After leaving the Duke of Wellington's mansion, Arthur chose to walk home through Hyde Park in order to save money on a carriage ride.

Although his current income level is not bad in London, Arthur has almost taken out all the money he has saved in order to raise money for the upcoming newspaper.

However, this was still a drop in the bucket, and if he hadn't been busy with the London conference recently, he would probably have to find time to go to the London Stock Exchange to find Lionel Rothschild to withdraw his 1,000 pounds of stock.

The sun was just setting in the west, and he should have to go back to his office at Scotland Yard for a while if he had been on his usual schedule.

The reason why he was able to leave work early was also thanks to the transfer application given to him by Director Rowan.

Today, he is no longer in charge of any specific police district in London, but is responsible for investigating criminal cases that have a high social impact.

But then again, although London is chaotic, most of the crimes are still for money, so the types of cases are generally focused on theft and robbery, and the kind of brutal murder that can cause social panic is really rare.

Ever since Arthur had been taken to the Criminal Investigation Department last week, he had felt like he was getting moldy.

Although making him idle and moldy is the ultimate goal of Luo Wan's doing, if it were in normal times, Arthur would definitely not be able to sit still for a week, and he was thinking about going to Luo Wan for a showdown.

But since he somehow discovered that there was such a backer as Lord Broughham behind him, Arthur had gradually become accustomed to this kind of work of arriving late and leaving early.

Because he knew in his heart that if Director Luo Wan didn't give him something to do now, he was definitely not squeezing him out according to the original plan, but simply didn't dare.

Judging by the Chancery's Hall and the Home Office, he will most likely be sent to the London District Prosecutor's Office as a police representative in the future.

If he provokes him, whatever case Luo Wan wants to handle in the future, he may not need to go to the magistrate's court, and the lawsuit will be withdrawn directly from Arthur.

The other superintendents of Scotland Yard also knew this very well, so they all greeted this little brother who was only in charge of three people with a smile on their faces, and before lunchtime came, they lined up at the door of his office one by one to invite him to tea.

No one would dare to say anything about Arthur even if he skipped work for no reason, let alone that he couldn't find anyone today to do something for the Duke of Wellington.

The Duke of Wellington, though defeated by the Whigs in Parliament, seemed to be in time for weakness, but only an idiot would think that he could casually step on the spiritual leader of the British Army.

Even, as long as any of them dared to show the slightest disrespect to His Excellency the Duke, then before the generals of the army came to trouble them, the old subordinates in Scotland Yard who had served under the Duke had to give them two catties of eye drops first.

You know, even the former King George IV and the current King William IV and the Duke of Wellington have to talk amicably, and whoever doesn't take him seriously is simply joking with his own future.

Agareth flapped the black bat's wings behind Arthur, and the Red Devil rubbed his hands and laughed, "Arthur, how is it?" Isn't it cool to be able to get paid even though you don't go to work? ”

Arthur lit his pipe and replied as he walked, "I have to say, it's really cool." I can now finally understand why the centrist legislators were so easily bought off by the Tory in the past.

All you have to do is tie up your vote to the Tories, and you can get a job where you don't have to do anything, and you have an annual salary of four or five hundred pounds. Where can you find such a good thing? ”

The Red Devil sneered: "Then you have tasted this sweetness now, haven't you changed your mind yet?" To join the Tories and elect a councillor or something? ”

Arthur spat out a smoke ring and said, "I'm sorry, Agares, even if you make a flower out of the councilor, I'm not going to do it." Even if I had to run for parliament one day, I wouldn't join the Whigs or the Tories.

For both parties, only the centrists need to be fought for, and as for those backbenchers of their own party who have little influence, they will vote with the party anyway, whether they are assigned a position or not, so why waste time and money on them?

After all, this kind of empty salary is also very precious, and good steel has to be spent on the blade. ”

Arthur had just finished this paragraph when he suddenly noticed that not far ahead, an old man stood in front of his house, which made him unimpressed.

The old man glanced up at the house number, then lowered his head and carefully checked the small note in his hand.

When Arthur saw this, he couldn't help but be suspicious. He leaned over pretending that everything was normal, and said enthusiastically, "This gentleman, is there anything I can do to help you?" ”

The old man glanced back at Arthur, who was dressed neatly, and after thinking for a while, he asked, "Thank you very much for your enthusiastic help." My hapless old creature is in a little trouble now, is this Mr. Arthur Hastings' residence, please? ”

Arthur heard the other party take the initiative to mention it, and finally remembered an anecdote he encountered in his daily work.

