Shadow of great britain

Almost at the same moment as the door opened, Tom and Tony rushed forward at a quick pace.

Tony pulled tightly on the edge of the door, trying not to let it close.

Tom immediately picked up Adam who was staying at the door and retreated to the back.

When the thief inside the door, Old Fegin, saw this, his expression suddenly changed. This old man in his sixties almost didn't even think about it. He immediately took out his right hand that had been behind his back. It was a bright meat cleaver. .

Just when he was about to stab Tony in front of him, a hand as powerful as an iron pincer grasped his wrist.

Old Fagin was in pain for a moment, and the knife in his hand fell to the ground with a clang.

Arthur, who was wearing a round hat, raised the brim of his hat, opened his coat with his other hand, and showed him the flintlock pistol stashed at his waist.

Arthur said: "Don't bother, Mr. Fagin. We don't mean any harm, we just want to have a brief chat with you."

As soon as Arthur finished speaking, Tony and Tom, who were standing behind him, also opened their coats, and they also had pistols in their arms.

Seeing this, old Fegin could only raise his hands slightly to show that he had no intention of resisting.

The bald old man opened his eyes wide and took a breath: "Well, it seems that I got into trouble today. Are you here to ask for the bill? Come on, do you want me to make you a cup of tea?"

Arthur raised his eyebrows: "You want a debt? Do you owe someone a lot of money?"

"You're not here to demand payment!"

Old Fagin looked at the few people up and down with a surprised look on his face: "So are you Fred's people? Could it be that his conscience has discovered it and he finally plans to pay off the payment he owed me for several months?"

Tom and Tony looked at each other. Dickens was about to answer, but he was stopped by them.

Arthur thought about it for a moment, stuck out his tongue and licked the corner of his mouth. He leaned against the door and tilted his head and smiled.

"Mr. Fagin, I wonder if you have forgotten anything important?"

"What else?"

Old Fegin rolled his eyes, glanced back and forth at Arthur, and suddenly narrowed his eyes: "If you have anything to do, just say it directly. There is no need to talk to me here. If you are really a brother on the road, you should Know the rules.”

When Arthur heard this, he didn't say much. He just pulled out the pistol from his waist and put it on Fagin's head.

"Old guy, I'm sorry, I'm new here and I don't understand the rules here."

As soon as the gun was placed on Fagin's head, the old man was so frightened that he raised his hand again.

He yelled: "Damn it! I hate young people like you who have just entered the industry! You know nothing but violence!"

When Adam saw this, he couldn't bear to say, "Mr. Hastings, you, you promised me."

Fagin glanced at Adam, who was held in Tom's arms: "Adam, you actually believe their lies. What benefits did they give you, and you sold me like this?"

I'm usually pretty good to you, right? When you were kicked out by your parents, who took you in? Who taught you all those meticulous tasks of yours?

The most I can do is take a commission from the things you steal. Don’t think that 40% is a lot, because I risk losing my head. I just want to earn some pension money!

If you ask around in St. Giles, who among those middlemen will not charge you a 50% discount? "

When Adam heard this, he felt a little uncomfortable: "Mr. Fagin, they have no ill intentions towards you."

"Without any malice you would put a gun to my head?!"

When Arthur heard this, he could only sigh helplessly. He turned the muzzle of the gun upside down, pointed it at his head and pulled the trigger.

I just heard a snap and nothing happened.

Arthur put the pistol back into his waist, opened his hands to old Fagin and said: "Mr. Fagin, as you can see, this is just a little joke."

Old Fagin took out a handkerchief from his jacket pocket, wiped the sweat from his chin, and scolded with his eyes wide open: "Is this such a joke? The old man is almost scared to death! What on earth do you do?"

Inspector Tony took out the Scotland Yard armband from his coat pocket and displayed it in front of Fagin.

"As you can see, we are the police."

"Police?" Old Fagin covered his aching heart and arched his back in fear: "Mr. Police Officer, I, I think there must be some misunderstanding here."

He groped in his arms for a while, then shiveringly took out an eighty-percent-new gold pocket watch and stuffed it into Arthur's pocket.

"For the sake of us all knowing Adam, please accept this little thought."

