London, Westminster, in a restaurant next to Trafalgar Square.

In the far corner of the dining room, sat four men in black with large-brimmed hats.

If it had been a few months ago, their deep and dark outfit would have attracted the attention of the rest of the restaurant.

But now in the cholera period, when everyone wraps themselves tightly, even at the expense of wearing all kinds of strangely shaped filtering respirators or other heavy protective clothing, a heavy black coat does not look particularly unusual.

A haggard Mr. Bernie Harrison looked at the Scotland Yard dignitaries in front of him, and barely squeezed out a smile on his face, he handed over the menu on the table and spoke.

"If you want to eat something, you can order it directly, and I will invite you to this meal today."

Dumas raised his chin and laughed, "Mr. Harrison, are you trying to buy us?" Although Scotland Yard doesn't pay as well as your cosmetics company, we can afford a meal. ”

Harrison put his forehead on his forehead and sighed, "Don't get me wrong, sir, I wouldn't do that stupid thing." Mr. Hastings had previously rejected an enthusiastic donation of a thousand pounds from me, and I did not think that a single meal would buy him. ”

"A thousand pounds?" Alexandre Dumas turned to Arthur beside him and asked, "What else is this?" ”

Arthur took a sip of tea: "I told you earlier, Benjamin's position in the council is more than fifteen hundred pounds, and I have already incurred a loss of more than a thousand pounds long before he was elected. ”

Dumas suddenly realized when he heard this, he looked at Harrison and said, "After a long time, Benjamin's seat should have belonged to you?" ”

Harrison smiled wryly and waved his hand: "I won't mention the past." Since that incident, I've been completely abandoned by the Tories. Even if that position was not reserved for Mr. Disraeli, it would fall into someone else's hands. Alas, I've been on bad luck all year this year, what is bad luck, this is called bad luck. ”

Louis on the side said coldly: "In the end, you have to blame yourself for being careless." ”

When Harrison heard this, he immediately became angry: "I just made a little mistake that didn't matter!" Speaking of looking for flowers and willows, at least more than half of the upper and lower courtyards are not clean. I was just unlucky enough to bump into a Polish lady, which is why the Whigs used the Polish issue as an excuse, which completely ruined my reputation!

Oh, by the way, I can't say it's a matter of luck, after all, Mr. Hastings knows a lot about it, and that Polish beauty must have been carefully selected after round after round, right? What good did the Whigs do to you, and you were willing to do it for them, even at the expense of framing an upright British gentleman and a noble member of the House of Commons? ”

In response to Harrison's complaints, Arthur just put down his teacup and responded flatly.

"Mr. Harrison, though I understand your anger. But I have to warn you that you should be glad when you find a lady and not a gentleman lying in bed. A lady will only make you lose your seat in parliament, and a gentleman will make you a death sentence.

Although the government is still pushing for the reform of the Bloody Act, I don't think it will be expected that homosexual inappropriate behavior will be removed from the hanging list for a long time due to social attitudes and the support of the clergy community. ”

When Harrison heard this, his face turned pale, and even the hand pointing at Arthur trembled slightly.

"You've considered killing me outright?"

Arthur didn't answer him directly, but tactfully prompted: "Don't you wonder why the Tories didn't even think about keeping your seat in the House of Representatives after the accident?" As you said before, it's not uncommon to have lovers or even keep a couple of long-term concubines among the councillors.

While your behavior is a little out of place compared to others, it's not entirely unforgivable. So, you should know what you have done that the Tory Caucus finds unforgivable.

The Whigs want to strike at their opponents, and the Tories find traitors unforgivable, and your words seem out of place, even to me, a policeman with no political affiliation. So, Mr. Harrison, you really have nothing but to blame yourself for getting to this point. ”

Harrison's face turned paler the more he listened, and of course he knew that Arthur was talking about his plot to bring down Sir Peel.

However, Harrison couldn't figure out how Arthur and the Tories knew about it.

His lips quivered, and he asked softly, "Someone leaked the news to you?" Can you tell me who it is? ”

Arthur took a slice of bread and dipped it in the cream soup in the bowl: "Mr. Harrison, can you keep it a secret?" ”

"Absolutely!"

