Chapter 186: Arthur, do you want to be relieved of your duties?
Chapter 185 – Arthur, do you want to be relieved of your duties?
4 Whitehall Street, Greater London Police Station.
Arthur was sitting at his desk, a freshly released newspaper cupped in his hands, but its headline was a little too shocking for him.
‘Unsavory Duke of Wellington Renews Declaration Against Reform in Parliament’
Wellington: Parliamentary Reform Is Like the French Revolution, Whigs Will Bring the Country to Its Death.
“Wellington: Reform is a precursor to civil war. If you want to reform the election, you have to step over my dead body.
“Parliament falls into a terrifying silence for eight minutes.
Viscount Palmerston attacks the Prime Minister: another Cromwell, whose ultimate aim is to start a civil war.
Lord Russell: Britain is heading for military dictatorship under Wellington.
“Lord Peel was shocked by the Duke of Wellington’s remarks.
“The Tories held a temporary emergency meeting of the party, organized by Lord Peel, after the close of Parliament.
Lord Peel and the Tory MPs issued a joint statement that we regretted the Prime Minister’s views and that the Tories had never been opposed to reform, but that we thought the present program was too radical.
Lord Peel forced the Duke of Wellington to resign after an impromptu meeting with the Prime Minister.
“Lord Peel to replace Duke of Wellington as Tory leader”.
A great victory for the ages! His Majesty the King has appointed Charles Earl Grey to form a new cabinet, which will be announced after the counting of the votes in next week’s election.
Arthur put down the paper in his hand and rubbed his temples with a considerable headache.
The Red Devil sat by the window nibbling on an apple while sneering, “Wellington, courageous decision! Is he taking all the accusing voices on his head so that Peel can continue to lead the Tories forward?”
Arthur tapped the headline of the newspaper on his desk, “Isn’t it obvious? Although I was told by you early on that there would be breaking news, this is just too much news. The Duke of Wellington is purely renewing the Tories with his political future.”
Agares threw the apple core out of the window, grabbed the curtains and wiped his hands, “But you’d better think about how to protect yourself now, Wellington is gone, Peel is gone, and the Whigs have come to power to form a cabinet. In my opinion, those who look at you not good eyes, I’m afraid that one after another to pop out to give you some color to see.”
As soon as his words fell, a knock sounded outside Arthur’s office.
The Red Devil glanced at the door of the room, shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands, “See, what did I just say.”
A junior constable pushed his way into the room and saluted toward Arthur, “Superintendent Hastings, Director Rowan would like you to come over.”
Arthur exhaled as he stood up and picked up the bowler hat from the coat rack and fastened it on his head, “Got it, I’ll be right there.”
……
A few minutes later, in the Commissioner’s office at the Greater London Police Department.
Director Rowan rested one hand on the back of his chair while the other cupped a handwritten letter with a private seal.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.
The corners of Luo Wan’s mouth turned upwards, but he quickly restrained his smile and resumed his usual dignified expression.
He knocked on the desk with his hand and shouted at the door, “Please come in.”
Arthur pushed the door and entered the room, raising his white-gloved right arm in salute, “Sir.”
Rowan smiled and pointed at the chair in front of Arthur, “Arthur, don’t be so formal, sit down first.”
Arthur came to sit down squarely in front of Rowan, but before he could sit still, he saw Rowan lifting the teapot in front of him and pouring a cup of tea for him with his own hands.
“Arthur, come, drink something first to warm up your body, this damn weather today is really cold.”
Arthur smiled, he just picked up the teacup to drink, but before the tea could enter his mouth, he heard Director Rowan, who was leaning on the back of the chair with his fingers crossed, speak, “But you should be used to this kind of cold, after all, last year at this time you should still be on the front line doing it. Sitting in the office is always warmer than staying outside, do you think I’m right?”
Arthur’s eyebrows raised slightly, his hand holding his teacup slowly lowered, and he didn’t really think of just letting Rowan’s shade fall on deaf ears.
Just like what Mrs. Cowper said before, he was only 20 years old, it was normal for young people to be exuberant.
It was also like what Mr. Moscheles and General Codrington had said, whether he went on to become a musician or a scientific secretary to an Admiralty official was promising. His reasons for staying at Scotland Yard were, for one thing, because of Sir Peel’s esteem, and for another because there were quite a few of his friends here, and if he went off lightly, Tom and Tony, the new sheriffs, who had been labeled Hastingsites, were afraid that they would not have a good time of it.
Arthur thought about it, smiled and spoke, “Sir, you are right, in fact, I often go to the front line now, although it is comfortable to stay in the office, but after sitting for a long time, my brain will go out.”
Director Luo Wan had thought that Arthur might endure a few more sentences, the other party started to counterattack from the very first sentence, which was really still out of his expectation.
“Is that so? You’re often on the front line? Then I guess you should be doing a good job in Tauer Hamlets?”
Rowan crooked himself and pulled a thick file from the filing cabinet behind him and threw it in front of Arthur, “Can you give me a good explanation as to why Tauerhamletts has been the number one within the precincts for a long time after you took over, both in terms of crime rate and number of crimes?”
Arthur originally thought that Rowan might mention something else, but hearing that he actually had the cheek to start with the crime rate of Tauer Hamlets, it still couldn’t help but make Arthur feel a bit ludicrous.
Arthur said, “Sir, while I don’t wish to make excuses, you should understand that the crime rate in Tauerhamletz has been breaking ahead of the rest of the region since before I took over. This is due to a number of factors, the first ……”
Rowan interrupted Arthur with a raised hand, “It’s not as if I don’t consider your difficulties. If you have the same resources at hand as the superintendents who were previously in charge of Tauerhamletts, then I can understand even if the crime rate can’t come down.