Arthur spoke, "If you had come to Mr. Hastings, you would have been disappointed. He's been busy with work lately, and he's been going out early and returning late, so it's not easy to see him during the day. ”

"Really?" When the old gentleman heard this, he quipped with a cane: "That's it, anyway, seeing him is just incidental, and I came mainly to ......."

But before he could finish his sentence, there was a cry of surprise from behind Arthur, who had just returned from the market with a bag full of ingredients.

"Mr. François Vidocq?"

François Vidocq?

As soon as Arthur heard the name, he immediately became highly alert.

He thought that the old gentleman in front of him might be a neighbor who had just moved to a nearby neighborhood, or a burglar who had stepped on the spot early to commit a burglary.

But he never expected that the man with the mustache in front of him was actually his old-timer in the Paris police circle, the head of the detective department of the Paris Security Brigade and the Grand Paris Police Department - François Vidocq.

In view of Alexandre Dumas's special status as a wanted French man and his fear of the French's dislike of playing cards according to routines, Arthur pretended to move his footsteps inadvertently to stand in the way between Vidocq and Alexandre Dumas.

But Arthur's small movements, of course, could not escape Vidocq's eyes, and he could certainly see what Arthur meant by doing this.

Vidocq asked, "Mr. Hastings, is it a little rude for you to do this?" While Alexander's head was worth two sons, I was not poor enough to trade his head for a reward. ”

Arthur was not panicked when Vidocq saw through his hands and feet, he smiled apologetically: "It turns out that you have already seen who I am, such a keen insight, it is no wonder that you can enjoy such a high reputation in the French police circle." I have no opinion on you as a person, and I even respect you so much that I bought a copy of your "Memoirs" as soon as it was published in England. If you do the math, I'm probably still one of your first fans in the UK. However, it is the order of the Home Office of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to ensure the safety of Mr. Alexandre Dumas, and I need to exercise the utmost caution with all due diligence, whether you have malicious intent or not, and please understand that. ”

Vidocq's eyes narrowed when he heard this.

He didn't seem to like Arthur's answer too much.

"That's it......" he puffed, as if he wasn't going to bother with Arthur.

But as soon as he finished speaking, Vidocq's shoulders sank and he slammed into Arthur.

Arthur didn't dodge Vidocq's knockout, he just stood there.

The two collided shoulders, Arthur didn't move, and Vidocq, who was in his fifties, was knocked to a stumbling ground and almost fell to the ground.

Seeing this, Alexandre Dumas hurriedly spoke up, "Monsieur Vidocq, don't bother. In a fight, you may not be his opponent. ”

But Dumas said this too late, and as soon as Vidocq's staff was raised, Arthur flashed sideways.

Then, Arthur, who appeared behind Vidocq, skillfully pressed his arms against his forearms and shoulders, and with a little force, Vidocq was subdued by him.

Vidocq grinned in pain, and couldn't help but scold, "Damn! If I were thirty years younger, I would be crushed at the bottom. ”

Alexandre Dumas shouted, "Arthur, it's almost done." Monsieur Vidocq did not come to arrest me, I had a friendship with him when I was in France, and the little bounty that my head brought was not enough for him to betray our friendship. ”

Arthur raised his eyebrows when he heard this: "Alexander, that's what you said." If you go back and get caught in France, I don't care about you. ”

Alexandre Dumas grinned, "You don't need to be responsible, you better let him go." ”

When Arthur heard this, he finally let go of Vidocq's arm and said to him apologetically, "I'm sorry, sir, I may have overreacted. ”

Vidocq turned his arm, clutched his aching neck, and said, "Young man, you have a lot of strength. ”

Dumas saw that Vidocq was let go, and hurriedly walked up to help him: "You came to me this time, there must be something wrong, right?" ”

"Well, there is a point." Vidocq pulled a couple of letters out of his jacket pocket and handed them to him, "Someone asked me to bring you something." ”

Out of the corner of Arthur's eye, he swept the cover of the letter, and saw only one signature - Victor Hugo.

The second is more early tomorrow

(End of chapter)