Cold winds, torrential rain, lightning, thunder.

The rainwater flowed between the brick cracks of the street, gathering into a flowing stream.

Louis Bonaparte stood in the shade of a tree with a black cloth umbrella, and he looked up slightly at the leafy camphor tree overhead, covered with raindrops, and through the gap in the leaves, he could see the apartment not far away, overlooking the Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park.

The windows of the small building were open, and there stood a man with a white porcelain teacup, tasting a biscuit in his hand in the London evening rain.

Although he looked badly injured with bandages wrapped around his hands, it didn't seem to affect his appetite.

Louis shook his watery hair, stepped on his riding boots and went to the attic, and he walked straight through the garden full of onions, garlic and other seasonings, into the apartment, and down the stairs to the second floor.

The door to Arthur's room was left blank, which was specially reserved for Louis.

Louis walked into the room and saw that the small room contained only a bed, a table, a tea set, a turning phonograph, and a few books.

Arthur looked at Louis, who was covered in rain on his shoulders, and asked with a smile, "How did it feel to be in charge of the Criminal Investigation Department on the first day?" ”

Louie smiled bitterly twice: "This job is more difficult than I imagined, all kinds of documents, case investigation reports, and countless miscellaneous jobs, you used to say that this position is no problem with the dog, I still believe it." Looking back now, you were being humble, right? ”

Arthur poured a cup of tea and handed it to him as he paced: "You'll find it difficult, it's just that you're not familiar with the process." You do what I say, and I promise you'll have a relaxed and enjoyable job during the week I've been absent from work due to injury. ”

"I knew there must be a skill." Louis put down the teacup and took out a pen and paper from his pocket to prepare for the record: "Arthur, do you say?" ”

Arthur leaned on the table and folded his hands: "If you want to do this job well, you must know how to choose the right people to do the right things." Leave the matter of investigation to Sergeant Charles Field, who is well versed in chemistry and scene investigation, and has a nimble and thoughtful mind, and who is no better in the detective business, even if you look at the whole of Scotland Yard.

And for those things that need to be strictly enforced in terms of the compliance process, such as the arrest of suspects who can be convicted after confirmation by Field, and the detention of debtors who are prosecuted, these are left to Tom.

Tony is left to work on tasks that deal with formality and fooling the past, or cases that are ambiguous and have uncertain consequences, such as the recent movement in the hall to clean up the customs industry.

Of course, since most of the criminal cases come from the Eastern District, we occasionally need to coordinate with the local police district to assist in the investigation.

As we all know, there are a lot of bastards in the Eastern Side, including some of them who are responsible for law and order in the Eastern District. And you, as acting minister, I bet they won't take you seriously.

So, before you do that, you need to say hi to Inspector Jones in Taur Hamletz and tell him that I need his full assistance with your work, because I don't want to wait until a week later to come back and find a backlog of work.

Of course, sometimes there are other superintendents in the hall who need our help to do some shady work in the Eastern District that can't be put on the surface. If it's not too much, you can take it as well. But for this kind of work, you have to find someone who is smart, flexible and actionable. At the Whitechapel police station in Taul Hamletz, there is a young man named Ridley, who is a progressive young man, and you will soon receive a satisfactory answer. ”

Speaking of this, Arthur took a sip of tea: "The Criminal Investigation Department is roughly these things, if there is any special situation beyond the scope of their ability, you can just come to me." ”

Louis Bonaparte bit the cap of his pen and frowned and said, "Then do I have anything to do?" ”

"What is there to do?" Hearing this, Arthur put his arm around Louis Bonaparte's shoulders and asked him to sit down: "Of course! Louie, your work is so important, you are more important than all of them combined! ”

Louis asked, "Really?" What am I going to do? ”

Arthur cleared his throat and said, "You should know that the year is coming to an end. By next spring, the parliament will review the public budgets of the various departments. Therefore, the Ministry of the Interior will draw up departmental budgets before the opening of parliament next year. Scotland Yard, as a subordinate department of the Home Office, needs to submit our requirements before the Home Office makes a budget.

To be precise, Scotland Yard will finalise the budget request report by mid-December. So, Louie, you're going to have a lot of meetings to go over the course of the week. What you have to do is easy to say, but it's hard to do. I want you to cry poverty at various meetings, to the Minister of Rowan at the internal meeting, and to the Ministry of the Interior at the high-level police meeting convened by the Ministry of the Interior.

