Chapter 66: Special authorization

Chapter 66 Special Authorization
In the office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Arthur was sitting in a chair, rainwater falling everywhere on his police uniform and dripping from his hair.

His lips looked a little blue, and his hands, which were clenched into fists on his knees, were shaking slightly.

From Arthur’s solemn expression, Sir Peel already saw that something was wrong.

Sir Peel exchanged eye contact with the Duke of Wellington, who was leaning on the sofa and savoring his sherry, and then asked with a gentle smile, “Sergeant Arthur, what is wrong with you?”

Arthur took a deep breath as he spoke bluntly, “I would like you to authorize me and the Greenwich Police District under me to fully investigate all powers regarding the disappearance of the parish of St. Giles.”

“The St. Giles Parish disappearance?”

Sir Peel thought back slightly, and it took a long time before he remembered that Scotland Yard seemed to have reported such a matter to him.

Although he, the Home Secretary, was responsible for supervising Scotland Yard, he had been so busy with the two-party struggle during this period of time that he hadn’t been able to put this matter to the forefront of his mind.

Now that he remembered, he hurriedly rummaged through the thick boxes of several documents on his desktop.

He searched for about two or three minutes before he pulled out a page of the report from a thick stack of materials.

Sir Peel quickly skimmed through it, and then whirled around and laid the page of the report in front of Arthur.

“Is this the one you’re talking about? A report from two months ago about the parish of St. Giles losing a couple of prostitutes and the beggar.”

Arthur scanned down that report, and his mind, which had only calmed down after being drenched in the rain for most of the day, instantly began to heat up again.

It was as if he was slowly beginning to understand why Agareth hadn’t let him pursue the case before.

The Red Devil’s words echoed in his ears.

–Arthur, guess why Scotland Yard won’t look into this case?
–Listen to me, don’t touch it, or you’ll probably fall to pieces if you’re not careful!

–There are things you’re better off not knowing than knowing!
–You don’t have the power to know.

These sons of bitches!
Arthur took a deep breath, he was now in a mood like an ancient well with no waves, nothing but the drowning of a few people could make waves in his heart.

“Sir, I am compelled to inform you here that the disappearance in the parish of St. Giles is more than just a few prostitutes and beggars; it involves at least forty-five people.

It also involves more than just the West End of London; the day before yesterday there was a murder in my precinct linked to the disappearance.

According to the confession of one of the accomplices, these missing persons are all related to ‘murder and sale of corpses’, and their modus operandi is also highly similar to the Edinburgh ‘Burke gang’ that shocked the whole of Great Britain two years ago.

Now, the citizens of London remain under threat of death, and the body of a new victim was just discovered this morning at St. Thomas’ Hospital in King’s College.

If we don’t bring these criminals to justice soon, I fear that as the number of missing people rises, information will soon come to light in the media, and the ensuing repercussions will be incalculable.”

Hearing this, Sir Pierre couldn’t help but frown as he glanced at the report in his hand and then at Arthur, opening his mouth to ask.

“Are you sure everything is true?”

Arthur took off his own hat and touched the Scotland Yard badge and swore, “I swear on my honor and conscience that all of my statements are true.”

Sir Peel sniffed and violently slammed the report in his hand onto his desk as he broke down and cursed at the door.

“Send a man to 4 Whitehall Street at once, and tell those lazier-than-Belfinger superintendents of Scotland Yard to get their asses to me at once!

I’m going to ask them nicely why, after a case of this magnitude, I still have the same report on my desk from two months ago!”

Just as Sir Peel was fuming, the Duke of Wellington suddenly stood up, and taking himself out of the cupboard, he took out the bottle of sherry from Andalusia, added a little to himself, and poured a glass and placed it in front of Arthur.

Arthur was startled by the tall glass that suddenly appeared in front of him, he turned his head to look at this old brown-haired gentleman with a strange face and asked, “What are you?”

The Duke of Wellington pointed at the goblet at him, “Have some, young man. With that look on your face, you look as if you’ve just come from the battlefield.”

