Chapter 176: A Busy Man
Chapter 175 The Busybody
Westminster, London, 4 Whitehall Street, Greater London Police Headquarters.
Arthur was sitting in his office on the second floor, a thick pile of police materials piled up in his hands.
Although every superintendent in Scotland Yard had to face such a pile of weekly police summaries on Monday, there was no doubt that the one Arthur had to deal with was definitely the thickest pile.
As for why he was faced with the thickest material, the reason was also very simple, who made his precinct encompass the most chaotic area in London, Towers Hamlets?
And as well as having to deal with the day-to-day police work, he also had to submit a report to Scotland Yard and the Home Office on his work in the Hyde Park riots last week.
Having managed to finish writing them, Arthur leaned back in his chair and stretched out, and through the sunlight that shone through the window he could notice that his right hand, which was holding the pen, was stained with traces of ink.
He looked sideways at the papers on his desk and the voluminous archives in the filing cabinets of his office, and couldn’t help but frown.
When he was a police inspector in Greenwich, he could still cope with these tasks. But now as a police superintendent, whether from the perspective of improving work efficiency or reducing his own burden, he should consider finding a few police assistants who can help.
Tom and Tony were certainly willing to help, but due to their education level and personality, they were really not up to this kind of clerical work.
Arthur mulled over this matter and thought to himself that when it was graduation season at the University of London, he might consider doing an on-site recruitment at the school?
One to give themselves to reduce the burden, the second is also considered to give back to the alma mater, to solve the problem of the employment rate of the University of London.
But the only difficulty may lie in the fact that Scotland Yard’s Junior Police Assistant salary level on the market is not particularly competitive.
Although Scotland Yard’s general police pay has risen to fifteen shillings per week, and the high turnover rate has gradually slowed down, there are still some officers who have chosen to leave the force in the past few months in search of higher pay.
The private security market in London is expanding rapidly, perhaps due to the recent economic upturn and the fact that London has not been very peaceful for some time.
Private security is probably too highbrow to call it ‘private security’, but it’s actually something like janitorial work or bell-ringing.
Of course, in the 21st century, these types of jobs are generally referred to as security guards.
But can security guards protect anyone?
Arthur knew that in his heart.
Security guards, they don’t protect anyone.
But saying that, but any officer who had had experience with Scotland Yard had been madly sought after by the private security market after they left the service, and most of the retired officers had been offered a new job with a decent pay rise.
Even the current Prime Minister of Britain, the Duke of Wellington, has begun to think about hiring a private security team because of the repeated smashing of window panes in his home.
When he thought of Duke Wellington, Arthur couldn’t help but feel a little worried again.
According to his understanding, a new parliamentary discussion would be held in two weeks, and according to what he had learned from Dickens, who specialized in parliamentary interviews, it was highly likely that the Whigs would launch a general attack on Wellington’s cabinet in two weeks.
Judging from the current situation, even the Duke of Wellington, who was the most adept at building defenses in the whole of Great Britain, was bound to receive a decisive blow to his fortifications this time.
But think about this is not much use, even if the Duke of Wellington collapsed, at most it is an early retirement, from now on to lie quietly in the House of Lords to sleep only.
After all, when he consecutively defeated four French marshals in the Iberian Peninsula, he was awarded by His Majesty the King and the government, not only successfully promoted to Duke, was named Knight of Gad, but also received His Majesty the King and the government rewarded 500,000 dollars.
Worrying for him, that was really unnecessary. The most important thing now is to consider which new backer the Duke of Wellington and the Tory party led by Sir Peel can change after they are out of power.
Arthur thought about it for a moment and had no clue.
He ran his aching palms through his hands and reclaimed a clean sheet of white paper from a drawer, intending to list all the things he intended to do, or would do, in the coming period.
1. go to the London College of Music, near Baker Street, and discuss with Mr. Moscheles as rapidly as possible the matters connected with the part-time employment of recitals
2. reserve a number of tickets for Mrs. Levine’s recital when it is fixed.
3. Go to Greenwich and see Mr. Charles Wheatstone to reserve a phonograph and records.
4. contact Fiona and ask her ‘little brother of Cambridge’ to find Elder’s damned wallet and the Beagle’s sea-training supply list in it for him
5. go to Fleet Street and find a suitable newspaper to serialize Alexander’s masterpiece, The Count of Monte Cristo.
6. go to a job fair at the University of London in Gower Street to find at least one civilian police assistant. If there is a suitable target, we may consider transferring to LPS for developmental training.
7. analyze and investigate the internal document files of the LPS provided by Elder to see if he can identify a Whig backer from within who can be connected to him.
Agareth had both hands behind his back as he stood bent low behind Arthur and pushed his monocle.
The Red Devil nodded in satisfaction, “Arthur, that’s right. Keep running and sooner or later you’ll climb it.”
Who knew that when Arthur heard this, he just raised an eyebrow, “You think I keep running to get ahead?”
The red devil smiled, “Isn’t it for getting ahead?”
Arthur just gently shook his head, “No, it’s not, running is just about not staying where you are. You don’t understand, Agareth, this is a big time, if you can’t keep up with the times, you’ll only end up being left behind by it, and others won’t wait for you.”
When Agareth heard this, he only felt something familiar, “Why do I remember this as if you’ve said it to someone before? Whoops! Oh yes, it’s that crazy priest from Oxford. Aren’t you going to check him out properly? I read in the newspaper that the anti-Robert Peel movement in Oxford is in full swing these days, and that Oxford St. Mary’s parish priest you know, John Newman, is one of its leaders.”
Arthur shrugged, “If they want to get into it, so be it. After all, over the Catholic Emancipation Bill, even the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York are now engaging in personal attacks on Sir Peel in Parliament every day. It doesn’t really matter if there’s an extra group of Oxford clergymen, after all, the priests aren’t so bad as to go smashing the windowpanes of Sir Peel’s house.”
The Red Devil raised an eyebrow and smiled wickedly, “So you’re planning to clear the air with the Tories? Whoops! My dear Arthur, you are quite the trifling little scoundrel. But this is really out of my expectation, I would have thought you would be mentally challenged to do such a thing.”
Arthur crossed his fingers and propped his arms on the tabletop as he laughed, “Agareth, I told you long ago that as a Scotland Yard Superintendent, I hold absolute political neutrality, and I’m not interested in partisan struggles. Besides, didn’t you once follow a great man such as King Solomon?
In that case, then you should understand that if you are not in power today, then you will not be in power tomorrow. Taking turns in power is tantamount to emasculation; longevity is power. It looks like the Tories’ thirty-year long reign is coming to an end, and while I think they’ll be back sooner or later, until then I’ve got to find myself a sensible path to help me through this tumultuous period.”
The Red Devil just smiled at his words, “And what are you going to do about it?”
Arthur just cupped his chin and looked at the two stacks of papers in front of him, one was a police report from Scotland Yard and the other was a file analysis from the LPS.
He stood up and picked up his cup of tea and walked over to the window, which looked out onto the bright sunshine and traffic-lined roads, and Downing Street was just a short distance out of his sight.
Arthur took a sip of his black tea and spoke lightly, “I believe that no matter which party is in power, they always need someone to do things for them. Whether it’s a public matter, or a private matter, I always have to find a chance to solve one for them.”
The Red Devil nodded and walked over to Arthur, “And what if there is no opportunity?”
The corners of Arthur’s mouth turned up, and he had nothing but a cheerful smile on his face.
“Then find a way to create the opportunity.”
(End of chapter)