detectives are usually reluctant to let go of any clues. Sometimes they even ignore obvious clues because they are overly pursuing small details to reveal the full picture of the case and shock the public.

"Sheepskin coats and long hair, outdated clothing styles..."

Wearing a dark gray coat with a frayed collar, Vidocq leaned against the fireplace, looking pensively at the bonfire making coffee, and a low voice came from his mouth.

"If they were not deliberately disguised, those assassins should be peasants in the countryside. And they are not peasants from the suburbs of Paris, but peasants from the provinces. However, in my career, I have seen too many incredible things. There is an unknown truth behind every case. If the truth is revealed, it only shows that we are still a long way from the real murderer behind the scenes. "

Arthur took a puff of his cigarette and lowered his big-brimmed hat slightly: "I agree too. Did Risuoka come over today and bring you any new clues?"

Vidoc held his neck and twisted: "There are not many clues. They found something in the wreckage of the carriage after the explosion. The carriage has been confirmed to be rented by Sebastian's car dealership, but the car dealership The car rental information contained in the document is all forged. In Paris, I know of only five people who can forge documents so realistically. Two of them have been guillotined, one is currently serving a sentence in prison, and the other is serving time in prison. I was so frightened that I didn’t know where to run away.”

Alexandre Dumas counted on his fingers: "There are only four in total, what about the fifth one?"

"The fifth one?" Vidocq blew out two lines of smoke from his nose: "Alexander, the fifth one is standing in front of you. Why do you think I could always escape from prison so easily when I was young? Prison escape It’s not just about bribing the jailers, being bold and careful, but sometimes I have to play with procedural justice when everything else doesn’t work.”

Heine asked: "If you can escape from prison by forging documents, why is a forger of your level still serving time in Brest prison?"

"Isn't this simple?" Arthur took a sip of coffee: "That's because Mr. Vidocq later became a policeman, so he must have blocked the road later."

When Alexandre Dumas heard this, he laughed loudly and said: "Mr. Vidocq, I have to say that it is very unkind of you to do this. You took a shortcut but did not let others learn from you."

"That's different." Vidocq replied: "I was imprisoned because I was wronged, and that guy Franco was directly caught by me for forging bank notes. Is it possible that he was sentenced to life-long hard labor? What is there to complain about?"

Heine couldn't help but ask: "Mr. Vidoc, you always do this kind of thing, aren't you afraid that they will escape from prison and retaliate against you?"

"Revenge me? My God! Mr. Heine, what are you thinking? I have been to prison five times in my life, and no one knows better than me what these guys who escaped from prison were thinking after they came out? What do most people think after escaping from prison? There is only one thing I can do, and that is to hide quietly and prevent anyone from discovering them, so that they will not take any risks and come to trouble me. "

Vidocq sneered: "Furthermore, although these gangsters will always spit on the ground when they mention my name in private. But if they hear someone calling my name on the street, they will have to pee." They were all scared out of their wits. In Paris, even the famous "stoker" robbers would have their lips turn white and tremble when they heard the words "Here comes Vidoc". People hate me very much, but what they think about is never to seek revenge from me, but to pray to God to keep me away from them.”

Arthur took off his pipe and looked up at the sky outside the window: "Then I guess, you probably want to go to Brest Prison? Find the man who, besides you, is the only one who has the ability to forge realistic official identity documents. Lancos? He makes his living at this trade, and if there is anyone in Paris who can forge documents, he must know it."

Vidocq stared at Arthur with admiration: "Brother, you are indeed the best police detective in London. We both thought of going together. However, my guess is bolder than yours. I suspect that the car The bank's identity document was probably made by Francos. This guy had a few subtle habits when forging documents. Maybe he didn't notice it himself, but I knew very well that he used a sharp stroke when writing letters. I can't help but tilt it up slightly. I just checked the document in Zisokai's hand, and the handwriting is exactly the same as Francos's. "

"You mean that the royalists got forged documents from Francos who was in prison?" Arthur's first reaction when he heard the news was to ask: "Could Francos have escaped from prison?" "

"Jailbreak? No, he can pass the files even without jailbreaking."

Vidocq said: "Brother, you don't understand the industry ecology of these criminal gangs in Paris. Although Franco is in prison, his fellow inmates can definitely help him carry something out when they are released from prison. We There are many such technical talents in prison here. Even if they have been sentenced to life-long hard labor, they can still contribute their talents to criminal causes behind bars. "

Arthur picked up the case file that Vidoct had just compiled on the table and glanced at it: "If we just go to prison like this, Francos will never be able to confess the good things he has done. He has been sentenced to life-long hard labor. If If he is involved in the assassination of the king, let alone being released from prison, it is doubtful whether he will survive this autumn. "

"You are right, so we need to disguise ourselves and contact some reliable introducers."

When Vidocq said this, he sighed with some regret: "It's a pity that I'm old now. Even if I put on makeup, I can't make those robbers believe that I'm just a newbie. So, brother, do you mind? Do you mind sacrificing yourself? Let’s put on makeup later, and then I’ll take you to Boucher’s Tavern on 9th Street in Quailma.”

