shadow of britain

Chapter 12 The Mysterious Gentleman
Mrs. Peel's words can be described as both soft and hard.

Those present were all discerning people, and everyone could see that the exquisitely crafted parasol was worth a lot.

But if George Morris was really invited to testify in court, even if he was killed, he would not be able to admit that this thing was of high value.

As a young member of parliament who has finally climbed out of a difficult election campaign, if he is tied to the election bribery scandal as soon as he is elected, it will undoubtedly immediately bring his bright political career to the bottom.

Although everyone knows that election bribery is nothing new these years, whether it is the Whig Party or the Tory Party, they all tacitly put this matter under the table and quietly, and tacitly keep their opponents' election bribery in check. silence.

If anyone is stupid enough to bring this matter to light, and dare to risk the world's disgrace, then no matter what his background is, the big guys will join hands to suppress it.

A junior rookie like George Morris obviously doesn't have the guts to challenge the leaders of the two parties and senior congressmen, nor is he ready to jump out and smash everyone's jobs.

The justice of the peace, of course, understood what was going on here.

He didn't even bother to call George Morris to testify because he knew the guy wouldn't tell the truth.

If Maurice was pushed into a hurry, the guy might insist that parasols were worthless.

Even if he said nonsense that all the one hundred umbrellas were all prototypes that he suddenly realized the umbrella-making craft at home, and they were all prototypes that were produced overnight, the magistrate would not be surprised.

As an old judge who has served for more than 20 years, he has seen this kind of thing too much.

The magistrate pretended to murmur: "I trust your judgment, Mrs. Peel, in view of your good reputation. But if the parasol is merely a mere memento..."

Before he finished speaking, the jurors in the audience had already started booing.

"And it's unremarkable."

"Not worth a few bucks."

"It's rough workmanship to use as a toy for my son."

"Mr. Judge, how long do you think the sentence should be for stealing a toy?"

The judge smiled helplessly: "I think ten days is almost enough."

The jurors couldn't help laughing when they heard this.

"That's what you said."

"We felt we could make a call."

"That's right, we think little Adam is guilty of stealing toys."

Mrs. Peel glanced at the lively team members and said with a smile: "Mr. Judge, it seems that we don't need to hold an out-of-court discussion. The team members agree that Adam Evans is guilty, and you can make a judgment. "

In this regard, the magistrate was also happy to relax. He still had a lot of cases to hear today, so there was no need to waste any more time on little Adam.

Boom!
The gavel fell.

The magistrate solemnly announced: "The jury has ruled that the defendant, Adam Evans, is guilty. Herein, in the name of the Magistrate's Court of London, and with reference to the relevant legal provisions, I sentence the defendant Adam Evans to ten fines. days' imprisonment and a fine of 1 shilling."

"Long live!!!"

The jury members cheered.

Little Adam burst into tears, and he couldn't stop thanking the magistrate: "Thank you, thank you, Mr. Judge."

While arranging the documents on the desktop, the magistrate smiled and said to Little Adam, "You should thank Officer Arthur."

"Well, I will." Little Adam turned his head to look at Arthur, and bowed deeply to him: "Mr. Police Officer, you saved my life."

Arthur smiled, didn't say anything, just stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder, then took a shilling from his pocket and walked towards the magistrate.

"It's his fine, Mr. Judge, and I paid it for him."

The justice of the peace raised his thick white eyebrows and joked, "You want to fight me for this kind of thing? There's no way. This shilling for little Adam is worth more than ten church services." There is a lot of piety. This kind of good thing can’t be left to you, take it back.”

Arthur also joked: "Then when you go to heaven, remember to help me save a good place by your side."

"No need, Arthur."

The magistrate stood up with the documents in his arms. He smiled and said, "Because when the time comes, you will be in a position closer to God than I am. I still need you to help me say a few words in front of God."

"Is it within the scope of the law?"

"Of course, I'm a judge."

The two looked at each other and smiled, Arthur turned around and said goodbye: "Goodbye, Mr. Judge."

The magistrate's voice sounded behind him.

"Can I still see you here?"

Arthur's footsteps paused: "Probably, not."

The magistrate was silent for a moment, then said: "Arthur, take my word for it. Keep going, or you'll regret it. You're fit for the job, and I can't find anyone more fit for it. .I hate all the police in Scotland Yard, but you are an exception. With you, everything will be fine."

Arthur didn't answer the magistrate's request to keep him. He just put the police officer's uniform on his shoulders, put one hand in his trouser pocket, and gently waved the other hand at the other party.

Afterwards, he walked away from the courtroom without saying a word, as if he had never been here before.

The magistrate looked at his receding back and sighed heavily.

"The recent young man..."

The court clerk sitting under the judge looked back at the old judge, and then at Arthur who had already walked out of the courtroom. Holding the pen in his hand, he endured for a long time, and finally couldn't bear it anymore, got up and chased him out.

"Officer Arthur, wait a minute!"

