shadow of britain

Chapter 662 Lord Black's Advanced British Interrogation Experience
The cast-iron fireplace in the Moscow police station crackled, and Arthur tapped his knuckles on the gilded cover of the Police Regulations.

Through the gaps in the blinds, he could catch a glimpse of Herzen in his office, reading a book to entertain himself, the icon around his neck gleaming in the morning light.

For a young man who was arrested for the first time, Herzen's performance was actually quite good. He was neither panic-stricken nor overly excited.

The police chief noticed Arthur's gaze, turned his head and glanced at the office, then smiled and said, "Did you find out? It's the one we arrested yesterday. Fortunately, he is still well behaved, otherwise, with his family background, it would be difficult for us to deal with him."

"Difficult to deal with?" Arthur said teasingly, "Even though he's difficult to deal with, why did you capture him? Aren't you just looking for an ancestor for yourself?"

The chief of police sighed and complained to Arthur, "It's different, sir. Take handling a case for example. I heard that in London, everything is done according to rules and regulations, from detention, arrest to prosecution. Every step is done according to procedures. But here, once the superiors give us a task, we would rather go without food and drink for days and nights to get it done. If the superiors say to go to the mud pond, then we have to go to the mud pond. Even if there is no other way, we have to find a way to roll the mud into a rope and use it to strangle the person who needs to be strangled."

At this point, he did not forget to give Arthur an example: "And this is not only reflected in the police. Take my brother-in-law for example, he is a local police chief. Once, the province issued an order to deliver a fish on the naming day, and it must be a big fish, even if it is not as big as a whale, but it must be close. My brother-in-law ran around like he was poisoned by gas. He worked hard for a day or two, and got the fish, but it was not the kind specified by the superiors.

Either the fish's head happened to look like a big shot celebrating his name day. If we sent it over, people would definitely say that sending the fish was a personal attack. Or the fish paste was too little and it wasn't plump. Or the shark's fin wasn't plump enough and it didn't look impressive. And the province where we came from was a place of prudery and particularity, so everything had to look good. My brother-in-law thought about it for a moment, gritted his teeth, and took all the local fishermen to the police station, ordering them to catch fish that met the standards within three days."

Arthur has heard a lot of similar stories since coming to Russia, but fortunately there is always something new in each story, so it is not boring to listen to.

"You can catch the fish in three days? In my opinion, your brother-in-law's way of doing things is pure nonsense. Just for a fish, he made such a fuss. What kind of thing is this?"

The police chief said seriously, "Don't disbelieve me, he really caught the fish in the end. Although I also feel that this way of doing things is indeed ill-considered, but in Russia, sometimes this method has to be used. You are a foreigner, so you don't understand the customs of the Russian officialdom. In Russia, these orders are stacked one on top of another. The province wants to show off in front of the central government, and the city wants to show off in front of the province. So tasks like this that seem to be nonsense are actually unusually common."

Arthur pinched his chin and nodded slightly: "Like the fire in Moscow?"

The police chief sneered and said, "Of course, this time is different. After all, this is an order from the emperor himself. But I can also give an example of my brother-in-law's experience. It is said that once, the provincial government wanted to show off in front of the superiors, so it sent a letter to the city saying: You must catch a tramp, and a tramp with a lot of reputation. So my brother-in-law got busy again. He searched the whole city, sticking his nose out to smell everywhere, and when he saw a light, he would go to check to see if there were a lot of tramps gathered there."

Arthur couldn't help laughing when he heard this: "Is it hard to find homeless people? Not to mention the locals, I've seen quite a few even in Moscow and St. Petersburg."

The police chief waved his hand and said, "That time was different. The requirements from above were quite strict, so my brother-in-law didn't dare to report an old woman with missing limbs. He stayed in the city for a week, and finally he ran into a lost pilgrim, a helpless tramp. He picked up the pilgrim's cloth bag and pulled out a bunch of messy books from it, such as "To the Inhabitants of the Holy Mountain of Jerusalem", "To Those Who Zealously Spread the Joy of Heaven", "To Those Who Have Done More Good Deeds Than the Stars in the Sky", etc.

