London, Greenwich Borough, Royal Arsenal of Woolwich.

A horse-drawn carriage stopped in front of the Arsenal, its hard black riding boots resting on the slippery floor tiles.

Arthur raised his hat slightly, during the noon break, there was still a group of five big and three rough workers playing football on the playground in the arsenal today, but he was not in the mood to go up to accompany them today, let alone sit on the sidelines to guide a few sentences.

After all, it is more appropriate for the French to coach the Arsenal to play football.

As one of the most heavily defended areas in London, the Woolwich Arsenal was guarded by the long-standing Household Cavalry Artillery Regiment, which was a break time, but in view of the frequent small-scale riots in London in recent years, the soldiers still did not let their guard down, and the streets near the arsenal were full of three-person patrol soldiers.

Arthur stepped out of the carriage, took out his ID from his pocket and showed it to the Arsenal guards: "Arthur Hastings, Senior Superintendent of the Greater London Metropolitan Police, Head of the Criminal Investigation Department, and the former chemical engineer of your company, Mr. James Marsh, was commissioned by the Royal Society of Medicine to assist Scotland Yard in investigating a murder case. I heard this morning that there was some progress on his side, and I came to talk to him about this case. ”

The heavily armed guard took the document and looked at it, and then nodded: "Mr. Hastings, please come in." The local police department has informed us in advance that you will be here at noon today, and Mr. Marsh is already waiting for you in the chemistry lab. ”

Arthur nodded: "This case is very urgent, I won't say much about the greetings, please lead the way." ”

Led by the guards, Arthur walked through the playground of the arsenal into the production workshop, and as soon as he entered the factory, he saw rows of strange machines neatly arranged, and by identifying the instructions on the machines, Arthur probably understood what they were.

The steam-powered hammer produced by Naismith, the butt, rifling and barrel lathes of the factory owned by Henry Maudsley, the father of machinery, and a horizontal boring machine from 1776 that was only recognizable only by the year of production and the rest of the labels were blurred.

Due to the fact that the various machines span the entire 18th century and the 19th century, the glorious present and past of the entire British machinery industry are almost condensed in this production workshop that can accommodate thousands of people at the same time.

When Arthur saw this, he couldn't help but quip: "Some of the old antiques in this have been used for half a century, hasn't the Ordnance Bureau considered allocating funds to the arsenal for new products?" ”

When the guard heard this, he smiled and replied, "When there is no war, it is usually very difficult to ask for funds from the council. But this year is lucky, the first batch of new money down, you see over there, isn't there a lathe merchant to come to the door? ”

Arthur looked up, and sure enough, at the back of the production workshop, a gentleman wearing a black bowler hat and a dark green vest was enthusiastically introducing something to a senior officer in a neat light red uniform.

Seeing this, Arthur smiled and replied, "It seems that it won't be long before the Woolwich Arsenal can get some new products." If you want me to say, you should have stopped producing the Baker rifled rifles, which have been used since the Napoleonic Wars, and are still using this set for more than 20 years. Even if the army is not tired of it, we are tired of Scotland Yard. And patrolling the streets with such a long flintlock rifle on his back can easily cause discontent among the citizens of London. Have you ever considered a production line for portable pistols, preferably firing type, I think Mr. Forsyth's 'perfume bottle' firing bolt is quite well designed, although it takes a bit of effort to maintain, but it looks really beautiful if you can't hold it. ”

When the guard heard this, he couldn't help but glance up at Arthur, and he said, "You're quite knowledgeable, sir." However, it is also inconvenient to give the guns used by the infantry to the officers of Scotland Yard, and it is most appropriate for you to carry a pistol when patrolling. ”

They were discussing the pros and cons of various gun types when a warm greeting interrupted their conversation.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen. If I don't have a problem with my ears, then surely one of you has just said that you are interested in firing pistols? ”

Arthur turned his head to look at the young man with a little wavy curly hair standing behind him, his face was red, his skin was slightly rough as if it had been baptized by wind and sand for a long time, some hardened and yellowed calluses could be faintly seen on his right knuckles, and there were circles of white cloth leggings tied around his calves and ankles, and a brass monocular was placed at the inside of the cowhide tube behind his buttocks.

When Arthur saw him dressed like this, he couldn't help but ask, "Are you a seaman?" ”

The young man was stunned by Arthur's question, and then was surprised: "How do you know?" ”

The guard helped Arthur and replied, "Yankee, haven't you seen the detective?" Go buy the latest issue of "The British", like the Scotland Yard officers in "Detective Hastings". Not to mention the fact that standing in front of you is a senior police officer from Scotland Yard. ”

The young man was skeptical, "Do the officers have such a god?" ”

"You're a Yankee?" Arthur glanced the young man up and down, "No wonder, I'll just say your accent is a little strange." ”

The young man seemed dissatisfied with being identified as an American, and he replied with a flushed face: "Sir, it doesn't matter where I'm from, but the important thing is that I can provide you with the firing pistol you want." I've been here for almost three days, but none of these old London bureaucrats have taken me seriously. I assure you, my Colt revolver is by far the best portable weapon in the world, and it will be of great help to the officers at Scotland Yard if they were equipped with it! In the past, you had to reload with a single shot, but now you can take down six enemies with a single reload, which is a six-fold increase in combat power, are you sure you really don't think about it? ”

"Colt revolver?" When Arthur heard this term, he was stunned for a while, he pondered for a long time, and then he remembered the name he had seen in a military magazine, and asked tentatively: "Samuel Colt?" ”

Colt heard Arthur directly burst out his name, and his mouth opened wide in shock, and he didn't know what to say: "You...... You can see that I have been floating at sea for a year, so why do you even know my name? ”

