Bang bang bang.

The smoke of black powder was accompanied by several successive gunshots.

In the early morning of Liverpool's old docks, there are already many dock wharves who come to try their luck. At first, the noise of people quickly drowned out the gunshots.

But when Alexandre Dumas, Louis and others began to draw their guns and shoot back, the pedestrians on the road finally realized that something was wrong.

Soon, panic spread through the crowd, and everyone fled in all directions, and the scene soon became a mess.

Arthur and his party clung to the carriage as cover, and the muzzle of the revolver spewed tongues of fire.

Arthur looked around at the chaotic crowd for a long time and couldn't find where the enemy was, he hurriedly asked, "Do you know who fired the gun?" ”

Dumas gritted his teeth and poked out half of his head: "There is a guy wearing a brown-colored big-brimmed hat, a red jacket, and straight-leg pants. There were a few people standing next to him, guns in both hands! ”

Arthur looked in the direction Alexandre Dumas had pointed out, and soon spotted several of the perpetrators hiding in the crowd of fugitives.

Arthur silently counted the number of shots they fired, and suddenly shouted: "Six shots!" They should run out of bullets, rush up and take them out! ”

Hearing this, everyone rose and prepared to rush forward to subdue the gang, but as soon as Louie appeared, a bullet shot his top hat pierced.

His Majesty the Emperor, startled by the close contact with the bullets, broke out in a cold sweat, and he shouted: "Damn it! They also have revolvers in their hands, more than one bullet! ”

Just as Louis was angry, Alexandre Dumas saw the moment for the crowd to evacuate, and a bullet knocked down the attacker who was standing at the front.

And those personnel sent by various departments of Liverpool to follow Arthur also hurriedly pulled out their pistols and stepped forward to support.

They shouted as they opened fire, "Mr. Hastings, are you alright?" ”

Beep beep!

In the chaos of shouting, the sound of a siren whistle followed, followed by a chaotic sound of horses' hooves.

The local sheriff in Liverpool had apparently noticed the unusual situation in the dock area and was arriving with his mounted police team.

The attackers thought that they would only need to deal with Arthur and his entourage, but what they did not expect was that the Liverpool authorities were so concerned about Commissioner Hastings that they even arranged a large number of 'plainclothes' near the hotel in order to protect him.

Seeing that the assassination was about to come to an end, Arthur and the others gradually approached them, and the leading attacker simply gritted his teeth, took out a match from his pocket and threw it into the horse trough next to him.

"Hastings! You bastard who works for the government, go to hell! ”

Only a loud bang was heard, and the flames of the explosion rose instantly.

The wooden trough was blown to pieces, and projectiles hidden in the trough flew everywhere, instantly piercing the walls and windows of a nearby hotel.

Several pedestrians who could not avoid it were also implicated, they clutched the bullet parts on their bodies and fell to the ground wailing, and even the attacker himself trembled twice with his eyes wide open, and fell to the ground like a broken kite.

Although Arthur and the others were standing far away, there were still a few stray bullets scattered on this side.

Several holes were opened in the carriage door, Alexandre Dumas was knocked to the ground by the blast wave from the explosion, and Louis and Heine, though less affected, were still covered in mud.

Arthur was the unluckiest of them all, although the bullet didn't hit him, but a small pebble that exploded opened the corner of his eye, and the bleeding wound only made him feel a hot pain.

However, Arthur still cares more about Washington Irving, the secretary of the US Embassy next to him, than the corner of his own eyes. If he had been wounded, the attack would have been a diplomatic incident rather than just a domestic issue.

It would have been troublesome enough to juggle between the Chancellor's Hall, the General Customs, the Central Health Commission and the Liverpool authorities, and he didn't want to involve the Foreign Office again.

Especially when the Foreign Secretary is still Viscount Palmerston, this playboy among the Irish aristocracy is not so easy to deal with.

"Mr. Owen, you're not hurt, are you?"

"It's shocking!" Owen looked at the wounded and corpses in the pool of blood in front of him, and replied with his eyes open, "Mr. Hastings, you should care more about yourself than worry about me!" How are your injuries? ”

Arthur was calm about the injury, because he had been mentally prepared for this situation, but what he didn't expect was that the attacker would launch such a blatant surprise attack on the street.