You have to tell them what big things we've done this year and how many cases we've solved. Tell them that without the Criminal Investigation Department, London will be a sea of corpses, and the city and outside will be full of arsonists and murderers. We need better equipment, more people, and higher quality training, and at the end of the day, we need more money, which is money. ”

Hearing this, Louie took off his hat and scratched his head, and asked, "But, isn't this too exaggerated?" The Criminal Investigation Department has indeed solved a lot of cases this year, but it has a great impact on society...... Former Congressman Harrison's case? ”

"No, don't mention Harrison, he's messing us up, and the Home Office won't like that. And now that Mr. Harrison is under investigation, the turmoil has been suppressed with great difficulty, and there is no need to bring up the old matter again. ”

Arthur took a sip of his tea and said, "Louie, I think you can mention yourself." Well...... I mean, while solving the case this year, the Criminal Investigation Department has also taken the initiative to discover some talents like you through the case. ”

When Louis heard this, he said with a strange face: "Will the Ministry of Internal Affairs like this?" ”

"I don't know. Whether they like it or not, you can create the atmosphere for the department first. ”

Arthur pretended to be confused, "But I think they'll be interested in your last name, Louie, you know, sometimes the amount of money is all in the whims of the lazy butts of the Home Office." In addition to not paying attention to work, those lazy ass have a wide range of hobbies. Whether it's the boudoir gossip of the ladies and ladies, or all kinds of bizarre and bizarre street secrets, or the serialization of the latest issue of "British", they all like it. Louie, you've been in a couple of Times issues this year, so you can be confident in that. ”

When Louis heard this, he could only rub his temples helplessly: "Okay...... If this really makes the Home Office merciful and extra money, such as replacing the Colt revolver for us, I'm still willing to try it. Arthur, by the way, is your gun on the market? ”

Arthur said, "There must be no sales in the market for the time being. But if Scotland Yard's application for a Colt's revolver is approved by the Home Office, then Mr. Samuel Colt will have the money to set up his first production line at the beginning of the next financial year. By that time, you'll be able to meet that gun on the market. ”

Louis shook his head and said, "No, I'm not talking about the production type, I mean what if I want to ask Mr. Colt to make a custom model like yours?" ”

Arthur replied, "Then you may need to stand in line." Although Samuel has been working overtime, he has been soft on orders since the duel. But for the sake of your willingness to sacrifice yourself for the Department, and to ask Scotland Yard and the Home Office for funding, I can make a request to Samuel, for example, to let you join the queue or something. ”

When Louis heard this, he just widened his eyes and took a breath: "Arthur." ”

Arthur picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea: "What's wrong?" ”

Louie propped his head on the table with one hand: "Mr. Wheatstone is really right, you are really bad sometimes." But compared to Fouché in France, you're a little cute. How do you manage to do bad things without being as annoying as Fuche? ”

"It's simple." Arthur put down the teacup and said, "Just play within the limits of the rules." In Britain, it is normal to exploit loopholes, and no one will hold on to your behavior in this regard, and even some loopholes are deliberately set aside for others to exploit. As for the harm caused by exploiting loopholes, it can also be predicted in advance, so everyone will be over when they see this kind of person. But if you don't play cards according to the routine like Fusse and do things like flipping the table, it won't end with two scoldings. ”

"Okay." Louis took out a few recorded records from his briefcase and placed them on the table: "I brought all the time you ordered today, and Mr. Wheatstone worked day and night to make them." Hopefully, the equipment we have set up in advance in the box at the Asteri Theatre will help with the funding application for the coming year, or...... At least help us add a few more cases to our work report. ”

Arthur saw a few records, and the smile on his face grew a little.

In the duel at the Theatre of Astley, he was not concerned with the outcome of the duel, nor was he worried about the success of Chopin's London premiere, and the sword given by the king was completely unplanned.

What he is most worried about is the records in his hand.

The result of the overwhelming publicity before the duel was a flood of bigwigs, and although Arthur didn't know what they were talking about, even if it was just a few ordinary parents, it would be very helpful to enrich the archives of the Police Intelligence Agency.

After all, Arthur had always wanted to get to know each other more with the big men who could influence Britain's policies, though unfortunately it was usually a one-way street.