Seeing this, the magistrate couldn't help laughing and heaving a long sigh.

"The nearest young man!"

Arthur walked out of the court, with the busy street in front of his eyes and the bright and sunny sky above his head.

The wind blew through the treetops and brought up dust, which somewhat confused his eyes.

Arthur raised his hand to cover his eyebrows, looked up at the blue sky, and muttered: "It's rare that the weather is good, but the sun is too glaring."

A black high-class carriage was parked on the street in front of the court, and a middle-aged gentleman with a black top hat and a monocle was waiting there.

He saw Arthur go out and greeted him with a smile.

"Hello, Officer Arthur."

Arthur looked at the other person's appearance carefully, and asked doubtfully, "Do I know you?"

The other party smiled: "You don't know me, but I know you. It was a wonderful speech just now, wasn't it? Although I just came to relax, even though I was sitting in the auditorium of the court, I was still The content of your contagious speech moved me."

"Thank you for supporting my work."

"To be honest, you are the most perfect image of a policeman in my mind. Calm, calm, intelligent, confident, just, aggressive and yet measured, your words and deeds are all exemplary, and your words and deeds are worthy of the example. You It is the pride of Scotland Yard."

Arthur forced a smile, this is already the second person who praised him so much today.

"I don't know if I deserve your praise, but that is beside the point. I will not be a Scotland Yard policeman from tomorrow on."

The middle-aged gentleman asked: "Are you really not considering continuing to work at Scotland Yard?"

Arthur nodded, wanting to speak but felt something was wrong.

He fumbled in his trouser pocket for a while, and suddenly found the pipe that Elder gave him this morning. The tobacco in it was not exhausted, and it was extinguished after he took two puffs this morning. Useful.

Seeing Arthur taking out his pipe, the middle-aged gentleman naturally took out a match from his pocket to help him light it.

Arthur took a deep breath, but unexpectedly, he was choked to tears.

But he still suppressed the discomfort and expressed his gratitude to the other party: "Thank you for your help, sir."

The middle-aged gentleman smiled and said, "So you don't know how to smoke."

Arthur took another two sips and replied with a frown: "I just learned this morning. There used to be discipline in the team and we were not allowed to smoke in public places, so I never touched this stuff before."

"Then why are you learning this?"

Arthur had a pipe in his mouth, and no matter how much he smoked, he felt bad.

The smell of the smoke was bitter and astringent, and the smoke from burning shredded tobacco was very pungent, making him feel uncomfortable all over his body.

"After I quit this job, I'm going to go to sea. I heard that if you want to get along with the sailors, you have to be able to smoke and drink a little, otherwise it will be hard to live on the ship."

"Have you found the boat yet?"

"That's right. The Beagle of the Royal Navy, they are preparing to conduct a scientific voyage around the world, and they need a naturalist."

The eyes of the middle-aged gentleman showed a look of regret: "I am really disappointed to lose an excellent police officer like you. This is the loss of Scotland Yard and the loss of the people of London. But I respect your choice."

"Thank you for your respect. Goodbye, then, sir. Thank you for your matches."

After speaking, Arthur lifted his legs and left there.

But he hadn't walked for long when he saw two police officers, Tom and Tony, running out scrambling.

They chased and shouted in the direction Arthur was going away.

"Arthur, don't be impulsive! We can't lose you! Woohoo, I'm such a waste, obviously these things should not be borne by you."

"My son must go to the University of London in the future! Even if there are no tuition fees at Oxford and Cambridge, he will have to fuck me to go to the University of London!"

Seeing this scene, the middle-aged gentleman felt a little ridiculous.

While he was admiring the long-distance race between the two police officers Tom and Tony, someone suddenly interrupted his interest.

"Did you just see a man in a white shirt with a police uniform slung over his shoulders coming out of here, sir?"

The middle-aged gentleman turned his head and saw that it was the young court clerk who was asking the question.

"You mean Sergeant Arthur? Do you have business with him?"

"Yes, do you know Sergeant Arthur?"

The court clerk said pleasantly: "That's great! It's like this. Although I am a court clerk, at the same time, I also work part-time as an interviewer for a newspaper.

The speech Sergeant Arthur gave today was so inspiring that I wanted it to be published in our newspaper.I was wondering if you could relay this request for me? "

After hearing this, the middle-aged gentleman stroked his chin and thought for a while, then suddenly replied with a smile.

"I will convey it to you. I don't think he will refuse this request. May I ask, which newspaper did you write for?"

The court clerk replied embarrassedly: "That...is not a big newspaper, but a newspaper with a small circulation called "Observation Daily". What do you ask this for?"

The middle-aged gentleman smiled and said, "It's nothing, I just happen to know a few editors of The Times, and they are currently worrying about lack of manuscripts.

If you don't mind, can you allow them to reprint your manuscript after it's finished?
I believe they will not hesitate to pay.

If you do me a favor, do them a favor.what do you think? "

(End of this chapter)