Chapter 208: The Saudi Russian Secret Service (k4)

Chapter 206 – The Saudi Russian Secret Service (4k4)
If you ask an Englishman the question, where do all the rich people in London live?

Then he will definitely tell you that the rich people of London live in the West End of London.

But if the person answering the question was an authentic old Londoner, then he would certainly narrow that down a bit more.

Old London will tell you, “It’s only the mudblooded riff-raff who pile up in places like Kensington, Chelsea and Notting Hill, while the real old London aristocrats usually live in Mayfair.”

As the old Londoners say, Mayfair, as the earliest developed wealthy district in London, not only has convenient transportation conditions, but also sits in the most luxurious and upper-class commercial and artistic area in London.

Regent’s Crescent, Sotheby’s Auction House, Royal Academy of Arts, and of course, of course, the three major shopping districts of London – Burlington Arcade, which is famous for selling high-end jewelry and luxury goods, Piccadilly Circus, which is famous for making high-end clothes, and Bond Street, which is mainly known for its appreciation of antique artwork.

In addition to attracting a large number of aristocrats with strong spending power to settle in the area, a large number of high-class commercial real estate has also led to the establishment of a number of foreign embassies in the area, including the Russian Imperial Embassy in the United Kingdom.

As the wife of the Russian Ambassador to England, Count Levin, Mrs. Levin’s residence was naturally located in the Embassy.

The embassy area, which had been heavily guarded in the past, naturally raised its security level during the London Conference, and although it was already dusk, the military police standing guard in front of the embassy still did not dare to relax their vigilance.

In the place where the military police did not notice, Arthur was sitting in a public carriage slowly circling around the embassy.

In Arthur’s side, sitting in the hand is holding a triangle ruler, sometimes look up to look at the embassy, drawing the embassy topographic structure map of the Royal Navy cartographer Elder, another is nervous to the sweaty palms of the kid Pinkerton.

According to Arthur’s understanding of the history of British architectural development, since the 18th century London outbreak of a number of large-scale epidemics, the concept of ventilation quickly popularized in the United Kingdom, and embassies such as high-grade housing must be equipped with large wooden air boxes and vents.

And in the carriage around the embassy to the third circle, Arthur also finally in the embassy back door behind the eaves found an inconspicuous square hole, with its nearly half a meter wide size, this should be the right vent.

A vent of this size would most likely be inaccessible to an adult, but if it were a child whose development was stunted due to malnutrition, it would be barely accessible.

Arthur pointed to that vent, lowered his voice and asked at Pinkerton, “That’s what I mentioned to you, have you ever done any work in this area before?”

Pinkerton surveyed the vent, after a long time before slowly nodded: “I …… I used to sweep chimneys for people, this vent looks about the same as a chimney, I should be able to climb in. Only ……”

“Only what?” Arthur asked softly, “Aaron, if you have a question, ask it now, don’t hesitate. It’s better to speak up now than to be stuck in the vents when the operation starts. Even if you think the operation will fail, you should just say so, while there’s still time for me to think of another method.”

Hearing this, Pinkerton quickly waved his hand and said, “No, sir, you misunderstand, I’m not beating a retreat. I was just wondering if there shouldn’t be someone lighting a campfire under this vent. I used to be afraid of that when I was a chimney sweep; some of the owners would light a fire under the chimney to hurry us along, and when the choking smoke rose I had no place to run to. We’ve had a few children there who have been smoked to death that way.”

Elder, who was drawing a plan, heard Pinkerton’s statement, and could not help opening his mouth to curse, “Are those silly employers drunk on Thames water? While you guys were sweeping chimneys, he was setting fires underneath? That’s no different from willful murder, is it?”

Pinkerton just forced a smile, “It can’t be helped, sir. Kids who would go to a chimney sweep are either the kind whose parents are dead, or the kind whose parents are better off dead than alive. Even if we were smoked to death, no one would care, and a payout from our employer would solve the problem.”

Pinkerton couldn’t help but hang his head again as he spoke, remembering again his present situation.

Arthur looked at him in this manner and just took his hand and pressed it to his head and shook it vigorously, “Aaron, I’m sorry to hear about what happened to those fellow chimney workers of yours, but there’s nothing I can do about it, at least for the time being. But just because I can’t afford to do them justice doesn’t mean I can’t cover you. You must remember that you are now one of my men, an employee of the Provisional Survey and Investigation Statistics Office of the London Region.

