Chapter 271: Investment Tycoon Harrison (K4)

Chapter 270 – Investment Tycoon Harrison (4K4)

“What …… are you guys doing?!”

Bernie Harrison looked at the crowd packed outside the door, and after a brief moment of shock and fear, the first reaction that welled up in his heart was anger instead.

He instantly recognized the iconic Scotland Yard uniform on Ledley, and with the fire that had been building up in his chest over the past few days like a rock in his throat, Harrison pressed down his anger and spoke, “Is this the end of the line for you guys? Because of the murder case put me into the Scotland Yard to receive interrogation is not enough, and now you want to because of this little entertainment to find my trouble? Is Scotland Yard not taking my right to parliamentary immunity seriously at all, and not taking the Magna Carta seriously at all?”

Hearing this, Ledley instantly understood that this Harrison fellow must not have understood the situation clearly, he seriously stood at attention and saluted, “I’m sorry, Mr. Harrison, you have immunity on you, but this lady beside you is not protected, we need to ask her to go back to undergo further cross-examination. Please understand that we are currently carrying out Scotland Yard’s routine sweep of the Oxford Street area for policing crime this quarter.”

And the journalists following Ledley sniffed out the news, relying on the fact that cameras hadn’t been invented in this day and age, so the reporters’ lines weren’t as recognizable as they would be later on.

So as far as Harrison was concerned, those in uniform were Scotland Yard Blue Lobsters, and those out of uniform were Scotland Yard undercover cops.

A couple of reporters stepped forward and they looked first at the woman who was hiding under the covers on one side and then at Harrison who was obviously holding his fire.

The older ones smiled at each other and familiarly interviewed them while pulling out their notebooks, “Mr. Harrison, may I ask why you are in this place? As far as we know, this is not a proper place, is this beside you your wife? Or is it a lady of equal status to your wife?”

Harrison sniffed furiously and lifted a pillow and threw it at the reporter: “Do you know what you’re asking? She’s nothing, I’m just out for fun, are you guys trying to handcuff me to the police now? I’m telling you, you don’t have the power! This is a misdemeanor, and as a member of the House of Commons, I have full immunity!”

The old reporter unhurriedly lit the fire and sipped his cigarette, while the young reporter beside him hastened to bring him a chair for him to sit down, hoping to learn a few tricks from the old-timer’s hands.

The old reporter gulped down the smoke as he spoke, “Mr. Harrison, is this how you use the legal rights given to you by the public? If I remember correctly, you are already married. So your behavior is not only illegal, but also against Christian morality. Aren’t you worried about failing your constituents?”

“It’s none of your business if I fail the voters, do you guys have the right to vote?”

Harrison intimidated, “I’m warning you, I’ve talked to your superiors. I’ll do my best to cooperate with the investigation of the murder, but if you guys keep holding on to me like this, then I’m not one to be messed with. Officer, you’d better think clearly when you do your job, whether your name is Richard Rowan or Arthur Hastings. If it’s neither, you’d better show some kindness when you speak to a member of the House of Commons.”

The old reporter scowled with concern as he took notes, “Mr. Harrison, it is your freedom to express yourself however you wish, but I am also free to record that you have made threats against me. The rights granted to MPs by the Magna Carta are not yours to abuse in such a manner, and the proliferation of assholes such as yourself is a major reason why the British public is demanding that parliamentary reform be initiated. In this, I fully support Earl Grey’s decision.”

All at once, as if he had caught the old reporter in the act, Harrison loudly reprimanded, “Listen to what you’re saying! Earl Grey! That the Scotland Yard police should hold Whig political views is a political vendetta, and you are in complete violation of the principle of scrupulous political neutrality. This gentleman, believe me, just based on what you just said, I will do everything in my power to make you lose your job!”

Hearing this, the small reporter at the side lifted up to survey the layout of the room, and in three or two strokes, he drew the rough outline of a caricature on the paper, “Mr. Harrison, although I don’t have much knowledge of the situation, but in all the time that I’ve been following Mr. Thomas Barnes in doing interviews, you’re still the first House of Commons member to dare to speak to him in such a manner.”

“Thomas Barnes?” Harrison heard the name and froze, then his heart thumped, “Jupiter of the Times?”

The old reporter just laughed twice when he heard this, and he lifted his hat to return the gesture, “Jupiter or whatever, it’s really overrated. There are a lot of good journalists in the news world, but what makes me better than them is that I’ve always been lucky. You see, I was just invited to do a follow up interview today, and I didn’t expect to run right into you.”

