Looking south from the penthouse of Arthur's residence, across the street is the prestigious Hyde Park.

Hyde Park was the ecclesiastical estate of Westminster Abbey by the King's grace until the 16th century.

However, in the 16th century, as King Henry VIII officially announced his break with the Holy See on the pretext that he wanted to divorce, he led LinkedIn Catholics to break away from the Orthodox Church and set up another camp of the Church of England, and declared himself the supreme religious leader of England.

In addition, all Catholic monasteries in England were dissolved by him, so it was only natural that the estates of Westminster Abbey were taken over to the royal family.

After returning to the royal family, Hyde Park was transformed into a royal park and a royal deer hunting ground by Henry VIII.

During the reign of Charles I, whose head was cut off by Cromwell, Charles I, in order to curry favor with the citizens of London, ordered the royal garden to be opened to the public, a tradition that has continued to this day.

Hyde Park is not small, with more than 360 acres, and there are many interesting places in the park in addition to various green trees, fountain sculptures, and many other interesting locations.

For example, the northeast corner of Hyde Park, where Arthur and Disraeli met today, is a special area known as the 'Speaker's Corner'.

In Speakers' Corner, you can see people presenting a wide variety of political views almost every afternoon.

The content of the speakers' high-minded talk can be said to be full of life.

Here, you can often see slavery advocates and anti-slavery fighters foaming at each other, or clergy dreaming of returning to the Middle Ages shouting 'I have a dream', and fans of Byron and Shelley who are just a few metres away, these atheists are clamoring to sweep God into the dust of history.

Of course, this kind of heated exchange of views between the two sides is naturally a place for the two sides to have a lively exchange of views, including representatives of the London tabloids who are demanding the abolition of stamp duty on newspapers and shouting 'Raise the banner of the war without printing', as well as pub owners and brewers who have recently become angry because of the Beer Bill.

In such a place full of bizarre opinions, it is only reasonable that Mr. Disraeli's speech did not interest others.

And at the southern end of Hyde Park, there's a heavyweight location.

This was the Cavalry Battalion in Hyde Park, where Superintendent Clemens used to serve, and was directly under the orders of the Guards Cavalry Regiment at the Army Headquarters.

The Guards Cavalry Regiment has a long history, having been formed in Bruges in 1658 during the restoration of Charles II, and was originally officially known as the 'Loyal Cavalry Guards under His Majesty's Majesty', and the soldiers of the Cavalry Regiment were also very politically homogeneous, and all members of the regiment were die-hard royalists in exile.

After 1788, the Guards Cavalry Regiment lowered the social status and eligibility restrictions for recruiting officers, no longer requiring officers to be of noble origin, and was ridiculed as saying that 'the members of the Guards Cavalry Regiment were no longer a group of gentlemen, but a group of cheese sellers'.

Although the social component of the regiment had changed, the intellectual traditions of the Guards Cavalry Regiment had clearly been well preserved, and after the reorganisation, they continued to do so with the same success as their predecessors in suppressing the Monmouth Rebellion in 1685, suppressing the riots in Piccadilly in London in 1810, for which they were given the 'honour' title of 'Butchers of Piccadilly'.

Arthur stood under the maple tree in Hyde Park, the bright and soft white moonlight shining down on the half-red maple leaves that were trampled under his pitch-black riding boots, and on the branch above his head hung Clemens, whose eyes were bulging, his skin was pale, and his body was stiffening.

Clemens' body hung on a thick hemp rope, and when the wind blew, it couldn't stop swaying slightly with the wind.

In his pocket, there was also a postmarked letter that had not yet had time to be sent.

Arthur smoked a cigarette, and he slowly exhaled a puff of white mist, and through the gap between the smoke and the branches, he could faintly see the marble arch not far ahead.

He looked at the scene in front of him, and he always felt that everything was so familiar.

He remembered how he had hanged a corpse thief in a church cemetery not long ago.

The Scotland Yard police officers on duty tonight in the Bayswater area have surrounded the area, and they are following Arthur's instructions to isolate the crime scene from the outside world.

Officer Field glanced at Arthur, who was smoking a cigarette leisurely, and looked like he wanted to say something.

For some reason, he was a little afraid of his boss, who was about his age, though the officers who had been friends with Arthur at Scotland Yard were kind enough to compliment Inspector Arthur Hastings.

Most importantly, he was able to bring benefits to everyone, and all the front-line patrolmen at Scotland Yard received a 25 per cent pay rise for the efforts of Superintendent Hastings.

