Chapter 221: Ape’s Trick (K2)
Chapter 219 – A Trick of the Apes (4K2)
At half past six on Sunday evening, night fell, and a single light went up in the great and small houses of London.
And above the dark Thames, on Waterloo Bridge, which connects Lambeth on the south bank with Charing Cross on the north bank, from gentlemanly types riding high horses, to lady ladies riding in horse-drawn carriages, to dockworkers just off work wearing facecloth blue overalls and smelling of sweat and company employees wearing gold-rimmed glasses, small white shirts, and coats on their hands, or dragging on their tartan skirts and wearing tiny head scarves, Or the lower-middle-class women who rush in droves to grab discounted food before Covent Garden Market closes, from the upper class to the middle class to the lower class, the crowds are bustling, the world is full of people, the world is full of people, and all walks of life in London pass through this bridge that connects the lifeblood of London’s transportation.
Here you can see what London society is really like, and spend just half an hour here to take in the stories that play out every day in Europe’s largest industrial city.
And amidst the overwhelming array of ornate transportation, an ordinary public carriage with a black canopy and sealed compartments looks plain and unassuming.
Arthur, with his pipe in his mouth, sat in the carriage, looking up at the Thames reflecting the light of fishing fires out of the window, and surveying the bridge named in honor of the victory at the Battle of Waterloo, and which would become famous in later times for a romantic movie called “Blue Bridge”.
But he was not in the mood to appreciate the city’s rich smoky atmosphere, because for him, the series of affairs that would take place tonight would not allow him to be distracted.
In the midst of the darkness, Tom could not see Arthur’s face, but only the red dots that flickered in and out of the darkness.
In the midst of the silence, a puff of white mist lifted out like a cloud, and Arthur’s voice, which had become slightly husky and low from smoking, suddenly rang out.
“Tom, the things I explained to you, are they all arranged?”
For Arthur’s question, Tom naturally did not dare to be slow, but after such a long time of training, he had long since not been the small police officer who did not even dare to stand up on the indictment seat of the magistrate’s court a few months ago.
The starlight of the night shone directly on Tom’s shoulders through the carriage’s windows, illuminating the standard shoulder badge with three V’s, which symbolized his current police rank.
Not Lost Farmer or Shoemaker, but Sergeant Tom Flanders.
It was only natural for a sheriff to act like a sheriff, and Tom flipped through the papers in his hand, making his official report to Arthur word for word by the light of the moon.
“Over at the Russian Embassy, Miss Fiona Ivan has been offered a job on the basis of her half-baked Russian and German, as well as her Russian heritage. Judging from her feedback this morning, it seems that the embassy side has arranged for her to be doing elementary cleaning work for the time being. But I’m sure that with her intelligence, Ms. Ivan will be promoted soon.
As for tonight’s special operation against the Russian Embassy, it will be conducted by Sergeant Tony Eckhart and Sergeant Charles Field of the LPS in conjunction with General Employee Aaron Pinkerton, as per your orders. The infiltration will coincide with the concert, and the ops team will initiate the infiltration at seven o’clock sharp, with Pinkerton in charge of the infiltration, Tony in charge of the drive and lookout, and Field as the maneuvering team.
If the infiltration is successful, then the team will withdraw as planned and deliver the harvest to your residence at 36 Lancaster Gate immediately after the concert tonight.
If the infiltration fails and the Embassy catches Pinkerton red-handed, then a signal will be given by Miss Evan and Sergeant Field, who has been given the signal, will intervene at the head of his team and claim that a thief that the police force is chasing has broken into the Embassy area.
If the Embassy releases him normally, then we will prosecute Pinkerton in accordance with normal procedures and arrange a suitable prison for him to serve his sentence in peace, in order to minimize the Embassy’s wariness. If they don’t release him, then what happens after that may require you to step in and take care of it.”
In the darkness, all Tom saw was the burning red dot bobbing up and down, and the next thing he saw in the pitch blackness was a pair of eyes flashing with a pale red light, and it was then that he realized that Arthur had just kept his eyes closed.
Although he had always been very curious about why Arthur’s eyes would glow red from time to time, and he had once asked the other party about this, but Arthur always joked with him, saying that he was red-eyed.
But even if Tom didn’t understand whether Arthur really suffered from eye diseases, the more than a year of living together had still made him deeply understand that whenever this kind of glow appeared in Arthur’s eyes, it meant that he was about to get serious.