Arthur looked at the old man's transformation plan and just reluctantly sent the gold watch back.

"Mr. Fagin, you already know that I am a policeman, how can I still do this?"

Before Old Eugene could reply, Adam, who was held in Tom's arms, said weakly: "That's right, Mr. Fagin, you have to give it in private."

Tom stared when he heard this, and he lectured: "Adam! Who did you learn this from? You can't give it in private, and you won't take it from Arthur. He's not short of money now."

Adam nodded thoughtfully, blinked his watery eyes, and said to Fagin: "Then...Mr. Fagin, please give it to my father, we are in need."

Dickens on the side was stunned when he heard this. He asked Tony next to him: "Are all Scotland Yard police officers like this?"

Tony curled his lips and shrugged: "It happens everywhere, but at least we don't."

Old Fagin was at a loss by them. Just when he didn't know how to respond, Arthur spoke.

"Forget it, Mr. Fagin, let's go in and talk."

After learning the other party's identity, Feijin did not dare to neglect, and he quickly led a few people through the door.

"Officers, please come in. I'll make you some tea."

"No need to make tea."

Arthur entered the house and looked at the living room with newspaper-paved windows and water seeping from the floor.

The walls were blackened by firewood, the table was missing half of its legs and covered with chalk graffiti, as well as the half-eaten rye bread, starched white wax cups and pots without lids on the table. teapot.

And deep in the corner of the wall, in a small hole filled with thatch, there was a lean black mouse sleeping soundly.

Faced with this situation, Arthur couldn't bring up his appetite anyway.

Old Fagin also noticed that several police officers seemed a little uncomfortable, and the old thief blushed embarrassedly and said: "Mr. Police Officer, my house is pretty good in the neighborhood.

The landlord told me that this was originally a noble house, and both the baron and the baroness lived here. Every wall is full of classical and elegant taste.

It's just that there has been a lack of maintenance here for a long time, so you may not be able to see it now. Don’t believe it, look here…”

As Old Fagin said this, he stretched out his greasy sleeves and rubbed hard against the handrail of the stairs leading to the second floor.

"Look at the carvings on this armrest, it's definitely a master's taste."

Arthur raised his hand to interrupt his action: "Mr. Fagin, we can talk about the issue of taste another time.

I heard Adam say that you are a prominent figure in this area, and you have a lot of information that others don't know. So I'm here today mainly to ask you some questions.

I have received reliable information that there have been many disappearances in St. Giles Parish recently. Do you know anything about this matter? "

"Disappearance?"

Old Fegin's eyes wandered, and he pursed his dry lips: "Actually, this kind of thing has never been lacking in St. Giles. After all, you should also know the situation here. People come here every day, every day It’s normal for some people to leave and a few people to be missing.”

"But I heard that the few people this time are all familiar faces on the street. There are adults, children, men, and women. With your network of connections in St. Giles, you can't have received any news, right? ?”

After saying this, Arthur took out a list from his arms and threw it on the table: "Do you know the words? If not, I can read it to you."

Old Fagin was sweating profusely: "I can't say this...some things too clearly, otherwise I will be in trouble. Everyone is doing this, and I am cutting off their financial resources."

When Arthur heard this, he threw out another document: "Mr. Fagin, this one is a criminal charge against you. With the amount of stolen goods you sold and the instigation of criminal behavior, if you are punished for several crimes at the same time, I'm afraid it won't be enough to hang you." Enough with the exile, you should know that at your age, there is no difference between exile and hanging.

However, if you are willing to cooperate with our investigation, I can immediately withdraw these charges. After all, St. Giles Parish is not my jurisdiction, and there is no need for me to meddle in this matter. "

When Fagin heard this, he hesitated again and again, but when he saw the handcuffs that Officer Tony took out, he finally gritted his teeth.

He said: "I dare not say that I know everything. But I am willing to tell you everything I know."

Upon hearing this, Arthur immediately threw the charging documents into the dirty fireplace nearby.

"Please speak."

Fagin took a deep breath and asked: "Mr. Police Officer, do you know about the Funeral Aid Society? It's the kind where a family pays a few pennies a week, and then if a family member dies, they can get a funeral share from the mutual aid organization. The kind of association that subsidizes.”