Chapter 245: Intelligence Bureau Welfare Room (K8)

Chapter 244 – Intelligence Bureau Welfare Room (4K8)

Rustle Rustle ……

“Bernie, that case ……”

“Very nicely done George, the guys are very happy with how this is going.”

“That guy Pierre should be working his ass off on the case by now. Heh, he should have thought of that, I wouldn’t have lost the election in York to Brougham in the first place if the party had given me more resources to lean on. What’s even more annoying is that after I lost the election, he actually called me into the Wyatt Club and reprimanded me. Who does he think he is? The Duke of Wellington couldn’t reprimand me as if I were a three-year-old!”

“Hahaha, George, don’t be angry, it’s Peel’s turn to be angry now. If he doesn’t back me up in Parliament, then he’s done as party leader. But if he does, he’ll have to take the blame for Scotland Yard, which he founded. George, you’ve had a good time of it, and if you hadn’t happened to be a Justice of the Peace, how would you have been able to pin Peel down so easily?”

“But I issued your warrant, after all; shouldn’t I be held responsible for malpractice, in terms of legal procedure?”

“What are you afraid of, most of the judges are our people, and with Earl Eldon around, they will definitely turn a blind eye to the arrest warrant.”

“But ……”

“But what?”

“But I’m worried that Earl Eldon’s personal relationship with Sir Peel might influence his judgment, after all, when Sir Peel was trying to pass the amendments to the Blood Act he was always defending Earl Eldon in front of public opinion about the Peterloo fiasco as well as the Six Special Acts. I heard that Sir Peel asked His Excellency the Earl to go hunting in the countryside last weekend, so it is unlikely that they have exchanged views on this matter in private, right? And as I have issued a statement of resignation from the party for the sake of this judgeship, would His Excellency the Earl really be willing to step in and help me press the matter of the arrest warrant?”

“George, you’re always like this. Either do it or don’t regret it. Count Eldon has me on his side, I’ll step in and explain for you, an ordinary work mistake is just that, he’ll cover it up with a greeting. And even if the Earl is unwilling to come forward, I do not believe that the Lord Chancellor’s Office would bring such a trifle to the Royal Council and Privy Council, and submit it to His Majesty’s judgment; would it not be to bring trouble upon itself? Lord Brougham has only just assumed the office of Lord Chancellor, and your warrant is still signed by him; would he not be slapping himself in the face by doing so?”

“You have a point there. But Bernie, and you know it, that’s not a sane man, that’s the madman Henry Peter Brougham, that guy was born with his head up his ass, and with a lawsuit against the late King George IV, I wouldn’t be surprised to see what he could do.”

“If Brougham is really willing to punch himself in the face, then I’d have to think highly of him instead, which at least shows that you’re not complaining about losing the election battle in York. But we always have to consider things from a normal perspective, small probability events are not informative. If you follow the normal process, even if Brougham brings it up, you’ll only get a few months’ pay cut at most.

Peel, on the other hand, is going to be questioned by the party whether he supports me or not, and on top of that, he’ll be able to nauseate the Whigs, and hasn’t Earl Grey been jumping up and down about the Parliamentary Reform Bill lately? Now that this has come out, we can still slap him with the label of using government force to arrest opposition MPs. George, this was just an unfortunate accident, and now it’s translated into so many results, you’ve earned a lot.”

“I hope so, dammit, I didn’t want to do this!”

“It’s too late for that, now that it’s done, it’s only your fault for not being careful in the first place. George, you’re lucky to have me as a friend, or you’d have had your judge’s hat off by now. By the way, haven’t you always been dissatisfied with Viscount Melbourne? I heard that you recently tried to go through the connections to transfer to that what’s-his-name London District Attorney’s Office, and he got a sweet deal but didn’t want to continue to work for you?”

“Do you have to bring up a point?”

“Come on, we are all friends, how can I advise you if I don’t know the situation?”

“Hmph! You should have heard the rumors, my wife, Caroline, that slut, has been very close to Melbourne for a few years now, but she had the nerve to say to my face that she had no problems with Melbourne. We fought a few times because of this, but then I saw that Melbourne went up, thinking that this relationship should be favorable to my development, and then also turned a blind eye. After all, you know, in the British political arena, you can not be too clean. I used to be too upright, that’s why I have not been able to get reappointed, as a result, as soon as I realized the essence of this, I immediately became a magistrate.”

“Well …… you can be considered to have married a good wife ah.”

“Good my ass, a magistrate to get rid of me, Melbourne is taking me too seriously! Having finished with Peel, it was his turn next! Scotland Yard is run by the Home Office, and he has to be responsible for this kind of problem in a subordinate department, doesn’t he?”

“George, it’s worthy of you, thoughtful, with a mind and a plan and a hand, just being a magistrate is indeed condescending. But I have some more ruthless tricks here, are you interested?”

