Shadow of great britain

The Magistrate's Court was established not far from Scotland Yard, so Arthur and the others arrived there within a short walk.

But at this time, Tony had already lost his mind about work, and he was worried about the future.

But he was not the most anxious of all the people present.

A nervous policeman was standing in front of the Magistrate's Court, pacing slowly, his brows knitted tightly. Even though he was far away, Arthur could still clearly see the beads of sweat on his temples.

Arthur raised his hand and greeted him: "Tom, are you responsible for escorting the suspect today?"

When Officer Tom saw Arthur's familiar face, he was almost moved to tears.

"Arthur, you must help me!"

Arthur turned his head and glanced at the lost Tony behind him, then turned to Tom and asked, "What? Does your child also want to go to college?"

"Going to college? No, my wife has just become pregnant. It's hard to say whether she can give birth smoothly."

"Have you encountered any difficulties?"

"Not yet. But I had miscarriages twice before, so you must save me this time."

Arthur shrugged and waved his hands at him.

"Tom, you must be confused. I'm just a policeman like you. What I deal with is crime, not childbirth. If you want to help your wife give birth smoothly, you should give her more nutrition and then find another She is an experienced midwife. But no matter which one of the above, it is not my scope of work. "

Tom's anxious palms were all sweaty, and he said: "I have already contacted the midwife. Although I am not rich, I try my best to use part of my small salary to buy meat for her every day.

Although everything seems to be going well now, my wife had a dream about God last night.

God said that the reason why she had a miscarriage was because I, the husband, had too many sins on my hands. I had to atone for my sins, otherwise the baby would also be stillborn this time. "

"Atonement? Isn't that a priest's job? St. Margaret's Church is right behind me. You should go straight and then turn left."

Tom covered his face and said incoherently: "This time, this time, I'm afraid the pastor won't work."

"does not work?"

Arthur held his chin and thought for a while: "How about you buy a boat ticket and go to the Ottoman Empire to find an imam? Or go to the East and find a bald monk with advanced cultivation to ask for advice? Even if God doesn't look at the priest's face, At least you should take care of the emotions of Allah and Buddha, right? If they don't work, I also know a red-nosed clown who knows witchcraft, and you can ask him to help you."

Agares' shadow flickered: "Arthur, I'm not a clown!"

Tears flashed in Tom's eyes, and he was about to collapse.

"Oh! Arthur, it's this time, don't make fun of me. There must be a reason why God chose to appear in my wife's dream at this time. I thought about it over and over again this morning, and no matter how I thought about it, I felt like God It must be about little Adam’s case.”

"Little Adam's case?"

When Arthur heard the name, his mind sank.

Little Adam's reputation was well known among the patrolmen in this area.

Although he is only a nine-year-old kid, little Adam's criminal record cannot be completed in one page.

As an experienced thief, Little Adam's business scope ranges from breaking into houses and stealing handkerchiefs to carrying away fruits and snatching toys.

However, because the amount involved was relatively small, his sentence was not too long.

Therefore, he can be seen active on the streets of St. Gilous Parish from time to time. However, it will not be long before he is sent back to prison.

Arthur took the file from Tony and quickly found information about little Adam.

While flipping through relevant information, he muttered: "I talked to that kid before, trying to get him to calm down a little. But after I learned about the situation at his home, I realized that was impossible."

Tony asked: "Why is it impossible? Isn't he afraid of going to jail or being caned?"

Arthur closed the information book and stared directly at Tony: "Adam told me that prison is more comfortable than his stay at home.

Because he could take a hot shower and get some clean clothes and socks on the way in.

Although they are sometimes bullied by other prisoners inside, the prison guards and some conscientious criminals will stop them.

And if he was outside, once he didn't bring back any money from outside, his bastard parents would beat him much harder than a prisoner in prison.

Tony, we are just the police, and we can solve part of the security problem, but Adam's criminal behavior is a social problem and there is nothing we can do about it. "

Then, Arthur said to Tom, who was confessing and praying at the side: "If you feel guilty because of little Adam's incident, then there is no need to do so. Because for him, you put him in prison, which in itself is You are doing good. God will not blame you for this. If you can arrange a prison with better conditions for him, God may reward your kindness."

"But...but this time it's different, Arthur!"

Tom cried bitterly: "This time he made a big mistake. I'm afraid the case can't be solved without being put in jail. What's worse is that this time he committed the crime in the hands of Sheriff Willocks. He specially warned him this morning Come on, let's get this case settled.

Because the Ministry of Home Affairs just issued a new document the day before yesterday, which said that a low prosecution success rate will damage the social image of the London Metropolitan Police, it requires us to work towards a 100% prosecution success rate.

You also know the character of that old bastard Willocks. If we mess up and smear his glorious book of honor, we might be fired by him.

My wife is having a baby soon and I can't lose this job. But I also can't watch little Adam die! "

"Sent to death? What crime did he commit this time? Murder or arson?"

"Nothing." Tom said tremblingly: "He just stole a lady's umbrella."

Tony heard this and breathed a sigh of relief: "Tom, can you speak without being startled? How much is an umbrella worth? The magistrate will probably sentence him to one year in prison. You just need to arrange a good place for him." No, it’s no big deal.”

Tom was trembling all over: "No, Tony, that's a very fine lace parasol, worth seven shillings and sixpence."

"Seven shillings and sixpence?"

Tony exclaimed: "Damn it! If you exceed five shillings, you will be hanged! Even if the magistrate and the jury are fair, he will have to be exiled to Australia for seven or eight years. A nine-year-old kid, exiled to Australia ? He will probably die on the ship before he gets there."

Tom gasped for breath: "If... if it doesn't work... I... I'll just fight that old bastard, Sheriff Willocks! This is God's will, I, I should be fine. "

Just when Tom clenched his fists and was about to fight, Arthur put his hand on his shoulder.

It was a warm and sunny smile.

Behind Arthur's smile, Agares also showed a satisfied smile.

"Oh! Arthur, I seem to have seen your naked bad intentions."

Arthur said: "Tom, leave the things here to me. You can go back to duty. I assure you, little Adam will be fine."

Tom looked surprised: "Have you thought of a way to get the best of both worlds? Oh! God! I knew it! After all, the smartest head in Scotland Yard is standing here!"

He clenched his fist and waved it hard towards the sky: "Arthur! Go and show them that your four years of college were not in vain! Oxford and Cambridge are not as valuable as a leg from the University of London!"

Arthur looked at the excited Tom and calmly took off the blue and white armband on his left arm and handed it to Tom's hand.

His deep voice sounded like a demon moaning.

"Say hello to Chief Willocks for me, and tell that uneducated bastard, Metropolitan Police Greenwich District Inspector Arthur Hastings, that he's not going to do it anymore. .”