Louis stood up and stretched, he leaned on the window and looked out: "Then again, Arthur, why did you use the funds to rent this house as a contact point?" The rent in Mayfair is not cheap, and it costs a lot of money to get such a small room, which is a bit cost-effective? ”

Arthur jumped off the phonograph's stylus and put the record on the turntable: "If you mean living comfort, then yes, it's really low value for money. But the Police Intelligence Bureau didn't rent this house for habitation in the first place, don't you notice what you can see through the window? Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park, that's what the bureau rented it for.

The Criminal Investigation Department eats by investigating cases, while the Police Intelligence Bureau eats by engaging in intelligence. I'm sure I can't submit a record to the Ministry of Internal Affairs as a merit of the Police Intelligence Service, so I'll have to show them something. You've been living in London for a while now, so you should know who usually gathers at Speakers' Corner, right? ”

Louis sat at the window and said, "I've heard of it." I've heard that this place looks different at every moment, and that in the morning it may be singing praises to the government, and by noon it has begun to sneer, and by the afternoon it is almost impossible to raise a torch and set the Palace of Westminster on fire. ”

"It's not all. If you stay here for a long time, you're bound to get schizophrenia. ”

"How so?"

Arthur spoke, "The merchant representatives of the east say that our government is being controlled by greedy nobles and rotten clergy, and that this is a shameful representation of feudal and backward country.

The workers' representatives in the west also said that the government was in the hands of the financial city and the factory owners, a country of all evils representing the interests of the big bankers and merchants.

Representatives of the townspeople to the south clinged to Malthus's demographic theory, attacking the government's decision to give in to slackers who tried to get something for nothing, and Britain's £8.6 million annual poor tax to help those slackers would only create more poor people and discourage decent people who take pride in owning a job.

The clergy of the north, who insisted that the moral quality of society was the source of all evil, called for the return of the people to the Church, daily prayer, repentance, and the recitation of the Bible, and that only a merciful God could save Britain. ”

Louis looked up and said, "It seems that today is not a coincidence, it is raining, and there is no audience to be found, so even the representatives of the east, west, north and south are all absent from work." ”

Arthur shook his head and said, "It's not that all of them are absent from work, the night delegates are usually rain or shine, and their fans are more determined than the listeners from the east, west, north and south. It doesn't matter if it's windy or rainy, as long as it is dusk and sunset, when the moon climbs the branches, it will always come alive. ”

Louis was curious: "What are you talking about?" ”

Arthur leaned against the window with his teacup: "What else could it be?" Naturally, it's the warblers, and Hyde Park is also a key area for them to do business. All the parks in London are basically like this, and since Scotland Yard has been reorganizing recently, there are not many places for the girls to go, so the traffic around Hyde Park has been several times greater than usual. ”

"Ah......" Louis suddenly realized: "But ...... Since we all know this, why not make Hyde Park a key surveillance area? ”

Arthur raised his eyebrows and said, "It's very simple, because Hyde Park is in the West End, and it is a prosperous area in the West End. From the point of view of an upright gentleman, although Scotland Yard needs to rectify the atmosphere, we can't completely block the girls' way of life, and London can't suddenly have tens of thousands of more jobs, after all, they also have to eat.

From a less upright point of view, the vicinity of Hyde Park is home to a number of people who are very important to British politics, and many of them are not serious, and we have to leave a little room for them, and we really want to block everything up. Unless these guys take the initiative to bring it up, Scotland Yard is not strong enough to make trouble for them.

At least until the budget for the next fiscal year is approved by Parliament, we are prepared to live in peace with them for the time being. After all, it was the clergy who were dissatisfied with the dissatisfaction, and although they also had significant social influence, the passage of the bill was mainly determined by the nobles and merchants who dominated the parliament. ”

Louis smiled and asked, "So, do you think you approve of Britain as a nation that represents the interests of great bankers and merchants?" ”

Arthur shrugged his shoulders and said, "I don't know, I just know who can make the policy, and it is on whose behalf." And the members of the British Parliament are ready to become, so, who knows? ”

Arthur was just as he was talking about this, when suddenly there was a knock on the door of the room.

Louis opened the door, and standing outside it was a woman he had never seen before, dressed in a floral white dress.

"Please...... Excuse me, is Mr. Arthur Hastings here? I...... I'm here to apply for a domestic maid. ”

(End of chapter)