You are a devout Christian, so you must know that these manuscripts of distorted books are pure nonsense, and none of them are in the Bible. So my brother-in-law threw this obedient man of God into jail as if he had found a treasure. The next day, he compiled a report and submitted it to the provincial government. He said that the situation was like this and that someone was conscientious and never rested on the city's public security. Then he wrote a long article about heresy, frequent contacts with the same party, and the people who endangered the country, and that the grass must be cut and the roots must be eradicated. The article was written in a very serious manner, and even if you ask a literary expert to read it, he would not be able to find a single flaw. "

Arthur flattered, "It sounds like your brother-in-law is a real character. He is so capable, why didn't the province treat him as a treasure and transfer him to the police department?"

When the police chief heard this, he looked back involuntarily and pointed to Herzen's office with his thumb.

Arthur understood and said, "He arrested the wrong person? And he was not polite to that young man?"

The police chief nodded slightly and said, "The son of the provincial inspector went crazy that day and went to their city to hunt. He even instigated the hounds to bite a few Jews and pressed them up to their necks into the swill bucket for fun. A passerby reported the case, and my brother-in-law went to the scene to arrest the people. When the inspector's son saw the police coming, he cursed them for not being as fast as the hounds. My brother-in-law hadn't recovered from his hangover at the time, and when he heard someone cursing him, he raised his hand and slapped the inspector's son."

"Alas..." The police chief paused for a moment. "My brother-in-law was born like a brown bear. He slapped the weak young man in the face and knocked out two of his teeth. By the time he realized something was wrong, it was too late. Later, he took gifts to the provincial government to plead guilty, but the inspector refused to see him. Although it was clear that he was not at fault and had made contributions, his transfer to the provincial government was blown away."

Arthur sighed and said, "Looking at it this way, it seems that my stuff can't be fully applied to Russia."

"Isn't that so?" The police chief enviously said, "When you were in London, you just focused on the cases, and the benefits of promotion would naturally come to you. But here... ah..."

When Arthur heard the police chief imagine Scotland Yard as heaven, he couldn't help shaking his finger at him and said, "You think London is too simple. If you want to get promoted in London, you can't just solve cases."

"Do you have to consider the opinions of your superiors?" The police chief thought for a moment and laughed, "But it's true. All crows are black."

Arthur waved his hand and said, "Of course we have to look at the superiors' opinions, but not as seriously as in Russia. Because generally speaking, the Greater London Police Act of 1829 does not strictly stipulate the subordinate relationship between the Commissioner of the Greater London Police and the Ministry of the Interior. And the London police swear allegiance not to the Ministry of the Interior, but to the King and the Constitution. The Ministry of the Interior only assists His Majesty the King in managing the London police in accordance with laws and regulations. Therefore, although we have to submit an annual work report to the Ministry of the Interior, we have the final say on how to handle cases, what cases to handle, and how many people to send."

Arthur did not deceive the Commissioner of Police on this point.

Compared to police forces in other countries, London's police are probably second only to those in Paris.

However, the reason why the Paris police have such great power is that they were established as a high-level independent department that was only responsible to the king.

During the French Revolution, power was dispersed among different leaders, and the various government departments in France were almost independent.

This custom continued into the reign of Napoleon.

French Police Minister Joseph Fouché almost turned his Paris police into an airtight iron barrel.

What on earth are the Paris police doing?
No one except Fouché knew, and this was no joke, because even their emperor Napoleon couldn't figure it out.

As for Scotland Yard, although they are not as domineering and arrogant as the Paris police, they are no pushovers either.

In name, the only thing the Home Secretary can decide is the appointment and dismissal of the Director and Deputy Director of Scotland Yard. However, if he wants to interfere in the internal promotions of Scotland Yard, he must fully respect and refer to the opinions of the London Policing Board, which is composed of senior police officers and magistrates.

There were two important factors that enabled Arthur to be promoted from street patrolman to police inspector. The first was the nod of Home Secretary Sir Robert Peel, and the second was that Sir Peel won the support of Prime Minister Duke of Wellington.