To go against you is to go against me, and to go against me is to go against Scotland Yard and the University of London, and to go against Scotland Yard and the University of London is to go against the Home Office and the Lord Chancellor’s Department, and to go against the Home Office and the Lord Chancellor’s Department is to go against the whole of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

I will not allow anyone to pose a threat to the life of the little fellow under my hand, or even if we take a ten thousand steps back, if something unfortunate really happens to you one day, even if I can’t save you, I will definitely send the murderer’s whole family to the gallows, on this point, you have to have faith in me.”

At the end of the sentence, Arthur also rushed at Pinkerton to extend the little finger of his right hand, Pinkerton was first stunned, and then remembered what Officer Tom had said to him about Arthur’s life experience in the past few days, and his heart, which was still weak just now, was suddenly filled with courage.

He also stretched out his little finger and Arthur hooked together gently pulled, the two thumbs printed together with force, in the naive and simple behavioral language of the children, this represents the oath between them is officially established.

Pinkerton took off the new felt hat Arthur had just bought him, a smile spreading across his face, “Sir, I believe you.”

When Elder heard Arthur’s words, he also couldn’t help but whistle, he joked, “Arthur, I’m heartened by your words, if I can’t hang around anymore some other day, why don’t I just vote for you as well? What a pity, you are the superintendent of Scotland Yard, the officers and sailors of the Royal Navy dream of superiors like you, if the Admiral of the Fleet and the leader of the Admiralty are willing to cover them like you, even if we go to war with all the navies of Europe at the same time, we will have the confidence to fight and win.”

Hearing this, Arthur just snickered, “Come on, Elder, although I don’t know the Royal Navy, I know that they were built to be able to handle a war with four maritime powers at the same time. If Scotland Yard was that strong, would I still have to think about whether or not to drill through the vents and steal things every day? All I have to do is wave my hand and Admiral Codrington’s naval guns will level the Russian Embassy, and when the smoke clears, I’ll just go right in through the front door and pick up my stuff.”

Elder shrugged his shoulders, “If you’re willing to take the blame for Admiral Codrington, he might actually agree to help you out that way, after all, the Ottoman Turkish fleet is like paper mache in front of him. Blasting open the Russian embassy such a small thing, perhaps do not even need him to go out, you let the stay at home General Cochran on it can be, after all, he is thinking of using the bomb ship to sneak up on the enemy has not been a time or two, the demolition aspect of things, he is the most professional.”

Arthur just laughed, he patted Pinkerton’s shoulder and patiently explained to him, “I brought you here today so that you can observe the nearby terrain first. I know that you are a proper ‘craftsman’, and your out-of-this-world skills are praised even by old Eugene of St. Giles when he looks at you. Had it not been for that, I would not have thought of you in this matter.

Of course, naturally, I didn’t ask you to do this job so that you could get yourself killed. The vent is different from the chimney in that there is no bonfire pile under it, and as a matter of course it should lead to a wooden blower that speeds up the air circulation. But it is not clear to me at present in which room the blower is placed, and how far the room in which it is placed is from the bedroom in which the intelligence may be kept.

So today, your job is to crawl in through the vent later when I enter the embassy and feel out what’s going on outside. I’ll help you attract the attention of the embassy personnel as much as I can, so you’ll have plenty of time to figure all this out, take your time and don’t rush.

Even if you don’t gather any valuable information, that’s no big deal, this mission is important but not mandatory, so safety first.”

Arthur waited until he was sure that Pinkerton had understood him before he was relieved to lead him out of the car.

He first glanced around at the pedestrians coming and going in the surrounding area, then when no one was looking, he clipped Pinkerton and flipped into the back door of the embassy in one long leap, holding the little brat’s buttocks and stepping on the edge of the window to send him into the air vent before flipping out in another leap.

Arthur lit a pipe outside the wall, smoking a cigarette while watching Pinkerton’s ass disappear at the end of the vent, until he could no longer see his figure, Arthur was relieved to pick up the phonograph placed at his feet and walked to the main entrance of the embassy, smiled and rushed to hand out his business card to the military police on guard. “Please inform Mrs. Levine that Arthur Hastings is coming to visit.”

Unexpectedly, the military policeman carrying a musket actually didn’t even look at the business card, he just stared at Arthur’s face for a while before he opened his mouth with a big smile.

“I didn’t expect that the Hastings that Mrs. Levine said was really you. You quickly please come in, madam is meeting guests inside, you should be able to see her right away if you go over now.”

