Chapter 255: There’s a Price for Going Against Scotland Yard (K)
Chapter 254: It Pays to Go Against Scotland Yard (4K)
Arthur finished reading this advertisement in front of him and suddenly saw Director Rowan, who was sitting across the room smoking, throw a tin box with tobacco at him.
Director Rowan spoke, “If you want to smoke, take it yourself, and by the way, you can also talk about your ideas.”
Arthur lit the fire and leaned back in his chair and said, “Harrison’s willingness to drop the case is of course a good thing, but the crux of the matter is that he started this, and Scotland Yard didn’t mess with him at all. If we directly suspend the investigation of the case, is it not telling other departments that we are quite easy to mess with? I know that the British police force can’t be as intimidating as the French Grand Paris Police or the Russian Third Chamber of the Imperial Household, but we’re a violent force, and we don’t expect MPs to respect us like they do the Royal Navy or the Army, but we can’t just throw shit on our heads, can we?”
Hearing this, Director Luo Wan revealed a meaningful smile, his fingers interlocked and rested on his chin, his body slightly leaned forward and lowered his voice.
“You are right, Arthur. Though ever since Sir Peel ordered the establishment of Scotland Yard, the Home Office’s request to Scotland Yard has always been to try to present a Mr. Nice Guy image in front of the citizens of London. We fully understand and respect the decision of our superiors, and it is for this reason that we Scotland Yard officers go about doing a great deal of extra and superfluous work, such as putting aside police funds to give gruel, clearing congested roads, giving directions to out-of-towners, helping the public to retrieve their dogs and cats, scaring disobedient brats on behalf of their parents, and so on.
Nowadays, if you look around Europe or even the world, there is no police force that does more shit than we do and treats the public more gently than we do. But in the eyes of those ungrateful parliamentarians, our efforts seem to be a sign of weakness. If we don’t teach them a lesson, there will definitely be more and more of this kind of thing in the future.”
Arthur took that letter of reply from Sir Peel from the hands of Director Rowan and scanned it, the letterhead was earnest in its words, not the slightest bit of arrogance as a leader of a party, and the letterhead revealed only one key point, which was to plead on behalf of Bernie Harrison, hoping that Scotland Yard would not make a big deal out of it.
At the same time, Sir Peel also guaranteed that as long as wait until the wind passes, the Tory party will certainly make serious treatment of Bernie Harrison.
Arthur cupped his chin and pondered, “It seems that Sir Peel has pulled out all the stops in order to preserve the unity and integrity of the Tory Party, and it’s surprising that he didn’t even ask Harrison to resign from the House of Commons after he committed such a big offense.”
Director Rowan spoke, “The arrest of Louis Bonaparte itself has already diluted the impact of the Bernie Harrison incident by quite a bit, plus we did get a portion of the suspicious evidence in the Harrison case again, and murder is a felony charge, even MPs don’t have the right to criminal immunity. Now if those legislators want to talk about this case again, it will not be tenable, they can at most hit us with the problem of not reporting to the Speaker in a timely manner. It can be said that now most of the reason is on our side, if we force to take down Harrison, at most, we can only report in advance, and the Speaker does not have enough justifiable reasons to reject our application. Of course, we must also look at Sir Pierre’s favor. It would be all right not to take Harrison, but it would never be possible for us to make no noise at all.”
Hearing this, Arthur pondered for a while and spoke, “Actually, it’s fine not to move Harrison for the time being, after all, there’s no way for us to directly convict him now, at most, we can get him to Scotland Yard for a few days to be investigated. However, if we want to knock Harrison such a guy who doesn’t put Scotland Yard in his eyes, there are actually other entry points. Senator Harrison’s clique, for example.”
“Small group?” Director Rowan frowned, “Arthur, are you kidding? Harrison is a political fixer who started out by selling perfume, he doesn’t have much energy himself, but he was able to become a councilor thanks to the number of people he knows. There are quite a few political bigwigs inside his group, we are not even able to take down Harrison who has unfavorable evidence, are you still planning to move Earl Eldon or Drummond, Crocker and the others?”
