"Born in Versailles?"

Samson was stunned for a moment, and then even his expression became excited, as an orthodox dynasty faction in the royalist party, he couldn't help but have a heart-pounding speculation in his mind.

"You...... Are you a noble Bourbon? ”

Dumas couldn't help laughing and said, "Unfortunately, Mr. Samson, you guessed wrong. He was not on the side of Bourbon, but one of the leaders of the Bonapartist faction. ”

When Samson heard this, his face immediately turned pale with fright, and even the hand holding the coffee cup trembled and almost spilled the coffee on the table: "This...... You mean, a Bonaparte? ”

Vidocq glanced at Louis's face, and then remembered the letter that the coconut tree had sent him from London, and he immediately understood the identity of the noble Bonaparte in front of him.

He humbly bowed his head and asked, "Are you the son of the 'Queen of the Netherlands in Paris'?" ”

When Samson heard this, he couldn't help but stand up, and exclaimed, "Oh! O my God! ”

His exclamation immediately attracted the attention of many diners in the café.

Seeing this, Vidocq hurriedly pressed Samson back into his chair, and he lowered his voice and rebuked, "Samson! What stupid thing are you doing? Don't you know that there are many diehards of the Orthodox dynasty faction gathered near the Kaidaosai Mansion? Or are you here to cause trouble today? ”

Samson, who had just recovered from his shock, finally realized that there seemed to be something wrong with his behavior.

He took off his hat in embarrassment and apologized to Louis in a low voice: "I...... No, Your Excellency, I have no offense to you. You know, our Samson family has always been conscientious during the Napoleonic reign, and we have never caused any trouble to this society, I ...... Oh God! Forgive me, Your Excellency, for I hate Republicans more than the Bonapartists. ”

Dumas, who was watching the fun while drinking onion soup, was a little unhappy when he heard this, and he asked, "Why?" ”

Samson said bluntly: "Sir, do you remember when I said before that when I was young, I once wanted to join the army? At the time, I actually did. But not long after I joined the army, the Thermidorian coup took place, and the new Thermidorians put me in prison because they suspected me of supporting Robespierre. ”

When Louis heard this, he also became interested: "So, the reason why you think Bonaparte is better than the Republican Party is because Napoleon later released you from prison?" ”

Samson shook his head and said, "No, that's not why they let me out. Rather, it was because later, my father, as the executor of death, cleanly executed Robespierre and Saint-Juste. Therefore, the Thermidorians felt that the Samsons' political leanings should not be a problem. ”

Vidocq took a sip of his coffee: "But I remember that your father also executed Danton of the Mountain Sect on the orders of Robespierre?" The Thermidorian Party didn't trouble you after it went up? ”

Samson replied: "No, just because my father helped them execute Robespierre, they already had a feeling of revenge, so they did not pursue our father and son, and let me go back to my work." ”

When Dumas heard the barrage of names coming out of Samson's mouth, he couldn't help but quip: "Danton, Robespierre, and Saint-Juste, plus Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette." Louis and the Samson family were also merciful to the Bonapartes, after all, both the Republican Party and the Orthodox dynastic faction had people in their hands, and Bonaparte had none. ”

Samson opened his mouth in defense: "I have no intention of offending, sir, but I hope you will understand that those men are folded not in the hands of me and my father, but in the hands of machines. ”

"Machines?" Arthur asked, "Are you talking about the famous guillotine?" ”

Seeing the kind gentleman speak, Samson smiled and nodded, "Yes, but I prefer to call it a machine, the guillotine sounds too bloody." ”

When Arthur heard this, he suddenly asked on a whim, "Can I make a rash request?" If it's convenient for you, could you please show me around that machine, I would like to know how exactly it operates. ”

When Samson heard that the English lord was interested in his work, he was a little flattered and said, "Your Excellency, I can't refuse your request. If you and Mr. Vidocq set a date, send someone to the alley near the Abbey on the Marley Road to inform me. We will be happy to help you and show you and your friends around the machines at home. ”

Arthur was surprised: "Do you usually keep the machine at home?" ”

Samson nodded, "Yes, the machine is our production tool, and it is part of the private property of the Samson family. How can an executioner without a machine perform his duty? ”