Harrison was so startled that he hastily lifted the covers, and he was about to get out of bed to say hello, but before he could put on his slippers, Officer Laidley hurriedly pressed him back into bed again.

Laidley spoke with an apologetic face, “Mr. Harrison, if you ask me, you’d better put away the salami. It’s been cool lately and I’m afraid you’ll freeze later.”

The small reporter on the side also couldn’t help but laugh out loud, “Mr. Barnes, after so many years of doing interviews, you must be seeing this kind of scene for the first time.”

Mr. Barnes, who is accustomed to seeing big waves, just shook his head with his mouth: “That’s not true, when I just graduated from Cambridge and joined The Times, Britain was still fighting the Napoleonic wars, and at that time, I used to follow the Royal Navy’s conscription team to do a few on-the-spot interviews, and that scene can be much hotter than today.

The conscripts crept into villages in the dark of night when everyone was in bed, then found a house, broke in, and dragged the man out of bed as they saw him. As for the women who had lost their husbands, they didn’t care whether they were dressed or not; they rushed out of their homes naked and beat, kicked, cried, and cursed at the conscripts.”

Hearing this, the young reporter couldn’t help but be amazed, “My God! Can conscription turn out to be barbaric like this? How could those people in the conscription team have the heart to do such a thing?”

Barnes spoke, “Of course they can be ruthless, for every naval soldier they get, they can get two or three pounds of conscription subsidies from the Admiralty. If they weren’t underpowered, those guys would simply hate to tie up every grown man in Britain and throw them overboard, and that’s how a lot of the 200,000 sailors in the Royal Navy came to be.”

Speaking of this, Barnes also did not forget to joke at Officer Ledley who smiled at the side: “Compared to the Royal Navy’s conscripts, Scotland Yard officers are obviously much more civilized in their law enforcement, and that’s the progress of the times.”

Hearing this, Harrison hurriedly defended himself, “Mr. Barnes, I think you must have misunderstood.”

“Of course.” Barnes nodded, “So can you explain what exactly is going on with this lady beside you?”

“I ……” Harrison’s forehead was sweating, he paused for a moment and then smiled sarcastically, “Mr. Barnes, I’m a businessman, do you know about the Harrison brand perfume? That is my industry. Several honorable gentlemen are my stable customers, if you also have a need in this area, you can order from me in the future. However, I also know that it’s not easy to make a person change the brand of perfume they’re used to, so you see, why don’t I send you some samples in the next couple of days?”

Hearing this, the slippery mudskipper Ledley also hurriedly came up in a fake manner to round up the situation, “Mr. Harrison, I also don’t believe that you, as an upright and responsible member of the House of Commons, would do such a thing, after all, you are a devout believer.

The Gospel of Matthew says, “Whoever looks at a woman and lusts after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your hundred bodies than your whole body to be cast into hell. And if thy right hand causeth thee to stumble, cut it off, and cast it away: it is better for thee to lose one of thy hundred bodies, than to cast thy whole body into hell.

It would be a discredit to Mr. Harrison’s reputation to say that such a pious man as he is would commit adultery. I suppose you’re mostly here to talk business with this lady? After all, your business is so successful that it’s understandable that you provide one-to-one service to individual large customers.”

“Yes, yes, you’re right about this officer.” Harrison spoke as if he had grabbed a lifesaver, sweating as he spoke, “I am indeed here to talk business with this lady.” The young reporter questioned, “But how do you explain your nakedness?”

Harrison racked his brain and in a hurry, he clapped his hands with a smile on his face and said, “Oh, that’s the secret of a businessman. That’s how I was able to make the perfume business so big!”

“Wow?” Barnes raised his eyebrows and said, “Can you talk about the specifics?”

Harrison’s forehead was sweating vainly, “The secret of the so-called business success is that is that I’ve always had nothing to hide from my big clients.”

Ridley froze and asked, “Does that include salami too?”

“That’s right!” Harrison glared at him, forcing a roundabout way, “Do you know why you still have nothing but a police number on your shoulder now, lad? Whether you’re in business, running for Congress, or being a cop, being honest with the people you serve comes first if you want to make something of yourself.”

No sooner had Harrison said this than he heard a chuckle from beside him and the blonde beauty covered her mouth and winked at Harrison, “Darling, I was actually thinking the same thing.”

No sooner had this been said than Harrison’s face turned a pig’s liver color.

