At the back entrance of the lecture hall at Grey Sam College, there is a separate small room.

Arthur was led by his servants to the door, and before he could enter, he saw the door open by itself, revealing a sturdy silver-haired old man with a mustache and a black blindfold on his left eye.

Although the old man was old, his waist was as tall as a steep cliff, and he was wearing a neat and serious black suit without a trace of dust, and even from a few feet away, he could feel the oppressive aura on his body.

Bang!

The old man's gloomy face violently slapped open the door in front of him, and the door hit the wall, as if the earth was shaking.

He saw Arthur standing in front of the door in a police uniform, and was startled at first, and then immediately scanned every corner of Arthur's body with his remaining right eye, which was as sharp as an eagle.

After looking at it for a while, before Arthur could ask, the old man stepped forward and patted Arthur on the shoulder.

The old man spoke, "Peel and I mentioned you, talented, ambitious, and still so young. But if you can abide by the tradition and change to the state religion, it can obviously be more promising.

Young man, you still have a long way to go, don't get involved with those liberals, or sooner or later, you will be eaten and wiped clean by them. ”

After saying this, the old man in Chinese clothes left the scene with a cane.

He was followed by a group of swords-guarding attendants, who shouted as they chased after him: "Your Royal Highness, slow down, wait for us." ”

Seeing this, Arthur couldn't help frowning and asked the servant who was guiding him, "Was this the Duke of Sussex just now?" ”

Before the servant could reply, a middle-aged gentleman with wavy brown hair in a white shirt and lilac dress walked out of the hut.

This gentleman's appearance looked a little similar to the one who had just left, and even Tie Qing's face was a little similar.

He spoke, "Mr. Hastings, ignore that impudent man.

I think he had a bad brain when he was serving in the Hanover army in his early years, and he was full of the stubbornness of a German man! ”

Seeing this, the servant cautiously asked, "Your Royal Highness, have you broken down with the Duke of Cumberland again?" ”

The middle-aged gentleman looked angry: "I shouldn't have invited my own brother to watch Mr. Faraday's latest invention!" Napoleon's army could blow him blind, but not his steely brain! ”

The servant saw that the situation was not right, so he hurriedly changed the topic and introduced Arthur: "Mr. Hastings, this is His Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex. ”

In fact, the name of the Duke of Sussex, Arthur had heard of it a long time ago.

He was the sixth brother of the current King George IV, so he can also be called Prince Augustus.

As for the one who just took the door, it was his own brother, the fifth brother of the current King George IV, Prince Ernst, Duke of Cumberland.

It has long been rumored that the two princes did not have a good relationship, and Prince Ernst, Duke of Cumberland, was a die-hard Tory extremist who came from the army and participated in many wars against France as a mid-level officer and commander of the army of the Kingdom of Hanover.

His long military career also cultivated his irritable and stubborn temper, advocating force in everything, resolutely opposing domestic reforms, advocating the supremacy of royal power, and adhering to the pure position of the state religion.

Some time ago, because the Duke of Wellington forced the King and the House of Lords to forcibly pass the Catholic Liberation Act, the Duke of Cumberland attacked the Wellington Cabinet in the House of Lords.

As for Prince Augustus, Duke of Sussex, he is simply the perfect mirror image of his older brother.

From his youth, he was not very interested in military affairs, so he did not serve in the navy or the army, as his older brothers did, but spent his time studying science and art and traveling around the continent.

During his travels on the continent, he also fell in love with an ordinary aristocratic girl from Scotland and married her without the king's permission.

For this matter, his father George III was so angry that he did not hesitate to use the Royal Marriage Act to declare the marriage null and void, and never recognized the title of duchess, so as to force his young son to divorce.

But Sussex apparently didn't take the matter to heart, and not only that, but he spent his days in the House of Lords at odds with his father and his brother George IV, who later succeeded him.

His advocacy over the years includes, but is not limited to, reforming the Parliament, reforming the Church, abolishing the slave trade, and abolishing discriminatory treatment of Jews and dissidents of different faith.

All in all, in the eyes of the Duke of Sussex, he looked at everything up and down the country unpleasantly, and everything had to be changed.

Even in the campaign to amend the "Bloody Act" some time ago, the Duke of Sussex also made great efforts.

Almost at the same time that the city of London was full of reports about Arthur, the Duke of Sussex took advantage of this east wind and submitted the 800 signatures of the jury that had been collected early in the morning to the House of Commons, urging them to move forward with the amendment of the bill as soon as possible.

The Duke of Sussex gritted his teeth and glared fiercely at the direction of his brother's departure, and finally lost his breath, so he put on a smiling face and said to Arthur.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Hastings. I'll tell you the truth, I've wanted to see you for a long time. ”

With his right hand on his chest and his left behind him, Arthur bowed slightly and made a royal salute to him.

"I'm glad to meet you, Your Highness, too."

The Duke of Sussex kindly extended his hand to him: "I thought you were just an honest and courageous police officer, but I didn't expect you to be interested in science. ”

Arthur shook the other man's hand: "Science is also part of policing. What you may not know is that the law and order situation in the London area is not encouraging.

According to the data retained by Scotland Yard and the Home Office, the population of the London area has increased by nearly 50 percent in the past 30 years, and the crime rate has soared by 300 percent.