Vidocq joked: "Maybe when my detective agency can't go any further, I should also consider buying a machine to play with, after all, this is an ancestral golden job, and there is no more stable job in Paris." ”

When Samson heard this, he protested, "Mr. Vidocq, the positions in this trade are fixed, and the craft is not as simple as you think. You may be a good detective, but it's hard to be a good executioner. ”

Arthur shifted his words back to Vidocq, "By the way, I almost forgot to ask you. What happened to the Grand Paris Police Department, and why did you suddenly get fired from your job? ”

"Oh, brother, the dismissal may be too unkind. To be precise, I was forced to resign. ”

"Because of the uprising in Paris last June? I think you seemed to have done a good job on that occasion! ”

Vidocq shook his head and said, "It's not because of this. I was involved in a lawsuit involving my subordinates in the Ministry of Security, and one of our police detectives, Lyger, was charged with abetment. The security department was monitoring a burglar gang that seemed to be stepping on a restaurant on rue Fontainebleau, so I sent Léger to work undercover in that restaurant to try to get a specific time for them to commit the theft.

Legge was very capable of working, and not long after he worked at that restaurant, the criminal gang hooked up with him, hoping to get the key to the restaurant from Lyger and make a new one with beeswax. I told Lyger to do the trick and arrest them on the day they were going to commit the theft.

But the fellows insisted in court that they had committed the theft because they had received five hundred francs from me. They lied that they were not the masterminds of the theft, but me, and that Léger was responsible for instigating them to commit the crime. As for their gang of thieves, they are just doing it for us security chiefs.

To make matters worse, you know my habit of recruiting agents for the security department, and I like to recruit experienced veterans to do the work. When he was undercover at Léger's restaurant, he still had a wanted warrant on his head. This matter was stabbed by several of my enemies to the head of the legal department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

In this way, things got bigger and bigger, and in order to save the reputation of the Grand Paris Police Agency, Director Zhisokai was also a little shaken. He also believes that there is some element of 'inducement' in the methods used by the Ministry of Security to combat crime. However, remembering the old relationship between me and him, he did not fire me directly, but waited for me to resign himself.

I didn't want to make it difficult for him, so I submitted my resignation to him. The director of the hall accepted the resignation, but did not directly ask me to get out of the way, but only said that I was retired, and applied for a pension of 500 francs a month from above, but this money was stopped last month. ”

When Arthur heard this, he spoke up for Vidocq and said, "Your Excellency in Paris seems to be less kind than London, and at least Whitehall Street has set up a knight's archway for me." And on your side, you are working for them with your head, but in the end, you are so ungrateful. ”

Vidocq laughed and said, "Brother, this is all thanks to your clean background, not like me, although I have the name of a policeman, but in fact I am considered a potentially dangerous person and criminal.

However, I must say that in my personal opinion, in order to reduce the crime rate, it is better to hire people who know the criminals well or have even fooled around with them. I am willing to take full responsibility for the theft of Fontainebleau with my personal resignation and departure, but the other members of the Ministry of Security should not be implicated, because they are needed throughout Paris. ”

When Arthur heard this, he suddenly seemed to understand a little: "It seems that your wish has not been fulfilled. ”

Vidocq snorted, "Brother, you guessed it. Director Zhisokai was an accountant by training and a prominent banker, and he was taken aback by the financial reports of the Security Department. So as soon as I left, they immediately reorganized the security department. At present, the Ministry of Security has handed over the funds to the municipal budget department for overall management, and no longer hires guys with criminal records.

Everything is managed in a very standardized manner, and the security department can no longer make any brilliant achievements. The place I had been fighting for half my life was now a strange place to me. It wasn't some big Paris Police Department of Security, I prefer to call it 'New Scotland Yard'. ”

Speaking of this, Vidoc paused for a moment, and then said sourly: "Arthur, I'm not afraid of your jokes, the "Police Management Regulations of the Metropolitan Police Department" that you participated in revising were also used by Risokai for reference. In his eyes, this is the key material. A character like you, who is good at writing materials, is always more important than crawling on the streets like me. If you're working under Risokai, you'll probably be able to rise to prominence in a few years. ”

Seeing that he was in such a depressed mood, Alexandre Dumas could not help but comfort: "Monsieur Vidocq, it is not a good thing for you to retire at this time. Go spend time with your wife, or lovers. Confuse and fool the young and beautiful shop girls who love to listen to legends, or go to the theater dressing room to greet the actresses who are waiting for the servants to call for their appearance. There's quite a lot you can do, and your story is far from over. ”

Vidocq couldn't help but smile when he heard Alexandre Dumas distract from the conversation: "That's right, from now on, I'm not bound by that damn system." My romances are one after another, and in the love field, I am like a cloud, floating wherever I want. And if you want to get those lovely girls, the first thing you need is a ticket.

