Chapter 10: The Strongest Voice from Scotland Yard

Chapter 10 The Strongest Voice from Scotland Yard
As soon as Arthur’s words left his mouth, the courtroom, which had just been cacophonous, immediately quieted down.

The trainee judge on the side inquired to the magistrate, “Sir, is this in order?”

The magistrate blackened his face, he was obviously infuriated by Arthur, but at this time he no longer had the heart to care about this shit.

“It’s recess time, and it’s Officer Arthur’s right to do what he wants. It’s not like I can gag him.”

Although the magistrate didn’t object, the members of the jury were still prejudiced against Arthur’s earlier behavior, and they had a preconceived notion that Arthur must have coerced a confession out of Little Adam.

If this was not the case, why would Adam be scared into incoherent crying?
Just as the men of the jury were about to go outside for some air, and the women were busy comforting Little Adam, Little Adam, who was the center of the maelstrom, was holding back his tears to stay at the scene.

He whispered, “Officer Arthur is a good man.”

Someone among the ladies got angry and said, “Adam, you don’t have to be afraid, with us here, he wouldn’t dare do anything to you. You don’t need to say these words against your will.”

Mrs. Peel was also heartbroken and held his little hand, “With me here, none of them can touch you. If you want to cry, just cry a little, tell us all your grievances, we will give you a fair judge.”

But Little Adam held back his tears and shook his head, “No, what I said is the truth. Officer Arthur is the second best person in my heart after Officer Tom’s wife. Officer Tom’s wife mended a lot of my bad clothes and told me good stories. And Officer Arthur is the only person on the whole street who will listen to me attentively, and he has given me some money, and is a good friend to me.”

When the ladies heard this, one of them felt his mind boggle.

“My God!”

“What the hell is going on here?”

“But he just tried to send you to the gallows, are you sure he’s really your friend?”

The men were also a little confused when they heard this, and they rushed to ask Arthur.

“Officer, can you explain to us why your inconsistent behavior?”

Arthur saw that everyone’s eyes were focused on him, and the stone hanging in his heart finally landed calmly.

He frankly stated, “Prosecuting the accused is my duty as a public prosecutor and a police officer. From the first day the Greater London Police Department was established, I have always been told that my duty is to bring all criminals to justice.

Little Adam did steal the umbrella, which he never hid from me, and he was a very honest boy. From the first day I knew him, I always knew he was an honest and trustworthy boy.

We could talk without fear, exchange opinions with each other, talk about what was bothering us, and give advice about our respective troubles.

Since he is indeed guilty of stealing, when I appear in court as a public prosecutor, I cannot in good conscience deny his wrongdoing and allow him to escape the punishment of the law.

For that would not help him to correct his behavior, but would only grow his evil deeds and feed his deeper evil thoughts.

But on the other hand, little Adam is a good friend of mine.

Therefore, as I leave the prosecutor’s seat, I must again consider his situation at this time.

Although he has broken the law, I think that the sentence of hanging for stealing a parasol is not too heavy a sentence?

I need to save my friend, and even though he committed a crime, I want him to be left with the opportunity to make amends. Instead of ending his life hastily at the tender age of nine.

I must apologize to all of you for what I have just done, because I, personally, have given the jury, as well as Mr. Judge, the wrong impression, and thus influenced your proper judgment.

For that, I am very ashamed and very sorry.”

Arthur bowed slightly, “I’m sorry everyone.”

As soon as Arthur finished this paragraph, the tense atmosphere that had filled the courtroom just a moment ago dissolved into nothingness.

The ladies and gentlemen of the jury regained their composure, and even the magistrate was in no hurry to go to the back room for tea.

One by one, the gentlemen smiled sarcastically and waved their hands, “It is we who should apologize to you. I’m sorry, Mr. Sergeant, we misunderstood you before.”

The ladies also apologized with red-faced embarrassment.

“I almost took you for a villain. Geez! You are simply a gentleman.”

“You certainly seem to have had a lot of education, speak courteously, and have a public and private heart. We should give you a chance to speak.”

“Officer, it’s not your fault that we didn’t get it right. I’m a hothead, you know, being a mother is like that.”

The magistrate scratched his wig in embarrassment.

“Arthur, you know I do have some opinions about Scotland Yard. But that is not against you, but there are some other legal concerns. I don’t dislike you as a person, I even have a little admiration for you.”

Arthur saw that the atmosphere of the scene had clearly improved, so he smiled and spoke, “Then may I begin my speech?”

“Of course, without a doubt.”

“It is your right, no one can stop you.”

Arthur asked, picking up his uniform from the chair and pointing to the badge on it.

“As you can see, I am a Scotland Yard policeman.

I’ve been lucky enough to have been in this job since as soon as I graduated from college.

I’ve also been unfortunate to have started in this job as soon as I graduated from college.

Like all my colleagues, I was paid twelve shillings a week, worked seven days a week, fourteen hours a day, and patrolled over fifteen miles.

I do not wish to deceive you that the work is very tiring and not decent, but these are not the most difficult problems I have had to overcome in my work.

I fully understand why the ladies and gentlemen present were so hostile to me at the beginning of the trial.

For even in our daily work we are confronted with such malice, even more nakedly and more directly expressed.

In the six months that I’ve been working at Scotland Yard, my borough of Greenwich has suffered a total of sixty assaults on police officers.
But the irony is that we have fewer than thirty local police officers.

I have many colleagues who joined at the same time as me, but less than a third of them are still with me.