He gasped for half a day before suddenly speaking again, “Mr. Barnes, you should know about Poland, it’s been a hot spot lately, and all the major newspapers are scrambling to cover it.”

Barnes asked, “Although I also sympathize with what the Polish people are going through, does this lady have anything to do with Poland?”

“Of course!”

As soon as Harrison heard Barnes sympathize with Poland, he immediately emphasized, “In fact, this lady beside me is a Polish person. As you surely know, our cabinet’s attitude towards Poland is really bad, and Viscount Palmerston is actually unwilling to shell out a single penny for the suffering Polish people! I, as a politician, have always taken it upon myself to improve the lives of the people of the world. What governments don’t do, I, Bernie Harrison, take the lead! You may not be aware that I have decided to provide the Polish ladies in exile represented by this lady with a long, steady and quality perfume, and additionally am sponsoring them with a sum of money to be used for their livelihood!”

Hearing this, Ledley couldn’t help but applaud and exclaim, “Well done! Mr. Harrison, although I can’t show my political stance as a Scotland Yard police officer, I support you in this matter alone! You are the pride of Britain!”

Hearing this, Harrison laughed out loud sheepishly, “What are you talking about, officer? This is all what a responsible politician and loyalist should do.”

Ledley followed up with, “So, can I take the liberty of asking how much you have donated to this lady so far?”

The beauty sniffed and just gently leaned her head on Harrison’s shoulder, “Mr. Harrison is still quite generous, and although we’ve only met a few times, I’ve collected almost five pounds as of now.”

Harrison hastily interrupted with a voice, “Oh, my dear Defina, you should know that raising large sums of money takes time. As for the five pounds, it was a token of my appreciation for learning Polish from you. Have you forgotten? We made an appointment to go to your Poland for business in the future.”

As Harrison spoke, a group of young reporters who had been writing and drawing suddenly smiled and turned the notebook in their hands toward Harrison, which was a cartoon illustration he had drawn for this story.

The picture was very simple, although it was all straight and thick lines, but a few strokes had already sketched out the big bed in the room and Harrison who was lying on the bed with an embarrassed face and Mrs. Poland who was snuggling in his arms.

The young reporter smiled and asked, “So Mr. Harrison, what do you think would be a good title for this cartoon? ‘Harrison’s Perfume Company adds big investment in Poland: investment totals five pounds’, or perhaps ‘Harrison’s One-to-One Polish Tutoring’?”

“Don’t …… don’t …… don’t ……” Harrison’s lips trembled as he slowly raised his finger to point at the young reporter, “You’ll ruin me if you do that! ”

Barnes sipped his cigarette, then stood up and stretched out his hand at Harrison and said, “Well, I’m glad to hear about your business today. I’ll also be conducting a verified interview with Earl Eldon, a loyal fan of Harrison’s perfume, later on, and if everything you said about revealing your salami is true, I’ll consider giving you a column in the financial section of the Times. That said, would you be interested in a joint venture with me to open a sausage processing plant?”

When Harrison heard this, he just covered his chest and looked up at the sky, he felt dizzy and even breathing became an unbearable burden.

Right at this moment, just as he was about to pass out, the remaining light from the corner of his eye suddenly glimpsed what seemed to be a tiny bit of red aura flickering outside the window that was so faint as to be undetectable.

Harrison twisted his head to look, across the street in the second floor restaurant, there was a Scotland Yard policeman who lifted his fork and slowly and methodically brought a small piece of cut steak into his mouth.

Only unlike Officer Ledley, the officer’s shoulder patch was not empty, but appropriately paired with a gleaming St. Edward’s Crown badge.

Arthur seemed to notice Harrison’s gaze as well, lifting the clean white napkin erected around his neck to gently wipe the sauce from the corners of his mouth, his lips looking like reflective cherries after a rainy day in the oily light.

Arthur twisted his head gently, lifted his glass of wine and toasted distantly at Harrison, “Don’t be too angry, Mr. Harrison. We offer a much gentler Polish service than Mr. Vidocq’s French.”

Harrison’s pupils shook dramatically, and he tried to raise his hand to point at Arthur, but he didn’t even have the strength to do so at this point, and only the beauty leaning in his arms could vaguely hear him whisper.

“He …… fuck, sub …… Arthur Hastings, you fucking dare to cunt me!”

The beauty sniffed, just tilted her head and mourned, “Ugh …… Mr. Harrison, you don’t think about men when I’m around.”

(End of chapter)