Chapter 12: The Mysterious Gentleman
Chapter 12 The Mysterious Gentleman
Mrs. Peel’s words could be described as both soft and hard.
Those present were all discerning people, everyone could tell that the well-made parasol was worth a lot of money.
But if George Morris was really invited to testify at the court site, then even if he was beaten to death, he would not be able to admit that it was of high value.
As a young legislator who climbed out of a tough election campaign with great difficulty, if he is tied to a vote-buying scandal as soon as he is elected, it will undoubtedly immediately bring his bright political career to the bottom.
Although everyone knows that election bribery is nothing new these days, both the Whigs and the Tories have unspokenly kept the matter quiet under the table, and tacitly agreed to keep silent about their rivals’ election bribery.
If anyone is so stupid as to make this matter clear and dare to risk universal condemnation, then no matter what his origin is, he will be suppressed by all of them together.
A newcomer like George Morris, who is not yet senior, obviously does not have the guts to challenge the bigwigs of the two parties and all the senior legislators, nor is he prepared to jump out and smash everyone’s rice bowls.
The magistrate certainly understood what was really going on here.
He didn’t even bother to call George Morris to testify in court because he knew that guy would never tell the truth.
If he pushed Morris hard enough, the guy might even say that the parasols were worthless.
The magistrate wouldn’t be surprised if he said that the hundred umbrellas were all test pieces that he’d had an epiphany about at home and had made overnight.
As a veteran judge who had served for more than twenty years, he had seen this kind of thing too many times.
The magistrate pretended to ponder, “Mrs. Peel, given your good reputation, I trust your judgment. But if this parasol is merely an insignificant souvenir ……”
Before he could finish his sentence, the jurors on the stage were already up in arms.
“And it’s still mediocre.”
“It’s not worth a few dollars.”
“It’s too poorly made to be a toy for my son.”
“Mr. Judge, how long do you think you should get for stealing a toy?”
The judge laughed helplessly, “Ten days is about right I think.”
The jurors couldn’t help but laugh at this as well.
“That’s what you said.”
“We think we can make a judgment.”
“That’s right, we think little Adam is guilty of stealing toys.”
Mrs. Peel looked behind her at the animated corps members and smiled back, “Mr. Judge, it looks like we don’t need to have an out-of-court panel. The corps is unanimous that Adam Evans is guilty, and you may pass sentence.”
In response, the magistrate was happy to fall back on his laurels; he had many more cases to hear today, and there was no need to continue wasting time on little Adam.
Thud!
The gavel fell.
The magistrate grandly announced, “The defendant Adam Evans has been found guilty by the jury. I hereby, in the name of the London Magistrates’ Court, and with reference to the relevant provisions of the law, sentence the defendant Adam Evans to ten days’ imprisonment and a fine of one shilling.”
“Hurrah!!!”
The jurors cheered.
Little Adam was in tears as he couldn’t stop thanking the magistrate, “Thank you, thank you, Mr. Judge.”
The magistrate smiled at Adam Jr. as he organized the papers on his desk, “You should go thank Officer Arthur.”
“Well, I will.” Adam Jr. turned his head to Arthur and bowed deeply to him, “Mr. Sheriff, you saved my life.”
Arthur smiled and said nothing, just walked up and patted him on the shoulder, then fished a shilling out of his pocket and headed towards the magistrate.
“Mr. Justice, here’s his fine, I’ll pay it for him.”
The magistrate raised his stubby white eyebrows and snickered, “You want to rob me of such a thing? Not a chance. Paying that shilling for little Adam will get me more piety than going to church ten times. I can’t leave that to you, take it back.”
Arthur also joked, “Then when you go to heaven, remember to keep a good place for me by your side.”
“No need, Arthur.”
The magistrate stood up clutching his papers as he laughed, “Because when the time comes, you’ll be in a position where you must be closer to God than I am, and I’ll need you to help me put in more good word before God.”
“As far as the law allows?”
“That’s for sure, I’m a judge.”
The two smiled at each other, and Arthur turned and opened his mouth to say goodbye, “Goodbye, Mr. Judge.”
The magistrate’s voice rang out behind him.
“Will I see you here again?”
Arthur’s footsteps paused, “Probably, no.”
The magistrate was silent for a moment, then whirled around and spoke, “Arthur, take my advice. Keep doing it or you’ll regret it. You’re fit for the job, and I couldn’t find a better man for the profession. I hate all the cops at Scotland Yard, but you’re an exception. Everything will be all right with you.”
Arthur didn’t reply to the magistrate’s retention; he simply slung his police officer’s uniform over his own shoulders, stuck one hand in his trouser pocket, and waved his other hand gently at the other man.
He then took a step and left the courtroom without a word, as if he had never been there.
The magistrate looked at his distant back and sighed heavily.
“What a young man these days ……”
The court clerk sitting at the lower head of the judge looked back at the old judge, and then at Arthur who had already walked out of the courtroom, he carried the pen in his hand, and after half a day of patience, he finally couldn’t hold back, and got up to chase after him.
“Officer Arthur, wait!”
Seeing this situation, the magistrate couldn’t help but laugh again and let out a long sigh. “What young men these days!”