“Heh, Bernie, no need to flatter me, as long as it makes things hard for the two adulterers, Melbourne and Caroline, feel free to mention it.”

“It’s really no big deal. I just thought that you would know where you keep the private letters left by your wife’s correspondence with Melbourne. Perhaps you could even fine-tune it a bit, and if you could pick out a few with strong content, that would be even better. “Home Secretary Seduces Husband’s Wife”, “Rutting Rams Sit on Home Office Desks”, I’ve already drafted the headlines for Fleet Street. George, how does that sound to you?”

Clink, clink of glasses.

“Bernie, I knew I could trust you.”

“George, what are you talking about, sticking my neck out for my brother has always been my motto in life. After I finish this drink, I’ll go over to Earl Eldon’s and ask if I can help cover up the warrant for you, and you just wait here for the good news. Oh, yes, I must remind you at last that the inside story of this case is known to you and to me, and to no one else.”

“Bernie, don’t you trust a proper gentleman who graduated from Oxford? I’m highly trained.”

“Well, indeed, it is said by all that Oxford is the best in all Britain, and that Belle Orle College is the cream of Oxford; how could it have produced so distinguished a man as you if it had not been so?”

“Hahaha, Bernie, no wonder you can make a fortune from an ordinary perfume merchant to this, with this three-inch tongue, garbage can be sold by you for the value of gold.”

Rustle ……

In the office of Scotland Yard, where a gramophone stood, Arthur reclined in a chair, his legs crossed over the desk, his face covered with a bowler hat, and no expression could be discerned under the shadows.

And on the seat opposite him was a nervous-looking Wheatstone, trembling and not daring to breathe a word.

Only then did Mr. Wheatstone begin to regret it.

My God! Why did I covet Sir Isaac Newton’s position of power, wouldn’t it have been nice to just be plain old Charles Wheatstone?

At least Charles Wheatstone had a big House in the Regency Crescent and enough phonograph property to eat until he was old. But without Sir Isaac Newton’s skill in fixing people up, even a safe landing would be a problem.

Just as Wheatstone was struggling to back out, Arthur, who had been silent, suddenly raised his hand and slapped the stop button on the tape recorder beside him.

“Very good, very good. I thought there was some kind of big background behind this, but after all that, it’s two little shrimps behind it. Once upon a time I thought that the downward spiral and solo walk is the tradition of the East Asian island countries, now it seems that our western Britain is also fashionable to play this set ah! Think about it, the development of early, but also an island, a hundred years in advance to a preview does not seem to be much of a strange thing.”

When Wheatstone saw Arthur speak, he hurriedly stood up and said, “Mr. Hastings, you’ve got the stuff, I still have things to do, so I’ll take my leave first.”

He was about to turn around and head out the door, but before he could reach the door, a familiar snapping sound rang out behind him, as if something had been slapped on the table.

Wheatstone’s eyes closed and he leapt up to the sky and let out a long sigh, it couldn’t be helped, this step was just too familiar to him, and he was developing antibodies in his body.

Only to see that Wheatstone did not turn around, striding backward three steps, and sat back in the chair again.

“I say, Arthur, almost enough, don’t always move your sword, you’re a decent police officer, be civilized.”

Arthur had one finger in the trigger guard and while twirling the gun around, he spoke, “Charles, what are you afraid of, there’s no bullets in this.”

“No bullets? You should have said so!”

Wheatstone stood up and was about to go out the door. But it was too late, and in a flash of lightning, Arthur was seen pulling open the drawer, filling the cartridges with powder in a single motion, and only the click of the safety was heard.

Arthur pointed to the pistol that was still spinning in front of him, and smiled gently, “As you can see, there it is now.”

The corner of Wheatstone’s eye twitched twice before he finally succumbed to Arthur’s lechery.

His eyes glittered with sadness, “Arthur, can’t we just be normal friends?”

“I also want to be normal friends with you, but Charles, you’re too special a person.” Arthur spoke, “The only time you’re willing to listen to me properly is when I pull out my pistol, the rest of the time you’re figuring out how to run away from me.”

“And it’s not because you’re scared?!”

When Arthur heard this, he just shook his finger, “No, no, Charles, as you more or less know, I’m in the business of intelligence investigation now. And based on my life experience and my interaction with Mr. François Vidocq, an authority on the Parisian Police Intelligence session, I have come to the conclusion that there are four ways to manage the staff of the Police Intelligence Service, which I summarize as MICE, and the only one that applies to you at the moment is C.”

“MICE? what does that mean?”

To the Chief Scientific Advisor of the London Police Intelligence Service in front of him, who had now played a great role and would play an even greater role in the future, Arthur did not want to avoid the question.