Arthur frowned and asked, "What are we doing there? Do you have an informant to contact you there?"

"No."

Vidocq held his chin and walked around Arthur. As he walked, he was thinking about how to deal with this young man from London: "You can have fun at Boucher Hotel tonight. There are many girls there. Let’s fight with them and play dice, and then we’ll keep them drunk all night, and the two of us will lie in bed exhausted until noon the next day.”

"Mr. Vidocq..."

"What's wrong?"

Arthur took a deep breath from his cigarette: "If you want to take me to have fun, just say so. I studied the file carefully for a long time, but in the end you told me that tonight's arrangement is to pick up a girl."

Alexandre Dumas sat down next to Arthur with a smile, hooked up with him and said: "Arthur, I am not very good at hospitality in this regard. I should have taken you to see the scenery of Paris before Mr. Vidocq. But. , since Mr. Vidocq mentioned it, I’ll treat you tonight.”

After hearing this, Heine put down the Liszt scandal he was composing and raised his hand: "Count me in."

Vidocq held his pipe in his mouth and lectured: "Gentlemen, we are not just looking for fun tonight. Or at least Arthur and I are not. We both have to make the girls happy."

"Of course." Alexandre Dumas assured, patting his chest: "Happiness is mutual. No one can do it better than me to make ladies happy."

When Vidocq heard what he said, he knew that he probably couldn't count on the fat man tonight. He set his sights on Arthur and revealed his plan.

"The Boucher Bar is a place where the Crusaders, a criminal gang in the Saint-Germain district, often go to have fun. The girl there is very familiar with the leader of the Crusaders, Gervai, and Gervai is an old acquaintance of the forger Franco. So. Our plan tonight is to get the girls drunk first, while trying to make them feel that we are newbies who have just arrived in Paris, and finally beg them to help you find a way. Come to the dock. Our brothers will cast a wide net, and if we are lucky enough to meet someone who is soft-hearted and easy to talk to, he will probably introduce us. "

Vidoc was pacing and explained: "Based on my understanding of these criminal gangs, they should arrange for you to do a small job first. If you can pass it successfully, they will give us some larger tasks. At that time, I will send someone to set up a bureau for them, and work with the Paris Police Department to give them some fat bait, so that if Gwawei wants to do this, he will definitely go there. We sent people to Brest prison to find Francos. With Gwavi as his guarantee, it will be much more reliable for us to get close to Francos and get information from him."

With such careful arrangements and exquisite designs, Arthur knew as soon as he heard it that this was definitely not the first time that Vidocq had played this trick.

But he still didn't expect that this trick of fishing for law enforcement had been mastered by the first detective in human history as early as the 19th century.

If Vidocq's plan goes smoothly, Francois probably won't even figure out why his sentence was suddenly changed from life-long labor to death until his death.

Arthur couldn't help but sigh: "The criminal gangs in Paris are really unlucky when they meet you. I always thought that I did a pretty good job in London, but there is still a gap compared with you."

Vidocq said with a smile: "Brother, you can't trust anyone in Paris. You have to pay a price for trusting others. I have legitimate reasons for designing these criminals, but most people in Paris design others for some reason." Hidden purpose. You don’t know that when I first started working as a police officer, I often made people jealous because of my good performance.

The guy you beat up outside the office just now, in order to get rid of me, he first pretended to teach me fighting skills to connect with each other, and then tempted me to get involved in the illegal operation of a shady inn, but I didn't fall for his trick. Later, he directly found a follower and invited me to rob an apartment on Haumeli Road.

Fortunately, although my life was very tight at that time, I always followed the rules and lived honestly. I can’t say how impartial and honest I am, or how much I have a sense of justice, but at least I stick to the bottom line. Otherwise, even if I take a wrong step, the person you are going to see in Brest Prison today will not be Francos but me.

But when they saw that they couldn't drag me down, they started snitching on me behind my back. They specially collected dirty information about me from the mouths of local gangsters, compiled it into a pamphlet, and handed it to my boss. But fortunately, my old boss was pretty good to me. Every time he had report materials, he would turn around and hand them over to me. "

Arthur also worked as a senior police officer in Scotland Yard, so of course he understood that Vidocq's words were not mixed in the slightest. The internal struggles in the police department are usually much more disgusting than those in the company. After all, this is an institution involving criminal crimes, and office fights here usually lead to sending opponents to jail.

Arthur said: "I generally think that there are two types of informants who are unreliable. The first is the police, and the second is the pimp. Because most of the police's materials come from gangsters, these people have just reported on their accomplices , In order to avoid punishment, they dare to say anything. As for the pimps, they rely on prostitutes to make a living. As long as the police catch their cash cow, they will come uninvited to redeem people. What clues do we need? Just provide any clues."

Vidocq sighed after hearing this: "Brother, you are right. It seems that you are indeed a good leader of the police department. The officers of Scotland Yard are blessed to work under you."