Everyone knows what the senior police officers at Scotland Yard are like.

As long as the Duke of Wellington spoke, they would support the opinion of the former British Army Commander-in-Chief.

Of course, Scotland Yard's favor to the Duke of Wellington does not mean that they will favor the Whig Party.

That was why, when Director Rowan discovered that the Home Office had allowed Fleet Street reporters to attack Arthur, who had "died in the line of duty," he flew into a rage and ran to the Home Office to slam the table on Viscount Melbourne, and secured for Arthur the junior honor of knighthood that he deserved.

The police chief listened with envy to Arthur's recounting of his days as a powerful figure at Scotland Yard. Especially when he heard the part about the Tower of London, his heart was in his throat.

Arthur couldn't help but wield his 'iron fist of despotism' when he was emotional: "When dealing with liberals, we must use heavy punches at critical moments!"

The police chief drank his punch in one gulp and applauded Arthur. "You're right. These sons of bitches must be plowed over by the cavalry!"

Arthur seemed to be a little reluctant to say more. "If you ask me, this fire is actually an opportunity for you. Look at me. I was originally just an inconspicuous middle-level police officer like you. However, it was because of my proper handling of the emergency that I was valued by His Majesty the King and was promoted to my current position. By the way, have you interrogated the newly arrested liberal young man? If not, I can teach you some interrogation techniques on the spot. From now on, just follow my way, and I guarantee that you will be proud of yourself in front of Superintendent Ziensky."

The police chief was moved by what Arthur said: "This... has not been interrogated yet. After arresting him yesterday, Colonel Miller just had a brief chat with him..."

"Oh?" Arthur asked. "He didn't tell you what to do next?"

"That's not the case. I think he intends to interrogate him personally... But..."

The police chief was moved by Arthur's words. At this moment, all he could think about was showing off in front of his superiors: "But according to the general process, I should review it. You don't know that I am supposed to be in charge of this aspect in the bureau."

"That's right. You should take the initiative in this matter." Arthur set him up bit by bit: "Just think about it, there are so many directors in Moscow. The Moscow fire is a big case. If you handle it well, many of your superiors will definitely be promoted. If they are promoted, there will be a vacancy for you. If you don't show your ability now, who will notice you among so many directors? You can't follow your brother-in-law's example and slap the son of the inspector, can you?"

The police chief thought about it, but no matter what he thought, he felt that what Arthur said made sense.

More importantly, this British knight is a well-known police star in London. How could it be possible that he doesn't have some ruthless tricks in his hands?
While this lord is in high spirits, let him help pry open the young man's mouth, and then write the conclusions into a report and find a professor of literature from Moscow University to polish it...

Oh my god, if things go wrong it might affect my career!

But then again, bringing an outsider to interrogate a prisoner is against the bureau's rules...

But then again, if you don’t say it, I don’t say it, and no one else says it, who would know that I brought an outsider to the interrogation?

Is it true that a man of such noble status as the Sir would argue with me over such a trivial contribution?

To him, it's just a sesame seed, but to me, it's like a pie falling from the sky!

The police chief glanced at the sun and took out his old pocket watch.

It was just five minutes past nine and the director's meeting had just started five minutes ago.

According to the usual nature of Russian meetings, the meeting would not be over in a short time. According to the usual rules, the leaders of the interrogation committee would be late for five to ten minutes to show off, and then talk official language for another ten minutes. It would be at least half past nine when they officially started discussing the issues.

As long as the trial can be completed before ten o'clock, there is no chance that the director will be exposed.

As the saying goes, greed can blind one's mind. When the police chief thought of this, he hurriedly helped Arthur up as if he was serving God.

"It's like a long drought finally comes. A gust of wind from Petersburg brings you this timely rain from London! I'm really grateful for your willingness to help me. I was just worrying about how to deal with this kind of young man! I'll prepare hot tea for you right away! Authentic Chinese black tea! Do you like it with milk or sugar? Just tell me, don't be polite."

(End of this chapter)