He spoke, “The so-called MICE is actually an abbreviation of four words, which are M, Money, which can be bought by money, women, or other benefits.Ideology, which can be driven by certain lofty ideals.C, Compromise, which can be coerced.E, Ego, which refers to those who feel that they are better than everyone else and want to do things by doing difficult things.E, Ego, refers to those who feel that they are better than everyone else and want to do things by doing difficult things.E, Ego, refers to those who feel that they are better than everyone else. strong and want to seek excitement by doing difficult jobs.”

At this point, Arthur couldn’t help but ask, “Charles, do you have any particularly high ideals?”

Wheatstone pondered for a while and shook his head, “Not at the moment.”

Arthur asked again, “Are you egotistical as a person?”

Wheatstone thought again, “I just don’t like dealing with people, but calling me egotistical hurts too much.”

Arthur pressed on, “Can you be bought by money or women?”

Wheatstone suddenly turned red, “That I …… uh …… maybe I could consider ……”

But before he could finish, he was interrupted by Arthur, “No Charles, I know you well enough to know that you can’t.”

Wheatstone scratched his ears and squirmed in embarrassment, “Arthur, this …… really can.”

Arthur said seriously, “You’d better think carefully before you answer, this time the gun on the table can be loaded with bullets.”

“I ……” Wheatstone took a deep breath, “Well, I can’t.”

“Nah.” Arthur spread his hands, “Charles, look, you’re being coerced.”

Wheatstone glared, “No one’s not coerced when you play like that.”

“That’s not true.” Arthur leaned back in his chair, “Do you remember Mr. Elder Carter?”

“Of course, that was a strange man!”

Arthur said, “As far as Elder is concerned, he’d still be bought by women even if I put a gun to his head. Incidentally, I’ve always thought that he might become the best employee in the Bureau, maybe an intelligence legend in all of Great Britain as well. Because he has always been singular in his desires, a trait that is far too valuable for an intelligence officer faced with so many temptations. Of course, all of what I’m saying holds true only if he never dies at the hands of an Amazonian cannibal.”

When Wheatstone heard this, he could only think that Arthur was making fun of him.

But it was a good thing that it was a playful comment, and his emotions weren’t as tense as they had been when he had just received the recording.

After all, this was nothing more than learning of a conspiracy between a councilman and a magistrate, could it be any more frightening than having a gun held to your head by Commissioner Hastings?

Wheatstone said helplessly, “So, what exactly are you keeping me here for?”

Arthur sniffed and just smiled, “Charles, actually, I’ve been wanting to apologize to you. I feel that perhaps I was too hard on you once upon a time, and that you were afraid of socializing, but I repeatedly dragged you out of your own safe house and into this big fancy world, and that tactic was just too inhumane.”

As soon as Arthur finished this paragraph, perhaps from sheer shock, Wheatstone was half speechless with astonishment.

After a long time, he stammered and asked, “Ya …… Arthur, you …… have a clear conscience?”

Arthur slowly nodded his head and said, “Yes, I think, I hope you can forgive my past mistakes. Charles, I am sorry for you. But you must also understand that the London Police Intelligence Service is a new organization that hasn’t been established for long, so there must be flaws in taking care of the emotions of its employees.”

“No ……,” said Wheatstone, somewhat touched, “Arthur, in that case, I misunderstood you once upon a time there. Mr. Dickens always told me that you were a good man, but I never believed it, and I called you a bastard in my heart, so I was wrong.”

“Was it?”

Arthur’s smile grew wider, “Charles, I have the honor to inform you that in order to take care of your personal sentiments, the Bureau has decided to grant you a special grant of a small room, absolutely isolated, absolutely undisturbed, and apart from supplying you with three meals a day, you won’t be seeing any personnel there, have I been kind enough to you?

Of course, this kind of room bureau is not rich, after all, you also know, we London apply for this kind of single room is still quite a lot of people, so I can only give you a maximum of one week’s residency, time to time you have to move out, next time you want to live again have to give me in advance to play the application, or in the street to find someone to fight or something.”

“Huh?” Wheatstone frowned as he realized the subtlety of what was going on, “What kind of house are you …… talking about?”

Arthur didn’t answer the question, he just knocked lightly on the table and Tom and Tony, who had been waiting outside the door, pushed it open and saluted him, “Sir!”

Wheatstone was so shocked that he stood up, “What are you …… doing? I just took credit for the Bureau, how can you guys do this to me?”

“Charles, take it easy, the Bureau’s management has always been humane, your room is a private order, just like Mr. Rui Mystery’s perfume.”

Arthur raised his hand to signal him to calm down, but just as he had calmed Wheatstone down, he heard him speak again.

“Invite Mr. Wheatstone into the Bureau’s welfare room, where he’ll be staying for the time being until Congressman Bernie Harrison’s case is closed. By the way, the meal standard can be set a little higher, and any excess over the meal standard will be deducted from my salary. After all, Mr. Wheatstone staying there is going through my personal relationship, and I as the leader can’t spend the bureau’s funds indiscriminately, can I?”

(End of chapter)