Are you a spy?

Belch...... Not counting, sir...... I'm actually a thief, not a patriot, not a hero, and the government is at best using my professional skills to do things.

– Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient

I authorize you to reorganize Abwell, and Germany needs to set up as soon as possible an institution like the British Secret Intelligence Service – a united group of people who work with enthusiasm.

—Adolf Hitler, Führer of the Third German Reich (appointed Wilhelm Canaris as the first head of the German Espionage Service under the German High Command in 1933)

In impartiality, and in keeping with the glorious tradition laid down by Sir Arthur Hastings when he established the national security system in 1832, we keep all people under equal surveillance.

—Herbert Morrison, Secretary of State for the Home of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (February 1941)

Arthur looked at Fiona, who was holding the brothel license certificate in the palm of her hand as if she had received a precious jewel, and just calmly lifted the teapot to fill the teacup.

As Fiona had shown, this letter of permission was undoubtedly the most precious gift she had received in her twenty-four years of life.

However, expensive gifts often come at a small price.

So, Fiona, at what cost?

Although Fiona was a prostitute, she was a prostitute who thought highly of herself, as evidenced by the price she had put on her career when she was young.

However, she is also a ruthless woman with a cool head, and she knows quite well that her skin and flesh cannot afford such a high price.

Even at a time when the obnoxious Bishops' Conference of Lords had not issued a thorough investigation of the London Wandering Warbler, such a permit could easily sell for hundreds or thousands of pounds on the market.

And the premise of being able to close a deal with so much money is that your personal relationship must be relatively strong.

Fiona doesn't have a strong personal relationship, and the hardest person she knows is the Yorkie guy in front of her, so she can't give Arthur any help in terms of connections.

As for the money?

No kidding.

From the day Fiona started working for Arthur, she had already recognized a truth.

Mr. Hastings and the London Police Intelligence Service under his command were not interested in money, nor did they ever worry about money, let alone financial audits.

Some employees of the organization may occasionally worry about money, but Mr. Hastings, as one of the very few people who hold the financial power of the organization, never asks for vouchers and invoices, and does not even show the details of the payment.

In other words, they are very opaque, as they want to be secrets.

She knew what Arthur wanted, just as Arthur knew what she wanted.

But Fiona didn't intend to speak first, because she thought that as a woman, she should be more reserved in such things that men had to be cautious about.

Arthur stirred the teacup and watched the sugar melt into the dark red tea.

He suddenly asked, "Do you like it?" ”

"Hmm......" Fiona nodded cautiously, "It's a surprise." ”

"Don't be surprised, ma'am." Arthur crossed Erlang's legs and took a sip of tea: "Because there are more surprises later." ”

"For example?"

"For example, I'm going to give your sleek new store some great new employees. The recent cholera scandal has caused panic in Londoners and the economy has been sluggish, so I asked you to help me with the re-employment of some of the police officers who have been laid off at Scotland Yard. ”

Arthur smiled and got up with his teacup, paced over to Fiona's side, leaned down and whispered in her ear.

"I can assure you that they are much better than the second-rate thugs you hired from the streets. With them in charge, no one will dare to go wild in your store. The only thing you have to consider is how to make your store bigger and stronger, make your banner in London, and attract as many high-end people as possible in London.

As far as I know, the demand for successful people in other areas is also very strong, and Mr. Harrison, who unfortunately passed away some time ago, is an outstanding representative of this. A poor guy like Anne's boyfriend can't afford the high prices of the girls under your command. Think about it, if all the people in your store are big money like Mr. Harrison, my dear Fiona, you're going to get rich soon. ”

When Fiona heard this, she didn't smell the smell of wealth, but she did smell the smell of corpses.

All she felt was sweat all over her body, maybe Arthur's snort was too hot on her face, or maybe God's call sent a chill down her spine.

She suddenly regretted coming to Martin's tavern today. But she knew in her heart that even if she didn't come today, Arthur, a life-urging ghost, would probably take advantage of the night to knock on the iron window of her house.

Fiona held her slightly hot forehead, her cheeks flushed, as if she had just drunk two glasses of sherry: "Dear...... My dear, I ...... I'm feeling a little unwell......"

For Fiona's little trick, Arthur just smiled and said, "It's okay, you can sleep here if you're not feeling well, and the night will be long tonight." If you can't sleep, I can also tell you a little Bible story to help you sleep. Didn't the bishops say? The Bible can prevent cholera, and listening to a little bit of this is good for your body. ”

Fiona smiled reluctantly, "Honey, you're still so sweet. ”

Arthur casually opened the heavy Bible on the table and read it slowly: "At that moment, Joshua secretly sought out two men from Shitin to spy on, and told them, 'Go and spy out the land and Jericho. So they went and went to the house of a prostitute named Rahab, and stayed there, and lay down there. ”

When the Red Devil who was watching the play heard this, he couldn't help but laugh evilly, revealing his sharp and terrifying fangs: "Oh, the story of Rahab? Arthur, you're pretty picky! For this lovely young lady, there is nothing better for bedtime reading than this story. ”

On the other side, Fiona had already changed color.

Although she did not have a full education, she knew this passage from the Bible.

When God intended to attack Canaan, he said to the prophet Moses: "Send your men to peek into the land of Canaan." ”

Ten years after Moses' spies infiltrated Canaan, Joshua finally decided to lead an army against Jericho.

Before attacking, Joshua decides to send two spies to the city to gather information, and this is where Arthur's story begins.

King Jericho found out the true identities of the two spies and sent guards to arrest them. But the prostitute Rahab hid them and told the guards that the two spies had escaped.