As you all know, I've spent the last quarter of a century hunting down criminals. The Grand Paris Police Department doesn't use me, some people use me.

The rich lived in large villas, in two-wheeled open-top carriages drawn by pure-blooded horses from England, wore Schaefler clothes, wore Walker gloves, hats were Bondoni's, Gunagano boots were on their feet, their canes were Thomasson's, and even the cigar box was made of Gironx. As long as I can solve the problem for them, the remuneration is not a problem at all.

And the city of Paris, the country of France, we lack everything, but there is no shortage of criminals. I know that there are many crooks who came from Zhong Mingding's family of food, and later fell into the middle of the family, but they could not change their bad habits of extravagance and waste, so they wandered around the palace every day, peddling their worthless fakes and antiques.

There are also some daring people who like to pretend to be bankers, rent an office in the busiest neighborhood of Paris, recruit a few young and beautiful ladies to sit there and pretend to be cashiers, and then have salesmen coax fools to come here to do banking business. They first operated in good faith for a period of time, and when everyone regarded them as serious people, they began to make a windfall and alter the bills of exchange for other banks to accept. When they had almost made money, they disappeared without a trace overnight, and then they opened in a new place under a new name.

I am not exaggerating to say that there should be about 20,000 crooks in France at present, and they are active in every corner of society. In Paris, there are at least five thousand. Let's suppose that such an idler can kidnap 10 francs a day, 5,000 liars a day, 1,500,000 francs a month, and 18,000,000 francs a year!

Gentlemen, do you know what a huge market this is? Vidocq Detective Agency is a great deal! Ever since the detective agency opened, every morning when it opened, the bankers and businessmen could have broken through the threshold. In order to recover their business losses, the guys have always offered generous prices. ”

Speaking of this, Vidocq also frowned at Arthur and said, "Brother, I know that you are not in such a hurry to go to Hanover, are you interested in taking advantage of this time to take advantage of this time to take a short-term job with me?" Parisians knew Detective Vidocq's name, but they didn't know what kind of fellow Sir Arthur Hastings, Grand Duke of Scotland Yard, was.

Or let's settle for the next best thing, and it's okay if you don't want to handle the case. All you have to do is go to my place every day for breakfast, and you can talk to the little girls in my detective agency about your legends. Don't be shy, the girls in Paris are much more enthusiastic than you think.

For the rest of the time, you don't have to do anything with me, except to get out your name when the big clients come, and taunt them about the Metropolitan Police Regulations you wrote, and I can still pay you a pretty good pay. ”

When Arthur heard this, he finally understood what Vidocq was planning.

To put it bluntly, this guy is trying to use his knighthood and work experience as Assistant Superintendent of Police at Scotland Yard to attract clients to the newly opened detective agency.

I have to say that Vidocq's brain is really active. Such a capable person, even if he comes out of the security department, only needs to give him a period of time, and he can immediately become a millionaire.

Arthur smiled and said, "Of course I'm honored to be able to help you. But if you let me work in a detective agency, I might be a little wrong in terms of timing. ”

Vidocq's eyes rolled, and he thought Arthur was trying to refuse him: "Brother, if it's a matter of price, you can just say the number, and I will try my best to meet your requirements even if I have difficulties." ”

Arthur waved his hand and said, "Mr. Vidocq, it's not a matter of money. After all, I have to meet many friends on this trip to Paris, and I have to go to the Paris Academy of Sciences in the middle. Of course, and above all, I also need to accompany Louis to the Tuileries Palace to meet His Majesty the King of your country. However, if you have a big client and need me to visit with you, I don't mind helping you. Because I really wanted to get to know the most influential people in Paris at the moment, I was fascinated by the many Parisian social dinners that Monsieur Talleyrand and I had talked about. ”

(End of chapter)