Arthur froze for a moment when he heard this, then forced a smile.

“I do look like I just came down from the battlefield, perhaps only on the battlefield can you see such a tragic scene.”

Hearing this, Duke Wellington couldn’t help but ask, “What did you see?”

“I ……” Arthur was silent for a moment, “I saw a very good friend die beside me, and I could do nothing about her death, I could only stand there quietly and watch, but could do nothing.

I’m a police officer and I thought police officers existed to stop these things from happening, but it still happened one after the other. It was a dereliction of duty on my part, and I am very ashamed and …… very sorry …… too.”

When Sir Peel heard this, he suddenly thought of what Arthur had said earlier.

“You just said that a victim was found at St. Thomas’ Hospital this morning …… Could it be that ……”

Hearing this, the Duke of Wellington suddenly opened his mouth and asked.

“Young man, as a police officer, not being able to stop a crime should indeed be ashamed.

And you just said that you want to be in charge of the entire investigation of this case.

But I remember that the parish of St. Giles is part of the West End of London, so that shouldn’t be in your jurisdiction, right?
You’re overstepping your bounds like this, if you were in the army, it would have to be considered insubordination.”

Sir Peel’s open mouth slowly closed when he heard this, and he just smiled as he looked at what was happening in front of him.

Arthur took a deep breath and stood up, knowing that the final test had come.

“I don’t think this qualifies as insubordination.”

The Duke of Wellington shook his glass, “Give me a reason.”

Arthur said, “Mr. Duke, because time is running out and I don’t want to lose half the war before it even starts!”

Wellington was stunned when he heard this, because what Arthur just said was the very same quote he left behind when he disobeyed the orders of the War Ministry during the Peninsular War.

He was amazed, “How did you know who I was?”

Arthur calmly said, “Being able to sit comfortably in Sir Peel’s office means that your status is not low.

To be able to take wine here at will shows that you have a great relationship with him.

The fact that you mentioned the military shows that you were once a soldier.

Based on your age, the wavy hair and blue eyes, plus your well-tailored civilian clothes.

I can only guess that you are that Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington who was nicknamed ‘The Dandy’ in his youth and won the Battle of Waterloo.”

Hearing this, Sir Peel couldn’t help but get up and applaud Arthur: “Sergeant Arthur, what beautiful reasoning.”

The Duke of Wellington also nodded his head in a rarely seen manner as he raised his wine glass and clinked it with Arthur’s, “Young man, it seems that commissioning you to investigate really can’t be considered a violation of orders, you just have the ability.”

“In that case ……,” Sir Peel smiled and glanced at the Duke of Wellington, “Mr. Duke?”

The Duke of Wellington nodded, “Mr. Hastings, you’ve earned this opportunity, and we’ve given you special authorization.”

Arthur asked, “Is this a special authorization from the Home Office?”

“No, no, no.”

The Duke of Wellington drew a pen from his jacket pocket and a piece of paper from Sir Peel’s desk, on which he scribbled a few casual strokes before folding the paper and slipping it into Arthur’s breast pocket.

“Go to Scotland Yard and tell them that the special authorization comes from Arthur Wellesley, former Commander-in-Chief of the British Army and now Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.”

The Duke of Wellington looked at Arthur as he exited the office, still unable to stop himself from savoring Arthur’s earlier reasoning.

“Robert, you really don’t say, this lad called Arthur seems to really have some ability. In three or two clicks, he guessed my identity, it seems that if this case is handed over to him for investigation, there will definitely be no problem.”

Sir Pierre couldn’t help but sniff as he spoke, “I have always trusted Officer Arthur’s ability, but not because of his reasoning this time, but rather his level of speech that can turn something rotten into something magical.”

The Duke of Wellington was puzzled, “Level of speech?”

Sir Peel nodded and then pointed to his chest, “Mr. Duke, next time if you want to ask someone about their identity, you’d better put the pocket watch with the name engraved on it hanging on your chest into your pocket first.”

(End of chapter)