In return for protecting the spies, Rahab demanded: "When your army breaks through the city, you must not kill my parents and siblings, nor plunder their property." ”

After Joshua's army broke the city, they kept their promise to Rahab and sent her and her relatives out of the city, and then slaughtered Jericho.

As a bedtime read, this story is undoubtedly a failure.

But it had a refreshing effect, which Arthur wanted.

In Fiona's opinion, Arthur is not capable of playing Joshua's army, and the Scotland Yard officer's usual behavior does not include the option of slaughtering the city.

But if this Scotland Yard spy didn't go to the high 'Joshua' to say a few nice words for her......

In the past six months, the butcher's knife raised by Scotland Yard against her peers will soon be cut into her head.

To this, Fiona could only say bitterly: "My dear, I am also a prostitute, why do I have to be Rahab and not Mary Magdalene?" ”

"I'm sorry, Fiona, it's my fault."

Arthur smiled and replied, "I am not Jesus, not a savior, so naturally you can't be like Mary Magdalene and anointing me to be saved." ”

When the Red Devil heard this, he just played with it: "Arthur, this is not an auspicious word. Are you ready to be crucified? ”

After speaking, he also picked up his upright monocle, took out the "Gospel of Mark" that he didn't know how many years it had been lying and read it seriously.

When Jesus was brought to judgment, the disciples forsook him and fled. When Jesus was crucified, the environment was extremely bad, and she was the only one who went with Jesus to the cross to see Jesus suffer, die, and be buried.

It shows that she has a pure faith and a will to follow the Lord to the end, so she bravely draws close to the Lord in the face of enemies. The Lord will say, "Whoever confesses me before men, I will also confess him before my Father who is in heaven." Whoever denies me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven. ”

Arthur didn't pay attention to Agares's intimidation, since the Liverpool case, he just recognized a very simple truth - since he is already in this game, if he has no ability to open the chessboard, then at least find a way to integrate with the chessboard.

Only when the group of people found that they could not play against each other without a corner of the chessboard, then he did not need to passively seize the headlines of the big and small newspapers in London.

Although these things are very undignified and dangerous to do, at least they can find a clear cause of death for themselves.

Arthur's active preparations were matched by the contempt of many British government officials.

He had not consulted anyone about this in the brothel.

Because the officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs said that it was difficult for them to imagine that the officers, who were fooling around with prostitutes, would suddenly talk about the caliber and speed of howitzers. How could a diplomat, who indulges in the pleasure of bed, coldly reveal the relevant terms of the secret agreement.

In other words, it is precisely because the gentlemen think that this is an inefficient job, and everyone disdains to do it, and most people still insist that gentlemen should not exchange private messages with each other, and the end result of engaging in these things is nothing more than being spurned by the public, so the responsibility of intelligence work can fall into the hands of a York swineherd like Arthur.

Just like Fouché's career in France, and Mr. Schneider, who is currently in charge of intelligence at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, these intelligence officers in the 19th century had one thing in common—they came from a humble background and started from a very low background.

In revenge for the Liverpool case, Arthur's greatest wish at the moment was nothing more than two, he wanted to find out what the Whigs and Tories were singing.

Although the basic demands of the two parties seem to have been clearly stated in the newspapers, the voices within the Liverpool case do not seem to be unanimous.

And in 1832, when cholera was raging, even the slightest contradiction was amplified by the fear and suspicion brought about by the disease.

Even though Arthur had tactfully proposed his advice to the Central Board of Health, British tradition would not consider a brutal solution to the disease until the summer, when the cholera virus was at its most active.

This can be seen from the recent relaxation of quarantine restrictions by the Cabinet, which seems to have mistaken the decline in virus activity caused by the drop in winter temperatures as a good proof of the anti-epidemic situation.

Parliamentary reform is back on the agenda, and there is still a lot of talk about cholera, but not as much as it used to be.

What's even funnier is that, judging by Vidocq's letter to Arthur, the French seem to think so too.

In just a few weeks, Britain and France emerged from the haze of cholera.

Paris was arguing about the legitimacy of Louis Philippe, Britain was stepping up the abolition of the army, and as for the London Police Intelligence Service, Mr. Hastings was stepping up the training of his police officers.

Fiona just sighed plaintively, "Honey, you know, your charm makes me irresistible. However, with all due respect, those beauties who can maintain a long-term relationship with dignitaries and dignitaries are usually reluctant to come to the party to work. They have their own channels, and they only serve a few or even a certain person. ”

Arthur lit his pipe: "That's okay, if you know such ladies, you can let them contact me alone." As for your field, even if it can't attract real guests, it will be enough to attract some ordinary officers or junior officers. ”

Fiona pursed her lips and squinted her eyes as if you didn't have much hope for me in the first place. ”

"No, Fiona, you're so much more important to me than those three or two kittens."

Arthur replied, "Those in the middle and lower echelons can't see the whole picture, but if you piece together what they see, the final picture will often be more realistic and detailed than what you see at the top." ”

"You're always so pleasing to me."

Fiona smiled and pressed Arthur's face and asked, "Tell me the truth, you have laid so much groundwork, the real purpose is not just to find me for the contact address of those beauties, right?" Accustomed to a hard life, and plan to taste the taste of high society? I've seen quite a few men like that.

But...... I advise you, none of them are so easy to get along with, they are all women who are blinded by money, and they don't recognize anything but money. You don't expect them to be like me, and they can do things for you with two nice words. ”

Arthur just laughed, "Fiona, maybe you're right. But for the Police Intelligence Agency, what worries us the most is to talk about feelings. If everyone could clearly mark the price, it would be much easier. ”

Speaking of this, Arthur dangled a cheque in front of Fiona's eyes: "As you can see, ma'am, 1000 pounds, this money almost killed me, and now I give it to you as a deposit." ”

(End of chapter)