He took out a handkerchief to cover the side of his face, and was even in the mood to make a few jokes: "This little injury is nothing, it's just a little skin." Although the attackers' position looks quite intimidating, the actual effect is not as good as that of the London ruffians. At least when I first joined Scotland Yard, the hooligans of the East End literally kept me in bed for a few days. ”

Owen saw Arthur's calm appearance and even had the leisure to take out a cigarette, and his hanging heart was also put down: "Again, I'm not surprised that Arthur Sigma is Hastings." Who else but you can write Detective Hastings? ”

Agareth put his arm around Arthur's shoulder, raised his finger and dipped his finger on the blood on his handkerchief, and the Red Devil pouted and shook his head, "I told you earlier, Arthur, you just don't have a long memory. It doesn't have to kill you, but even if they do send you on your way, those people don't particularly mind. ”

"Mr. Hastings!"

As soon as the Red Devil finished speaking, the staff of various departments in Liverpool, who saw that the gangster had died, hurriedly surrounded him.

But as soon as they got closer, they found blood on the side of Arthur's face. For a while, no one dared to take the lead, for fear that the responsibility would be attributed to themselves.

And when the scene was silent, Liverpool's security team finally arrived belatedly.

The sheriff turned over and dismounted, and hurriedly asked, "Mr. Hastings, ...... you?"

Before he could finish his sentence, Alexandre Dumas said sarcastically: "Sir, as you can see, the assassination is over, and you and your security team should wash this blood-stained street as soon as possible." ”

Owen, who had recovered from the assassination, also expressed his displeasure: "I now finally understand how Spencer Percival was assassinated in the halls of the Palace of Westminster. The Prime Minister is still like that, not to mention Liverpool's Special Anti-Smuggling Ombudsman. ”

The sheriff was blushing and his neck was thick by the two of them, and he didn't know how to reply for a long time.

Seeing this, Arthur just laughed lightly and comforted him: "Actually, it's not that bad, my situation is better than the prime minister." At least judging by today's scene, the guy who assassinated me didn't have a lot of brains. They had shot me from thirty yards away, and if they had been smarter, as John Bellingham had done, until they got close to me and then shot me in the chest, I would have been able to lie down and go back to London this afternoon. ”

The sheriff's face was sweating when he heard this: "Mr. Hastings, this is a mistake on our part. But as you know, we have so many people on our security team, and Liverpool is so big that it's inevitable that something will slip into it. ”

Arthur nodded: "That's right, this is also the original intention of Sir Robert Peel to establish Scotland Yard. At the time, he thought it was too heavy to put the responsibility for law and order in London on the shoulders of the magistrate and the Bow Street Mounties. I have taken note of your opinions, and out of gratitude to you, I will definitely report what happened here. ”

At this point, Arthur turned his gaze to the silent stalkers: "Gentlemen, what are you still standing there for?" Go back and report to the people who sent you here that I'm not feeling well today, so I won't go to them, and whether they come to me or not depends on their mood. ”

……

On the second floor of the Golden Lion Inn, in Arthur's room.

Arthur looked at the six pistols on the table, four flintlock pistols, two revolvers.

The flintlock pistols were expertly identified by firearms expert Alexandre Dumas, a double-barreled Gouda flintlock pistol produced by the British East India Company's Ordnance Bureau, a spiral-barreled flintlock pistol produced by Pietro Beretta, a veteran Venetian medieval arms dealer, and two amalgam rifles suspected to have come from an unknown firearms workshop.

As for the remaining two revolvers, although Arthur did not know as much about firearms as Alexandre Dumas, this did not prevent him from recognizing that these two guns must have been made by Samuel Colt.

As a device that appeared in the 16th century, the revolver is not a new thing, but the revolver in the past was either an arquebus or a flintlock pistol.

And equipped with a primer impact bolt and a spiral rifled barrel, and also using a conical bullet shell, except for the Colt revolver, there is really no second one in the world for the time being.

