Chapter 87: Counterfeit Merchants
Chapter 87 The Counterfeit Merchant
Scotland Yard, as a new type of police organization that had just been established, not only lacked professional detectives for investigating cases, but even maintaining daily patrols was a struggle.
Their main task also only lies in maintaining the daily order of the streets and apprehending crimes such as theft and robbery.
Unless there is a big case like the murder and theft of a corpse that has attracted the attention of the public, cases with a low social impact are generally released when they can be.
If this case was placed in other police districts, it might be casually passed.
But for Arthur, who is committed to investigating and organizing big cases to expand his influence, this kind of case that can be accomplished with merit and cannot be accomplished without fault, of course, he will not let go easily.
And for such a disappearance case, the best way to start, of course, is to look for the local snake.
And for the Greenwich District ground active on the several characters, Arthur not to say as a family favorite, at least can do a number of heart.
These days, for the time being, there is no highly organized crime syndicates like the Mafia, and what appeared in the city of London in the early 19th century were more groups with the nature of trade associations.
Although the business they do can not be considered illegal, but if strictly pursued to do may not be legal.
In terms of being well-informed, Judd Martin, a trader specializing in counterfeit goods, must have been one of the most widely informed people in Greenwich.
For no other reason than the fact that the small street vendors in Greenwich basically rely on Judd Martin’s counterfeiting store for their supply.
This man sells items including, but not limited to, pickles dyed green with copper.
cream made from bad milk mixed with rice flour and tapioca.
Colorful candies made from sugar, starch and kanji clay.
Lemonade made with tartaric acid.
Gloucestershire cheese colored with red lead and cochineal fruit.
Vegetable sauces made from the residue of distilled spirits and vinegar, boiled in a broth with walnut skins, and a mixture of spices, paprika, sweet peppers, salt, and rotten mushrooms you can’t sell, and all sorts of things that have a small chance of being eaten with a small chance of being eaten.
And all sorts of fake medicines that have a small chance of curing you and a large chance of making you worse.
Judd Martin is an unapologetic criminal if we’re talking about latter-day standards.
But in 19th-century Britain, Mr. Martin’s business was not illegal, and Parliament turned a blind eye to counterfeiting, because many of the factories that supplied the fakes were major taxpayers in Britain.
Moreover, both the Whigs and the Tories held an economic liberal stance, and some members of parliament would even take the initiative to defend these counterfeit factories and traders.
They claim that these counterfeiting practices have effectively lowered the prices of goods and enabled the poor to improve their quality of life.
Others claim that it is the government’s greedy tax policies that have allowed counterfeiting to flourish.
Britain has imposed high protective tariffs on most foreign imports.
Protective tariffs on consumer goods like tea were once as high as 100 percent.
Tea drinking is an essential pastime in the life of the British people, from noble merchants, down to ordinary workers, everyone must drink sweet tea at least once a day.
But in the face of such high tariffs and the expensive cost of long-distance transportation, the price of tea was bound to remain high.
The counterfeiters claimed that they had to use the leaves of the blackthorn plum shrub as tea in order to satisfy the tea demand of the lower classes, and then sold them.
Therefore, the production and sale of counterfeits can basically be regarded as a common social behavior.
Although there are occasional social activists who will come out to criticize the safety of food and drugs, but basically they can’t make much of a fuss.
Frederick Acum, a chemical expert who exposed the food safety problem in Britain, was even framed one after another because he had touched the interests of these adulteration merchants, and he was eventually expelled from Britain.
Arthur certainly had no interest, and for the time being had no ability, to fight against those big factory owners who made counterfeits. However, if he only wanted to pin down Judd Martin, it was still easy, after all, the other party was only a distributor and primary manufacturer at the downstream of the counterfeiting industry chain, and most importantly, Mr. Martin still had a lot of handles in his hands.
Arthur led Tom and Tony into the alley of Christmas Road, at the end of the alley flowing with sewage, there is an open courtyard door, and from a long distance you can smell a milky scent that is so rich that it makes people sour and sticky.
He came to the gate only to see a cauldron of bubbling milk boiling on a stand in the courtyard.
Two workers wearing coats full of pockets were stirring the milk with wooden sticks of equal height, and every now and then they would pull out a handful of colorful powder from the pockets of their coats and throw it into the pot.
With the stirring of the wooden sticks and the addition of various ingredients, the sour smell faded quite a bit, and the flowing milk began to gradually become thicker, and a dark red sheen began to emerge from its manifestations.
Mr. Martin, dressed in a blue overalls with a dirty apron tied around his waist, was not idle either.
He first dumped the sacks beside him that were filled with kanji clay and pepper respectively onto the ground, and then reached out to meticulously mix the two together.
He was kneeling on the ground stirring vigorously when he suddenly saw a pair of riding boots appear in front of his eyes.
Martin looked up and immediately changed into a smiling face.
He casually wiped his hands, which were stained with pepper and guanyin soil, on his apron, and then stood up and nodded, ”Officer Arthur? Why do you have time to come to my place today? Why don’t you come in and have a cup of tea? It’s definitely authentic tea, different from the ones I sell.”
Arthur also didn’t want to talk more nonsense with him and directly pulled out a notebook from his pocket.
“Mr. Martin, we have received a report that the guests of an inn have all vomited and had diarrhea after eating the Gloucester cheese purchased from you, and have been sent to the hospital en masse for treatment. I intend to arrest you for poisoning, so come with us if it’s convenient.”
Martin’s face changed as soon as he heard this, and he spoke, “Sir, it’s true that I sold Gloucester cheese, but I bought that stuff from another factory, I didn’t make it!”
“Is that so? Then I’ll change the line.”
Arthur turned to the next page of his notebook, “A lady complained to us that after she served her guests with the cream she bought from you, they all had a collective high fever, and we suspect you ……”
As soon as Martin heard this, he hurriedly raised his hand to signal Arthur to stop, he fumbled in his pocket for half a day, only then did he take out a stack of banknotes with a face of flesh pain, and shakily handed it over towards Arthur.
He said with a smile on his face, “Mr. Officer, this is my fault. It’s been so long since you took office, and I actually haven’t congratulated you yet, so for their sake, don’t continue to dwell on this matter.
After all, as you know, these days, what doesn’t have a little something in it? As long as you don’t die from eating it, that means there’s no problem. If it kills people, then it means there’s something wrong with their bodies.
You’re an honest police officer. The newspapers praise you for being young and capable. Where is this bitter, humble little businessman like me worth all this hustle and bustle? Instead of spending your energy on me, why don’t you take care of the thieves and murderers?
If you have any use for me, just ask, there’s no need to be polite with me.”
Arthur stared at Martin for a while, and a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, “Mr. Martin, you really do know your way around. In that case, then I will not be polite.”
He took out a portrait from his pocket and pointed at the curly-haired fat man on the portrait and asked, “The police department just received a report that this gentleman was lost. Can you help me ask the itinerant street vendors if they have seen him somewhere?”
As soon as Arthur’s words came out of his mouth, Martin reluctantly smiled, “Ask, I can ask for you, but if it’s something of this sort, I feel that it might be more efficient for you to go directly to the docks and ask Cambridge’s gang, after all, it seems like that’s the kind of business they do.”
“Cambridge?” Arthur asked with a frown, “What do they do?”
(End of chapter)