Chapter 240: The Unworthy Kid and the Special Appointment (K)

Chapter 239 The Unconscious Kid and the Special Appointment (7K)

4 Whitehall Street, Westminster, London.

Arthur and Disraeli had just stepped out of the carriage and hadn’t gone far ahead when he saw two familiar figures seen on the corner of the street leading to Trafalgar Square ahead.

Arthur’s brow furrowed slightly, and Disraeli, who was beside him, saw this and simply asked, “Arthur, what’s wrong with you?”

“Shhh!”

Arthur signaled Disraeli to be silent, and then lightly walked forward, after which it was like catching a rabbit, both hands lifted the collar to pick up the two young fellows who were around eight or nine years old in one go.

“Aaron, Adam, you two had better tell me why you’re not in grammar school at this time of night, instead of rollerblading around Whitehall Street.”

Adam whipped his head around and then was shocked, “Ya …… Arthur, isn’t it Friday? Alan said that usually on Friday afternoons you get off work early to do your part-time piano job at the theater.”

When Arthur heard this, he didn’t know whether he was angry or happy, he shrugged his shoulders and said, “You guys do know my schedule quite well, in the past I should have gone to join Mr. Moscheles at this hour, but today is an exception. Adam and Aaron, you two little bastards have been unlucky enough to find yourselves in my cross hairs. Without further ado, how in the world did you manage to slip out from under the watchful eye of the teachers?”

Aaron Pinkerton, who was being lifted and slipped in Arthur’s right hand, heard this and simply spoke up, “Sir, we were given permission by the teachers to leave school early.”

“Whoa? Is that so? Is today some kind of holiday?” Arthur thought for a moment, “Jesus resurrected again? No, I don’t remember Jesus being resurrected today, I should be the one resurrected today.”

Pinkerton got serious, “Sir, I’m not kidding you. We were taking an early leave of absence from our teacher to come back and take care of Adam’s mom who had just given birth not too long ago. I told the teacher that Adam’s mom just had a baby sister, so we had to come home early to help Officer Tom.”

Disraeli, who was on the sidelines, laughed out loud, “Boy, you’re remembering wrong, Mrs. Tom is having twins. Adam has more than a sister now, he has a brother.”

Hearing this, Pinkerton held up a finger for emphasis, “Yes, I know, sir, but the brother is an excuse we were going to save for next week!”

Hearing this, Arthur placed the two brats on the ground and tapped them on the head with his finger, “Can’t you two brats do anything nice?”

Pinkerton returned, “Good things we do all the time, sir, in case you don’t know, we just gave a poor old lady tuppence, that was all the money we had on us.”

Arthur raised an eyebrow when he heard this and rubbed his head, “Looks like giving you to Tom to bring up has more or less worked. Well done, boy. But of all the poor people in London, why did you pick that old lady?”

Adam sniffed and just rubbed the back of his head and giggled, “Simple, because that old lady sells candy.”

Hearing this, Arthur just picked up the collars of the two brats and threw them onto the carriage, then fished out a shilling from his pocket and shoved it into the carriage driver’s hand, “Sir, please help me send these two troublemakers back to Greenwich Grammar School, and by the way, give my regards to the teachers there.”

At the end of his sentence, he also spoke rather warningly at the two boys, “You two boys had better stay there until Mrs. Tom picks you both up from school. Especially you, Aaron, I’m seriously informing you that your allowance for this month’s snacks has been temporarily withheld. Incidentally, the final payment of the allowance will be directly linked to your grade in the next grammar exam.

If you have any objections to this resolution, please raise them at the next quarterly internal working meeting of the London Police Intelligence Bureau, where we will vote on the proposal. However, I can also tell you quite clearly that it’s useless even if you raise it, because Tom, Tony and the other police officers are all on my side in this matter.

As for you, Adam, haven’t you been eyeing Aaron’s snack allowance? I can also tell you plainly now that I will approve your application to join if you can guarantee a rating of three A’s or higher in this year’s grammar school exams. Otherwise, not only will I not approve your application, but I will also tell your mom and dad about all the assholish things you did with Aaron today.

You are nine years old, you can no longer be considered a child according to the general concept of Britannia, and as a mature Britannian gentleman, you have to learn to take responsibility for your actions.”

Arthur’s words immediately elicited a wail from Adam.