Seeing that the military police actually recognized him, Arthur couldn’t help but wonder, “And you are?”

The military police didn’t say much, he just stood upright and saluted, “That murder and body theft case was beautifully handled, and I’m glad to have fought alongside you. At the same time, please allow me to express my gratitude to you in person, because my brother’s body was also once plowed out by those ground rats, and it was you who gave me a good opportunity to take revenge.”

When Arthur heard this, he just smiled softly, he also remembered who the other party was at this moment, “I also thank you for your scrupulousness, as far as I know, there is not a single coward in the Fifth Royal Close Guard Infantry Regiment, and the Wellington Guards is not a name to be taken lightly.”

The military police smiled and made way for Arthur, “Superintendent Hastings, please pass.”

Arthur nodded his head in greeting and returned the salute, then stepped into the embassy, in fact, when it was said to be an embassy, it was more like a luxurious private residence.

An outside garden was accompanied by a stone paved walkway, with several marble statues erected on both sides of the walkway as decoration.

Only these several stone statues some have been completed, some only carved half body, there is also a part looks like just start construction, just outside with a pen in the brick surface draw a rough outline.

It seemed that these statues might not have come from the hands of professional stonemasons, but were the practiced works of stone carving enthusiasts.

He looked up at these marble statues and then at the color of the stone path under his feet, and instantly seemed to understand something.

It was true that geniuses were always in the minority, and no matter what period of time it was, the human vegetable addiction was always the main theme.

Thinking about these things, Arthur soon leapt over the dozens of meters of stone walkway and walked up the steps to the antechamber supported by four three-meter-high stone pillars.

Two embassy military officers standing by the door chatting in Tsarist Russian officer’s uniforms, long swords tied around their waists and bearded, saw the guests, one immediately returned to report, the other took the initiative to go forward to interrogate Arthur in his English with exotic flavors.

Fortunately, the questioning did not last long, the officer who went back to report soon returned.

He spoke, “Mr. Hastings, please wait. The head maid said that Mrs. Levine is putting on her makeup, so you can go to the lounge and sit for a while first.”

When Arthur heard this, he remembered again the words that the military policeman standing guard at the door had said to him earlier.

Wasn’t Mrs. Levine in the middle of a meeting? How could she be putting on makeup?
However, Arthur didn’t directly put his doubts into words, but smiled and fished out the iron box containing tobacco from his pocket and asked: ”Would you two like to have some of this? The tobacco produced in Santo Domingo in the West Indies is quite pure in flavor. Tobacco from there is usually used to make cigars, and if I didn’t have a friend who worked on a plantation there, a little cop like me wouldn’t be able to get his hands on such good stuff.”

The two military officers were going to refuse, but once they heard that this tobacco was produced in West India, after a slight hesitation, they readily agreed: “Then we’re welcome.”

Arthur handed over the iron box, and before long, a puff of smoke was seen outside the antechamber of the embassy.

The bearded military officer sipped his cigarette while giving a thumbs up and praising, “It’s really much better than Russian tobacco, we just aren’t suited to growing tobacco there.”

The other bearded military officer who spoke in a clipboard English also laughed out loud without words, “Sir, you said you’re a police officer? This is really a coincidence, I can also be considered a police officer, if so, we are still peers.”

Hearing this, Arthur sipped two puffs of his cigarette and asked, “Is that so? Are you a police officer from the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs?”

The bearded man waved his hand, “You know Russia quite well, I used to be considered a member of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but a few years ago the department was reformed, so I was transferred out of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.”

“Really? Then I must congratulate you.” Arthur joked, “Police work is not easy to do, even if you transfer to other departments to clean up, it can be considered a high promotion.”

“Hahaha!” Arthur’s words could be considered to the heart of the bearded man, he also joked, “I’d rather I was cleaning, you may not know, after the department reform, my job can be more difficult than before.”

“Wow? Why is that?”

“Why?” The bearded man exhaled a large puff of smoke, “Of course it’s because I’m in the fucked up third chamber of the Imperial Office, and while I’m mostly dealing with paperwork now, there’s just too much of that fucking paperwork.”

The Third Office of the Imperial Office?
The smile on Arthur’s face widened when he heard the name.

It seemed that the rough-looking bearded military officer in front of him really wasn’t lying, and he and Arthur were indeed peers.

The Third Office of the Imperial Office, perhaps this name sounds too literal and not easy to understand.

In Russia, the local people usually call it – the Tsar’s special police.

(End of chapter)