Arthur smiled and shrugged, "Then I can too." ”

Alexandre Dumas clasped his hands and nodded, "Mr. Harrison, don't take us for idiots. Even the cartographers of the Royal Navy knew that the councillors were like hollowed-out carved windows that looked as if they were closed tightly, but in fact they could not hold anything out. ”

"But I'm not a councillor anymore."

"Oh! That's even worse! Alexandre Dumas exclaimed: "The unsuccessful parliamentarians are the ones who talk the most." ”

When Harrison heard this, he was like a frosted eggplant, wilting and barely able to lift his head.

For the past few months, he had thought that his misfortune was due to the young Superintendent of Scotland Yard in front of him, and only now did he realize that the conspiracy went far deeper than he had previously suspected.

Harrison clutched his head and desperately remembered the insider, but no matter what he thought, the extra emotion in his heart was nothing but anger, and powerlessness.

At this time, he sadly discovered that he didn't seem to be able to provoke few guys who knew the inside story.

Harrison's expression was mixed with each other, but Arthur didn't even bother to look up, he just methodically cut the veal steak on the plate.

The knife was cut inch by inch along the texture of the beef, and Arthur smiled and said casually, "Mr. Harrison, you know what?" I love making friends, I have a lot of friends, I write poetry, I write, I play the piano, I play stocks, I study animals, I like to make friends with people who have different life experiences. However, among the various groups, I am the only one who would not choose to be friends with the judge. ”

Harrison frowned when he heard Arthur's inexplicable stubble, he seemed to sense something, but he wasn't sure.

Harrison leaned forward and asked softly, "Can I ask for a specific reason?" ”

"It's simple."

Arthur put down his knife and fork and spoke, "Because those who are judges enjoy the sense of dominance over the fate of others. If he was a righteous guy himself, he might be less affected. And if his own will is not firm, then it will be a bad thing to let such a guy become a judge.

A great man like Francis Bacon would have been deceived by the lust for money, let alone ordinary people. Moreover, although Bacon was corrupt and bribed, he still deserves one thing, that is, his position as a justice was earned by himself, not by selling people, especially his wife. ”

Harrison's eyes narrowed: "That's right, Superintendent Hastings, there's a reason why you got to such a position at such a young age." Let me think, if I'm not mistaken, the starting point of Bacon's path of corruption and bribery began when he became the Crown Counsel, that is, the Attorney-General of Britain, right? ”

Arthur smiled and nodded: "There is a reason why you can be elected as a councilor, you are very knowledgeable. Of course, Bacon's path to success is no longer easy to replicate today. Britain's system of appointments is far more robust than it was in the 17th century, let alone the Solicitor General of the Whole Country, and even the Deputy Attorney General of the London District Attorney's Office is carefully appointed by the dignitaries of the Whig Cabinet. ”

Harrison leaned back in his chair with his wine glass and carefully reflected on Arthur's words, and suddenly sneered, "That's no wonder." I thought that he and the Viscount of Melbourne were really in an extramarital affair lawsuit, and after a long time, it was an uneven distribution of spoils, and the promise was not fulfilled! ”

Louie, who knew the ins and outs of the matter, glanced at Arthur with a strange expression: "Sir, are you really okay to say that?" ”

Unexpectedly, before Arthur could reply, Harrison had already spoken first: "What's wrong?" Mr. Hastings had just talked to me about the principles of friendship. ”

Arthur rolled up the napkin tied around his neck and wiped his mouth: "That's right, Mr. Harrison, it seems that we are not completely without common ground. But after talking about the principles of dating, isn't it time for us to cut to the chase? ”

When Harrison heard this, he just turned his heart on the side, anyway, he had nothing to lose now, even if he explained everything, it wouldn't be a big deal.

Moreover, he came to Arthur today, originally to clear his suspicions.

Harrison spoke, "As for my previous case, which was the accidental death of a maid in the house, it was indeed an accident. But before I reveal the truth, I need your promise not to pursue me on this matter. ”

"As long as you can prove that you are not a murderer, and other minor matters, I can exonerate you from the rest of the misdemeanor charges on behalf of Scotland Yard."

"Really?"

Arthur nodded: "The British police say what they say. Don't forget the Burke gang murder and body robbery that happened in Edinburgh two years ago. At the time, the Edinburgh police had been unable to find clues about Burke's whereabouts and several other murders, so they offered William Hale, another main culprit, a pardon for hanging if he could confess the whereabouts of Burke and several other bodies.