“Oh no, Mr. Hastings, you’re a good man, you can’t do this! Please don’t ever tell my mom and dad about this, they’ll both be devastated.”

And Pinkerton heard this but stood on the wagon seat and pleaded, “Sir, you can’t in good conscience swallow my stipend, we were just studying the Bible a little while ago, and it says there that God pronounced judgment on the elders and leaders of mankind for enlarging their fortunes by exploiting and abusing the poor. Please, you will surely go to hell in the future if you stop my allowance, you are a nice person and I don’t want you to go there.”

Arthur leaned one hand against the carriage door, “You see, Aaron, isn’t this where the usefulness of reading comes into play? If you hadn’t studied the Bible, you wouldn’t even know that you’re going to hell for swallowing someone’s allowance. But you’re right, I will definitely go to hell in the future, only odds are it won’t be for exploiting and abusing the poor.

If I’m going to hell, I naturally have other ways to do so, and in case you didn’t know, I can still make connections in hell. Besides, Aaron, your snack allowance is just a suspension, I gave you a chance to reform, getting an A in the grammar test shouldn’t be that hard for that smart little brain of yours, right?”

Pinkerton, seeing no use in feigning pity, could only grit his teeth in exasperation, “Damn! So you’ve made up your mind?”

Arthur nodded slightly and said, “Aaron, don’t be so angry. The bureau has specially set up a special fund for the education of underage employees for your education, and if you want to go to the University of London in the future, your university tuition subsidy will be full.”

Pinkerton asked, “And what if I miss Cambridge or Oxford?”

Arthur simply replied back, “Then I guarantee that another employee of our bureau, Mr. Elder Carter, will make a motion in an internal meeting to fire you immediately.”

“And what about your attitude?”

Arthur mused for a moment, “In terms of the educational ethos currently on display at Oxford and Cambridge, I’m inclined to support Mr. Carter’s proposal for the time being.”

Arthur saw the two brats lolling on the carriage seats like frosted eggplants, then he closed the door with satisfaction and spoke at the driver, “Sir, you may depart. Incidentally, if it’s not too much trouble, after they get out of the car, please keep an eye on the two of them as they walk back to the school before you leave, these two brats can be so slippery that they can pull something on you if you’re not careful.”

The coachman was also happy to hear this and raised his riding crop and gently touched his hat, “Don’t worry, Mr. Officer. I’ll keep an eye on these two young masters and see that they sit honestly back in their school seats. To be honest, if this were my son, I would definitely have to whip them twice, your attitude is too soft.”

Arthur just shrugged his shoulders as he took a sip from his cigar, “It can’t be helped, these two brats have too much guts. I’m worried that if I give them two lashes, they might turn around and steal his father’s gun and give me a hard shot from behind.”

The coachman just laughed when he heard this, and after everyone said their goodbyes, Arthur finally breathed a sigh of relief as he looked at the faraway carriage.

Disraeli saw this look of his and just thought it was funny: “Arthur Hastings, the brightest star of the entire London police world, the cold-faced detective that any criminal would feel chills just by looking at him, but he was distracted by two little kids. It seems that educating children is a greater challenge than arresting criminals.”

Arthur exhaled a smoke ring and nodded, “Benjamin, you don’t understand, I am only the present of Scotland Yard, but these two brats have the potential to be the future of Scotland Yard. It’s easier to pay now than to spend a great deal of effort correcting it in the future.”

Disraeli just winked and said with a smile, “Good luck to Scotland Yard’s future then.”

With that, he walked off on his own, leaning on his cane towards the Ministry of the Interior.

Hearing this, the Red Devil on the side just smiled badly and stroked the parchment scroll in his hand, reciting as if he were devout, “The Lord says: Give, and then thou shalt receive thyself. Arthur, I can’t imagine that you are actually a supporter of this argument, but please don’t forget that giving doesn’t bring anything, Judas will still betray Jesus, and Peter will likewise disown his Lord.

Man can torture sin out of whiteness, and he can torture whiteness out of sin. Human beings are divided into heroes and mole crickets, and the difference between the two lies in the fact that it is no big deal for heroes to do so-called bad things for the sake of good results.”

When Arthur heard this, he only felt something familiar, he twisted his head to look at Agares and just cupped his chin and smiled, “Agares, I never thought that you, the devil, would turn out to be quite fond of dealing with great writers and heroes! Influencing the world by influencing them is indeed a good method for a devil. However, it’s strange to say that looking back, none of them even yielded to you.”