Arthur stepped out of the courtroom, the streets of traffic in front of him, the clear, sunny sky above him.
The wind whipped through the treetops and brought up dust that kind of misted his eyes.
Arthur raised his hand to shield his brow and looked up at the azure blue sky, mumbling, “It’s a rare good day, it’s just that the sun is so blinding.”
A fancy black carriage was parked on the street in front of the courtroom, and a middle-aged gentleman with a black bowler hat and a monocle of gold-rimmed glasses was waiting there.
He smiled and greeted Arthur when he saw him come out of the door.
“How do you do, Officer Arthur.”
Arthur took a good look at the other man’s appearance and wondered, “Do I know you?”
The other smiled, “You don’t know me, but I know you. That was a wonderful speech just now, wasn’t it? Although I only came to take a break, even though I was sitting in the courtroom gallery, I was still impressed by the content of your infectious speech.”
“Thank you for supporting my work.”
“Honestly, you are the perfect image of a police officer in my mind. Calm, composed, intelligent, confident, righteous, aggressive yet unobtrusive, you are exemplary in all you say and do, and you are worthy of being a role model in every word and deed. You are the pride of the whole of Scotland Yard.”
Arthur grudgingly smiled, this was the second person to praise him so much today.
“I don’t know if I deserve such praise from you, but that doesn’t matter anymore. As of tomorrow, I am no longer a Scotland Yard police officer.”
The middle-aged gentleman asked, “Are you really not considering continuing at Scotland Yard?”
Arthur nodded, wanting to speak but feeling something was amiss.
His hand fumbled in his pants pocket for a while and suddenly felt the pipe that Elder had given him this morning, the tobacco in it was still smoked, he had just sipped it twice this morning before it went out, it was just the right time to take it out and put it to use.
When the middle-aged gentleman saw Arthur take out his pipe, he naturally took a match from his pocket and helped him to light it.
Arthur took a hard drag, but he was choked to tears.
But he still forced himself to endure the discomfort and expressed his gratitude to the other party, “Thank you for your help, sir.”
The middle-aged gentleman smiled and said, “So you don’t know how to smoke.”
Arthur took two more sips and returned with a frown, “Just learned this morning. There used to be discipline on the team to keep us from smoking in public, so once upon a time I never touched the stuff.”
“So what did you learn it for?”
Arthur held his pipe in his mouth and smoked it any way he could.
The flavor of the smoke was bitter and astringent, and the smoke from the burning tobacco was very choking, making him feel uncomfortable everywhere.
“When I quit this job, I’m going to the sea. I’ve heard that if you want to mingle with the sailors, you need to be able to smoke and drink a little bit, or else you won’t have a good time when you go to the ship.”
“Have you already found a ship?”
“That’s right. The Royal Navy’s Beagle, they’re getting ready for a round-the-world science voyage and they’re short of a museum man.”
A look of regret passed through the middle-aged gentleman’s gaze, “Losing a fine officer like you really makes me lose my mind, it’s a loss for Scotland Yard and a loss for the citizens of London. But I respect your choice.”
“Thank you for your respect. Well, see you again sometime, sir. Thanks for the matches.”
With those words, Arthur lifted his leg and left the place.
But he had not been gone long when he saw the two officers, Tom and Tony, running out in a huff.
They rushed in Arthur’s far away direction while chasing and shouting.
“Arthur, you mustn’t be impulsive! We can’t lose you! Ooohhhh, I’m such a loser, clearly you shouldn’t be the one to suffer from these things.”
“My son must go to the University of London in the future! Even if Oxford and Cambridge don’t want tuition fees, he has to fucking get his ass to the University of London!”
When the middle-aged gentleman saw this scene, he only felt a bit of laughter.
Just as he was enjoying the long-distance running race between the two police officers, Tom and Tony, someone suddenly interrupted him with a voice.
“Sir, did you just see a man in a white shirt with a police uniform on his shoulder walking out of here?”
The middle-aged gentleman turned his head to see that it was the young court clerk who had asked the question.
“You mean Officer Arthur? What do you want with him?”
“Yes, do you know Officer Arthur?”
The court clerk was pleasantly surprised, “That’s great! Here’s the thing, although I’m a court clerk, at the same time I work part-time as an interviewer at a newspaper office.
The speech that Officer Arthur gave today was very inspiring, so I would like to publish it in our newspaper. I wonder if you could convey this request for me?”
Hearing this, the middle-aged gentleman stroked his chin and thought for a while before suddenly smiling back.
“I’ll convey it for you, I don’t think he’ll refuse the request. Can I take the liberty of asking, which newspaper are you writing for?”
The court clerk returned with embarrassment, “That …… isn’t a big newspaper, just a newspaper with a very small circulation called the Daily Observer. What are you asking for?”
The middle-aged gentleman laughed, “Nothing, I just happen to know a few editors of The Times who are worried about the lack of articles lately.
If you don’t mind, could you allow them to reprint your manuscript when it’s ready?
I’m sure they’ll not begrudge the payoff.
Even if you do me a favor, you’ll also do them a favor. What do you think?”
(End of chapter)