But Field always felt that under his glorious and upright figure, there was a dark place that ordinary people could not imagine.

He endured it for a long time, and finally couldn't help but ask, "Inspector Hastings, aren't you going to inspect the body?" ”

Arthur glanced at him and shook his head with a smile: "I'm off work, although for the good of the public, I don't mind working overtime to handle the case." However, Hyde Park is not my jurisdiction. ”

When Field heard this, he pondered for a moment, and he always felt that there seemed to be some deep meaning in this sentence.

He asked tentatively, "But aren't you going to look at the letter that was in Superintendent Clemens's pocket?" Everyone was curious about the letter. ”

Arthur raised an eyebrow: "Guess what's that?" ”

"I guess?" Field was stunned for a moment: "Suicide note? Or, is it a testament for the division of property? ”

Arthur nodded slightly: "I disagree with you, I guess it was a letter of resignation." ”

"Letter of resignation?" Field thought for a moment, "You mean, you think Superintendent Clemens committed suicide because he couldn't bear the pressure of dereliction of duty?" ”

Hearing this, Arthur shook his head: "It doesn't matter whether he committed suicide in fear of sin, the important thing is that everyone hopes that he committed suicide in fear of sin." Charles, remember, when everyone wants a person to live, he may not be able to live. But if everyone wants a man to die, then he will inevitably die. ”

Field was confused by what Arthur said: "Why is that?" ”

Arthur paused, as if he couldn't answer the question either.

But after a moment of silence, he still gave a question that he felt was more appropriate: "Because people are social. ”

Officer Field nodded thoughtfully when he heard this, but soon he turned to ask, "Then are we going to inform the news media?" Or do you want to keep this thing down? ”

Arthur poured out the soot from his pipe, raised his toes and gently extinguished the sparks on the ground: "It's not for us to decide. How to operate depends on the decision of Director Rowan or someone higher than him. ”

When Field heard this, he looked at the Speaker's Corner not far away, which was known to be the freest area of speech in all of Great Britain, but compared to Arthur's words, it looked so much like a scene behind the scenes with a strong irony.

He smiled wryly and asked, "But didn't we say we want a free press?" Publication censorship has only just been liberalized, and if we do this, I am afraid it will not meet the public's expectations of government departments, right? ”

Arthur smiled and patted Field on the shoulder: "Charles, I'm glad you think so. But you also have to understand that where there is light, there is shadow. Freedom of speech and freedom of the press only exist when the government deems it safe, so you know, the Duke of Wellington's cabinet is not stable right now.

We are the police of Scotland Yard, and the first task of Scotland Yard is to protect the lives and property of the public, and to do this, we must first maintain the stability of social order. Actually, I shouldn't have told you these things, but I think you're a good person, so I'll tell you some things that I shouldn't say.

Do you know General Codrington? It's okay to look through his resume, it will help you in the future. Charles, you are still young, and some truths that are harmful to social stability, then don't publish it. Unless there are so many truths that they affect the happiness and interests of the vast majority of people, some things should be dealt with internally. ”

When Field heard this, he always felt a little familiar.

He thought for a while, and suddenly it dawned on him, "I almost forgot where you came from. You graduated from the University of London and you are a follower of Jeremy Bentham? I remember the last time I was passing through Westminster, I heard his supporters preaching utilitarianism on the side of the road. ”

Field thought Arthur would nod in the affirmative, but he saw him shake his head slightly.

Field saw a reddish glow in his eyes.

"Mr. Bentham's ideals are noble, but they are as humble as I am, and can only be partially absorbed. For a Scottish Yard police officer, you have to think about how you can survive in this environment for a long time. I can't come up with such great ideals and visions as Mr. Bentham did, and I can only do my best to be a shadow of them.

People like Mr. Bentham are responsible for telling the human world how to move forward, and they are responsible for guiding humanity in its search for light. And an insignificant person like me is responsible for reminding people that they don't forget what lies behind the light. If anyone dares to remove the light, they will release something like me. ”

Arthur couldn't help but look up at Clemens's face that looked terrifying and hideous because of death.

The white moonlight shone on the side of Arthur's face, and on the light side, Arthur's calm face was seen, and on the dark side, Arthur's red pupils and the corners of his mouth gradually raised.

Arthur took off his hat, put one hand in front of his chest, and bowed slightly towards Clemens' corpse.

Behind him, the smiling Agareth floated in the shadows.

"Superintendent Clemens, I'm sorry I wasn't able to deliver you personally."

(End of chapter)