Agareth didn’t say much, the Red Devil just smiled, “Don’t say that, Arthur, aren’t you the same? Look at the words of Alexandre Dumas in the chapter of The Count of Monte Cristo, written through the mouth of Father Faria: ‘To catch a criminal, you have to look for the one who benefits from the crime.’ Edmond Dantes is gone, so who will benefit?’ My dear Arthur, are you not doing the same thing I am?”

Arthur just sipped his cigar, “That’s right, I’ll have to think about what I said about that, who really benefits from stinking up Scotland Yard? In retrospect, the people who benefit might be a bit too many. If the malice is directed at a particular individual then I can quickly identify the target, but if the malice is directed at a particular organization, things can get a little big. With criminals all over London loathing Scotland Yard, are die-hard Tory MPs clinging to traditional Toryism now intent on putting themselves on a par with criminals?”

Agareth folded his arms and smiled, “And if that is the case, what do you intend to do about them?”

Arthur just smoothed his white gloves, “It’s simple, although unlike Mr. Dantes, the protagonist of The Count of Monte Cristo, I don’t have the Monte Cristo treasure to back myself up. But accordingly, I still have quite a lot of other resources at hand that I can utilize, so if they insist on going against me, I don’t mind continuing to provide Alexander with some subsequent plot material, such as being the mastermind behind the scenes for a time. I just don’t know, which one of the lucky ones is trying to go crazy this time.”

The corners of the Red Devil’s mouth turned upwards, practically grinning up to his ears, and his red tongue swept back and forth over his nail-sharp white teeth as he complimented in a meaty tone, “Wow, my dear Arthur, after six months of peace and quiet, you’re finally planning to strike again. Why don’t I raise you a little more, and if you can take out the entire Parliament of Britain in its entirety, I’ll reward you with the title of King.”

When Arthur heard this, he just raised an eyebrow, “Agares, don’t think I don’t know what you’re thinking. If the MPs are sent away by me, they’ll be in hell forcing Barr to sign the Magna Carta for a constitutional monarchy, what, do you, the out-of-power military leader, want to take advantage of the chaos to go back to being the Cromwell of hell? Or do you want to take a page from Napoleon and yell at the soldiers of the Demon Legion, ‘Hell, your Duke is back’?”

With that, Arthur limped unskillfully using his freshly purchased cane to keep pace with Disraeli.

Leaving Agareth frozen in place for a long time, he then slapped his thigh and awoke with a start, “Arthur, you’re a fucking genius, why didn’t I think of that? You wait a little while, why don’t I add something else?”

Arthur had just followed him up when he saw that on the road in front of the residence of the Minister of the Interior, Disraeli was actually chatting with someone at some point.

The sharp-eyed editor-in-chief of this magazine, who had taken ‘Caesar of Britain’ as his ultimate life ideal, spotted Mrs. Norton, who had just stepped out from the gate of the official residence, as well as Viscount Melbourne, the Minister of the Interior, who had escorted her out the door.

The proud young man did not shy away from the light of the great man, but instead took advantage of his gradually turning the tide in the literary world of Britain to strike up a conversation with Mrs. Norton.

Disraeli took off his hat and spoke, “Mrs. Norton, it’s really been a long time, since the last banquet, I’ve been asking you for a manuscript, it’s really a coincidence that I met you here today, why don’t we settle the matter of the manuscript here first?”

Mrs. Norton was obviously a bit surprised by Disraeli’s appearance, before she could react, Viscount Melbourne on the side asked with a strange face, “Caroline, who is this?”

Mrs. Norton came back to her senses and hurriedly introduced the Viscount, “William, this is the author of The Young Duke, and at the same time the editor-in-chief of The Cockney – Mr. Benjamin Disraeli.” Hearing this, Viscount Melbourne kindly took off his gloves and extended his hand at Disraeli, “Nice to meet you, Mr. Disraeli, I really didn’t expect that you’ve become so accomplished at such a young age. Caroline has recommended Cockney to me once upon a time, she told me that it was a wonderful magazine, she basically passed all her boring spare time on it.”

Disraeli’s face broke into a smile when he heard this, “That’s nothing, Your Excellency. To tell you the truth, the editor-in-chief of a literary magazine is just a small footnote on my life’s path, at the bottom of my heart, I still have an even more ambitious ideal.”