When Arthur heard this, he just mysteriously took out his pipe: "That's right, the detective is like this." ”

When the guards on the side saw Arthur lighting the fire, they were so frightened that they hurriedly snatched the match along with the matchbox: "My God! Mr. Hastings! There's a gunpowder warehouse next door, are you going to blow us up together? ”

Arthur then remembered what this place was, and he hurriedly put down his little hand that had nowhere to put it, and laughed awkwardly: "I'm sorry." ”

He glanced at Colt again in a moment, pondered for a moment, and then said, "You wait here for me for a while, and when I'm done, we'll continue to talk about your pistol later." Although I can't interfere with the overall equipment procurement decisions of Scotland Yard, I still have the right to make my own decisions on small matters within the department. ”

After that, Arthur said to the guard, "Let's go, sir, let's go to the laboratory first." ”

Colt, who was standing behind him, was stunned and then delighted, and the nineteen-year-old American boy shouted at Arthur, "Mr. Detective, I haven't had lunch yet, I'll go to the café outside and wait for you!" You're so clever, you must know which café I'm talking about, right? We'll see you soon! ”

As soon as he had said this, Colt turned his head and ran outside, jumping as he ran, occasionally clenching his fists into the air.

It can be seen that this kid is very happy to have the opportunity to get a new order.

When Arthur saw this scene, he just turned his head and asked the guards beside him, "How many cafes are there outside the factory?" ”

"Just one."

"That'll do."

Led by the guards, Arthur walked through the workshop to a small red brick building not far behind the workshop.

Walking through the cement vestibule and just going up to the second floor, Arthur smelled a strong pungent smell.

He pondered it for a while, and it always seemed that the smell was somewhat familiar.

After pondering for a long time, Arthur finally determined that the taste was very similar to the French pesto that Dumas had grown in his garden.

Just when Arthur thought that the guards had taken him to the laboratory cafeteria of the Arsenal, as the door was pushed open, Arthur saw neither a hot scene of cooking nor a sweaty chef.

The room was set up in the same way as the Royal Society's laboratory reserved for chemists, with several shelves filled with colourful solutions and transparent beakers, and a heating beaker was placed on the laboratory table in the center of the room.

The guard tapped lightly on the door with his finger and reminded him, "Mr. Marsh." ”

The man who was frowning and contemplating in front of the beaker looked up and found Arthur and the guard, and he asked, "Who is this next to you?" ”

"Mr. Arthur Hastings, Superintendent of Scotland Yard."

"Ahh It's you, come in. James Marsh invited Arthur into the room, pointed to the bubbling hot liquid in the beaker, and introduced: "I have to say, the Scotland Yard case is very lucky. If this case had happened a few weeks ago, the truth would have been lost. ”

When Arthur heard this, he asked, "So...... Mr. Marsh, did you find anything interesting? ”

"It's hard to talk about, but I think it's a tragedy."

Marsh spoke: "This kind of life-threatening matter, I won't talk about it with you." You may have heard something from the Royal Society of Medicine, and not long ago I discovered the test for arsenic residues. The beaker in front of you is filled with hydrochloric acid, bisulfate, and food residues extracted from the victim's stomach, which, according to the arsenic method, produce trihydrogen arsenide when heated to produce arsenic in the food residues, and of course, to put it more clearly, the strong smell of garlic that you now smell. ”

"Arsenic?" Arthur couldn't help but frown when he heard this element.

Speaking of arsenic, maybe it is still too academic, if its common name - arsenic, then for everyone, it is familiar.

Arsenic is a time-honored poison that has been used to kill people in both the East and the West, dating back to centuries BC.

First of all, as James Marsh said, for a long time, there was no scientific means to reliably detect arsenic residues.

Secondly, as a perfect poison, arsenic itself has no taste, and when dissolved in water, it only makes the water slightly sweeter, so it is not easy for the victim to realize that he has been poisoned.

In addition, the symptoms that manifest after poisoning, such as diarrhea and vomiting, can also be confused with other diseases.

After all, in recent years, almost all of the epidemics that have been raging in London all year round have diarrhea and vomiting, and after being poisoned, ordinary people will only think that they are unlucky and sick.

And the most important point is that arsenic is very easy to obtain, since the Industrial Revolution, all kinds of metal smelting industry in Britain is in full swing, and various arsenic compounds, as by-products of the metallurgical industry, are also carefully packaged by factory owners and sold as rat poison, flytrap paper and other special agents to prevent pests.

What's even more outrageous is that beauty-loving ladies from all walks of life in London have been using arsenic-containing cosmetics since the time of Elizabeth I, and arsenic can be found in almost all kinds of cosmetics, from the simplest alabaster to all kinds of fine perfumes.

In London, there is also an arsenic-containing product called Fowler's solution, which is recognized as a special drug for malaria.

Thinking of this, Arthur finally understood why Bernie Harrison was so fearless.

Death from an overdose of arsenic would not necessarily warrant a murder conviction unless Scotland Yard had the full chain of evidence of the perpetrator's crime.

Otherwise, even if the results of the test of the stomach food were obtained, he would not be completely convicted.

There are many women in this society who take the initiative to take arsenic in pursuit of ruddy skin, and there are not a few who die because of this.

It is not easy to bring down a member of the House of Commons, especially a perfume merchant who is proficient in this way, through such a small matter.

Thinking of this, Arthur couldn't help but fall into a deep groan.

He was thinking about how to convict Bernie Harrison, but he caught a glimpse of Agareth as he burst through the wall.

As if frightened by something, the Red Devil grabbed Arthur and was about to go out: "Arthur! Fuck, come out and see, I've seen those fucking idiots fishing for people by the Thames again! ”

(End of chapter)