Shadow of great britain

In the early morning of St. Giles Parish, three police officers came to the corridor of No. 27 Church Lane.

Arthur's hand hung in front of the door for a long time, but he never knocked on it.

His mind was a little confused, and he didn't know how to tell Robin's parents this cold truth.

He lost the decisiveness and ruthlessness he had when he attacked the gravedigger last night.

As Agares said, in this world, it is easy to kill people, but it is difficult to save others.

But after making a promise to save people, but not completing it, how to face this reality is even more difficult.

The three of them stood in a silent stalemate for a long time. Finally, Tom, who was always considered the least courageous, spoke up and broke the silence.

"Arthur, why don't you let me come?"

Arthur looked back at him, smiled reluctantly, and then shook his head slightly.

He took a breath, and then finally made up his mind to knock on the peeling paint door in front of him.

But before he could take action, the door suddenly opened with a creak.

Standing behind the door were an unshaven man and a woman wearing a washed white dress.

Their eyes were covered with bloodshot eyes, indicating lack of sleep, and their bodies were filled with an unpleasant smell of fermented sweat.

When the man saw Arthur in uniform, he looked stunned at first, then took a step back alertly, and asked, "What do you do?"

"We..." Arthur opened his mouth, but the words that should come out immediately were stuck in his throat, and he couldn't express them anyway.

Tony saw the woman's face that was somewhat similar to Robin's, and the originally strong Scotland Yard officer burst into tears.

He held the small, milky-white coffin very lightly, and his tears fell bit by bit into the gaps in the coffin.

Tony lowered his head and shook his head slowly: "Sir, madam, I'm sorry. As a police officer, I feel very...very sorry for you."

The man and woman stared at the coffin for a long time, and then found that Tony's face seemed familiar, and then they suddenly understood something.

"You...you are the police officer who took our report? Then...this...is this Robin?"

Tom also took off his hat and said: "Sir, I'm sorry. Although we have tried our best to bring the murderer to justice, Robin had already..."

The man stared at the coffin for a long time and just shook his head repeatedly. He did not break down and cry bitterly as everyone expected, nor did he point at their noses and curse as the three police officers expected.

He is stronger than others think, almost unbelievably strong.

He just reached out and touched his daughter's coffin and stood there quietly. He even had the energy to comfort the three police officers.

"It's okay, I don't blame you. From the day Robin disappeared, I had guessed that this would be the outcome. In St. Giles, it is normal for children to die. It is so normal that it almost makes me paralyzed.

Gentlemen, you may not know this, but we once had seven children, but now we only have two. It's actually good that Robin is dead. At least there are three brothers and one sister taking care of her over there.

She might be able to live a better life there than here, as long as her brothers and sisters can be more successful than her father.

Sorry, Mr. Officer, I'm a loser. "

Robin's mother leaned down and put her head on the coffin and listened, as if she was feeling Robin's heartbeat.

She read in her mouth: "She told me a long time ago that she didn't want to go to the factory anymore. She said her body hurt here and there, and even her head was dizzy. But there was no way, the family was short of money, and we She still had to let her go.

If she doesn't go, we will be kicked out of this place without the wages. It's actually good to die. We have dragged her down, and she has dragged us down. She deserves a better life, but we can't afford it. "

At this point, the man suddenly spoke to Arthur: "Mr. Police Officer, can you give us the coffin? With Robin's body, we can receive a funeral subsidy from the funeral mutual aid association we participate in. That money is enough." We can give Robin a decent funeral and have some extra money besides that."

The man said these words as if he were telling an ordinary story. Perhaps for people living in St. Giles Parish, this is no surprise.

When Tom heard this, he couldn't help but tug at Arthur's sleeve.

Of course Arthur knew what he meant.

According to Scotland Yard's investigation, many members of the bereavement society in St. Giles Parish have direct links with gravediggers.

It is precisely because of the tips from these funeral societies that the gravediggers can quickly determine where the bodies are waiting to be buried.

Arthur did not tell Robin's parents the truth, but just asked: "How much subsidy can you receive from the Funeral Aid Society?"

The man rubbed his messy hair: "We adults pay five pence a week, and children pay three pence a week. According to the subsidy standard, Robin's death should allow us to get three pounds."