Arthur put on the gloves little by little, and then stretched out his hand and put it on the window and compared it back and forth, the superintendent level white gloves uniformly issued by Scotland Yard were exquisite, almost can’t see half a bit of flaws.
The gloves wrapped tightly around his hands that were calloused due to his habit of holding a police officer’s knife, and at first glance, they looked slender and beautiful, as if these hands could actually play the piano.
“Let’s hope they move well tonight. If we miss tonight, then we won’t be able to find a better opportunity than this during the London conference, time is short and the LPS will be able to prove its worth depending on this night.”
Speaking here, Arthur’s words suddenly stopped as he looked over at Tom with a smile, “Tom, isn’t it more fun to do this kind of work than to be on duty at Scotland Yard?”
Perhaps it was the night that brought up some wildness in Tom, who had always been gentle to the point of even being a little soft, and he smiled and nodded.
“It does beat being on duty, to be honest. Here you have to use your head and learn to write papers, but the good thing is that you don’t have much of a mental burden to do it. But on the front line, even if the body is tired, but also have to face those poor people like us, turn over the Russian Embassy just once, better than driving away the roadside vendors all day long. But ……”
Tom said here, suddenly some intolerance glanced at the French fat man sitting beside him was tied up, and even his mouth was blocked by a rag.
He pointed to Dumas beside him and asked, “But, Arthur, can you tell me, you go to the concert to play, why do you want to tie Mr. Dumas together?”
Just as Tom finished saying this, Dumas, who had already lost much of his strength due to his vigorous resistance, suddenly regained his energy. He abruptly nodded vigorously at Tom, and then continuously jerked his head towards Arthur. His eyes were wide open like the face of a pocket watch, and he was making a continuous series of muffled sounds from his mouth.
Although his enunciation was very unclear, Tom could vaguely make out that Dumas was saying something like, “Arthur, are you out of your fucking mind! If I’d known this would happen to me, I might have just let the pirates take me in the first place! Take the rag off, I’m suffocating you!”
Hearing this, Tom cried and laughed a little and asked Arthur for advice, “Arthur, why don’t you just take off the thing in your mouth, it’s not like he’s going to get away anyway.”
Hearing this, Arthur just sipped his cigarette, “I gagged him for a reason.”
Tom looked at Dumas excited to the point of redness and hesitated, “But ……”
Arthur looked at him like this and just sighed as he spoke, “Well, Tom, you asked me to pick it, so listen up.” With that, Arthur reached down and removed the cloth that was stuffed in Dumas’ mouth.
The cloth had just left his mouth, and before Dumas could catch his breath, the carriage resounded with his mid-sentence national curse, “You donkey-day English blue lobsters, I’ll fuck you all ……”
Before the word ‘mom’ could leave his mouth, however, Arthur filled the cloth back into his mouth.
Arthur rushed at Tom with an expressionless face and spoke calmly, “So, you understand now, don’t you? For a while I also thought I could impress him with my true feelings, but the French are usually unreliable when it comes to their emotions. When it comes to emotions, they play it more flowery than the high society of Britain.”
Tom looked at Dumas with a complicated expression, then rushed to Arthur and asked, “Gagging is fine with me now, but why on earth did you bring him along to the concert? Isn’t this fat guy just pure exhaustion?”
Arthur spoke, “I originally didn’t intend to bring him along either, but earlier Mr. François Vidocq of France suspiciously issued a criminal preview to me, saying that he intends to give me a big wave on the day of the concert. Given that the fat man still had a bounty on his head from the French government, I felt it necessary to be a little cautious. After all, if we lose him during the London conference, we’ll be disgraced in Britain.”
When Dumas heard this, his nostrils blew repeatedly, and after an indistinct chanting in French, he finally mumbled something that Arthur could understand: “You’re going to tie me up just for this? I told you Mr. Vidocq wouldn’t kidnap me, he’s my friend. Besides, what about human rights in Britain! Isn’t that your favorite thing to bring up?”
Who knows that when Arthur heard this, he just said lightly, “Those friends of the road who were brought to justice by Mr. Vidocq think the same way you do, and it seems to me that Mr. Vidocq’s lack of action might just be because the price is not enough. I have inquired, Mr. Vidocq’s annual salary in the Grand Paris Police Department is 6,000 francs, for which six thousand francs he can send in eight hundred friends a year, and the bounty on your head is now fully two or three thousand pounds.