Some of them left because the pay was too low and the work too hard.

But the vast majority of them left because we didn’t feel any respect at all at work, and we even felt more guilty than criminals.

People all over the world are hostile to us and want to give us a hard time whenever they can.

But I don’t blame those people, just as I don’t blame the ladies and gentlemen present here today.

Because if a man is liable to send me to the gallows at any moment, then I’m more than likely not going to give him any good looks either.

But is it really true that all policemen want to send criminals to the gallows?

The example of Little Adam has been laid out here today, and I don’t really want to send him to the gallows, but my duty won’t allow it.

Look at the letter of our law.

Destruction of roads, death penalty.

Cutting down trees, death penalty.

Stealing envelopes, death penalty. Salvaging shipwreck relics, death penalty.

Going out at night with a black face, death penalty.

Theft of goods worth more than five shillings, death.

Concealing a miscarriage by an unwed mother, still death.

If I were to expand on our death penalty statute, it would probably not be finished until nightfall.

This strange phenomenon was not just discovered by me personally; Lord Samuel Romilly raised the need for reform of our penal code in Parliament as early as 1808, but sadly, his efforts did not work.

In 1808, we provided for over 160 death sentences, and after more than 20 years of effort, we have now added over 70 more.

But has the rapid increase in the number of executions effectively improved the security environment?

Unfortunately, I have to report another set of figures.

In 1805, there were 4,605 arrests for criminal offenses in England and Wales alone.

And in the last year, just last year!
Gentlemen.
Ladies.
Do you guess that number has decreased?
No!

Of course not!

Last year we had a staggering 30,000 criminal cases in England and Wales, a full six times more!
That means that instead of helping us improve the environment, the increase in capital offenses has caused crime rates to skyrocket.

Of course, just because I say this doesn’t mean I’m in favor of abolishing the death penalty, but I would like to see a more appropriate scale for minor crimes.

I don’t understand our society, I don’t understand why theft of five shillings should be punishable by death.

And in 1825, we had more than seventy banks fail, and countless depositors suffered major losses of their savings as a result.

Those bank partners stole far more than five shillings, and yet I do not see any of them hanging from the gallows.

I don’t see it, I don’t understand this society.

I don’t know what the hell I’m doing this job for, I’m obviously enforcing the law and obeying my duties, yet I always feel like I’m committing a crime!
I don’t fucking understand, and no one is telling me what the hell is going on!
Why should my friends go to their deaths for five shillings when there are people who have caused five million pounds of damage and are still alive and well!

I used to recite the Police Instructions when I was inducted into the force, and that told me.

The police should always be in good touch with the public and respect the historic tradition that ‘the police are the public and the public are the police’.

But now the public tells me that I am not one of them.

And I am clearly a police officer, yet I am always tempted to make statements that are incompatible with my duties.

I was always confused because of this until I read a blurb some time ago.

And it was because of it!

That’s why I decided to show up at this location today!

I’m keeping this blurb to myself, and I want to share it with you as well.

No man is self-contained,

isolated island.
Every human being is part of a vast continent.

If a wave washes away a rock.
Europe becomes less.

Like the loss of a corner of a promontory.
Like losing a piece of your friend or your own territory.

Every death is my sorrow.
Because I am a member of the human race.

So.
Don’t ask for whom the funeral bell tolls.

It tolls for you!

Thank you all.

Thank you for your willingness to listen to this irrelevant nonsense from a soon-to-be-departed patrolman.

Because this will probably be my last appearance in magistrate court.

Thank you.

Really thank you guys.”

Arthur’s chest rose and fell in a series of ragged breaths, sweat soaking his white shirt and reflecting his open, broad chest.

Though he knew he was bound to be emotional from the speech, it still took even him by surprise to do it to this extent.

The courtroom was silent, and the focus of everyone’s eyes fell on his face.

But after a brief moment of quiet, sparse applause began to ring out in the courtroom.

Immediately afterward, everyone rose from their seats.

Soon, the applause gathered into a mass and exploded in the magistrate’s court like lightning and thunder.

Accompanied by cheers and hoots of approval, Sergeant Tom wept bitterly and fell to his knees, hugging Arthur’s thighs.

“Arthur, I am pained, I am very pained. Why did we have to lose such an outstanding colleague as you? I don’t understand, I really don’t understand ……”

“Well done! Officer Arthur!”

“Wonderfully put! Why not penalize five million pounds and hold on to five shillings! I can’t understand it either!”

“This law should have been changed a long time ago, and I don’t approve of sentencing Adam to hang! It’s irresponsible for public life!”

Even the magistrate couldn’t help but give Arthur an appreciative look as he clapped his hands while rushing around.

“Allow me to reintroduce to you, Great Britain’s finest policeman, the public’s role model, the strongest voice from Scotland Yard, Sergeant Arthur Hastings!”

But Arthur, on hearing these words, first stared slightly, and then slowly lowered his head.

“Sergeant Arthur Hastings?”

He stroked the police badge on the uniform in front of him, revealing a somewhat bitter smile.

“Sorry, not anymore.”

At the very moment when the crowd was in a state of jubilation, a gentleman sitting in the gallery wearing a black bowler hat suddenly hooked his hand at the servant beside him.

He lowered his voice and commanded, “You go to Scotland Yard at once, I need the personal details of this Sergeant Arthur Hastings immediately.”

The servant bowed slightly, “At your service, Sir Peel.”

(End of chapter)