Chapter 215: The Real Meaning of Literary Magazines
Chapter 213: The True Meaning of Literary Magazines
“So, Mr. Vidocq, thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to share your valuable experience in the field of crime investigation. I think the citizens of Scotland Yard and all of London will benefit from these cases you shared today in the future.”
Vidocq snapped on his hat and stood up, “Like I told you, there’s really nothing hard about working a case, you just have to understand one thing – things are rarely what they seem, it’s like disguising skim milk as cheese.
I don’t really need to tell you that, laddie, you’ve probably realized that even earlier than I did. When I was twenty, I was still in jail all day.”
Arthur heard this and just laughed, “And the best way to get those who commit criminal offenses to confess is not so much harsh execution as justice on his behalf.”
Vidocq couldn’t help but think even more highly of Arthur when he heard this, and he reached out to pat the lad on the shoulder.
“You’ve sort of grasped the essence of it. If someone is willing to let go of a good life and take the charge of killing their head to do something, apart from a small number of perverts, most of them are doing it because of the existence of certain unspeakable secrets.
As long as you can find out the secret hidden behind his back and solve the problem for him, then he certainly won’t mind giving his life, because from the moment he does it, this type of criminal has already made up his mind not to live.
You’ve understood so many things so early, I’m sure you’ll be a good cop in the future. The only thing you need to do now is to take care not to get involved in the power struggle, and it’s because I suffered in that regard that I’ve been ostracized everywhere in the Grand Paris Police Department.”
Hearing this, Arthur just laughed helplessly, “The whole world is one and the same, and France and England don’t seem to be much different in this regard. Mr. Vidocq, it’s too late for you to say that to me now, in our line of work, it’s all out of our hands.”
Vidocq laughed at his words, “That’s true, looking back, I’m a fifty year old who can make them jealous by handling a few cases, and it’s simply impossible for a twenty year old like you not to be suppressed.
It’s gold that always shines, this sentence is actually farting, the actual situation is, it’s gold wherever you go will be ostracized. Of course, there are exceptions, and that’s if your piece of gold is from a bank, in other words, you have to have a background.”
Arthur stood up with his notebook, which he remembered was full, and walked Vidocq to the door.
“I’ve learned a lot from you today, whether it’s darkening your complexion with walnut stain, making some fake blisters out of wax, or mimicking a blemish on your face with coffee grounds stuck together.
This camouflage skill is simply unparalleled. Where exactly did you learn these techniques?”
Vidocq spoke as he pressed the brim of his hat and carried his cane, “Partly I came up with them on my own, and partly I learned them from my lover. Don’t forget, one of my former lovers was a famous actress in Paris.
Although she only brought me around as a little pet to relieve her boredom, I did learn a lot from her.
But what I’ve taught you today isn’t quite the highest of them all. I remember you said you had a concert at the Coburg Theater this weekend, didn’t you? When that day comes, I’ll play you a handful of advanced ones.”
After Vidocq said this, he smoothed out his clothes and walked towards Hyde Park across the street with a sedate pace.
But this last part of his speech made Arthur frown, “Play a handful of premium?”
He looked back to Dumas, who was sitting at the dining room table reading The Human Comedy while sipping his coffee, “Alexander, I think you’d better find a place to hide on Sunday. Mr. Vidocq didn’t mean to take you directly today, but one can’t guarantee what he has in mind.
If he brings someone in on Sunday when I’m not at home to force you back, I’m afraid I won’t be able to help you in time.”
Hearing this, Dumas waved his hand in disbelief, “Come on, from what I know of him, he wouldn’t bother to do such a thing. Mr. Vidocq is a man who is full of rebellion, he hates republicans and he hates royalists, he only likes to do things with his own perception. If he were really willing to behave himself, he would be the chief of the Grand Paris Police at this moment, and how could it be anyone else’s turn?”
Hearing Dumas take the initiative to mention this, Arthur asked with a smile, “I haven’t thought of it until you said it, just now when Mr. Vidocq was talking about the French Revolution, you neither refuted nor reprimanded him, Alexander, this is not like you. You call yourself a republican soldier, don’t you? How can you say nothing when Mr. Vidocq has so denigrated the Republic?” Dumas rolled his eyes and said, “Of course I want to show something, but it has to be something. That Governor Joseph Le Bon that Monsieur Vidocq mentioned is indeed an unmitigated bastard of a thing.
Just because a man has a parrot that says ‘Long live the king’, he has to have his head cut off. Anyone identified as a nobleman had to be guillotined. And the local people were allowed to report to each other, a small Ostend actually managed to pull out hundreds of nobles, Le Bon was no longer in the revolution, but in the murder of people for fun and occupation of property.
It was because the Revolution was full of such people that it failed. In this respect of republicanism, I still agree more with Mr. Hugo – there is an absolutely correct humanitarianism on top of an absolutely correct revolution. People should not do evil in order to do good; the overthrow of the throne is not meant to erect a permanent guillotine, to knock over the crown, but the head needs to be spared.”
Hearing this, Arthur picked up his teacup and took a sip, “So is that why you opened the arsenal and bombed the Tuileries?”
Dumas glared, “Opening the arsenal was for the revolution, and only after the revolution succeeded did I consider whether or not to spare the head.”
Arthur raised an eyebrow, “And what if the king’s head was penetrated by a bullet before the revolution succeeded?”
Dumas shrugged, “That would be his bad luck, I just promised not to liquidate him.”
Arthur laughed, “You are quite clear.”
After speaking, he asked, “But after listening to Mr. Vidocq speak about his experiences today, I realized that the prison break of Edmond Dantes, the protagonist in The Count of Monte Cristo, was not ……”.
Dumas sniffed and coughed with a red face, “I did borrow part of Mr. Vidocq’s real experience, but I also carried out part of the artistic processing, and you can’t conclude that I am a plagiarism. And most importantly, Mr. Vidocq doesn’t care about us playwrights drawing on his experiences, he enjoys the matter of being written about by others.
Balzac, Hugo, and I were friends with him, and he regaled us with tales of his legendary exploits, imparting some practical knowledge of crime along the way. In return, we naturally put him in books and made a name for him.”
Hearing this, Arthur just nodded, “This kind of personality is really quite French. But then again, since Mr. Vidocq doesn’t mind others creating books from his experiences, does this mean that it’s okay for me too?”
Dumas raised an eyebrow, “Of course you can, but you’d better add a little bit more of your own experiences, if it’s original, the group might as well just go and read Mr. Vidocq’s memoirs, it’s not like there’s no English version of that book.
I also think you should take this opportunity to write a book, the magazine’s space is still very empty, need some other articles to fill the content. We’re not asking you to write much better as a beginner, at least better than Elder.”
Arthur heard this and went back to the table to do down, he pondered for half a day, suddenly the rest of his eyes glanced at the raven’s mask which was placed in the deepest part of the bookcase.
He looked at the clean white paper in front of him, and then at The Human Comedy, which was held in Dumas’s hands.
A light flashed within his mind, and for a moment it seemed as if Arthur had suddenly discovered the true use of a literary magazine.
He might be able to do something with the magazine that was bound to burst into popularity that was more important than making money, and that could not be done even in his capacity as Superintendent of Scotland Yard.
Arthur drew out his quill and dipped it twice in the ink bottle, and after much hesitation on the part of his ever-steady arm, he finally dropped the pen with a shaky hand.
Dumas sat next to him, and raising his eyes, he saw an additional line of attractive title on the paper – “The Hastings Mysteries:The Undead from St. Giles
The second shift is still tomorrow morning, and from now on, one shift in the morning and one in the evening will be fixed.
(End of chapter)