Arthur took out his wallet from his pocket, counted out ten brand-new bills and handed them over.

"Sir, here are ten pounds. This is compensation for the negligence of the Scotland Yard police. In addition, we will prepare a suitable funeral for Robin. We will notify you of the location and time of the funeral later."

"Funeral..." The man and woman seemed a little embarrassed. They asked, "Is the church where the funeral is held far away?"

Arthur nodded and said: "It may be a bit far, but I can pay the fare for you two."

The man hesitated for a moment, but finally shook his head. He smiled bitterly: "Forget it, Mr. Police Officer, I believe you. Neither my child nor I can leave here. If you miss work for one day, you may be fired. You I also know that it’s not easy to find a job these days.”

The woman also sighed: "If possible, after the funeral, can you tell us the burial place? We will visit her when we have time."

Arthur's lips trembled a little, he took a breath, stood upright and saluted: "Of course, madam, of course we will inform you of the burial place. So, goodbye, I wish you both a bright future. !”

He turned around, couldn't help but close his eyes, and took deep breaths repeatedly.

When Tom and Tony saw him like this, they knew he felt a little uncomfortable, but they couldn't say anything.

The two just patted Arthur on the back and raised their hands to wipe away the tears on his face: "There is no way, it's like this these days, people have to live."

Agares was sitting on the crumbling handrail of the stairs. He grinned widely and said, "Arthur, you have to understand that pests bite people not out of malice, but because they want to maintain their lives in this way."

Arthur opened his eyes and looked at the red devil. It was not that he didn't understand.

But the more he understood, the more painful it became. The more I know, the more torn I feel.

He murmured: "Maybe I should have listened to you at the beginning. I really shouldn't have investigated this case."

The red devil's inducing laughter sounded again: "But you still checked, Arthur, do you feel pain? It's okay if you feel pain. This is the world's punishment for your pursuit of justice and justice.

In a dark world, when a ray of light shines into the darkness, then this ray of light is guilty.

Why do you do these thankless things and what’s in it for you?

In this world, there are lives every day and people die every day, but what does that have to do with you?

This world is inherently unclean. The more you know, the deeper you will sink into this quagmire. The more you know, the more twisted your mind becomes.

A qualified villain should always maintain a calm mind, a strong body, a clear soul and a steely willpower.

Don't let these trivial matters bother you, don't let this garbage contaminate you, it's still too late to get out before it's too late!

As long as you don't see these things, you can pretend they don't happen.

Look at what you look like now, what have you become?

You are still very young, you are only 20 years old and you are already a police inspector of Scotland Yard, and you have a lot of big shots above you who are optimistic about you.

Your glorious future has been paved, look at the gorgeous red carpet right in front of you, the road to success and fame within reach, smell the fragrance surrounded by fragrance, and look at the ladder to the sky made of gold. .

You just need to follow the footsteps of your predecessors step by step. Don't look at your feet. Always pay attention to the zenith, where is the beautiful scenery worthy of your appreciation. "

Arthur took the milky white coffin from Tony's hand. The coffin was held in Arthur's palm. He felt that the coffin should be heavy, but in fact it was very light in his hand.

He stepped forward and was about to go down the stairs when suddenly, a woman's voice sounded from behind him.

"Mr. Police Officer, please wait a moment!"

It was Robin's mother, holding in her hand a small wooden box with half of it missing, containing many one-penny coins.

The woman gently placed the small wooden box on Robin's coffin. She pulled the messy hair around her ears and asked softly.

"This is the coin that Robin saved for her funeral. I remember she said that she really wanted a beautiful red dress. Please use this money to buy one for her. Just something simple will do."

After saying this, Arthur stretched out a rough hand holding a wooden pony from behind.

Robin's father said: "She said that she wanted to hire a white pony to pull the cart for her at her funeral. But we can't afford it. I can only make a wooden one for her. You can let her come along. Take it down."

Arthur looked back at the embarrassed couple until he saw that their faces were red and hot.

The couple bowed and said, "Thank you, Mr. Police Officer!"

Arthur smiled and took off his hat. He held one arm in front of his chest and the other holding Robin's coffin, and bowed in return.

"No, it's me who should thank you."