Dumas sat in the corner of the table and picked up a revolver and played: "Huh! This job is really rough, and the assassination is even counted, and the revolver is used to assassinate. Is this for fear that we don't know where he bought the gun from? The production line of the Colt revolver has not yet been established, so almost every revolver is now hand-made by Mr. Colt with a few craftsmen. As long as people check who has placed an order recently, won't the identity of the assassin be clear? ”

Heine chimed in: "Yes! I thought that assassination was a high-end business, and that it was necessary to design a rigorous and detailed plan, with a killer with good marksmanship, and to bury an ulterior and mysterious purpose, in order to complete an assassination operation that could be called an art. But what I saw today, so many shots were fired, but none of them could be implemented, and the only thing that really killed Arthur was his unlucky luck. Who knows how he got hit by the stones? ”

While a few people were talking, Louie pushed the door in and said: "Arthur, according to Sergeant Field, the three attackers were killed and wounded twice, but the situation of the injured is not optimistic, he was shot through the right chest by Alexander, although he can't die for the time being, but it should be soon." ”

Arthur covered his face with a handkerchief and asked, "Is he willing to confess?" ”

Louis shook his head: "The employer should have given them a lot of money, or some promise that they couldn't refuse, so he didn't want to say anything." However, this did not stop us from continuing our investigation, and we found something interesting from him. Look at this. ”

With that, Louis threw a pocket watch at Arthur.

Arthur must have lifted the lid of the watch with his fingertips, and a soft portrait of a blonde woman suddenly appeared in front of him, and her name was outlined in beautiful words below the portrait - Agnieszka.

"Hmm...... It's a name that isn't common in the UK. Arthur read, "Agnieszka, that's how it should be pronounced, right?" ”

"That's right." Louis nodded slightly: "A very common Polish name, and the appearance of those three killers is quite Eastern European." ”

"Poland?" Alexandre Dumas exclaimed, "You mean that it was a group of Poles who assassinated Arthur?" What reason do the Poles have to get along with him? Even if you say that the French did it, I think it is credible. ”

Louis was also helpless: "If you mean Poland, a country that no longer exists, then I don't think they really need to do it. And not only did they not have to assassinate Arthur, but they should also be grateful to Dade for him. After all, Arthur had just saved Poland's national treasure, Frédéric Chopin, for them. But now we are not talking about Poland, but about Polish killers. Killers, if you give money, you will work, there are so many Polish refugees in Britain now, and it is not surprising that a few of them want to make a fortune by making a fortune. ”

Heine asked: "But those killers clearly didn't want to go back alive, and they detonated the explosives around them without saying a word, where is there such a way to make money?" ”

Louis nodded and said, "Maybe they don't make money for themselves?" Maybe they still have family in Britain? exchanging a life for a good life for a family, this kind of business is done by people. ”

"Ah......" Dumas suddenly seemed to think of something when he heard this: "So...... No wonder they made the assassination so amateurish. The Poles really didn't have much hatred for Arthur, but they had to do it again after taking the order. That's why they did such a way to get the best of both worlds? ”

Heine questioned, "But if Arthur is not killed, will the employer be willing to pay the money?" ”

Alexandre Dumas shook his finger and said, "You can't say that, they dare to take this kind of order, no matter whether the assassination is successful or not, it is impossible to go back alive." Therefore, they must ask for enough money before they start, otherwise when they die, will they have to ask the orphans and widows in the family to ask their employers for accounts? ”

Heine snorted, "If that's the case, the employer who hired them to kill people is also brainless." The money was given and it didn't get done, what is it? ”

While everyone is arguing over this confusing unsolved case, the victim Arthur never says a word.

He didn't care as much about the killer's mental activity as Alexandre Dumas, he cared more about who did it than that.

On the bright side, there is no need for Liverpool's old guys to do such a brainless thing under the premise that they may win 200,000 municipal construction projects.

And Arthur remembered that Agareth had warned him before, and it seemed that someone in London wanted his life.

He didn't have many enemies in London, but he didn't know too little, but he knew only two of them who could pay for killers.

One is Mr. Bernie Harrison, a former member of parliament, and the other is Judge George Norton.

But although Mr. Harrison is no longer qualified as a councilor, but the company is running well, and Arthur has not shown any intention to pursue him in the future, in this case, is it necessary for him to jump off the wall in a hurry?

As for Judge Norton, he has been fighting an extramarital affair lawsuit with the Viscount of Melbourne recently, is there still time to hire three hitmen to come to Liverpool to find him a problem? If his CPU is really so good and can meet the multi-threaded operation, it shouldn't have been done for so many years, and in the end, he still has to rely on his wife to get a magistrate's seat!

(End of chapter)