Later, although the police's decision was questioned, and the citizens of Edinburgh even stormed the Edinburgh Police Department on a large scale, they still sent a special car to put Hale on the departing ship. A heinous serial killer like Hale can keep his promise, and if you weren't involved in the murder, you don't have to worry about breaking your promise. ”

"This ......"

Harrison pondered for a long time before nodding hesitantly, "Okay." Actually, it all started when I got home from a banquet that evening, when my friend, Judge George Norton, was drunk and unconscious, so I let him go back in a carriage with me. Who knew that the car was halfway down the road, and I happened to run into two other servants sent by my wife, one was a manservant who was driving, and the other was a maid who had come to bring me a coat. But Norton did get drunk that day, and he recognized my maid as his wife, pointed at her, and began to curse and even hit her with the cushion on the saddle. The maid in my house was frightened and ran and fell into the river next to her......"

Arthur frowned when he heard this, and said, "Mr. Harrison, are you going to tell me that people are drowned?" If this is the case, we should have found a lot of sediment from the mouth, nose and lungs of the deceased, especially in places like the Thames, and this feature should be more pronounced. ”

Harrison hurriedly argued, "That's not what I'm talking about. If it was really this maid who died, then I didn't have the courage to report it, after all, if this person died, he would have something to do with me more or less. ”

"Who died then?"

Harrison took a deep breath and said, "When my maid fell into the river, I immediately sent a groom to retrieve her. But after we were busy and couldn't get people to be rescued, I found out that Norton was sleeping soundly in the car. I was about to get angry at him, but on second thought, I might be able to take advantage of it...... This maid in my house is new to the house, and the last maid was a maid who was not clean with her hands and feet, and I was considering whether to fire her. ”

Dumas's eyes widened when he heard this, and he said, "You don't want to say that it was this maid who died, right?" ”

Harrison nodded, "It's her, indeed, but this girl died the day before the crime." I was still thinking about how to inform her family to take her back for burial, but after this happened, I thought I might be able to use the topic to make a difference......"

Arthur then asked, "If that's the case, how do we explain the excess arsenic we found in the deceased's body?" ”

Harrison said embarrassedly, "Mr. Hastings, didn't I say that earlier?" This girl doesn't have clean hands and feet, and she often steals from my house, especially cosmetics that can beautify my beauty. The fact that you can detect an excess of arsenic in her stomach only means that my past guesses about her were correct.

And if you don't believe me, feel free to ask a few of the other servants of my house to testify, for I have given them a gag order before, but now it seems that it is no longer necessary. Of course, if it weren't for the previous incident, my wife would definitely be willing to come out and speak for me. But since the Times published the news, we've now separated. ”

Louie pinched his chin and asked, "So, the reason why Judge Norton submitted a fake autopsy report was because he mistakenly thought he had killed someone?" ”

"Half to half."

Harrison pursed his lips: "In addition to exonerating, he was also thinking that he could regain the favor of the Tories through this case, so that he could return to the House of Commons." It's just that now it seems that he should have completely died of this heart, so he betrayed his friends and planned to follow the path of the Whigs to seek the position of deputy chief prosecutor of the London Magistrates' Prosecutor's Office. What a pity! After all, this bastard is called the Viscount of Melbourne. It can be seen that fools will always be deceived, and if they don't remember it for a long time, they have to give it to him again. ”

Louis and Alexandre Dumas glanced at each other, they never thought that the case that made Scotland Yard like a great enemy was actually a farce made up by these two fools on the improvisation.

And the chain reaction caused by this case almost affected the political stability of the Tory and Whig parties.

Arthur nodded slightly, "So, are you willing to charge Judge Norton with perjury in court?" ”

"It depends......

Harrison didn't dare to say anything to death, because he clearly had something more serious to clarify.

Harrison spoke: "Mr. Hastings, I can swear to God that I have nothing to do with the assassination in Liverpool for a penny. Although the two of us had a bit of a holiday before, it didn't affect our personal feelings. Especially now, you and I can be good friends.

As for the Polish girl you sent, I really haven't been in touch with it much later. Of course, I mean I didn't contact her, but if she came to me, I can't put all the blame on me. ”

(End of chapter)