Arthur laughed, “Sir, it’s like you said, Harrison is a political fixer, and those big shots are merely expanding their social circle through him, so how can they be considered a group with him? Besides, if those big shots want to target Scotland Yard, they can just play hardball in the Parliament, why would they resort to this kind of small tactics? The guys who would really use this kind of small tactics are usually not of high or low status, and these guys are the main force jumping up and down.”
Rowan hall director heard Arthur’s stringed voice, he sipped a mouthful of cigarettes and exhaled: “It seems that you have already found the target?”
Arthur nodded as he drew from his jacket pocket the warrant that had previously been issued by George Norton for Bernie Harrison’s arrest.
“I’m guessing you must have forgotten about this, Mr. Norton has always had a good personal relationship with Mr. Harrison, yet he sat on our arrest of Mr. Harrison, and as you can no doubt guess, the recently appointed judge had a hand in giving us a hard time.”
Director Rowan smoked a cigarette as he held up the warrant and scrutinized it, “Bringing down a magistrate? Why do I feel like this is harder than pulling down a councilor? Removing a judge from office requires His Majesty’s authorization. Besides, he only signed a wrong arrest warrant, it’s not really a big mistake, Harrison’s problem is much more serious than him.”
Arthur laughed, “I certainly understand that one is a murder charge and the other is a work error, the nature of the two is certainly incomparable. But the point is that Mr. Norton is not only an Oxford gentleman, but also a mindless dynamite barrel personality. As for the document removing the judge, His Majesty the King would certainly not be willing to just sign it, but if the removal of the judge is only for the purpose of transferring him to another department, that is, an administrative document for the adjustment of duties, then there is absolutely no problem in getting it passed in front of His Majesty the King.”
Rowan was surprised, “Norton is being transferred to another department?”
Arthur spoke, “It’s not that Mr. Norton is transferring to another department, but rather that he himself wants to advance and wants to go to the London District Attorney’s Office, which will soon be established, to face even tougher challenges. But from the information I’ve received in Chancery, Mr. Norton has had some difficulty in realizing this idea, so he’s been mulling over the whole big thing lately.”
“Something big? What’s he up to?”
Arthur pointed to the copy of Sir Peel’s letterhead in front of him and said, “I’m worried that there is a possibility that Mr. Norton may hold a grudge against our superior Viscount Melbourne because he can’t get his hands on the position of the London District Attorney’s Office, as it seems that Lady Norton has some not-so-explicit connections with Viscount Melbourne.
Therefore, I would suggest that you may first accede to Sir Peel’s request that we eventually drop the charges against Bernie Harrison, but only after Harrison has dropped the unconstitutional charges against Scotland Yard. This is a request that I think is appropriate, and Sir Peel should understand, after all, we have the upper hand in this matter.
But before we do that, I would ask you, in the presence of all the members of the House of Assembly at the question time tomorrow, to move on behalf of Scotland Yard that Mr. Norton, who issued the warrant, be held jointly and severally liable, and that there be a change of coroner for the examination of the body, and so forth; in short, that we address ourselves to the problems which have arisen in the magistrates’ court in this case.
It doesn’t matter whether the council agrees with you or not, because all we want is to put a few sparks in the barrel of dynamite. After that, if Senator Harrison drops the Scotland Yard charges, it will naturally mean that no further harm can be done to the Home Office, in which case Mr. Norton may become so angry that he may even be alarmed by your proposals in Parliament. When his mental pressure rises, I will try to give him another trifling little irritation, like a notice of removal or something.”
“Then here’s the problem.” Director Rowan tapped the desktop, “Where are you going to get that removal notice?”
Arthur put away the documents on his desktop and spoke with a smile, “Sir, have you forgotten what I just said? I’ve already held several meetings with the Lord Chancellor’s Office for the preparation of the London District Attorney’s Office in these six months, and now, although the main framework has been determined, and the Attorney General of the London District Attorney’s Office has been determined to be held by the Dean of the University of London’s School of Law, Mr. John Austin, there are still vacancies in a few of the deputy positions, and coincidentally, the last time, Lord Brougham asked me if there were any suitable recommendations for the candidates I have here. ”
“Ah ……” said Director Rowan, who, on hearing this, thoroughly understood Arthur’s intentions, and grinned, “I don’t know much about this new institution, Arthur; can you explain to me how the removal of a prosecutor is to be reported to His Majesty the King?”