Hearing this, Viscount Melbourne just smiled, “Is that so? What is your ideal?”

Disraeli held his head high and said, “My ideal is to one day sit and work in an office on the street next door to Whitehall Street, that’s right, I’m talking about exactly number 10! You watch, I will be Prime Minister of this country one day.”

While Viscount Melbourne knew that arrogance was the nature of youth, it was still rare to see a fellow as unapologetic as Disraeli.

If Viscount Palmerston was here, he would probably be sneering at Disraeli’s lack of self-importance at this moment, but fortunately, Viscount Melbourne was not a character who liked to throw cold water on people.

He just politely said, “A very ambitious ideal, and the courage to be able to say that out loud is indeed worthy of commendation. However, before heading to the office at 10 Downing Street, perhaps you could consider coming to Whitehall Street to sit down first ……”

Saying this, Viscount Melbourne suddenly saw Arthur who was limping along, and he pointed at Arthur behind Disraeli, “As you can see, among the young Britons in your age group, I think this one is by far the most outstanding. Perhaps you can interact with him more when you have nothing to do.”

Mrs. Norton saw Arthur approaching and raised her hand slightly to greet him, “Mr. Hastings.”

Arthur also took off his hat and returned the greeting, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Norton.”

Mrs. Norton just wondered when she saw Arthur walking with a limp, “What’s the matter with you …… you?”

Arthur just said back, “Nothing, I’m just getting used to my new tools. As you may not know, I have recently been appointed to be in charge of police intelligence for Scotland Yard, and in order to be able to make myself look unobtrusive in all sorts of venues, I am trying to learn the behavioral habits of people of all statuses.”

Mrs. Norton heard this and said in a moment of realization, “So you are playing the part of a gentlemanly cripple to-day?”

“Well …… pretty much, ma’am.” Arthur mused for a moment before he spoke shyly, “However, to be precise, I’m actually playing Mr. Talleyrand Périgord, the French ambassador today.”

As soon as Arthur’s words left his mouth, even Viscount Melbourne, who had always been unsmiling, couldn’t help but burst out laughing, as he smiled and opened his mouth, “Arthur, pretty much, I just had dinner with Mr. Talleyrand last week, and he has a pretty good opinion of you.”

“Wow? Yeah?” Arthur played dumb, “He should have let me know then.”

Speaking of which, Viscount Melbourne suddenly remembered the case that had been forwarded to him by Scotland Yard this morning, and asked cryptically, “Arthur, you’re not hooked up with Senator Harrison’s affairs, are you?”

Arthur smiled coyly at this, “Unluckily, your honor, if only you had asked me about it sooner.”

“Senator Harrison?” Mrs. Norton queried, “Has anything happened to him?”

Viscount Melbourne hesitated when he heard this, but finally just shook his head, “Caroline, it’s something you shouldn’t ask.”

Hearing this, Mrs. Norton also knew that Viscount Melbourne had probably stumbled upon some kind of difficulty, and after thinking about it she ultimately decided not to make things difficult for him.

“Well, William, you must have something difficult to say, I understand you.”

Viscount Melbourne smiled, “Thank you for understanding, my dear.”

At that, he spoke again at Arthur, “This matter is probably not going to end so well, and I have already forwarded Scotland Yard through the papers as to what to do next. You guys at least have to find out some reason that speaks for itself, or else I won’t be able to come up with a reason even if I want to excuse you during the parliamentary questioning.”

Arthur nodded at his words, “Don’t worry, Your Excellency. Director Rowan and I have already discussed this, and I assure you that Scotland Yard will definitely not make things difficult for you.”

Viscount Melbourne got Arthur’s assurance, his mood obviously also improved a lot, he was planning to go back to the house, halfway to the road and then stopped and rushed to Arthur to mention two sentences.

“If you and this matter is too deeply involved, there is really no way, if you can’t help it, you should first submit your resignation, so that the parliament has no way to deeply investigate your responsibility. Arthur, you know, the preparations for the establishment of the London District Attorney’s Office are only a few months away, a few months, not too long to say, not too short to say, but people are always forgetful, and the Parliament is no exception, Arthur, you understand what I mean, right?”

Arthur of course understood Viscount Melbourne’s meaning, nothing more than letting him avoid the wind in advance.