In order to be able to solve those mysterious murder cases, we must introduce new science and technology to help solve the crimes, and continue to learn and improve in order to inject new vitality into the law and order force of Scotland Yard. ”

When the Duke of Sussex heard this, his eyes couldn't help but light up, and he said with a smile: "I knew it! Even if everyone at Scotland Yard can't be trusted, I can trust you!

You are the best police officer in Great Britain, and if I entrust you with the investigation of St. Giles' Parish, you will be able to complete it without a hitch. ”

"The investigative work of the parish of St. Giles?"

Arthur had a bad feeling in his heart, but from the name of the area, he already sensed the danger.

The Duke of Sussex nodded: "That's right. Although I have just been elected President of the Royal Society this year, I have not left behind the work I had at hand.

As you may not know, I have been working all these years to investigate the criminal groups in St. Giles' Parish and the living conditions of local street children.

I've been doing this for five or six years now, but not long ago, I noticed a strange phenomenon. ”

"What phenomenon?"

The Duke of Sussex spoke: "The private detective I hired told me that some of the street children they had been in contact with for a long time had strangely disappeared after being imprisoned.

And some of the homeless people who begged in the parish of St. Giles all year round also disappeared at the same time.

My private detectives did not find their bodies, and after inquiring and visiting their temporary homes, they found that they had not taken with them even what little possessions they had left.

This is not a normal phenomenon, and I suspect there may be something wrong with it. ”

Arthur frowned, he realized the seriousness of the problem: "What is the approximate number of missing homeless people, have you counted them?" ”

The Duke of Sussex replied without thinking: "There are about twenty people who have been released from prison and disappeared, and the number of beggars who have disappeared from the streets should be about the same number. ”

"Have you reported the incident to Scotland Yard?"

As soon as the Duke of Sussex said this, he became angry, and he replied: "Of course I reported the crime!" But after investigation, the police from Scotland Yard came to the conclusion that it was just a normal wandering phenomenon of homeless people, and there was nothing worth noting.

When I asked them to get involved further, they told me that Scotland Yard was desperately short of security and that it might not be possible to deploy enough manpower to conduct a large-scale investigation into the case in a short period of time. ”

Arthur pondered when he heard this, and he always felt that something was wrong.

After thinking for a while, he replied: "Actually, they are right, Scotland Yard is indeed extremely short of security forces. If you want to investigate this kind of case, you may need to set up a special investigation team to conduct a long visit, and you will also need professionals to follow up and collect evidence for a long time. Judging from the current situation, Scotland Yard may not have time to take care of it. ”

When the Duke of Sussex heard this, his expression of disappointment overflowed.

"So, even you don't want to take on this case?"

Arthur was about to refuse, but he remembered the reply that Sir Peel had sent him.

At the moment, it is unlikely that Fred will be tracked down.

If the Duke of Sussex's case can be solved, it is not impossible to count it as a merit.

He hesitated for a long time, and finally said, "I can take this case." But you have to promise me one condition. ”

The Duke of Sussex was overjoyed, and he hurriedly asked, "Please speak." ”

"First of all, the parish of St Giles is not part of my jurisdiction, and as such, I cannot accept your application in the name of Greenwich Police District until the case has been solved.

Rather, in my own name, I will conduct a private investigation first.

If the truth is found, I will submit the relevant evidence to the Metropolitan Police Department, at which point you will submit it to Scotland Yard for direct processing. ”

The Duke of Sussex nodded, "That's fine. ”

Arthur spoke again: "It's true, in fact, our Greenwich Police District is also short of police.

Therefore, if there is a difficult case in Greenwich Police District during this time, I need the Royal Society to be able to send relevant professionals to assist us in solving it.

In this way, we can free up some of our manpower to investigate the diocese of St. Giles. ”

Hearing this, the Duke of Sussex nodded again: "Although I may not be able to convince those top scientists, we also have many scientific apprentices here.

Although they are not as knowledgeable as scientists, they also have a lot of basic and practical knowledge because they often work in the laboratory.

I can try to convince them to offer them a part of the remuneration to see if they are willing to help Greenwich District solve the case. ”

Arthur was a little overwhelmed when he saw that the Duke of Sussex had agreed to his two requests so easily.

At this moment, the Red Devil suddenly appeared, standing behind Arthur and whispering.

"Arthur, guess why Scotland Yard didn't look into this case? Listen to me, don't touch it, or you'll probably fall to pieces.

There are some things that it is better not to know than to know. You're having a pretty good day right now, so there's no need to wade into this troubled water. ”

Arthur glanced at the Red Devil and whispered, "Agareth, you want to do this with me again?" Deliberately provoke me? Scold...... But that's what I eat. Listening to your tone, I should harvest a lot of souls this time, right? ”

When the Red Devil heard this, he grinned and showed his saw-like broken teeth: "Oh! My dear Arthur, now do you understand why I chose you to be my contractor? I...... I just love that! Hey, hey, hey, hahaha!! ”

The scarlet saliva of the Red Devil dripped onto Arthur's riding boots, and countless bleak souls could be seen on the shiny uppers, screaming and crying bitterly, as if trying to pull all visible people into the endless abyss of the Sea of Blood.

Arthur took off his hat and shook the Duke of Sussex's hand without hesitation: "Your Highness, I, Arthur Hastings, hereby represent the Greenwich Police District of the East London Region of the Greater London Metropolitan Police Force to formally enter into a secret investigation commission agreement with you. ”