Arthur smiled and shook his head slightly, “Of course it is not necessary, the London District Attorney’s Office is a subordinate body of the Lord Chancellor’s Office, and all that is required is a nod from the Lord Chancellor’s Office. And, sir, I must correct you on one point, this is not a prosecutor, but a prosecutor who has not yet taken up his post, so it would only even be necessary to withdraw the appointment papers that have not yet been delivered to him.”
Director Rowan smiled even wider at that, “Arthur, don’t worry about that, I’ve been living in Britain for so many years, I’m not sure about most things, but the only thing I’m sure about is that our Post Office in Britain is one of the most inefficient in doing things, and that’s something that I’ve always felt comfortable with them.”
Speaking here, Director Rowan spoke again, “Norton’s matter is considered to be arranged, Harrison’s side although we will eventually withdraw the case this time, but before that, we also have to put some pressure on him, at the very least, we have to let him understand that going against Scotland Yard is going to cost him.”
“Of course.” Arthur put the copy of the ‘Strikers’ Secret’ advertisement on the table into his jacket pocket, “At the very least, I can’t just stand by and watch him continue to sell this stuff. Besides, I’m very interested in just what kind of misfortune has befallen that unfortunate maid.”
……
There was no shortage of shopping districts in 19th century London, although Regent Street, Jermyn Street and Savile Row were the places to go for all manner of fashionable products for the ladies and gentlemen of the upper class.
However, Bond Street, named after Sir Thomas Bond, a close friend of King Charles II, was also a good place to go. Compared to the above three neighborhoods, the advantage of Bond Street lies in its geographical location, as the main traffic artery connecting Oxford Street and Piccadilly Circus, the rich and powerful people who lived in Mayfair could collect all the high-grade products they needed as long as they stepped out of the door of their houses here.
The most famous and sought-after perfume store on Bond Street is Rubin’s Perfume.
The reason for the popularity of this seemingly ordinary store begins with its earliest owner, Mr. Rubin.
Like many of those who make waves in London’s fashion scene, Mr. Rubin was a Frenchman who, among other things, was the perfumer of Napoleon’s first empress, Josephine Beauharnais.
As the man who created the scent that the conqueror of the continent was obsessed with, Mr. Rubin’s perfuming prowess needs no introduction.
To women, Mr. Rubin often declared: Napoleon conquered Europe by force, Josephine conquered Napoleon with fragrance, buy a bottle of my perfume, your husband is the next Napoleon.
And for men, Mr. Rubin has another set of words: send your lover a bottle of perfume, she is your Josephine. You don’t need to conquer Europe to have a royal experience.
The little man who was busy in the perfume store saw a gentleman dressed as a banker cross into the store and hurriedly greeted him with a smile: “Sir, are you planning to purchase some cosmetics for your lover? Rose water? Rouge? Or maybe you’ve come to purchase our store’s treasure, Empress Josephine’s same model, ‘Imperial Obsession’?”
“Imperial Obsession?” Arthur lifted his cane and poked his hat, “Is it cheese-flavored?”
“Cheese-flavored?” The little fellow was a little upset when he heard this, but he did his best to maintain a smile, “What are you talking about? Emperor’s Obsession is a blend of dozens of essential oils such as top quality rose, pineapple, pear, and lavender. We don’t sell any cheese-flavored perfumes, are you kidding me?”
Arthur sniffed and backed out of the store to look at the perfume store sign again before speaking with certainty, “Have you been selling fake products all this time? A friend of mine told me that the most authentic smell would be the cheese flavor!”
When the little fellow heard this, he couldn’t help but question, “Sir! Our formula hasn’t changed for more than ten years, if it’s cheese-flavored, then it can only mean that the perfume you bought must be fake. Napoleon even praised the smell of the perfume on Empress Joseph, could that friend of yours be more professional than Napoleon himself?”
Arthur recalled, and was instantly rather ashamed, “That’s still a slight difference, and truth be told, the one I know is small.”
(End of chapter)