Although there were many names that the Home Office could nominate for the London District Attorney’s Office police representative, there was only one that the Lord Chancellor’s Department was satisfied with.

As long as he didn’t get on the Parliament’s blacklist, that position would be his no matter what.

But Viscount Melbourne obviously underestimated Arthur’s determination, the newly appointed Minister of the Interior does not know that Arthur’s most important is in fact the position of the London Police Intelligence Service, less police intelligence functions, that even if Arthur took office in the London District Attorney’s Office, his power will also be one in ten.

Of course, no wonder Viscount Melbourne subconsciously ignored the London Police Intelligence, after all, this organization in the Cabinet members view, is only a rewarding position.

They didn’t think that this department, which didn’t have many regular employees and was allocated only 10,000 pounds, could make much of a difference.

Few would realize at this point what monsters could be raised when the functions of the London District Attorney’s Office and the London Police Intelligence Service were picked on one man’s shoulders.

Viscount Melbourne even went so far as to comfort, ”It’s normal for people to have ups and downs in this life. Arthur, you’re still young, and experiencing a little setback isn’t a bad thing.”

Arthur smiled, “Your Excellency, I think so too, have a nice day.”

Viscount Melbourne nodded slightly before walking back to the Home Secretary’s residence.

Just as he had left, Mrs. Norton was ready to board the carriage to start the following journey as well.

Seeing this, Arthur hurriedly poked Disraeli beside him with his elbow.

Cesar of Britannia understood and hurriedly stepped forward to stop the car: ”Madam, are you really not considering the matter of an appointment? To tell you the truth, the remuneration we have prepared for the manuscript is still quite generous. I have always thought that your attainments in literature have been seriously underestimated. There is no way to consistently unleash your outstanding talent by submitting articles in a magazine like Blackwood.”

When Mrs. Norton heard this, she just laughed and said back, “Look at my brain, I almost forgot about that. Contributing to The Cockney certainly interests me, but I have an appointment with an artist to paint a portrait this afternoon. Mr. Disraeli, if you don’t mind, why don’t we make an appointment to talk tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow?”

Hearing this, Disraeli’s eyes suddenly twinkled as he remembered the whispers he had overheard from the other ladies at the last banquet, “Tomorrow would be fine, then I’ll go ahead and discuss the manuscripts for the later issues with Mr. Arthur Sigma today.”

Mrs. Norton was just about to close the car door, but as soon as she heard the name Arthur Sigma, she stopped pulling the car door, “You are going to see Mr. Arthur Sigma today? The author of the Hastings Mysteries?”

“Of course.” Disraeli tugged at his collar, “I was going to invite you to meet him with me. I’ve always thought that distinguished authors always spark creativity when they get together for discussions. Just as Mr. Sigma and I have always done.”

Hearing this, Mrs. Norton hesitated for half a day, but finally sighed through clenched teeth, “Alas …… I would really like to go and meet him, but there is no way to reschedule the …… drawing of the portrait, Mr. Disraeli, and I am really very sorry.”

Arthur heard this and suddenly spoke, “There is no way to reschedule then let’s go to the drawing room together, I’m not busy today anyway, ma’am, what do you think?”

When Mrs. Norton heard this, her eyes gradually widened as she looked at Arthur, “Mr. Hastings? Wait …… Arthur Sigma? The Hastings Mysteries? You wrote that book?”

Arthur sniffed and just shook his head, “No, that can’t be considered written by me.”

Hearing this, Mrs. Norton covered her chest and let out a long breath, “That’s right, a great detective like you doesn’t have time to write novels.”

Arthur smiled, “I didn’t write it, but it was a personal experience, ma’am, it was sort of a chronicle. So with that said, can we go to the drawing room now to discuss it?”

When Mrs. Norton heard this, she was first a little excited, but then a little blame, her eyes were full of suspicion, but the corners of her eyes were covered with a smile, “Mr. Hastings, you are really a joker, I remember that book had the devil in it. Is the devil also a chronicle?”

Arthur nodded, “Of course, ma’am, what’s the big deal about the devil, maybe there will be God in the back.”

Mrs. Norton laughed at this and wrinkled her nose, “Well, Disraeli and Mr. God, now then, please get in the car, both of you.”

There’s another chapter around 5K today

(End of chapter)