Alexander, though you are a literary playwright drunk with literature, and have always been generous with your property, you do realize that the exchange rate of the pound to the franc is one to twenty, don’t you? Your head is worth 60,000 francs, and it would take Mr. Vidocq ten years to arrest one of you. Who wouldn’t be puzzled to see so much money before him?
As for human rights, Mr. Thomas Paine, who wrote Human Rights, was a great man, but after he finished his book, he was wanted by the government and had to go to France to participate in the Revolution. Britain has the soil for the Human Rights, but I am sorry to say that we have no room for him here, at least at this time. If you want to talk about the Human Rights, I might also consider sending you back to France immediately.”
Dumas was so out of breath from Arthur’s few paragraphs that it took him a long time before he managed to stifle the words, “Well, can’t you at least take the rags off my mouth?”
Arthur glanced at him, “Remove the rags of course, but you have to promise me that you can’t explode.”
Dumas was so enraged that even his pompadour seemed to stand on end, “I promise!”
Arthur heard this and only then reluctantly removed the object from his mouth, “By the way, to correct you, these aren’t rags, they’re socks kindly sponsored by Elder.”
“Huh? Arthur, you fucking ……”
Dumas didn’t finish his sentence before his mouth was instantly gagged again.
Arthur saw that he was so emotional, but also knew that he couldn’t push this fat man, or else he would definitely have to be written into the book and cursed later.
He said in a kind voice, “Alexander, you have to be patient for a little while longer. When we arrive at the theater later, you’ll be safe. Tonight’s program is still quite exciting, I’ve prepared a small box with a good location for you, and all your treatment is top-notch except that you can’t move freely until the show is over.”
The carriage made its way across Waterloo Bridge and down Waterloo Road just as Arthur and the others were conversing.
After driving forward for about ten minutes, the carriage finally slowed down and stopped in front of the Coburg Theater, which was surrounded by red brick theaters.
At this time, the front of the theater was already overcrowded, and there was a strong smell of perfume and the sound of gentlemen and ladies talking and laughing everywhere.
And in the middle of the crowd will occasionally flash through a few pairs of unsuspecting eyes, that is from all parts of London to hear the wind to come pickpockets and thieves brigade.
Correspondingly, in the crowd can also see a lot of embellished with the poor tender makeup of the single women, but they are not serious aristocratic lady, but waiting for customers to come to the high-class prostitutes.
They were not proper noble ladies, but high-class prostitutes waiting for customers to come to them, and such occasions were always filled with their business.
For example, in front of Arthur’s eyelids, there was one who was inquiring right now.
“Wow! Ma’am, I …… huh, no no no, you don’t misunderstand, I don’t want to rob you, I have no malice at all. You have to know that I’m very well educated, you don’t see it, I’m actually an Oxford graduate. Oh, yes, that’s right, I certainly have a decent job with this educational background, I serve in the Royal Navy, and I earn a good income, living near Hyde Park, and usually there are a lot of people who want to please me.
Like the superintendent of Scotland Yard, a French playwright, a Cambridge-educated clergyman, a magazine editor-in-chief and a newspaper reporter, alas, you really don’t know, these people are really annoying. Always begging me to help them with difficult matters, but although the help is troublesome, it is always rewarded.
Look, I happen to have two tickets here, box tickets, both from those people. It’s a pity that my female companion is not feeling well tonight and can’t come on time. Alas, she is really not blessed with this fortune, and it makes me a little sad. But if she can’t come, I won’t have a female companion to accompany me tonight. If that happens, I will lose face in front of my friends.
Look at you, you were born so beautiful, like a little star on the night sky. I wonder if you would be so kind as to accompany me to the concert tonight? To tell you the truth, I can’t help but be reminded of Lord Byron’s poem – Young men are full of energy, as rich as the river in spring. I …… would like to know you better.”
Arthur looked at the familiar face, his eyes darted slightly, and the leg he had just stepped off the carriage retracted.
And behind him, Dumas also stretched his head to look at it, and then hurriedly sat his butt back down again.
Arthur closed the door of the carriage, coughed gently, and apologetically spoke at the driver: ”Sir, please go around to the back door of the theater to get off. The monkeys at the theater’s main entrance are just a bit much.”
(End of chapter)