But Arthur, you’re not like those people, you’re smarter, younger, and more capable than someone like Clemens, and it’s because of that that we’ve promoted you from a petty constable patrolling the streets to Superintendent of Scotland Yard within a year.
And you know how much the Home Office and Scotland Yard support you, the newly created LPS was not handed over to anyone else, but to you for individual management, in order to help you solve the crime problem in Tauerhamletts.
Now that you’ve taken more resources and enjoy the brightest light in the whole of Scotland Yard, then you should show a corresponding performance.”
Hearing this, the Red Devil, who stood behind Arthur, just smiled wickedly and put his slender fingers, sharp enough to pierce his throat, on Arthur’s shoulders.
“Whoa! Listen! Listen to that, Arthur. The old man is utterly shameless! He talks as if you didn’t get your promotion out of your own hands, but he gave it to you out of mercy.LPS, how dare he mention LPS?Doesn’t he know that LPS doesn’t get a penny of extra money from the Ministry of the Interior? You’re taking one share of the money to do two shares of the work, and that’s why it’s not your fault.”
Arthur was about to speak, but before he could, Rowan interrupted him again with a raised hand.
Rowan said, “Arthur, I know you probably want to say that your energy has been tied up in too many things during this period of time. Like the murder and body theft case or the high seas pursuit case or something …… But please forgive me, as a police superintendent, your primary job is to manage the precincts under your command, if you can’t solve the security problems in Tauerhamlets, then it’s all for naught no matter how much you do.
Things like solving cases are just business that belongs to the icing on the cake for Scotland Yard. Of course it’s good if you can solve the case, but if you can’t, it’s understandable that I still have the Home Office. Because we all know clearly, according to the practice left over from the sheriff’s period, like these difficult cases we usually leave it to the professional burglar catchers, well …… maybe now they all changed their names to detectives or something.
Arthur, you have to remember that you are a police officer, not some detective. If you’re interested in that, then I advise you to get a detective agency or something, just don’t hang around Scotland Yard, that won’t do much good for your personal development, or for Scotland Yard’s image assessment in front of the higher authorities.”
Saying this, Rowan looked at Arthur’s poker-like, unreadable expression, and just smiled as he pulled out a few more documents from the pile of papers in his hand and threw them in front of Arthur.
“Arthur, when I say these things to you, it’s not that I personally have anything against you. On the contrary, I have had a very pleasant time with you during this time, and I must admit that you have given Scotland Yard a lot of face. But, as you understand, when you work in a governmental utility, sometimes it’s not a good thing to show your face too much.
As you know, the Ministry of the Interior has been looking at us unfavorably because of Scotland Yard’s huge pay rise. The Treasury also feels that a further increase in the security levy may cause dissatisfaction in the parishes, and the Secretary of State has had a major headache in preparing Scotland Yard’s budget for the coming year.
Although I don’t think it’s your fault, after all, you’re doing everyone a favor, and every police officer in Scotland Yard should be grateful to you. But you understand, sometimes it’s better not to do things too aggressively, or else you’ll be like our Prime Minister, the Duke of Wellington, who let the Whigs get out of power without noticing.
You see, perhaps your fame is so great that Viscount Palmerston and Viscount Melbourne, who are likely to take over the Home Secretary’s position, have already written to me in turn to ask about you.”
Speaking here, Rowan crossed the ten fingers of his two hands to hold his chin, his body slightly leaning forward, a smile written on his face, “Arthur, how do you think I should reply to them?”
Arthur glanced at the two letters that were placed on the desktop by Rowan’s hall director, he took off his bowler hat and rested it on his hand, his two eyes stared straight at Rowan, and his face was also filled with more than a smirk.
“How else can I reply? Just write that he did a little better than Charles Rowan.”
Rowan’s eyes grew cold, “Arthur, what do you mean by that?”
“Precisely coincidentally, that’s what I was going to ask you.” Arthur leaned back in his chair, both hands pressed into his crossed knees, “Director Rowan, if you’re genuinely discussing police work, there’s absolutely no problem. But if it’s something else, I suggest we can work it out privately.”
Rowan slightly lowered his head, then suddenly raised it again, stroking his hair and laughing, “Arthur, where on earth did you get that bottom line from?”
Arthur stood up and put his bowler hat back on, “Sir, I don’t have much of a bottom line, you probably don’t know me as a person. I do things based on not only my backbone, but also my mood. Otherwise, when I first encountered that case of Little Adam, I wouldn’t have stood up in the magistrate’s court. You are too old to understand the logic of young people’s thinking.
I don’t want to make an enemy of you, and if you feel that I have offended you in some way, you could obviously talk to me directly, and I would be more than willing to apologize and try to find a solution to the problem. But, but you chose this method instead, and since you’ve already predetermined your stance, then I don’t think it’s possible to resolve the conflict between us through negotiation and negotiation or something like that anymore.”
Director Rowan slowly stood up, “Arthur, do you want to be dismissed?”
Arthur just laughed and gently gripped the door handle of his office, at the corner of his eyes, a slight reddish glow flickered, “Sir, you forgot one thing, whether I want to be dismissed or not, it’s not up to you. The fact that things have gotten to this point is something I don’t want to see. So, sir, please make sure you don’t move and hide, only one of us can end up staying between the two of us, and next, let’s see who wins in the end.”
(End of chapter)